F is for Follow-up - Marx Romans

As a follow-up to this original post;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/g-is-for-glory-of-rome.html

 

Reader Patrick Connolly from Canada, got in touch, first to reminisce, then with pictures! And among them is the one still missing from my sample, they are a bit bashed, but they have survived two owners and the best part of nearly seventy years, and it's the personal connection which makes all the difference! So let's have a look . . . 

"Here are pictures of Romans and Vikings. I think there were also Civil War figures. I remember the red shield and plumed guy was called Tiberius - maybe not the emperor."

 

"I remembered the guy with the leather arm and gold and red shield - one that you do not have pictured [on the right in each image, a gladiator?] - but he was not there - so on my last day in Edmonton I looked on the floor behind the shelf and there he was! - so these really were mine at one time."

 

We looked at the Vikings too, here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/v-is-for-vikings-vandals-varangians.html

 

And many thanks to Patrick for this trip down memory lane! Patrick has a web presence, check it out;

 

http://www.youtube.com/TrickTO

http://soundcloud.com/tricktol

News, Views Etc . . . PW Feedback

So, 4am here, and I've run out of puff, sorting the plunder pile! Yeah, I had a snooze earlier! There were three new Plastic Warrior Special Publications launched at the show this year, and the embargo has been lifted on them being announced, so they are:

A brief look at VP, not much added since the last issue, but all now in full colour for the first time, which with the sister volume . . .

. . . on UNA, means all five (Kentoys, Speedwell, Trojan) of the problematic Britains/Timpo-copy Khaki Infantry issuers have now been updated and colourised, I think? 

While this overview of Poplar Plastics, and it's relationship with Thomas, is also an update of a past title, with much more added, and again, in colour for the first time. They areare available separately for varying prices, or all three are in a bundle for £15:00, but I don't know how long that offer will last, before they revert to individual list items, or one of them runs out, so get your order in now!

 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PlasticWarrior?fref=ts

 

Blog. - http://plasticwarrioreditor.blogspot.com/

 
eMail - pw.editor3@gmail.com (pw.editor@ntlworld.com)

Tel. - 01483 830 743

 

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Peter Cole and his label Replicants had a 40th Anniversary (of Plastic Warrior magazine) figure, and four pairs of English civil War cavalry on his tables.

 

In a departure for Replicants, there is a new horse with separate base a' la Britains/Timpo, and the 40th Anniversary figure is of a spy, saboteur or 5th columnist, with headphones, using a morse-sender/receiver, in a suitcase. Whether this is a metaphor for PW's revelations on the secrets of plastic toy soldier production over the years, I didn't ask, but it seems apt! He may, of course, just be getting the football results?

 

********************************** 

 

Graham Apperley reminded me he has a Blog now, which I had read on Brian Carrick's pages, but forgot to action, so this is the URL:

 

https://talesfromthetoyroom.blogspot.com/

 

Away from the show, Tom also has a new blog:

 

https://tomertonvillage.blogspot.com/

 

and sent me a link to an interesting 3D print source for civil/railway figures:

 

https://www.smartmodels.org/

 

And I'm hoping to get commenter John's Blog-link shortly. 

 

10-06-25 Done - https://toysoldiersblog.wordpress.com/

 

It's nice to see a resurgence in Blogging, especially in our field.

 

It was a fantastic show as always, and credit is due to Paul, Peter and Brian for putting it on, I don't know when I'll get the plunder posts out as there's a ton of stuff in the queue before it, even if I get stuck back-in, which I'm not sure I'm ready to, but it'll all be here in the end!

News, Views Etc . . . Blogging

You wait ages for one and then two come along together! As well as a bit of a post-fest here, I've been posting elsewhere two;

 

♫♫♪♫ Cap-Tin Scar-Lurt! Hees In-Di-Struc-Tabul♪♫♪♪

I've added quite a bit to the following posts on the Airfix Blog

 

ACW Artillery

http://airfixfigs.blogspot.com/2010/06/1962-american-civil-war-artillery-s14.html

 

Cowboys

http://airfixfigs.blogspot.com/search/label/Cowboys

 

Guards Band

http://airfixfigs.blogspot.com/search/label/Guards%20Band

 

Guards Colour Party

http://airfixfigs.blogspot.com/search/label/Guards%20Colour%20Party

 

 

 

I've also added three posts to the But is it Giant Blog, which, with the first being published on the 15th, was, I think, before the recent flurry of Giant-related posts elsewhere, always better to be found leading than following!

 

But is it Giant

 

And there's more to go on both Blogs in - hopefully - the near future!

K is for Kennedy Space Centre - Case

I picked this up in September, and while it's not complete, there's enough for a few posts, and I guess you start with the biscuit tin! The Marx 50mm figures; Carry All Action Cape Kennedy Play Set, of which there are several versions (this is 4625), and I wouldn't pretend to be an expert on any of them!

