L is for London, HMS London - Gallipoli and the Dardanelles

These all come from an old envelope with an Edwardian stamp and the faded message "Taken aboard HMS London" in pencil, although some of them have clearly been taken ashore at 'Anzac Cove'. My Grandfather, eventually Admiral Hall, was conscripted across from the Merchant Marine (in 1915 - I think?) and served on HMS London, from Wikipedia;

"HMS London was the lead ship of the London class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy. The Londons were near repeats of the preceding Formidable-class battleships, but with modified armour protection. The ship was laid down in December 1898, was launched in September 1899, and was completed in June 1902. Commissioned the same month, she served with the Mediterranean Fleet until early 1907. She was assigned to the Nore Division of the Home Fleet for nearly a year before transferring to the Channel Fleet. Rendered obsolete with the emergence of the new dreadnoughts in late 1906, she underwent an extensive refit in 1909, after which she served with the Atlantic Fleet. She was assigned to the Second Home Fleet in 1912 as part of the 5th Battle Squadron, and was temporarily fitted with a makeshift ramp for experiments with naval aircraft until 1913.

Following the outbreak of World War I, the squadron was attached to the Channel Fleet before London was detached in March 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign, supporting ANZAC forces as they landed at Gaba Tepe and Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. She remained in the Mediterranean, supporting the Italian Royal Navy in the Adriatic Sea until October 1916. Returning to the United Kingdom, she was inactive until being converted to a minelayer in early 1918, which entailed the removal of her main armament. She served with the Grand Fleet's 1st Minelaying Squadron until the end of the war. Placed in reserve in 1919, she was eventually broken up for scrap in 1920."

The photographs appear to be 'official' or semi-official enough to assume there will be copies in national archives somewhere (IWM or NMM), and apart from the developers stamp and a penciled number (suggesting they are from a larger set) there is nothing else to date or place them, so I can only post them here with minimal blurb and the requested acknowledgement to Alfieri!

Convoying

Seems to be a ship's service with the ship's company to the left, a god-botherer and some officers in the middle and soldiers (presumably ANZAC's) to the right. I don't think this is on London - too many turrets?

Some soldiers getting a bit of sun on deck - note the shadows.

Bombardment in support of the landings?

Landing Fleet

On Board Ship

Summer dress.

Winter dress.

My brief research seems to say London only lost seven crew in the whole war, each death having a different date, so likely to be accidental or medical/natural causes rather than a major action; she had a 'quiet' war, however, there is a second series of Dardanelles shots, which I packed, sealed and took to storage before remembering I wanted to scan them as well (so we'll have them in a year or two now!), among which was a shot which appears to show one of the main six-inch guns blown-up (overheating, cooked-off round, lucky Turkish shot?), which - in doing so - appears to have damaged the pom-pom/12-pounder (?) in the center of the anchor-chain capstan (?) to the left here; that is not their normal configuration!

So; it may be that what we see here is someone getting an award for actions undertaken in that incident? Equally it could be something as boring as a pay-parade, they seem to be receiving something in their hats, and there's a queue behind the guy in the center.

ANZAC Positions

Remarkably similar to the scenes at the end of 'Gallipoli' the movie as Mel Gibson's 'Franc' is running through the line to try and get the message through.

One of those Light Horsemen?

A limber, a stack of bicycles (?) and landing barges in the background.

Relaxing on an unloading pontoon.

Look at the pile of stores at the foot of the scarp.

The previous shot must have been taken from the far pontoon, looking across the nearer pontoon toward where the photographer is standing in this picture, the stores now to the left.

A landing barge up against a pontoon

Eventually I will hand all this archival material to a museum, but this is only a fraction of what I've found, and while most of it is going to storage without being scanned, I will get it all up here over the next few years, god willing! There is a fascinating sequence taken off Murmansk/Archangel, obviously of the 1919 Anglo-American invasion of Russia (one of the last boxes we had to tick! There's only about 15 nations on the planet we haven't at least shot-at now!), which shows shell-damage (presumably from 'Red' shore-batteries), one hole being inspected by a member of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, who was on-board ship! While the bulk of it is later inter-war or RIN/IN stuff.

G is for Gnomes G'down-under!

Also from Mr B, and also hanging around in Picasa, these were shot at a garden-center or tourist-trap gift shop, I can't remember which, in New Zealand while he was there a year or so ago.

