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.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I is for Italians

As I seem to have mentioned the post-war Humber utility vehicle once or twice in the last few posts, I thought we'd better look at this one;

Sam Toys of Italy, probably aiming to be around 1:48th scale, making the figures a bit small, this is clearly a straight lift from the Dinky original. It's the only Sam Toy I have and I know little else, but it leads us to other Italian Producers...

Dulcop produced in two sizes, the above row being around 1:48th for the A/Car and close to 1:72 for the two trucks. The armoured car was probably also taken from Dinky, and would go on to be copied both in Hong Kong and in Spain, where Montaplex produced a clip-together version.

The lower row are small at around 1:100 and will have been taken from the Roscopf range, the paint on the end two is not original, but being gloss would not come off well with oven cleaner, yet because the plastic is styrene I can't use caustic paint stripper either so until I find better examples - it stays!

Politoys were a better class of maker than the preceding two, and these are really nice toys for their day. Again shades of Dinky and French Dinky, but nicely executed. The truck has the Lone*Star inspired rocket launcher, another HK favorite while the M20 has a ridiculous-sized MG. Gotta' love the camouflaged boxes though.

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