 

I'm guessing from the full colour, photo-artwork that it was a later set, and if the entire contents are in the picture, then I seem to have got most of the contents of two sets, less one or two important bits, which I'll mention as we go through them, but I also got an extra piece?

 

One item which was missing from the box, was the return-module, but we saw one here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2023/08/c-is-for-constellation-of-capsules.html

 

And, it's the correct red-hot steel colour, so that box is ticked!

 

 It's basically a colourful kid's briefcase!

 

I suspect this is a highlight, an undamaged vacform of the NASA 'Guided Missile Centre' offices, riveted into one end of the case. Assuming they can get damaged with age and play wear, but it's not like these sets are particularly rare, there were several on feeBay, when I was trying to work out my contents.

 

The two hinged sections which allow for the closing of the case are printed-up as double wire-gates, and connected with a roadway, which makes-up the spine of the case. I need to re-wire one of the hinges, as the piece is loose, and will need a new wire-rod, run down the hinge-loops.

 

The whole base, with plenty of room for the activities of the contents!

 

Ed's is complete!

https://toyconnect.blogspot.com/2012/06/marx-4625-action-cape-kennedy-carry-all.html

F is for Follow-up - Kaster Kits

Isaiah Bowen was looking for more information on the Kaster Kits I posted a while back, and I glibly directed him to the link in that article, but it seems to have vanished, and various attempts to find it on what seems to be the original parent site, and the Waybackmachine have proved fruitless, but fortunately I did copy the article, at the time, and while I can't get the images out of a Word document in a usable format, I will reproduce the text below, but first Isaiah's images;

 

The same sailor as me, but definitely a Kaster Kit moulding (or molding!), where mine might be Agasee or other, as it was sourced in the US of A.

 

A novelty axe, useful for Action Man/GI Joe sized figures, but they wouldn't have existed back when these moulds were common hobby items, so I guess it would have been for craft type tchotchkes or ornamental 'objets d'art'? Being lead, not an ideal hidden pudding-prize, but that might have been another use?

 

Not having my Agasee to hand I can't tell you if this has a code in their catalogues, but she's in the same style and with a similar base, is probably from the same series, and while designed for large gauge railway layouts, has a formal/work dress style of the 1940's which make her ideal for painting-up as a servicewoman from the WAC's, WASP's, WAV's, WAAF's, FANY, WRNS, WRAF, ATS and/or etc...!

 

Possibly S52 below?

 

This guy was in the same lot, I suspect from the change in style and different base, that he's a more commercial or purchased 'as is' figure, Scruby, or one of the similar makers found in early Polk's or Bob Baird listings?

 

So many thanks to Mr. Bowen for the above images, and now, in order to help him and anyone else needing it, here's the text from that defunct link;

 

"A.C. Gilbert Kaster Kits

As all of you regular visitors to Girders & Gears know well, our focus here is on metal construction toy systems, often referred to within the hobby simply as "OS" (Other Systems). However, this time we'll look at something a little different: Gilbert Kaster Kits. Although the A.C. Gilbert Company is best known by most OS fans for its now famous Erector Sets, throughout much of its lifetime the company also designed and manufactured other products. Among these were a number of other toys, including games, magic sets, chemistry sets, and more. In 1931, Gilbert introduced their Kaster Kit line, a suite of products that could be used to create small lead soldiers and other toy figurines. This was a popular hobby of the period, and young boys, my own Dad included, spent many hours casting and painting tiny lead armies. My thanks to friend and G&G reader Bill Klein for the images shown on this page.

Part #	Name	Price
1	Metal Casting Set (non-electric)	$1.00
3	Kaster Kit Jr. (electric)	$2.95
5½	Kaster Kit (electric)	$4.95
7½	Kaster Kit (slush mold type)	n.a.
00	Pigs of Metal	$0.50
1	Kaster Kit Paints	$1.00
2	Mold Holder	$0.30
A	Sports Series Molds	$2.00
B	Band Series Molds	$2.00
C	Military Series Molds	$2.00
1-29	Individual Solid Molds	$0.50
S40-S54	Individual Slush Molds	$0.75

The available components of the Gilbert Kaster Kit line, which included lead melting and casting machine kits, casting molds (Gilbert used the English spelling "mould" in their literature) and mold sets, paint sets, etc. are listed in the table shown at right, along with their 1931 prices. As the list indicates, there were three different casting machines and/or kits available. The No. 1 Metal Casting Set was a non-electric all-in-1 kit that contained molds, casting metal slugs ("pigs"), melting receptacle, spring grip mold holders, pouring ladle, paints, and more. The pigs could be melted over an external heat source. The No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. contained a casting machine that consisted of an electrically heated melting receptacle on a raised metal stand with spring grip mold holders attached to it. The entire apparatus was mounted on a metal base (see photos and diagram below). The No. 3 Kit also included mold handling and cleaning tools, 12 pigs of metal, 1 mold, and an instruction manual. The largest Kaster Kit was the No. 5½. It contained the same the casting machine as the No. 3 kit, but this time the machine was mounted on a larger base that had room to hold mold storage trays, tools, pigs of metal, etc. (see photos below).

