O is for Ostdeutsche Ordnance

Another prime piece of plunder from the September Sandown show, and another one where Google's AI failed to provide, as did Google in general, and doubly annoying as I've only just obtained the Lehmann book, however, it went straight to storage, so I can't read it, but I bet this bit of the history is dealt-with there? Hay-ho, another day!

 

Artwork is remarkably accurate, compared to many other contemporary or not so contemporary companies packaging, although the figures and cargo are fanciful additions, absent from the contents of the box! Gnom Sortimen (gnome assortment), is the only text, and Gnom was a sub-brand of the East German continuation of Lehmann, after the end of World War Two.

 

Contents, not played with, totally mint and with no paint-chips of note, but possibly taken-out a few times, as I suspect the truck should be in the separate, card 'corral', rather than the trailer? But similar compartments may be missing for the other items?

 

A small field gun, a field-kitchen or 'Goulash Canon', which can be limbered with either of the other two towed items, but all three can't be 'trained together', as the larger trailer, and gun, don't have rear facing hooks.

 

A lovely thing, although Lehmann purists will tell you these aren't that brilliant, or that Gnom isn't terribly collectable, but I can't fault it for charm, build quality or playability, and as an East German kid, I think I would have loved to get this under the tree at Christmas, but I guess it represents the oppression, of one of the more insidious regimes of the Eastern-Bloc, given the web of Stasi infiltration into every-day life, the other side of the wire?

B is for Box-ticking - Soviet Era Troops - East Germany

Given what else I've managed to garner in the ten years since I extended the scope of the collection to larger scales - purely to feed the blog . . . and because it's fun - it's odd that I've only managed five of these, as they aren't that rare!

PGH Effelder's rather large (75-80mm) rubber Nationale Volksarmee (NVA), with their distinctive helmets; unique to the East German forces and possibly the oddest general-issue helmet worn in the 20th century by anybody other than the rebel star-ship guards in a galaxy far, far away!

Manufactured in a similar material and style to the Czechoslovakian Bata figures, although - as far as I know - Effelder weren't a shoe-factory! As I say they aren't particularly rare, being quite robust, and issued in one of the wealthier of the Soviet-puppet countries, so quite numerous.

They also track the changes in uniform in the East German army with the figures also issued in the rain-fleck camouflage, white (winter war) and three-colour camo'. There are also many poses and pose variations, so only a small sample above, maybe TJF's mates can show us some more? He can't; he's a dealer not a collector!

This chap is a question-mark, obviously from a model vehicle, probably plastic, but it could be an older tin-plate thing, but unquestionably East German with that salad-bowl on his head. Nicely painted and in the style of pre-war composition outriders from Elastolin or Lineol.

It's a parade pose, with hands fisted on thighs (in the British Army you brace and stretch to the knees for parallel arms) and back straight. He's closer to 54mm and seems to be a standard hard polystyrene plastic.

Now known to be Plaho - Thanks to Andreas Dittmann!