Gnome-Gnapping! Who'd of though it? Two mechanical, near-nano robot alien froglingtons with their egg-shells still attached have grabbed an unsuspecting Gnome, in the middle of his break-fast and pushed-off with him over their wiry, metal-robot shoulders, and I used to want to move to New Zealand - it's clearly a madhouse of unrestrained crime and debauchery!

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst of their possible fate; a family of Gnomes wait for the staff to mow their grassy-clothes, gently growing in the warmth of the sun!

It's funny but you can see that passing potential customers pick the Gnomes up by their hats/heads as their flocking hasn't worn off, but the more people who pick-up the snail or hedge-pig the less likely they are to sell, as the tattier they get!

Do they have them (hedgehogs) in NZ - probably a pest of ground-nesters aren't they? They should collect them all up, and send them back here, ours are endangered! Also - that's one snail the Hedgehog isn't going to eat, it could smother him!

All larger items, included here to 'make' Ger'nome-day! Cheers Brian!

PW6 is for Best of Show - Space, Civilian and Other Stuff

So this is the rest, not of the PW show's plunder pile, but of those items I think you may be interested in, or which I - in my arrogance (all Blogs are by their nature at least slightly narcissistic!) - just want to show you! Seriously though, I hope they are all of interest!

These were in the bag from Brian Carrick, and are all new to the collection. The most interesting is the GI type at the back; he could a be Gum-ball/Sobre/Lucky-bag/Capsule-toy of some type, but equally he may be from a board-game? LP astronaut-copy is a new colour addition to the existing sample while the girl with skis and Bergan-rucksack may turn-out to be Kibri or Kibri supplied, but I need to dig on that one . . .

. . . she's like similar flesh-coloured ones I have which resemble artists renditions in a Kibri catalogue, and also seem to be the donors of the semi-flats from Hong Kong we've seen here a couple of times (with cartoony faces), but the same catalogue has renditions of two other types of figures, over two pages, some of which are definitely the Roco-Minitrains ones, the others Noch (?) so Kibri - while being manufacturers - may also have done a bit of jobbing other people's stuff?

An excellent trio of curiosities here! The bear is a cake-decoration in bisque, but it's given 'fur' by being rolled in bisque crumbs before firing, while the little soldier (in a fairing style but only 45/50mm) is also bisque and I suspect a wartime piece, either a wedding-cake figurine (so many were getting married in uniform) or maybe more of a 'sweetheart' piece, left with a girlfriend by a beau, off to war? Equally - it could be a fundraiser like the German and US ones we've already seen here?

Between them is a rubber jiggler, with his/her/its tongue out! And why not?

Not 100% sure if the outer two are French Rex or British Christmas cracker novelties, but they are early, I suspect British, the Rex I've seen are slimmer figures. Between them are four LB derivatives; a chromium-plated polystyrene Tri-ang Spacex/MPC Golden Astronaut and three generations of copy/sub-piracy in polyethylene - the smallest on his second-outing in five minutes, what's that all about?!!

These were saved for me by Mike's friend Kevin (?), and they really are lovely, I know they can come in an ultramarine blue, and I know there is at least a fourth pose, so obviously I'm going to be looking for that other pose in the other colour, but this is a good start! Based on MPC sculpts, these are Hong Kong's finest, with faces in 'helioscopic'* print, behind clear visors.

* There's another word for them, but I can't remember it! Not 'fractal' but similar? Polyfractual, visirand, goottlefetchling? 2025 - lenticular!

Farm copies in HO/OO-gauge compatible Hong Kong polymer! They will be put on the Airfix Blog as a comparison, I think these are just a green run of the oxide-brown ones already seen over there, and, err . . . that's it!

Alan Shearer! Who knew? Probably lots of you, but he's new to me, some recent cereal premium, there's a set of them and I'll look out for them as they are nice figures, Weetabix or Wheetos I think (?) . . . because of everything else going on recently I've put some of this stuff away without taking proper notes and the attic's too hot to faff-about in 'till September now! Peter Evans had put the above to one side for me . . .

