Straight Outta Ashton Vale

Just continuing the gangsta theme.  Mind you, I am currently listening to the fantastic Christine and the Queens, from France.

I ramble in the bramble while others scramble. Kah-chaaa!

Only problem cosplaying Tarzan when you walk to the shops or sit on a bus is the willy tends to pop out a lot.

Ahhhh.  Yes, scarily, not in a great deal of pain at the moment but I'm sure that will change when I wake up properly.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

ah. There we go.

So, before anyone calls the police and tells them I'm sitting naked on the roof singing let's get to the point.  Hang on.....YES!  Yes got the postman with a piece of the chimney.

above; 54mm Crescent hollow lead

Anyway, it has been pretty grim on the comics front for a while and so I've been relaxing by painting up some old toy soldiers and finding out what makes they were -I've had some of these things 40 years and last night I spent three hours trying to identify cowboys.  My old hollow lead ones are, of course, Britain's.  I also have a couple of the 1960s plastic Crescent cowboys.

below 1960s Crescent 60mm phot: Kent Owen Sprecher and Toy Soldier HQ Inc -http://www.angelfire.com/biz/toysoldierhq/Crescent.html

 

But the biggest pain-in-the-arsch was a set of seven figures (one without a horse but I have that in a box).  I looked for every make and type of plastic cowboy from the 1950s to the 1960s made in the UK. Nothing.

There was, however, a distinctive look.  With most cowboy figures the neckerchief has the main part usually at the front or to the side (figures 4 and 6 above).  However, with the tie-knot and 'tails' at the front is a mainly European look such as from Elastolin (and, no, I do not have these!):

Europeans seem to like this more formal look -even tewart Granger, actor and man of style displayed this -here Winnetou has a chat with Old Surehand (oo-er!) Stewart Granger who has his knot and 'tails' proudly on show!

But these were not Elastolin.  Then I had this idea: "Terry, why not turn them over and look at their bases?"  and I then banged my head repeatedly on the table -that might explain why this post started the way it did.  Bugger.

So, the blue plastic cowboy (the paint hardly existent on it now) base had "W. Germany" stamped on it.  d'uh!  The others, in a cream plastic, had numbers -1, 3 and 5 (I know there are others here "somewhere"!).  And "Made in Hong Kong" which confused me.  However, with "made in W. Germany" stamped on them I had a clue -I've written books on things that started out with less!

Jean Höfler.  A German manufacturer of Burghaslach in "Middle Franconia". Renamed BIG in 1962.  1960s and it seems some production may -well, obviously!- have gone to Hong Kong though I am not sure if this was legit the figures WERE sold in Germany in the 1960s and that would not have been allowed (legally) without BIG permission.

Miniatures.de has some info on these: http://www.miniatures.de/jean-hoefler-421-cowboys.html

So, I have figures from Set 1 (below) and here is the Winnetou link because the second figure (blue) in row two was rumoured to be based on Granger -it's stated that a lot of figures seem based on stills from Western movies so......?

And set 2 -brother Mike did a nice paint job on my version of the first figure in row one  -with checked shirt (cowboy not Mike).

 

You want to grovel to me then send me Höfler  (one US site writes it "Hoeffler") figures!  I also have a few other figures including knights that seem to be Höfler.

But you sit there asking what this has to do with comics?

Well, in the photo I uploaded to Army Men Home Page, I have my (re-issued) Timpo Cowboys on a shelf next to my Charbens 60mm "Ancient Romans" and next to those are 1990s 50mm astronauts and behind them is the Deluxe Edition of Winnetou starring Pierre Brice and Stewart Granger and that was sent to me by German blogging supremo Subzero!

You see? Synchronicity, man.  Synchronicity (and I don't mean that 1980s album by The Police).

Off for a coffee....then finish off the zombies...toy zombies obviously.