Plastic 00 figures 1950-80

[BernardTPM]

Minor update. Photo added of one of the HR Productions figures under Miscellaneous.

 

edit 31-3-'22

Lost photo, but all four figures are shown in link given (front and rear), so not bothering to replace this one.

Edited April 1, 2022 by BernardTPM

[locomad2]

On 05/06/2020 at 19:26, BernardTPM said:

I set the titles up for each section so they didn't get separated. There are still more pictures to come though. I'm hoping to add a fair number for Subbuteo over the next couple of days.

 

I need to find out more about Slater's; a more definite start date would be useful. I know they were originally painted and boxed but whether they were also abvailable unpainted originally I don't know. I'm hoping a dig through some old magazines and catalogues might help, but that is for later. The policeman does not look like a Slater's figure. The lady in mustard, the gent in red/brown and the postman are the shared with Merit, but the porter and shepherd could only be Merit.

Interesting thread very informative, I've some Slater's fiqures I found recently, I think purchased at Manchester Model railway show at UMIST about 1979, set of 8 painted in a small plastic bag

 

 

Quite a considerable about of flash on all

[BernardTPM]

Thanks. Interesting that of those eight all but the policeman are matched (other than for colour) in the Merit sets, the Merit policeman having his hands behind his back rather than directing traffic.

That makes at least four figures (the three seated I mentioned here, plus the policeman) that are only 'Huminiatures' when in plastic. Of course, there may be others I haven't noticed yet.

Edited February 9, 2021 by BernardTPM

[Il Grifone]

The policeman is particularly useful as an excuse for all the stationary road vehicles on the layout.

[David_Belcher]

14 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Thanks. Interesting that of those eight all but the policeman are matched (other than for colour) in the Merit sets, the Merit policeman having his hands behind his back rather than directing traffic.

That makes at least four figures (the three seated I mentioned here, plus the policeman) that are only 'Huminiatures' when in plastic. Of course, there may be others I haven't noticed yet.

Exactly what I thought...the guy with the shovel is similar to the figure in either the Merit platelayers or coalmen & scales sets?

 

David

Edited February 10, 2021 by David_Belcher
Minor typo.

[BernardTPM]

Yes, he features in both 5077 Track Maintenance Party and 5078 Cable Laying Party. There's a very similar variant with a long hammer in both too. The one in the 5029 Coalmen set looks rather more relaxed and natural. The other six figures you'll find in 5057 & 5058, Passengers, standing A & B, though the golfer in the Slater's set has lost his clubs.

 

Except they are two different manufacturers, of course!

[Il Grifone]

Chopping the golf bag off was a standard modification. There is a limit to the number of golfers one needs, like zero....

[BernardTPM]

That's true. I've removed the golf bag from a Hornby Dublo plastic figure too.

See picture in later post of 11th February.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by BernardTPM

[locomad2]

I've other packs somewhere, however I know many were opened and used years ago, these came painted and without stands so quickly got glued on to then existing layouts. The policeman very handy for 60's street scenes as I can actually remember them in real life directing traffic especially in seaside resorts as then not considered cost effective to install traffic lights for short busy peak seasons. The mail boy another common fiqure which did appear in the merit boxes, I used to chop off the bases so can't see any difference between them now. I often wonder did they come from the same mould ?

 

Can anyone remember the subbuteo crowd fiqures sold about 1980, unpainted crowd fiqures both seating and standing ? Sold in poly bags. I've seen some on toyfairs 1000's of them in bags, however seller wanted silly money for them 

[BernardTPM]

The unpainted Subbuteo crowd set was C168 shown here, the slight drawback being that the figures are a little large for 4mm as they come, though I have had some results in shortening them. For completeness I may add them to the Subbuteo section, but with that warning note.

They do have well sculpted faces that could be transposed onto other figures (for the other Dr. Frankensteins out there ).

Edited February 10, 2021 by BernardTPM

[Steamport Southport]

50 minutes ago, locomad2 said:

 

Can anyone remember the subbuteo crowd fiqures sold about 1980, unpainted crowd fiqures both seating and standing ? Sold in poly bags. I've seen some on toyfairs 1000's of them in bags, however seller wanted silly money for them 

 

And your travelling army
Of synthetic supporters
Would be taken away from you
And thrown in the bin.

