K is for Knock, Knock, Knockin' on a Corporal's Jaw!

It's been an odd 14-months, and while the light is at the end of the tunnel, I'm still uncovering things, despite thinking I've checked everything - I found four hedgehogs (of the silver-neff and chalkware variety) behind a curtain the other day, while another interesting thing I've found is this . . .

. . . door knocker, which I found in a drawer in the front room a while back, it's obviously Mr. the Lord Vice-Admiral Horatio,1st Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte, Knight Bachelor and All Round Jolly Good Fellow! I will have it fixed on the front-door of what's likely to be my eventual last home, but I had an inspired idea for the knocker plate, which looks a bit plain . . .

. . . this piece of originally - probably - hideously overpriced tat from Atlas Editions (think Franklin or Danbury Mint, but remove any residual or perceived - they don't have much, if you dig - class) which I picked-up on evilBay for pennies - it's Napoleon Blownapart!

It will have to be domed which I will do myself, I have also inherited smithing tools including a sand-filled leather pad and fine silver-smith's round-peen hammers which should do the job (the eagle will have to 'buy it'!), although it's probably some shite base-metal alloy so I'll have to be careful! A few knocks might actually improve that etching - he looks like a shop-dummy!

Then it can be braised (like welding) or claw-clamped to the curved knocker and the Corporal will receive Nelson's boots to the snoz every time someone comes to the door - bargain! I shall invite random Frenchmen to the house!

News, Views Etc . . . Naughty Part-works

A couple of bits of news concerning part-works, one new, one old and one borrowed, but nothing blue, however; the 12,000-worder is still in edit, I'll see what I can do 'blue' there! In the light of the recent Panini UK agent's World Cup Sticker Album tribulations, the first story is the more interesting, concerning - as it does - cost.

Hachette

This global part-work issuer was castigated last week by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for failing to make clear that their current 'Build a London Routemaster Bus' part-work would run for 130 issues and cost consumers a total of more than £1,150.

The company said it had made the cost clear (on its website), but the ASA was having none of it and banned the TV-ad' promoting the publication, as the TV-ad' was considered to be misleading.

The real news here, as I see it; is why it has taken 30+ years to point out the bleeding obvious?

Because it requires an actual complaint, from a named complainant, willing to appear as a witness, before most modern watchdogs are able to act at all, under their - quite deliberately - ham-stringing Thatcherite-Raganomic remits, which put business (not 'big' business; all business) ahead of natural justice, or the rule of law.

It's not enough to know there are snake-oil salesmen, but to have to find villagers willing to paint their houses red, to scare them off!

Atlas Editions

It's not the first time the ASA has acted recently; they also upheld a complaint against Atlas Editions UK Ltd., back in August of last year, again 'misleading' sales techniques were fingered by the beak, only this time it was the website considered out of order, not the media publicity.

Although - It seems they are serial offenders as a well as serial issuers!

Other part-works are Available

These have also been in the media recently and from the left we have:

A set of Zippo lighters, never to light anything? A 'Merrythough' Bear which costs more than all the bears, rabbits &etc of my entire childhood! Paddington coins and a DC/UK thing, I would write more but this weeks got off to a busy start and I'm all over the place!

Close-ups of the important bits, in the bear's defence; he is rather smart! But who would want a whole display of rather hideous Zippo's, identical to the other 9,000 (that's; NINE . . . Thousand) sets? Madness!

B is for Bought Yesterday

Or two days ago by the time this publishes. Tuesday's visit to the charity shops produced this curiosity for one of your earth-pounds; winging its way to Scope's accountants!

It was clear - even as I walked over to the till - that it was too clean to be an original, and sure enough it turned-out to be a Mattel/Atlas Editions thing from 2014, however, apart from the new consumer information panel on one side and one other change (below) I think it's otherwise a facsimile 're-issue' of an original piece of French Dinky merchandise from the 1950/60's and was still sealed.

Before opening and after sorting.

I've seen other Atlas Editions, they seem to be semi- 'part work', semi-subscription, mail-order ventures of some kind; there was a rather nice offer of a 'little grey' Ferguson tractor, and an original Mini Cooper or Morris Traveller, both advertised via flyers in Sunday supplements and the like, but I had no idea they were tied-in with Mattel? I guess they got the Dinky brand-mark along with Matchbox's when they bought off Universal?

It isn't clear if it's an all-French thing (that is to say both the original - which was - and the re-issue), the bulk of the text is 'foreign' (up to four languages) but the additional consumer panel is Anglo-French and the handler is given as Éditions Atlas, while the bases are all-English, and the whole seems to have been made in China.

Modern or not, it's a lovely little thing and for a quid you can't moan. A close-up of the base reveals that not everything is a full copy of the original, I have some British ones somewhere, so one day I'll do a comparison. If I can find an answer/more on Google while posting this (Wednesday) I'll place the link right here - no I won't - they are common as muck and all over evilBay @ £1.99, still a nice thing though!

And the signs themselves are just as nice as the originals, with a fine finish to the plastic poles/signs, and the same heavy, die-cast Mazac bases. I don't know if the French Dinky signs were always plastic, the UK versions - back in the day - were slightly chunkier, all die-cast, single mouldings.