. . . while Adrian Little had saved this for me. Initial thought was that it's an NZ tourist trinket, but memory serves it may be from a European premium (Vitho of France?) set of native/aboriginal cultural art/iconography and masks (which might be in Jean Piffret's excellent book?), but it's very timely, for as we shall see have seen; 2019 is turning into 'New Zealand Year' here at Small Scale World, with forthcoming the recent posts from Brian Berke and the Jan/Feb stuff from Glenn.

Which closes 'my PW show' for this year, plenty-else still to come from the 'best show in the world' yet though,, but thanks to Adrain, Peter, Kevin, Nicolas, Brian for now, and . . .  it's only 9-months to the next one!

NZ NMM is for New Zealand's National Maritime Museum - Dioramas

Closing a day-long trip to New Zealand courtesy of Brian B, but with him shouldering the expense of the trip, we pop-in to the National Maritime Museum for a look at a couple of dioramas, civil in nature, but interesting for being boxed-dioramas with forced perspective to give a lot of atmosphere in a small space.

Late Victorian/early Edwardian period dock-scene, with a funnel in the background and an iron-clad merchantman to the right. Merchandise from all over the empire is unloaded and spirited away to warehouses or customs sheds, while a bustling market or retail district seems visible in distance.

'Stu's Express Freight' seems a little reluctant to get going, whether it's due to the size of the load he's expected to pull or the erratic behaviour of the crane operator, only the modeller knows, but that horse is 'thoughtfully stationary'! Note the little rat, seagull and semi-relief figure glued to the background image.

A couple of close-up shots of the two main elements of the diorama, I particularly like the trundle-crane with its cast-iron wheels; we used to have a set of heavy-duty scales in the barn for weighing multiple sacks of stuff and it had the same wheels, given how hard it was to perambulate over bare concrete, I hate to think how hard that crane would be to manover on wood-planking or -god-forbid - over cobbles!

The cranes mechanism seems to have been modelled to a degree of mechanical accuracy, using watch or clock parts. The sand box is well greased on a slopping tray/channel, and attached to a drum by a wire cable, as you lower the crane, the box slides back maintaining a counterweight balance.

The human figures are entirely scratch-built by the looks of it, but the horse is a more commercial element maybe, but with hand-made furniture, mane and tail.

A modern container port is the subject of the other diorama shot by Mr. B, and it's even more forced in the perspective, with different scales of shipping container used to throw the foreground into the background. Two customs officials check out a container with a robot and a sniffer-dog, while the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of the seagull in the previous diorama looks-on!

Meanwhile the Rat's descendant looks a bit like a pangolin?!!!

A close-up shot shows the dog to be a rubber 'in my pocket' or rack-toy toob/bag type, giving an idea of the scale of both these dioramas. The safety-vest (gillet jeune!) also seems to be the finger of a washing-up 'gladdi' glove!

If you are a child, going round the museum, you would be shorter and view this from an angle where the perspective would make more sense, I think the idea is to be looking up at the seagull with the concrete apron more level model-to-photograph?

Cheers Brian - a New Zealand Day!

NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Gift Shop Figures

Reinforcing the figures in the museum's display cabinets are a small number of figures for sale, for which I have no details as to manufacturer if any NZ reader happens to know? Seem to be modern 54mm (that is closer to 60!), 'new metal'  to match K&C, Figarti, Gunn, Atkinns & co.?

WWI ANZAC's; interestingly, after the end of the previous post; the officer seems to be wearing a slouch hat, but un-pinned, the troops sport a slightly shorter 'spike' more like a Mounties, while - and it's not clear - the pack-mule handler, half-out of frame to the right, seems to have the standard 'British' service-cap?

A nice group of resisting Moari and two figures (also in service caps) who I suspect are not WWII, but - from the blue-ish shirts - WWI Mesopotamia or Gallipoli? There seems to be a WWII figure advancing out of the frame, to the right.

Many-thanks again to Brian for the images, he explained that they are all shot from the rear as the reflection on the glass-fronts of the cabinets was too bright for photography. Has anyone got some at home they can shoot for us?

NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Other Exhibits

Brain also sent me shots of other items of interest within the museum, along with some items from the gift shop (next post), and what we have here are a set of probably commercial metal kit figures painted to represent New Zealand military uniforms through the ages.

Colonising and 'colonial period in the two full line-ups with WWI ANZAC uniforms visible below. I don't know enough to start attributing units/eras, but the Cavalryman looks like the sort who might have been sent to help against the Zulu's or Boars?

