Ah, Avon . . . they have certainly produced a lot of products like that over the years. Nice example. On my way to work on the cycle path there is a woodland area that gets quite dense when you leave the main path to get back on the road. I noticed a big fly-tipped pile of stuff on a little hill the other day, it was a mainly 1950's pile of house clearance belongings, obviously once owned by a female. My guess is someone's granny died and they just dumped all her belongings in the woods rather than take them to the dump . . . . Anyway, being the manic toy hunter i am, i decided to have a good rummage through even though it had all been rained on recently. All the books were soggy and ruined but there was plenty of other stuff like kitchenware, ornaments, clothing, basically the entire contents of her drawers and cabinets etc. I found these two objects plus an original Mary Quant Dizzy Daisy doll from 1973 called 'Peppermint Rock' (with her sunglasses still strapped to her arm - i also managed to save her little booklet 'diary' that was soaked but i've dried it out). I also found a vintage Rosebud pull-along squeaky rabbit, an original 'Lego System' box of white bricks (box all soggy but salvageable), a little blue blow-molded toy rifle and various china and glassware celebrating the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana from 1981. Oh, and a set of 6 nicely detailed lacquered wooden 'Waterfowl' napkin holders . . . . Such a pity someone just fly-tipped it all because there was a lot of interesting stuff in the pile. Most of it ruined. For example a big pile of gramophone records that were mainly shattered because they had become brittle in the cold. There was also a rare Rupert the Bear bendy toy that had disintegrated due to the damp. Loads of lovely vintage kids books all completely ruined. I left about 5 large dolls there too . . . . . I will post up the 1973 Dizzy Doll, the vintage Lego box and the Rosebud rabbit squeaker at a later date. I haven't finished cleaning them yet! I researched this one on the internet . . . its a 1949 Kelo (UK) Super Fire Engine. The ladder wont retract at the moment but its still cool and very rare. This one i'm not sure about. As far as i can tell it's a womans Art Deco metal ashtray from way back. One side looks like a flower petal or leaf, the other is some kind of abstract swan (or thats my guess anyway). Any extra info about it would be appreciated . . . . its quite small and heavy for its size
Some of the other fly-tip goodies after cleaning / drying out . . . . i've posted the rabbit in the 'cute vinyls' thread. Lego set from 1958 9" long blow-mold rifle . . . very likely 1950's or 60's. Mary Quant - Dizzy Daisy - 1973 'Peppermint Rock' Waterfowl wooden napkin holders . . . possibly Japanese.
More cycle-track toy karma . . . i found these in a box full of toys dumped on the side of the track. Mostly crap, but i did find these two and a load of Hot Wheels cars . . . mainly hot-rods. Tomy Optimus Prime and Grimlock Sparker - sparks really well. 65mm high - hard plastic
A bag of vintage pin badges from the boot sale for £2 Here are some of the better ones in the bag . . . all UK-centric of course.
^^ Yeah, its surprising how little i see vintage pins being sold . . . . These two were both 50p . . . one in a charity shop one at a boot sale. The figure with the yellow belt is missing the main part of his cape.
^^ Its one of the best badges in the bag i bought . . . More boot-sale goodies: Vintage Spaceman - 50p Diver from Mouse Trap - 20p Old advertising keyrings - 20p each. 3 pack Italian made Snoopy Air Freshener - 50p
Found in a box on the side of the cycle track - free. Boot Sale - 50p for Vintage matchbox car, 20p for Tweetie. Boot Sale - 30p for Vintage Tonka Chicken Racer Found impaled on some railings on the way to work - free. Blow molded plastic Buddha coin bank.
Boot Sale on the weekend . . . Anyone know where this Mecha Scorpion is from? I dont think its from Transformers, GoBots or Zoids . . . It was extremely dusty but cleaned up nice. I put some batteries in and it works a treat, zooming around with its claws clacking. *** EDIT *** Yuck informed me, its a 'Battling Bug' by 'Arco'. . . . and some more vintage pins. Two big bags of mostly crap but there were a few fun ones in there.
Same boot sale as above . . . Head-popping Madball - 25p Mettoy Alien Monster 1977 De-fanged and missing the hard plastic legs, but still a cool toy - 25p
I'm always bummed when I get to the end of this thread. That little Frankenstein pin & Vintage Spacemen are great finds.
Good eye, i really like that one too . . . it glows in the dark as well. More boot-sale vintage badges:
^^ Yeah man, a lesser known but totally awesome Alan Moore creation. You have very good taste, sir. "Eat Plutonium Death, You Disgusting Alien Weirdos!" – Waldo D.R. Dobbs
Those pins are spectacular! The dentist/doctor ones are probably my favorite. A shame pins got phased out in favor of stickers, though I can understand why... Kids and sharp needles aren't a good mix.
^^ Haha, yeah The same seller keeps bringing out big bags of them for a quid each. There's always a few good ones in each bag . . . . i love the randomness of it all. M.U.S.C.L.E figure . . . 10p same boot-sale.
Do you know the name of the bear protecting the animals? I sorta remember seeing a cartoon of him on VHS when I was a kid, but there are so many bear characters I can't be sure. I think he went to space and had a robot friend.