Paul V's nice comment about making his Tamiya Samurai models whilst listening to The Year of the cat reminded me of a bloglet I wrote over a year ago, which was languishing in one of my dormant blogs and might be fun to post here now.
Not much stuff from my early childhood has survived but some from around 12 years old has, particularly martial arts stuff. I put this down to two things: I collected so much martial arts material and it was either in the form of papers or were small items, which I'd put in a large document case that travelled with me.
Two of my most important surviving martial arts toys are a pair of small metal Samurai figures (above - better pics to follow). There's a naginata [halberd] missing from the right one I think and the Ebira [quiver] has broken off the left. I remember so clearly getting the figure on the left, a ROSE kit, one Christmas in the early 1970's. It came in several parts in a small plastic bag and had a distinct and wonderful metallic smell once opened. Amazingly I have even managed to hold onto the colour scheme I worked out for this model, drawn on a school timetable! This has survived in an old handkerchief box I have pictured below, the 'Budo Box'!
Also in the box is a postal order counterfoil for Miniature Figurines, which I kept after sending off payment for another Samurai model. A postcard from the company, ARGYLL, has survived too. It all relates to either the metal RUBIN figure to the left in the picture above or the small metal miniatures, pictured below, which have survived in a wooden Indian box my Mum gave me.This box became the centrepiece of my Cha-No-Yu (tea ceremony) or Iai-do (Japanese Sword) paraphernalia back then when I was 13 and I wanted to be a Zen or Shaolin Monk! Happy days!
The far right figure is an Orc! [better pictures to follow]. I have some more Samurai model stuff [and tons of books] and will dig it out. Any more Ronin out there?
I was fortunate in having a best friend with a father interested in samurai. Had some beautiful swords I remember, which we were eventually allowed to hold and inspect after a most informative lecture about them, including stern admonitions about touching the blades. Because a fingerprint would rust into it. And because those things are -frightfully- sharp. He also had tsubas all over the house (that's the buttplate between blade and grip) which were magnificent bits of art, wonderful to see. He once put in a postal bid on an auction in NY, thinking he'd get some of the leftovers, but was lucky and astounded to end up with each and every one. That's something I'd still like to find, too, just one distinctive one. Type the word tsuba into google and hit images, you'll see what I mean.
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Paul
Know what you mean about tsubas Paul. I adored them and all things Nihon To. As a young teenager I advertised in the local paper if anyone had a cheap Wakisashi they could sell me! They didn't and I had to settle for a factory-made knockoff Katana from a catalogue, which I still have and occassionally get out for some Iai-do [sword drawing] in the garden. It's funny about your best friend's Dad and his sword. The closest I ever came to real thing was borrowing my uncle's Katana from WWII. He allowed me to take it apart, tsuba, habaki [collar] and all, so I could write down all the details and take rubbings of any relief. Ah the memories! I still have the rubbings somewhere. Total samurai geekdom.
ReplyDeleteHey Woodsy, I was just taking a closer look when I realised that the postcard was from Argyle models. Well as it happens Argyle Model Dockyard (as we knew it) was THE model shop in Glasgow and I spent many a happy hour there perusing it's well stocked shelves. Sadly it closed down (though I don't remember when exactly) it was situated under the Central station bridge in Glasgow which is known to every Glaswegian as 'The Heilanman's umbrella'
ReplyDeleteSuch a small world Steve! What a great name for a model shop, a dockyard! I used to love sending postal orders off for stuff and I must have sent Argylle one, though the PO stub pictured is for Miniature Figs Ltd. Not sure where that was but it must have been for a samurai or other, that's all I sent off for! I reckon it's the two very small samurai in the bottom pic.Painting models had a long tradition in our family home, my brothers had painted a whole ghoulish gang of Aurora Monster models years before, none of which have survived. Drat.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of "model dockyards" in UK model (manufacturing) history. The first one will have been a company producing model ships, and the designation will have caught on from there, to eventually be used for a shop as well.
ReplyDeleteHaving just briefly looked into it out of curiosity, what prompted my reply was knowing of the famous Clyde Model Dockyard. Which I now see was located in Argyll Arcade (Buchanan Street), Glasgow. Which makes me wonder if that's the shop Steve remembers (I'm jealous now, sounds like a shop I would've loved to've visted!).
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(and there I read that maybe it still can be seen)
Argyle Models apparently started as a china shop with a model department, located in Argyle Street. They sound like two separate establishments to me?
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Paul
minute picture of it here:
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Hey Paul,you'd be right about dealing with two separate shops here as the Argyle model dockyard was on Argyle st and the Argyll arcade is a covered shopping street which has one entrance on Argyle st and the other on Buchanan st which intersects Argyle st. I haven't been in the Argyll arcade in ages but it's mostly made up of high end jewellry and watch shops (if you have to ask the price....you can't aford it!!)
ReplyDeleteAnd you're also right about loving to visit it...you'd have everything you could want in the world of modelmaking. We are well served here now with a 'The Model Zone' (very good stock) in the St Enoch shopping centre and Jamisons Models in the Saltmarket area (also well stocked!)Oh, and Woodsy, I can remember drooling over the Aurora kit of the U.S. Navy's 'Sealab II' do you remember that kit? (never got it though!)
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