I bought this bunch of action man style stuff in Germany.
I had assumed that they were all either Action Man or Action Team. The blue life vest particularly and the orange life vest were striking.
The blue one remains a mystery but but I did come across another possible source for orange life vests.
Its this Harry figure by Germany's Wentoys.
Looking further into Wentoys and the related Wenco I wondered if these German wild west accessories I had might be theirs.
Bingo! Wenco released wild west outfits including brown stetsons and ..
and black ones.
I also came across this Wild West Cowgirl on Ebay Germany. She's wearing the above outfit in pink.
Her partner is Wild West Cowboy.
I can't see the brand name Wenco on these cards, although the sheriff office facade is the same as the carded outfit above. There is also a black star logo, which I assume is Wenco.
Wentoy's Harry jogged a memory too.
The blister card reminded me immediately of this more modern Made in China Susie doll I bought in Hubbards, an old toy and fancy goods shop in Borth, mid-Wales a few years back.
When I got Susie home I made a connection.
The overall Barbie-clone/ box blister look recalled the three scarce Star Maidens dolls by Portman Productions from 1976 [is there a fourth figure?]
We'd seen these figures already on the blog when I got Susie.
Arto kindly shared this picture of his Star Maidens on display in a Finnish museum.
A few years later I converted Susie into a basic mock Maiden and donated her to Arto.
Connections, connections.
Have you any Wentoys, Wenco toys or even any of the elusive Star Maidens?
Oooh darn it...tis a tad annoying, Woodsy... just when I think I'm starting to get my head around action figures, you just have to go and throw something new in the mix and baffle me, ha ha. What a fantastic selection of figures I previously knew nothing about. They're ace, as is your research. Also, hats off to Arto for having the Star Maidens in his collection! They do look so cool :)
ReplyDeleteha ha, I like to keep yu on your toes Tone. Wentoys were new to me too. As for Star Maidens, watch out for another look and this time at their hats!
DeleteLove the helmet and "visor". My guess is it is the popular at the time gumball football helmet that many a kid, myself included, bought so our GI Joes would have a football helmet to wear only to discover it was a bit too small to get over Joe's head.
ReplyDeleteAs for the air/life vest, I see and own a few of them. That pattern is almost universal and the lettering is to make it closer to the Hasbro version that spawned so many knock offs. Shillman made some of the better quality knock offs. Their M1 carbine is hard plastic with elastic and can easily pass for an original Hasbro. Most companies made cheap softer plastic ones with a random slap of silver paint around the sight area and a molded plastic sling that would snap really easily. I think the marking on the front of your blue vest might lead us to the source but I'm not sure what it is.
Your old west accessories appear to contain a lot of Big Jim camping gear. The shotgun is Big Jim, the clip for the hand under the pump action is a giveaway. The yellow seat is from one of the camper folding chairs. The skillet with decal, the coffee pots, I'm pretty sure the brown cowboy hat and the moccassin are also Big Jim. Seems there's even a couple of detached Big Jim arms peeking into the picture.
I'd wager the long bar in the middle was to hold up the awning on the Big Jim camper.
Great minds think alike Lance. The secret Maiden Helmet dossier has just been posted!
DeleteFab observations Lance. I got this loose bu dle in Germany where Big Jim was also popular. With your help iVe ID'd everything e cept the table pedestal at the right of the piccy. As for the maiden's headgear check out tomorrows post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony & Woodsy, Star Maidens dolls are a very special fave of mine. Especially The Guard whose outfit is a killer! I'm excited what the eagle-eyed Woodsy has trawled together about its origins. Lance seems to have a hunch already, thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGet ready for more Maidens talk from Midnight Arto!
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