 

 

From All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit by Half Man, Half Biscuit.

 

 

Jason

[BernardTPM]

I've added the unpainted spectators to the Subbuteo section, though with a note that they are slightly large. Here's a picture of two of them, original and slightly reduced/altered with the sitting figures from the Airfix Platform figures set.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by BernardTPM

[Il Grifone]

Subbuteo claimed to be 00 scale, but I think they are 1/72 or 25mm figures, rather like the Crescent farm series (metal so I'll say no more) and the Dapol platelayers. You can get away with them as long as they are in the foreground and not next to something that is to scale (Preiser/Mortem are 1/87 and work the other way. A lot of buildings are on the small side (especially Continental kits) so these can help here.

I bought some of the Subbuteo spectators some years ago. (My parents were living in Leamington Spa at the time, so it must have been late '80s/early '90s.) Most of them are still in a box, as there were only four different figures and they all are cheering. One is the same as the third from the left above, but I think the others are different. I'll have to dig them out and check. One of the ladies has been chopped up and drives a Matchbox MG TD sports car.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Il Grifone

[BernardTPM]

They do vary in size, the later ones with the integral bases tend to be smaller than the ones with the big, separate (usually green) bases. Then again, people vary in size too.

There were five different spectator figures, one an older guy with a hat.

 

Here's a selection of figures (less bases), left to right Lookout from Airfix 03628-1, Workman from Bachmann 36-403, modified Golfer (clubs bag removed) from Hornby Dublo 052, Photographer from Subbuteo later C104, Farmer (less gun, plus pipe) from Merit 5115 and Fielder from Subbuteo TC-A.

Edited April 1, 2022 by BernardTPM

[BernardTPM]

Most missing pictures replaced.

[BernardTPM]

Small update of the first Merit section.

[jon attwood]

A few models from my collection which may be relevant to this thread,

Crescent plastic figures, moulded in blue with England 001 - 004 cast under the base. These were as far as I know only in set 2135. There is a full boxed set on the Brighton toy museum website. My figures are loose, and the only full set I know of outside the museum, does anyone have any more?

 

And secondly, Tiny Trojan, these plastic figures appear identical to the Britains for Trix or early Wardie diecasts, but in a different material and paint finish. These were reviewed in Railway Modeller in 1958. They do appear to be rare, but might well exist misidentified in collections. I have never seen a set in its original packaging. There is a second set (which I haven't yet got), of passengers, again based on Britains/Trix models

 

There are other British plastics from this era which I intend to post soon.

 

Jon

Edited May 24, 2023 by jon attwood
added information

[jon attwood]

More Merit figures.

The remote control driving test game, introduced in 1955 contained plastic figures, Identical to some Wardie diecasts, It is likely that these were actually manufactured by Kemlows as an outside contract, but I cannot provide evidence for this. my pic shows a comparison with the Wardie diecasts, other pics pinched off the web of a box and contents.

There are packaging variations for this set, some in a box with a london bus on the front, and more modern 'retro' reissues with the figures in blue plastic.

Jon

Edited March 30, 2023 by jon attwood
tidying text

[jon attwood]

Wardie - Mastermodels

 This range, manufactured by Kemlows were usually metal, but there was some late production in plastic, notably their station staff and crew unloading trucks sets. I have attached pics of the Britains for Trix and Wardie Diecasts, as well as the plastic Tiny Trojans for comparison, as many appear very similar. The porter leaning on a churn from the Wardie plastic set is unique to that company. I have not got the crew unloading trucks set in plastic, but it is illustrated in the Kemlows book by Paul Brookes, along with some misidentified Tiny Trojans and Merits.

Jon

[Phil Parker]

23 minutes ago, jon attwood said:

More Merit figures.

The remote control driving test game, introduced in 1955 contained plastic figures, Identical to some Wardie diecasts, It is likely that these were actually manufactured by Kemlows as an outside contract, but I cannot provide evidence for this. my pic shows a comparison with the Wardie diecasts, other pics pinched off the web of a box and contents.

