Sad to hear that Tony James, who created Comet Miniatures, and ran Timeless Hobbies online has passed away.
Tony was a familiar face at the many Smallspace events. He was certainly a popular guy with everyone, always bringing along a vast array of sci-fi kits.
I bought a fair number from him, myself.
Our sincere condolences to his family.
Very sad news Scoop. I've been drooling over Comet Miniatures ads for decades in mags like Model Mart. They even issued their own die-cast Anderson mini kits I think. Mr. James was a pioneer. A sad loss to the community. RIP.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Woodsy. I collected a fair number of the small metal die-casts through ads in the S.I.G. magazine during the the early days of FANDERSON. l still have a small die cast SHADO Lunar Module in the collection, as well as the Comet Miniatures Liberator (Their first plastic injection kit I believe). I still have a couple of vac-formed Stingrays, Fireball XL-5, and Thunderbird 1 kits to make eventually.
DeleteDidn't know about this.
ReplyDeleteI first came across him and Comet whe I was introduced to him, in the late 80s, by Mat Irvine.
Mat and others at the BBC bought loads of kits from him to dress many models for BBC sci fi shows like Dr Who, Blakes 7, Hitchhikers Guide and so forth.
We also bought kits from him for use on the earlier Red Dwarf series.
His shop was a treasure trove of genre kits, and his stalls at Smallspace reflected this.
A sad loss of an unsung 'silent' contributor to British TV Sci Fi over 2 or 3 decades.
He certainly was a great character, Mish. A friend of mine, who lived in London at the time bought a lot of stuff at the Comet Miniatures shop , not long before Tony decided to close it, and got some really good discounts for the larger Product Enterprise resin Thunderbird models.
DeleteTony once told me that Steve Walker, of Product Enterprise fame, during his early pre-P.E. days often used Tony's shop to sell some of his early models which eventually evolved into the Product Enterprise brand, long before becoming Sixteen 12.
Someone else I will never get to know—what a gut punch.
ReplyDeleteA lovely guy, for sure, but I could never persuade him to give me a discount!;D
DeleteI'm Surprised on that. When I used to go to his shop at Lavender Hill, I would spend around £200-£300 on a trip. I would ask and he'd give me some discount and at times I would get some discount and be allowed to choose some paint and brushs for free. A great guy and sorry to hear of his passing
DeleteHa,ha! To be honest I never spent that much.;D
DeleteHe was certainly a top bloke. We'll miss him at this year's Smallspace.