I rather like the cavalry guards uniform - middle left - which looks like the Hampshire Yeomanry mess-dress, although I think the local version was more ostentatious with even greater swathes of silver-braid! The Victorian period seems to have made a big thing of formal dress . . . 'All those parties - don't you know, what-what!'

And what's Windsor Davis doing next to him . . . "Luverlyboy-luverlyboy"!

Some modern uniforms here, I don't know enough about metal production either, but would imagine some Stadden's, New Hope and Under Two Flags to be here, maybe the odd Cavalier or even a Scrubby? Anyone recognise any of them? I like the knackered dog.

The whole display; gluing them to a mirror is a brilliant idea, by moving your head slightly you get to view all the backs of the figures, so the equal effort the painter went to isn't wasted! Mr. B didn't get the artists name, but they all look to be by the same hand, and a different hand to those of the dioramist we saw earlier.

Note also the 'Lemon Squeezer' hat, from mentions in posts on the NZNAM fund-raising figures, which we saw after Glenn Sibald generously sent them to the Blog at the beginning of the year.

Another; from an alternate angle, you can see it's different to the US or Canadian versions, I think, with a taller, sharper point and wider head-band area? While it lacks the turned-up side of its neighbouring Aussie, smooth-peaked one (shared - with detail differences - with the Ghurkhas). However, it is similar to the old boy-scout version, but then Baden Powell would have worked with colonial troops?

There's a book in there somewhere? One of the little Shire Albums perhaps, or a rather esoteric Osprey! It would be interesting to know when which version was adopted, by whom and why, formally or casually.

The metal figure of the colonial cavalryman in jodhpurs (first image) has one more like the Australian slouch-hat, suggesting a common 'colonial troop' heritage, but was the Canadian Mounties' shorter-version also born out of 'Empire & Africa;, or taken from the US 'Smokey Bear'.

Or did the Americans take it from the Canadians? Were ex-colonial troops wearing their old hats while working on the railways, being built 'out west', or while rushing for gold? An 'etymology' of the squeezed-peak and/or slouch-hat, would be an amusing read, and not less than a little interesting!

I suppose the 'cowboy hat', Stetson and Fedora must be on earlier branches of the family tree, and the leather forerunner of Richelieu's musketeers or Cap'n Jack are ultimately to blame!

And thanks again to Brain for the images.

NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Dioramas

This is the first post in a contribution day, Brian Berke, of New York, a regular contributor to the Blog, sent these just before I stopped posting for family reasons, so they have been sitting here for a while, despite being meant - in part - as a follow-up to the contributions from Glenn Sibald back in Jan/Feb; there's four of them, so today, we rather hand over to Mr. B!

The first post looks at two beautifully modelled diorama's one credited to a Tim Ryan (1980) and the uniforms/paint-work of the other looks similar, so I suspect he did both.

First you have to find those recalcitrant native citizens who have shown so unwilling to subjugate themselves to the Great White Queen's Blue (?) Jackets! This requires going a' campaigning; a tedious business which involves yomping, tabbing, marching and wandering about in the uloo, bondu, sticks or boondocks, basically going for an organised walk in the woods - well; a disciplined camping holiday . . . with the odd ambush!

This is a lovely model, the greenery is superb, I feel there's probably a kakapo or two in there somewhere, watching, curiously! 'What are the pink-monkeys doing now?'

In the rear of the column is a GS (General Service) Wagon, this carries all the 'camping equipment', which often makes it a target for some of those pesky ambushes; as 'Tommy' likes his creature-comforts, he's quite keen to hang back and guard it! While the Maori are just as keen to separate him from any comforts!

"Why are you men falling behind Corporal?"

"Guarding the wagon Sir!"

"Oh, Yes! Very-good; carry-on!"

Officers like their creature-comforts too!

I tried to collage the two to give a better impression of the whole, if I lined the kneeling sentry up the horses were tailless, so this is the best compromise! It really is a lovely diorama, well laid-out and with lots happening, yet without it being too busy.

Once you've found the Pā or fortified village, there's nothing for it but a full-frontal assault to force the palisade and gain entry to the entrenchments, easier in those [claimed for the Great White Queen] countries where the locals hadn't provisioned themselves with modern firearms! Consequently; Afghanistan and New Zealand proved to be tougher nuts than others!

