L is for Lots of London Loot - One of a Few!

A fair bit of stuff has come in over the last few months, most from Peter Evans, some from the late Michael Hyde's estate, some of it donated, some of it paid for, but often not for much, and some bits which have got in there, but may be from other sources, because they all got shot in batches. So I'm just going to post it all as H is for's.... but as L's! With many thanks to Peter and thoughts for Mike and the Brother who survives him.

 

Useful bits and parts including most of an Airfix 88mm gun and tractor, but the obvious item of interest is the box at the top left, which is a further packaging of the teeny-tiny AFV models we've seen a few times now, such as here - as Empress.

 

Another box of bits, half of them Rocco Minitanks, the rest quite an eclectic collection of components, beebo's and oddments! The Rocco will prove perticularly useful, I have a large tub with most of the main range (the first 150-odd numbers), and many of them are missing the odd bit!

 

Unbranded, as a generic, the Hing Fat American revolution figures, not sure it all the poses are here, and for reasons of intrinsic idiocy, I photographed the majority of the poses present in the red, and only the remaining odds in the blue, when it would have been better to shoot them the other way! Another project which went on the back burner, but will be done one day is a page on/of the Bicorned/Tricorne forces from Marlborough to the French/Indian wars, and I can shoot the blues then!

 

A bag from The Toy Project, which I didn't open, but which had some useful bits in, astronauts from two sourses, a kitten and a puppy and a Corgi/Dinky (?) firefighter. The kitten looks like it might be from a board game?

A cereal premium Wellington, I only mentioned them the other day! And a blow-moulded bear, which was probably flocked once, and almost certainly a key ring, the use of the latter employment leading to the loss of the former coating!

 

The vatican guard from MM, one of the more eclectic sets of 'HO/OO' figures, and almost certainly from Mike's collection, he had got around to undercoating one-each of the three poses, the full set is covered by Dave over on PSR, from the style and material, I wouldn't be surprised to learn of a connection between these and Caesar Miniatures?

 

The Life-Like State Coach kit, it seems to be complete, so will get a making in the future, if only so it can be photographed 'whole', it's an old Miniature Masterpieces tool, a strange tie-in between the - then - nascent giant, Revell and the soon to fade Adam's Action Models. Thanks again to Peter for getting all this to the Blog.

MM is for Roaspaks in Military Modelling Magazine

The short history of Rospaks as a seperate entity of Heroics & Ros (known better for their range of micro-armour, which were much finer castings than the cheap, often lop-sided, Skytrex, I went with!) is best writ by studying the few appearances in Military Modelling magazine, and this post in of those cuttings.

 

November 1981

Trade Ad.

Images show sets AG1 and AG2

November 1981

'Observation Post'

 

December 1981

Trade Ad.

AG2 and AG3

January 1982

Trade Ad.

AG1

February 1982

Trade Ad.

AR1

 

March 1982

Trade Ad.

AR1

April 1982

Trade Ad.

AR1

May 1982

Trade Ad.

AR2 and AR3

June 1982

Trade Ad.

AR2 and AR3

 

October 1982

'Observation Post'

Obviously the magazine is still going (I think; it's years since I bought it), and despite several changes of ownership will still retain some copyrights on the above, which is all from my own archive and shown here for research purposes. The 'Tippex' marks are where I originally wrote-in the publishing dates/details.

It's notable that they stopped advertising some months before the announcement of the end of the line, presumably they were looking for a way to save the project? Less than a year first-to-last and still missed by many, they were quite crude figurines, sculpted in the lead/whitemetal style, but they had a definite charm.

You also have to bear in mind, when these were 99p, a box of Airfix HO/OO figures were about 25/30p?

MM is for Miricleman, no Marvelman, no Miri . . . Doh!

Or; what Carol McCaptainface looked like before her Hollywood-funded transition!

I remembered these shots were in the 'follow-ups' folder and thought they'd make a good (the best) follow-up to the Phidal set! Courtesy of Brian B we have the proper, pre-op' Marvel Man! There's not much I can add Blurb-wise to Brian's mail;

"Attached are photos of only the second Lego style figure I ever purchased.

Maker is unknown, so not a licensed item. He's more Miricleman than Marvelman who I loved as a kid but as there were no Marvelman figures to own unless you were adapt at Plasticine I had to have one.

He's shown with suitable feats of strength on Marvel Comics reprint of his adventures. The shot with Bender gives the size with a Dinky Pillar Box for comparison."

What I would add though is that a subsequent search leads to the eBay seller Onlinesailin (OLS) and there is one available here; 254326065503, and that this, being such a 'professional' sort of conversion, with batch duplication, would seem to be what the die-cast guys have been contending with for years, a 'Code 3', that is something of a factory-manufactured appearance which is really home-made, 'garage' or after-market, yet has commercial 'legs'?

There's a mass of it going on in the Playmobile-world as well; Carthaginian conversion kits, colonial pith-helmets, vinyl-graphic sticker sets, heat-set transfer sheets, resin replacement parts &etc.

Footnote; most of you will know but for those who don't; Code 1 is a/the factory product, Code 2 is a commissioned promotional, premium or factory-sanctioned batch-conversion.