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.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

C is for Chad Valley via Chap Mai

When I bought this at the PW show in May, neither me nor the seller knew what they were from, but we both agreed they were interesting and well done if a little esoteric, uniform/equipment-wise! A bit like the SOMA figures, but actually Chap Mai.

Well a quick Google revealed tons of 4/5-inch action figures at the budget end of that market, but no little figures (these are 23/25mm), but I was sure I'd seen them somewhere, and an Argos catalogue was the saviour on this occasion.

Foreign readers/visitors will want to know Argos are a catalogue shop, where a small counter with several ordering/paying stations fronts a huge warehouse and the stuff comes up a  conveyor to the hand-over point (I don't know if you have something similar where you are so forgive the egg-sucking explanation!).

As well as the action figures, Chap Mai made two Micromachine type play sets, an Aircraft Carrier and a heavy-lift C130 Hercules type plane, both of which were the carry-case and 'playmat' for a handful of Micro AFV's/'Planes and this frame of figures.

Originally sold in Chap Mai packaging as two separate sets, they are now combined as a contract-product under the Chad Valley label Argos bought from the Woolworth's fire-sale. So anyone wanting these figures can have them for £19.95 (two for thirty quid), with a load of free plastic and die-cast tat thrown in...actually the carrier looks quite good...just the turret looks silly....still Chap Mai and separate sets elsewhere/on the Internet.

Argos Listing

They are OK figures, although as I hinted above; the uniforms/equipment are a bit all over the place. Also unlike the Galoob precedent, they are unpainted and a bit bigger, having the appearance of a last minute chuck-in-the-box for added play value. They would go very well with the Bluebird Zero Hour/Code Zero figures though...very well indeed, look at the frogman...and the heavy bases.

3 comments:

Uncle Brian said...

At least two of those poses are from the new (or more recent) range of Matchbox Battle Kings.

Hugh Walter said...

Hi Uncle B...had to Google the latest development there, shows how much attention I pay to all this new stuff, if there isn't a PSR page, it 'aint out yet!!!

The M'box have squarer bases, but otherwise either the same or similar poses, probably the same 'contract manufacturing'/OEM factory and possibly the same sculptor (an IBM something-or-other? Running Mudbox, Inventor or Sculptris!!)?

Cheers for alerting us/drawing attention to the connection.

H

Hugh Walter said...

PS...love the Jawa Army Group Photo!