This is also a superb example of how adding uniform-equipment and headdresses and giving all the figures a matching paint-job can bring disparate figures together as a homogenous unit, in the centre I can see a Timpo-solid stabbing downward (Imperial Guard or 8th army?) along with Herald, Deetail and Timpo-solid ACW's! And is the being-shot-guy at the back a Lone Star Russian?

Another Herald ACW instantly recognisable here with 'multi-pose' kits in the foreground, but Napoleonic or FFL? The loader two is familiar (far left, I'm not sure they were still using ramrods in the Maori Wars, but the atmosphere is there - maybe he's clearing a stoppage!) however, is he Deetail or Airfix? Again, at the risk of repeating myself; the use of all these figures is both intriguing and instructional as to the secrets of the dioramists' arts - a few added items of similar accoutrement, straps and a matching paint-job (not to forget the headdresses) bring them all together beautifully.

The sense of chaos in the moment, yet of organised urgency in the face of opposition (on both sides) is got-across magnificently and this model is a joy to behold; It may have been an act of attempted genocide, or at the very-least; misguided dogma and doctrine on the part of the incomers, the 'illegal immigrants' and their 'state', or - on the other hand - an act of 'futile', too-late resistance or rebellion by the locals, but (as the late David Bowie put it) each man can be a hero, just for one day.

Can you hear the splintering of dry sappling-wood under the weight of rushing (or falling) bodies . . . the screams of the wounded and dying, the manic yells of frightened men, the shouted orders of command or warning, all over the cacophony of firearms, and - out of shot - artillery . . . can you smell the cloying, devil's breath of cordite, dust, fresh blood and fear, burning the nostrils?

Thank you Mr. Berke. It was a rare treat to find these in my inbox . . . and - quite by accident - due to the contributions of Glenn and yourself; 2019 seems to have become 'New Zealand Year' here at SSW!

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events; Saturday 6th-Friday 12th April 2019

Well . . . so . . . errr . . . phew! That was an interesting un-birthday, was it not? We're still 'In' and looking for another extension as I write, which is all looking good for this year's May PW show!

I love the juxtaposition of the ES shot above, being a complete opposite of the demographic stereotypes we've been led to believe 'make up' the Brwreakshit/Remoan divide; with the 'old git' (whom the Guardian would have us believe is a reactionary, parochial Brexiteer) supporting Europe, while a young Afro-Caribbean looking chap (the Daily Pail would hysterically inform us was some sort of loony left, ganja-smoking immigrant layabout not interested in the crown or state and 'probably' illegal) is supporting 'Out'.

Note however - how the other stereotype of shouty, pointing, spittle-flecked aggression from the Brwreakshiteer is true to form, while the liberal leftie just looks faintly bemused! Right Wing pro-Brexit protests tend end in violence, Left Wing pro-Peoples's-Vote protests usually end with some Labour Front-bencher wishing everyone a safe journey home on the tube!

And does the guy on the right (in all senses of the word!) not understand what might happen to him if Mogg, Johnson and Farage (rhymes with C**t) start appointing Tommy Robson's goons to run the country, after all; a lot of intellectual Jews in 1930's Germany voted for Herr Hitler's mob to 'sort the country out'.

No doubt something they lived to repent at leisure . . . no, sorry, something they rapidly died regretting. But make no mistake, that's how the wind blows - in Trump's America, in Erdogan's Turkey, in Orban's Hungary, in Brazil, the Philippines, Rumania, Israel and elsewhere. And it was started by Teresa May-be Maybe-not's 'Hostile Environment' while she was Home secretary, also overseeing massive cuts to policing, prisons and probation - each of which is now in crisis!

