About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Monday, May 13, 2013

T is for Tat, Quality TAT!

Those who know me from the show circuit will be familiar with my tendency to verbally correct anyone describing common, made in Hong Kong or damaged staff as rubbish, junk or car-boot scrapings with the - tongue in cheek - prefix 'quality', as it quality rubbish, quality junk, quality car-boot scrapings...well; this is quality TAT!

These first appeared in public - as far as I know - in Plastic Warrior magazine a couple of three years ago - or so? If you are a subscriber you'll know! I didn't collect the larger scales then, but had some of the figures as they come-in at around 50 mil and I'd been collecting up to just under 54 for a while, and I sort of fell for it, it's quite an unusual thing, being a copy in plastic of a poured-metal model. Therefore when I saw one at the PW show I just had to have it!

It should be pointed-out that the PW one was in much better condition and boxed, so I present this purely as a new acquisition/box-ticker rather than as the definitive word on the subject! I think also the boys at Moonbase Central have carried a few bits of TaT over the years as well!

A straight copy of the old Britains lead Bren-gun Carrier, the figures can be found loose as Britains hollow-cast lead, and a soft yellowish-brown ethylene (late Britains) as well as these styrene ones (which is why I had them in the "unknown seated military" box). While the Vehicle is 54mm (the Britains 'standard'), the vagaries of production in both metal and plastic, means no leg-room and an inability of the figures to sink into their seat/place like you or I, hence they often tend to be a bit smaller when issued with vehicles.

Note - compare the riveting of the push-and-go motor with the shot I'll be adding to the Shamber's post below any minute now...

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