There are packaging variations for this set, some in a box with a london bus on the front, and more modern 'retro' reissues with the figures in blue plastic.

Jon

 

I had one of these as a child - and am sure some of the figures are still lurking in my collection of tiny people somewhere.

[jon attwood]

On 07/06/2020 at 14:40, 5050 said:

I re-read 'Narrow Gauge Adventure' by P D Hancock this morning to check on a few facts and came across some photos showing GF figures on station platform and around his locoshed.  Looks like ther were quite a few.  He also mentions a range from Ireland to a slightly smaller scale but he used several of these also.

A pic attached of the Irish HO range, these are diecast, so not directly relevant to this thread, but as they have been referred to it might be useful to illustate them, they were made from around 1948 to 1950 when the factory was destroyed by fire. note the variations within the set, one with no base, some with thin metal bases marked HE (Holger Erriksson) and two with round bases that appear identical to earlir Hornby Dublos, but hollowcast instead of solid.

[jon attwood]

One of the Triang model - land sets illustrated on the first page of this thread was also available in the Minic Motorways range, RML74 with the workmen in blue was issued as MM70 with the workers in white, I havent managed to find a set for my collection yet, so no illustration, can anyone put up a pic of these?
There were a few figures in 00 from Matchbox, firemen with the early yesteryear Shand Mason fire engine, A hunter and dog with an estate car (no 42 in the range), river police with a police launch and a sailor and waterskier with a speedboat. The commer ice cream van also had a figure, but he is moulded in and not easily removable for use elsewhere on the layout.

 

And a couple of unidentified figures to round off my posting for today, in blue plastic, these do seem to turn up fairly regularly, but I have yet to attribute them to a particular manufacturer, any ideas?

 

[BernardTPM]

I have a set of the white ones (M1709 as mentioned in the Model Land section), but they are literally the same figures moulded in white. Why a pit crew would need a man with a shovel I don't know! I'll dig them out and photograph them and add them to the bottom of my older post. - Done!

I think those last two might be Mainline (Palitoy) figures, the one on the right possibly a diesel driver so there may be a steam loco driver (and secondman?) too. I don't think they were ever sold separately. I've also got some similar pale blue figures, though I think they're nearer H0 than 00.  as shown below, a Triang porter for comparison. The baseless figure I have twice, both without bases. The porter looks to be based on the Tri-ang (styrene) figure, just slightly smaller while the one with the raised arm has a lamp (like Merit/Slaters/Mastermodels) but looks more like the Tri-ang one with a flag otherwise. Both bases have HONG KONG underneath and all three are in a slightly flexible plastic rather than styrene. I wonder if they might have been sold under the Bluebird name in the '60s.

 

 

I suspect most of those Matchbox figures are overscale for 4mm; the Shand-Mason fire engine was listed as 1:63 scale so about S scale, while that ice cream salesman is very big for the van he is in. Some quite nice sculpting though as were the later 1980s Lledo figures, though again scale varied a lot!

Edited April 10, 2023 by BernardTPM

[31A]

On 30/03/2023 at 16:20, jon attwood said:

And a couple of unidentified figures to round off my posting for today, in blue plastic, these do seem to turn up fairly regularly, but I have yet to attribute them to a particular manufacturer, any ideas?

 

The same figures were sold, unpainted and in dark grey plastic, by Replica Railways until fairly recently.  There was another seated figure (without hat) and a version of the seated figure illustrated but only modelled from the waist up, presumably intended as a diesel loco driver.  It's a pity they don't seem to do them any longer as, although they look relatively crude as painted in the photo, if repainted they can make a useful crew for a steam loco.

[St Enodoc]

On 31/03/2023 at 00:55, jon attwood said:

More Merit figures.

The remote control driving test game, introduced in 1955 contained plastic figures, Identical to some Wardie diecasts, It is likely that these were actually manufactured by Kemlows as an outside contract, but I cannot provide evidence for this. my pic shows a comparison with the Wardie diecasts, other pics pinched off the web of a box and contents.

There are packaging variations for this set, some in a box with a london bus on the front, and more modern 'retro' reissues with the figures in blue plastic.

Jon

I had one of those! Long gone, but some of the figures are still in my spares box.