So, for another week, the only ointment I can offer you is toy-buying while there are still toys to buy and a bit of geldt to buy them with!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Toy Fairs

Saturday 6th April 2019

Cardiff - Chris Dyer Fairs

Penarth Leisure Centre, Andrew Road, Cogan, Cardiff, Wales, CF64 2NS.
Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

Hours unknown

Admission [probably] £2

Purley - East Surry N Gauge (ESNG) / N Gauge Forum - N Gauge SouthEast

Riddlesdown Collegiate, Honister Heights, Purley, Surrey, CR8 1EX

Web. - www.NGaugeSouthEast.co.uk

The Facebook - N Gauge SouthEast Show

10:00-16:00hrs

Admission £7.50, children £3.00, family ticket £20.00

Refreshments

Free Parking

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Sunday 7th April 2019

Bolton - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - 'Macron'

The Premier Suite, Macron Stadium, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 6SF

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

[Probably] 10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £4.00, early-bird £8, (from 08:00hrs), seniors £3.50, children £1

Free parking

Eastbourne - Eastbourne Historic Vehicle Club - Toy & Transport Collectors Fair 

Polegate Community Centre, 54 Windsor Way, Polegate, Eastbourn, East Sussex, BN26 6QF

Web. - www.ehvc.co.uk
Telephone unknown

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission£1.50p, children free

Club event

Falkirk, Scotland - McLaren Models

Tel. - 01324 624 102

(All other details here)

Malvern - Bulldog Fairs

The Seven Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire; WR13 6NW

Web. - www.bulldogfairs.com

eMail - bulldogfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01373 452 857

Mob. - 07917 125 641

10:30 - 14:30hrs

Adults £4, under 16's free if accompanied, early-bird (from 08:30hrs) £10.

Spalding - Colin Boor - Model Tractor, Construction & Literature 2019

Springfields Exhibition Centre, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 6ET

Web. - www.spaldingmodeltractor.com

eMail - spaldingmodeltractor@gmail.com

Tel. - 07710 321 471

10:00 - 15:00hrs

Admission £6, accompanied children free

St. Ives - J&J Fairs (J&J Webb)

'One Leisure' St. Ives, Burgess Hall Events & Conference Centre, Westwood Road, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, PE27 6WU

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383

10:00 - 14:30hrs

Admission - Adult £3.00p, seniors £2.50, 1st child £2.00p

Where the cats and the sacks and the wives came from, not Cornwall!

Swindon - Retro Ronnie

Swindon Town Football Club, County Ground, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 2ED

Web - www.retroronnie.com

Mob. I - 07708 385 061

Mob. II - 07900 266 427

Hours unknown

Admission charge unknown

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tuesday 9th April 2019

Hook - Steven Clements Fairs - Hook Evening Fair

Hook Community Centre, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9NN

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

18:30 - 21:30hrs

Admission £1

Free parking

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Auctions

Saturday 6th April 2019

Ilkley - Hartleys Auctioneers And Valuers

Victoria Hall, Little Lane, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 8EA

Web. - www.hartleysauctions.co.uk

eMail - info@hartleysauctions.co.uk

Tel. - 01943 816 363

Viewing 13:00-17:30hrs, Friday 1st April (today) and from 09:00-12.30hrs on the day of the sale; sale starts 12:30hrs.

General toys, collectables and autographs.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Monday 8th April 2019

Downham Market - Barry L Hawkins

The Estate Office, 15 Lynn Road, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9NL
Web. - www.barryhawkins.co.uk
eMail - info@barryhawkins.co.uk
Tel. -01366387180

Sale starts 10:00hrs

Scale models and collectable toys

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tuesday 9th - Thursday 11th April 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (3-day sale)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

01642 750 616

Tuesday 9th - Wednesday 10th - Specialist die-cast sale

Thursday 11th - General toy sale

[Note: There will be imagery and blurb from Vectis, probably on Monday or over the weekend so I'll do a follow-up 'News Views' before the sale]

Tuesday -

"The Specialist sale to be held on the 9th of April starts at the earlier time of 10am to incorporate the seven private owner collections. The Iain Gothard Collection, The Colin Collin's Collection - Part 2, The North East Collection, The European Military Collection, The Oxfordshire Collection, The Hereford Collection - Part 2 and The Swiss Collection all include Corgi and Dinky models. Including sports, racing and road cars; commercials, trucks, buses, farm, and military; Gift Sets, TV & Film related, French Dinky and Trade Packs. Plus others, including Britains Motorcycles, Scalextric, Budgie, Solido and more. Also included in the sale are White Metal & Resin lots from TW Collection (Trevor Wright models), Durham Classics and Brooklin. Plus, factory wrapped Dinky models, Corgi pre-production (1st shot) samples, catalogues, reference books and much more."

