My recent trip to a fab vintage toy shop was a salutary lesson in why you shouldn't rush.
The Missus and me agreed I'd be in there twenty minutes, whist she mooched elsewhere. In hindsight, it wasn't enough!
I looked and rummaged among the thousands of items in the shop with a view to a couple of investments and maybe something for myself, perhaps even a Redline.
The shop always carries a few sixties Hot Wheels in a locked cabinet. Once opened I made my choice, a nice Silhouette, not perfect, but one I could touch up a bit. Result! It went in the bag the assistant had open.
Next I chose a small Action Man soldier, which I guessed was a modern version of my beloved Little Big Man. The assistant opened the cabinet and having pointed at the little fella I walked off to look for more goodies.
This came in the form of an Action Force cruiser, a palitoy vehicle I'd not seen before. That went in the bag too.
With the twenty minutes up and a small discount applied by the assistant I went away a happy boy.
Until, that is, I got home!
Alas, for some reason the assistant had put in a full-size modern Action Man skin diver instead of the little guy!
I was gutted as, with a bunch of original items I have (thanks Bill) I'd planned to relive past glories with my little big man!
But that wasn't all.
To some extent it got worse.
When choosing my Hot Wheels Silhouette Id simply assumed it was a redline since it was surrounded by .... Redlines.
Turns out it isn't a Redline at all!
Here's a proper Mattel Silhouette.
Hurry is never your best friend Harry (Just made that up!) A horror story indeed, with a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteGreat line Arto! I shall remember that!
DeleteCaveat Emptor! Just had a similar experience. Bought a bunch of DVDs at the local Goodwill and, getting them home, found they were without Discs. Lesson learned? Always look inside the Jacket! SFZ
ReplyDeleteOh no! I sympathise SF! What a sickener!
DeleteWhat a horrible day. Bought a few kits that it turned out had already been started, and a couple of die-casts in what turned out to be reproduction boxes. At a fair, you can not simply go back the next day or next week.
ReplyDeleteWhat, your recent toy fair Paul?
DeleteNo, these were things I have bought at various fairs over a period of years. Finding a half-built model in a kit box is always a disappointment.
DeleteWithout seeing the underbody, my money is that small figure is a madelman.
ReplyDeleteCan't see any markings Lance. What should I look for?
DeleteWell, for Madelman, they are marked "Madelman," "Made in Spain," or "Industrias Madel," while later or international variants may show "Exinmex" for Mexican releases. Check the lower back, neck, or shoulders for embossed, incised text.
DeleteHowever, it may actually be a Little Big Man figure. LBM should be marked "Palitoy" or "Made in England" on the back, buttocks, or head.
LBM has a all flesh tone body while Madelman has a white upper torso and hips as if wearing a t-shirt and briefs. Madelman also has a funky neck, kind of a inverted cone is shape while LBM has a more "normal" looking one.
If the figure is unmarked, it is likely a generic, cheaper, or later clone rather than an original 1970s Palitoy LBM figure.
I made a rushed purchase at a closing car boot a couple of years ago, Woodsy. It was a graphic novel of The Trigan Empire. Wasn't until I got it home I realised the text was in Spanish - 'No entiendo, amigo'.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. Hilarious Tony!
DeleteI used to dream I'd found some amazing toy shops, but they were always closing in ten minutes! I'd be desperately trying to see it all!
ReplyDeleteStrangely, since I actually got to live in my own private toy shop, those dreams have disappered!
If only we could all visit your Aladdin's Cave Looey!
Deletemy major regret is back in the mid eighties, when i was unemployed and on benefits, i found an old shop near my girlfriends house. Walking past one Sunday afternoon, I saw a Matt Mason figure in the window. Turns out the owner had found a load of unopened boxes of sixties toys at the back of his store room and one whole wall was covered with Matt Mason accessory packs, Sgt Storm and Callisto figures. I managed to buy Sgt Storm and a Callisto and convinced my bemused girlfriend to buy one or two suits. I went back next week and a lot had been bought, but i gathered one of each different carded set. He also had some odd Marx toys, like a Hovercraft and a tinplate airliner and the Dalek, which was missing its arms. Despite me badgering him every week, he wouldn’t let me in the back room and as I was strapped for cash, I only managed to buy a tiny proportion of all the toys he had. If it had been today, i’d have gone in with plastic in hand and a van outside! Bill
ReplyDeleteA classic If Only Bill. What a shop it must have been! And what about the van you bought you're Roxy SpaceX from! We've have to drive off with it now!
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