david_scrivener

The only old commercially made Bull Pen was made by Debtoy in the early 1960s. A fairly basic thing, it was a toy after all, with the building made of thin ply covered with dolls house type brick paper. It had a small run in front. I don't think I can post my photos on the forum as I'm not a member any of the public photo sites, but if you PM me with your email address, I can send photos (there were two versions) as an attachment to an email.

Looking at the whole model/toy old/new figure/vehicle/soldier collector/war gamer/diorama builder etc scene(s) I suppose it is a case of deciding which of these you really are, and prioritise and choose what to buy, and what to do with them, from there. I'm only an old toy collector, and so have never had to even think about such dilemmas.

4 & 5

See their website: http://www.plasticwarrior.co.uk/ It is a monthly, subscription only, magazine about plastic figures, soldiers and others, old and new. They have also published a number of very useful 'Specials' about individual manufacturers (Charbens, Cherilea, Crescent, etc etc) and were involved in Peter Cole's book 'Suspended Animation', about the history of plastic Britains/Herald. A must for plastic figure collecting anoraks.

Sam Fox, ahem, prefers the company of other ladies. so a no go area for you anyway (I never thought she was very attractive at the time, plenty of other models/actresses/etc far prettier, then and now.)

Well said Emily. We'll be getting you interested in lead next. Take a look here, at a mix of zoo and farm figures on Richard Lewis's site: http://www.thetoybox.4t.com/collection16.html (lots of pages - keep going to see them all)

His predecessor in 1961 had an apparently considerably heavier sack. Before 'Health & Safety' rules? See: http://www.britainsheraldfarm.co.uk/History1961.html While you're there, take a good look at all the other years highlighted at the first plastic farm range made by Britains. I'm guessing you may not be familiar with the 1950s & '60s range, which many of us older collectors rate as much nicer than most of their figures made since (with a few honourable exceptions).

First, I wondered, does anyone else here subcribe to 'Plastic Warrior' magazine? And if so, anyone got any thoughts on the plastic farm animals I asked about in a letter, which seems to have been transformed into a full page (20) article by the editor in the latest issue?

Methinks a few visits to some greengrocers (shops or market stalls) to collect a few boxes would be a good idea. Banana boxes are good for bigger boxed items, other fruit/veggie boxes for smaller stuff. Then at least they can be stacked up to clear some floor area.

For future reference, it would be easiest if there were separate threads for say: (1) pigs (2) sheep (3) horses (4) poultry (5) anything else First person with relevent photos to start each thread. Not sure whether some exotics, such as wild boar, buffalo, ostriches belong in 'pigs', 'cattle' or 'poultry', or in 'anything else'. Up to poster to decide I suppose.

I know I'm obsessive. was just checking to see whether everyone else does as well. Oh, and have you closed and locked all the windows?

Does this thread need a second poll? Something along the lines of: ( ) Yes, I've got OCD so bad, there's hardly any space left in my house & I seriously need therapy ( ) I'm quite addicted, but the kitchen, bathroom and at least one other room are still 'collection free zones' ( ) There are a few stacks of stuff in boxes, but most of it actually fits in proper cabinets, allotted shelves, etc. ( ) I'm a beginner, the model/toy collection ALL in cabinets or other allotted places, and only a few binders/files of brochures.

I've noticed that Hong Kong copies of farm, zoo, soldiers, cowboys & indians, etc figures from the 1950s-60s are starting to become collectable, and fetch quite high prices (or, at least, the nicer ones are). Pirates of the Britains/Herald Swoppet Wars of the Roses knights (the mounted ones on copies of Timpo crusader/knight horses/blankets) seem to be the most sought after, apparently made in Hong Kong on contract to a company (I think 'Transogram') based in New York, US. I have some HKs (mostly came in 'job lots'), which I've now retrieved from 'the rubbish box', and carefully sorted. Has anyone else noticed this recent rise in the status of HKs?

Yes, according to the Allen Hickling study of Binbak (where I've got all my info about them from), your riding school label is their first, say pre 1965.

The address on the label (The Barn.......) dates this garage to 1972 or after. Bill Baker left the business then, so Jack Binns & his wife kept going by moving to smaller premises, a barn behind their house, then. Jack died suddenly in 1987, but his wife battled on with loyal staff (she had been doing all the admin for years anyway) until 1991, when her sister died, and she had to concentrate on running the family property business. And that was the end of Binbak. They had started in 1946, and in their good years had produced 300-400 forts/castles per year, plus all the other stuff (garages, doll shops, farmyards, etc. Perhaps a total of 1000+ items annually?). I wonder how many have survived to 2011?

Just seen this spoof film review for a US version of 'The King's Spech' on youtube: Great to see Mike Tyson beginning to find a new career as well as the laughs.