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Thursday 11th April 2019

Heathfield - Watson's Auctions

Heathfield Auction Rooms, Burwash Road, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 8RA

Web. - www.watsonsauctioneers.co.uk

eMail - auctions@watsonsauctioneers.co.uk

Tel. - 01435 862 132

Sale starts 10:00am

Toys & Transport Auction

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (last day of a three day auction)

[see entry/note above]

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Other Events

Legotastic!

There is not one, not two, not five, but at least six events involving Hestair Kiddycraft's most famous product (unless the stacking/Russian barrels were your favorite!), over the Easter break. . . and they're the ones that I KNOW ABOUT.

I bet there are more - where you are - as two of these are local-to-Basingrad things organised by those bandwagon firms exploiting the hegemony of the Danes in the [stolen] construction-brick business for some of the cash-crumbs!

Basingstoke - Milestones Museum - Bricktropolis and the Attack of the Mighty Monsters
Leisure Park, Churchill Way West, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 6PG (venue)

Web. - www.milestonesmuseum.org.uk
Tel. - 01256 639550 (venue)
Hampshire Cultural Trust, Chilcomb House, Chilcomb Lane, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8RB (offices)
eMail - enquiries@hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk
Tel. - 01962 678140 (offices)
Open - Tuesday-Friday 10:00- 16:45hrs, Saturday-Sunday 11:00-16:45hrs, Mondays closed

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Basingstoke - Festival Place Shopping Precincts - Lego in Space

Starts 13th - Details next week

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

London (Forrest Hill) - The Horniman Public Museum and Public Park Trust - Brick Wonders
100 London Road, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3PQ

Web. - www.horniman.ac.uk
Tel. - 020 8699 1872
Until 27th October 2019
Temporary Exhibition Space

Forrest Hill tube station and overground

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Washinton (Tyne & Weir) - Giant Lego Brick Animal Trail

WWT, Washington Wetland Centre, Washington, Tyne & Weir

Web. - wwt.org.uk

From Saturday 6th April 2019

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Winchester - Marwell Zoo - Brickosaurs!
Marwell Wildlife Park, Thompsons Lane, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1JH.
Web. - www.marwell.org.uk
eMail -  marwell@marwell.org.uk
Tel. - 01962 777407
Friday 5th April - Sunday 1st September 2019

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Windsor - Legoland - New Ride; The Haunted Monster Party

Opens 13th April - Details next week

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Re-enactment

Saturday 6th-Sunday 7th April 2019

Bury St. Edmonds - National Trust - 95th Rifles; Battle of Waterloo

Ickworth, Bury St. Edmonds

Web. - www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Children's drill workshops

Field-surgery demo's

Battles!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here -  FOR FREE  - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Competition - Just for Fun!

Tom Clague sent this image of a retail item for sale in Australia . . .

The competition is simple, what is it? Answer next week! I can tell you it's not a pencil sharpener, nor a topper (pencil or bottle), I can also tell you that you probably can't afford it, even though it looks to be an innocuous, probably resin, touristy, keepsakey, diver figurine, which - apparently - it isn't!

If you know - because you're in that trade - eMail me for later credit but don't spoil it for any guessers! For the guessers - there may be a further clue on Monday . . .

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

H is for How They Come In

This is a few bits which have come in over the last two weeks, along with an interesting infant's farm set and a mini-board game which will get their own posts, the two Almirall Hussars/Chasseurs (I don't know how you tell them apart!) are missing swords, but they were cheap!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

And finally . . .

No toys in the media this week, but Tom also saw this and sent it along with the diver -

Apparently someone in the Brwreakshit Command & Control Centre (hahahahaha! There's no command and they're not in control!) think people (in THE ANTIPODES) needing some hi-tech financial services might seek them on the OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!

Evan as Ford threatens to move all its factories out of the UK . . . presumably this is the work of the useless, serial-resigner Davis, or is it that cockwomble Fox? Forgetting that when we joined the EU in '73 (after the French had prevented us from doing so for a decade or two), we left the Kiwi's and the Aussies hanging!

If Brwreakshit was a book, you wouldn't bother to finish the second half and would give it a shit review on Amazon - This is far-fetched, with an unbelievable plot, unrealistic dialogue and the leading characters are all cardboard cut-outs from B-Movie's central casting!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★