About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Saturday, December 31, 2016

M is for More Snowmen!



These came in about 8 weeks ago, 35p each, so just over the quid in a rummage basket in Woking - from under the nose of PW's editor . . . bwahahahahah! - To be fair I don't think he collects spike-bottomed cake decorations, he leaves that sort o'shite to me!

Three of them, in a nice metafleck finish which shimmers slightly in the light - sans spike they join the unit, in total I reckon I must have around 100 snowmen now, I should form them into an army; definitely a sub-collection!

6 is for Christmas; Day six - Snowman . . .



. . . Number six!

Bit of a struggle getting it off the truck and finding room for it on the lawn. Gina stopped for coffee again; they were getting quite friendly . . .

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A hollow styrene moulding in two parts, he needed a little mend to his broom, he looks cheap and was probably sold loose from the little bins in catering equipment shops as a generic? Just to prove me wrong he'll turn-up in a bag or blister now, you'll see! Seems to be a reversed copy of an old Gem or Festival moulding?

Friday, December 30, 2016

B is for Car, no! C is for Boat, Doh!



Looked at a while ago, and I think I published both halves, but in different posts, here they are together!

Bath-toy, carpet-toy, bath-toy, carpet-toy . . . brilliant! "Hey Kiddo, any idea why the carpet's wet?" Maker unknown, possibly US of A, dime-store type thing?

5 is for "On the fifth day of Chrissssstmaaas, His True Love Sent to Hiiiiiiimmm...."

We've got it; Snowman No. 5

He and Gina had a bit of a laugh about it over coffee; still - more time for a chat, as they'd got the unloading down to 12 minutes!

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Another Chalkware figurine

Thursday, December 29, 2016

P is for Pride - The Lion



Another piece of tat I found on clearance a couple of few years ago, this is the Olympic team's mascot (as opposed to those awful abominations that represented London2012), whether it was just for those Olympics (hence a 2014 clearance) or is still the mascot I don't know, and I don't need to know - if they changed mascot for Rio, it'll turn-up as clearance tat in about 18 months time!

He certainly seems to have been designed by the same person who did the Olympic mascots, but because he's an actual lion-thing, rather than the WTF-things of London2012, he looks OK, a bit Art Deco - stylistically - but eminently more bearable than the other two!

The thing is - let's be honest - these mascots are now designed first-and-foremost to be worn as a foam-suit by some poor sweating, dehydrated, jobbing-actor who can barely see where he/she's going, while taking muttered instructions from someone with a clipboard and an earpiece!

4 is for "On the fourth day of Chrissssstmaaas...."



A fourth snowman!

So he'd got the measure of it by now - he hopes? The quirk of his 'True Love' in sending a snowman was writ large, she was clearly going to send 12, it was 'quirk' all right - on another level!

They got the unloading down to 14 minutes...plenty of time for a coffee and bit of small-talk with Gina . . . didn't I mention the driver was called Gina? She was.

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Chalkware snowmen are an old favourite of mine, and I have more in storage, we may even have looked at them on the blog, until a few years ago I would have said "you can still get these" meaning they were still contemporary, I now think they are getting thin on the ground and if you are lucky enough to find mint ones in a bakers they are probably old stock, not replacement stock?