I don't go down to Exeter for fairs as there plenty of toy and antiqure fairs at the B&W Showground here at Shepton Mallet to spend all my £££££, plus others events reasonably local. £10 the target then, if I see any.

So at least these two, probably more, cottage style music trinket boxes eh? I'll keep a look out for them around the fairs (I'll leave it to you to look on ebay). What sort of prices are you paying for these? (You can PM the answer to that if you prefer.) As you're in Devon & I'm in Somerset, it's not a million miles for you to collect or us to meet do some swapsies if the occasion requires.

Pretty item, and as I imagine these were sometimes used as toys by kids, they 'qualify' for this thread as far as I'm concerned. The same applies to certain antique, and very valuable, biscuit tins in the shape of farm houses, cottages, and there was one of a greenhouse, litho'd full of plants, which were also used as toys after the biscuits had been eaten. Kids in all but the richest families had to improvise their toys 50+ years ago, so perhaps us collectors nowadays have to think laterally when deciding what to include in our collections.

Go on, keep it, you know you want to. If you're stuck for space, I'm sure this is better than some of your other stuff, sell them instead.

There are no marks on my Riding School roof to indicate a clock tower was ever fixed on. Is yours fixed? or loose & just 'sitting' there? If fixed, perhaps yours is an earlier example, and they stopped the clock later to make packing easier. Sticking up like that it would have easily been damaged/knocked off, and needed a bigger box for no great 'play value' benefit.

I'll pass on the Tri-ang Farm, but some details if anyone else is interested: This is their large farm 'Set No. 2, Cat. 7756', just made 1954-56. rare, but as many said, a bit primitive. I have 3 of the buildings (bungalow, shed & hen house, missing the barn, a slightly lower version of this one, as posted recently in this thread) from their smaller farm set No.1 7757 (1954-58), and the 4 ranch buildings (ranch house, bunk house [missing separate verandah], barn & shed) Cat. 7516, just made 1954-56. All for sale (Yes, I am running out of space) PM me for details. These two farms and one ranch constitute Tri-ang's entire range of 1/32 toy buildings apart from their well known and extensive range of castles. Tri-ang dolls houses are, we know, a whole collecting field of their own, especially their 'Stockbroker' range. The Binbak Riding School is indeed the same one I've got, but just in case, Mandy please PM or email me the price. I'm more interested in the zoo, so again Mandy, please PM or email price. Or are all going on eBay? They are indeed Timpo railings, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is a Timpo zoo as Barton's & probably others, who were all wood toy makers (inc dolls houses etc) bought in railings wholesale from Britains and/or Timpo for their zoos. I have a couple of tentative ideas which company might have made the zoo, but a long way from certain.

Only himself to blame...... a news story from NY, USA: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/03/motorcyclist-dies-helmet-protest_n_889427.html

As an outsider to these threads, I've noticed: 'What really annoyed you today? thread: 932 pages. 'What did you see today that made you laugh?' thread: 253 pages. 'What really pleased you?' thread: 515 pages. Overall, not happy bunnies are you lot? C'mon guys, chill out, think happy thoughts. or as Donald Sutherland kept saying in 'Kelly's Heroes', "More positive vibes man!" (A great film character, even though it was totally unrealistic for WW2.)

You can't remember because I didn't say, because I don't know who made them. I have 14 buildings with corrugated cardboard covered roofs, and others with different roofs which look as though they were made by the same company because of similar designs and/or paint styles. 'I Naylem' blacksmiths could be a Peacock & Co product, who may have also made Mandy's cottage - similar thatched roof, which I think is coconut fibre. Peacock & Co started in 1853, iniially making maps & jigsaw puzzles. Their range gradually increased, the farm buildings being added about 1927-29. The company was taken over by Chad Valley in 1934. I don't know when they stopped making farm buildings. The last building powerrabbit is not sure what it's supposed to be, I'd say a cottage with a garden. They were toys! Don't expect accuracy. Stable+open cart shed type buildings, sometimes with an upper hayloft or human living accomodation (for the groom?) is a common early design in UK made farm buildings. This is because they copied a basic design of previous (i.e. before 1914) imported German stables, the two main companies being Moritz Gottschalk & Christian Hacker. Google 'Gottschalk stable' to see some. These were in larger, dollshouse, scale, and came with wooden or composition people and animals. Britains and their competitors didn't make farm figures until after 1918, when no one wanted to be reminded of war for a while, so weren't buying toy soldiers. The UK made buildings to go with them, by Peacock, Hugar and whoever else, obviously wouldn't have been made before then. Britains launched their first farm figures in 1922, & I imagine JoHillCo started their farm range about the same time, which is also about the time other competitors in farm (& later zoo) toys appeared, Taylor & Barrett, Pixyland and Kew.