A later addition to the Kaster Kit line was the No. 7½ Kit. It contained an updated version of the No. 3 machine that had been slightly redesigned in order to accomodate Gilbert's new "slush type" molds. Where the standard molds produced solid castings, the newer slush type molds produced hollow castings. The big selling point here, of course, was that less metal was required to produce a comparable figuine. The integrated heating units in all three of the electric kits were AC powered, but the kits did not include a cord or plug. These could be purchased separately, or a standard universal cord could be used. At this time, many small household electric appliances like steam irons, coffee pots, waffle irons, etc. used such interchangeable cord/plug units (each such appliance had two cylindrical prongs to which the cord/plug units were connected, as did the Kaster Kit machines). Most homes had at least one such cord unit, so it was not always necessary to purchase one. To expand the system, Gilbert sold a variety of additional molds, both separately and in sets. There were 29 different regular molds in all, including military figures, sports figures, animals, American Indians, and planes, trains and automobiles (see image above). When the No. 7½ Kit was introduced, 15 new slush type molds were added to the line to use with it.

No. 5½ Gilbert Kaster Kit (image missing)

Detail of No. 5½½ showing spring grip mold holders (image missing)

No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. (image missing)

Manual diagram of the No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. (image missing)

Molten metal in the No. 5½ melting pot (image missing)

Fire Engine (#20) and Infantry (#5) molds (image missing)

Infantry (#2) and Cavalry (#6) molds (image missing)

Gilbert expanded the basic system by offering a variety of additional molds for sale, both separately and in sets. There were 29 different regular molds in all, including military figures, sports figures, animals, American Indians, planes, trains and much more. When the No. 7½ Kit was introduced, 15 new slush type molds were added to the line to use with it.

G&G reader and good friend Bill Klein supplied the images for my previous feature, and recently he sent me a package containing a dozen or so freshly cast figurines from his Kaster Kits. Some of those figurines are shown in the photos below. Beneath the photos I have listed all of the individual Kaster Kit molds.

S41 Sailor and No. 9 Battleship; the ship shown at upper right is still attached
to its pouring tube (image missing)

No. 5 Infantry, No. 4 Howitzer, and No. 6 Cavalry (image missing)

No. 20 Fire Engine and No. 8 Airplane (image missing)

S45 Indian Chief and S46 Warrior with Gun (image missing)

No. 16 Magic Coins (image missing)

Illustration from the original Kaster Kit manual depicting some of the available molds (image missing)

KASTER SOLID MOLDS Mold # Name Price 1 Army Officer $0.50 2 Infantry (2) $0.50 3 Indian $0.50 4 Howitzer $0.50 5 Infantry (1) $0.50 6 Cavalry $0.50 7 Elephant $0.50 8 Airplane $0.50 9 Battleship $0.50 10 Cowboy $0.50 11 Boy Scout $0.50 12 Whistle $0.50 13 Jack Bones $0.50 14 Checkers $0.50 15 Police Badge $0.50 16 Magic Coins $0.50 17 Locomotive $0.50 18 Tank $0.50 19 Kneeling Soldier $0.50 20 Fire Engine $0.50 21 Football Linesman $0.50 22 Football Backfield Man $0.50 23 Baseball Batter $0.50 24 Baseball Fielder $0.50 25 Drum Major $0.50 26 Drummer $0.50 27 Bugler $0.50 28 Bass Horn Player $0.50 29 Machine Gunner $0.50

 

KASTER SLUSH MOLDS
Mold #	Name	Price
S40	Cannon	$0.75
S41	Sailor	$0.75
S42	Marine Officer	$0.75
S43	Automobile	$0.75
S44	Airliner	$0.75
S45	Indian Chief	$0.75
S46	Warrior with Gun	$0.75
S47	Soldier	$0.75
S48	Officer	$0.75
S49	Cadet	$0.75
S50	Cold Stream Guard	$0.75
S51	Medical Officer	$0.75
S52	Nurse	$0.75
S53	Stretcher Bearer	$0.75
S54	Wounded Soldier on Stretcher	$0.7

" [end of article]

If the original article is available on the internet I'm happy to revert to a link on this one, if you are the original author or one of the contributors, get in touch, and we could work out a way to save the article and/or re-publish the images?