King and Country Capt. Nick Magura

Sundry Collectibles will be on vacation from July 30 through August 4th, so for the next few days I am going to pull a few items out of the archives and give a brief description of what they are and why I have them in my collection.

Tuesday, July 31st.

What is it?:  King and Country AF-009 Capt. Nick Magura

Why do I have it?:  I like this set and built a diorama using this figure.  I am currently working on another diorama using other figures from this set.

Nick is in the lower left describing his mission to a fellow pilot

Queen of the Westerns - Dale Evans Issue 3

Sundry Collectibles will be on vacation from July 30 through August 4th, so for the next few days I am going to pull a few items out of the archives and give a brief description of what they are and why I have them in my collection.

Monday, July 30th

What is it?:  "Queen of the Westerns" Dale Evans Comics #3

Why do I have it?:  Early Alex Toth artwork in this issue.  Check out the splash page for the Sierra Smith story...fantastic!

Huey, Dewey and Louie from the Art Corner

I recently acquired this card of Huey, Dewey and Louie riding the Dumbo ride at Disneyland.  It is one of a number of Art Corner cards that are not impossible to find but are also not very common.  Until this one showed up on eBay recently, it had been quite some time since I had seen one for sale.  Some collectors get a little confused by this card.  Why the blank spaces where the "boys" are talking?  I thought I would clear up that question with today's blog.

Huey, Dewey and Louie showed up in the Disney "Universe" very early.  First appearing in a comic strip in 1937 when they are sent to visit Donald.  They were soon after incorporated into various short films and were rather popular characters.  As brothers, they tended to talk over each other and complete each others sentences.  Seen here is a panel from Walt Disney's Comics and Stories issue #102 from March of 1949.  In the fifth panel, Huey, Dewey, and Louie can be seen eagerly volunteering to help Donald find a horse thief.

So, there you have it!  People who bought this card were, I think, meant to fill in the front with something like "Aunt" in one bubble, and "Sue" in the next bubble.  It's as simple as that.

Until next time...

Military Toy Soldiers

One hobby that I only recently have been involved in (and I am only now getting to after almost eighty posts), is that of military miniatures.  I literally stumbled onto this hobby as one of the very few stores in the country that specializes in this sort of thing is located in my home town of Los Gatos, California.  If you are ever downtown, drop by Sierra Toy Soldier Company, and you'll find that (at a minimum) it is interesting, and you may find that you want to buy a figure or two to place on your desk at work, or perhaps more!  A few years ago...that is precisely what I did when I bought a figure of Napoleon in his dress uniform made by William Britain.

There are many manufacturers of figures, and today I feature the low end and the high end of the hobby.  Plastic figures are still being produced, and today when my kids and I were in the store, my boy wanted this Indian warrior toting a rifle.  It's an anonymous plastic figure by Britains, but for what it is, it's pretty good, with multiple colors and the like.

On the other end of the spectrum are figures that are hand painted in Russia by expert craftsmen.  This particular figure is the Dauphin Charles of France from the battle of Poitiers in 1356.  It is beautifully executed with details that can really only be appreciated when looked at it under a magnifying glass.  You cannot look at these figures and not think about the history they represent.  And that's the intriguing part of this hobby.  In this case, the battle of Poitiers was one of three important English victories in the Hundred Years War; a war that reverberates even today in French and English national identity.

I am in the midst of building a WWII diorama with King and Country 8th Air Force figures.  I will show that in a future post.

Until next time...

Disneyland, Monsanto, and the Los Angeles Dodgers

One of the side benefits of collecting Disneyland post cards is that you can often get an interesting glimpse into someone's vacation if the card you have has been used.  More often than not, people comment on the great weather in California and all the fun stuff there is to do.  But occasionally, you get the random comment about last nights meatloaf at Marge's house, or the new baby that they saw at the relatives house.

The card I feature today is (from a collectibility standpoint) totally unremarkable.  Monsanto had the Hall of Chemistry at Disneyland, along with the House of the Future and other exhibits in the early days of the park.  These post cards must have been free, because even today they are easily found and at any given time there are many of them available on eBay (usually overpriced).

But this particular card is interesting because of the reference to the Los Angeles Dodgers on the back.  The card is dated and post-marked October 9th, 1957.  The Dodgers played their last game at Brooklyn's Ebbets field on September 24th, 1957, by which time the ownership of the team had already made the decision to move to LA.  This card gives one fans reaction...and the added note that they hoped the team would be named the Angels!  (See the link for the rather interesting history of the name and origins of the present day Angels in Anaheim)

Some collectors shy away from used cards, but sometimes the brief peek into history can be rather interesting!

Until next time...

Quick & Flupke in le Petit Vingtieme

As I mentioned in my May 17 post regarding the origins of Tintin, Hergé published Tintin in a newspaper supplement called le Petit Vingtieme.  As Tintin became more successful, Hergé created other characters and the little magazine expanded.  Starting in January 1930, two characters by the name of Quick and Flupke showed up in the pages of the magazine, stirring up trouble and being mischievous.

This issue is from March, 1930 and has Quick trying to cook up a chocolate and caramel treat.  It doesn't go well!  You don't need to speak French to get the gist of what is going on here...but if you do it's certainly good for a laugh.  If I am not mistaken, at the end he says (in my loose translation...based on my marginal French), "At the end of the day, these recipes are inedible once executed!"

Quick and Flupke went on to many more adventures but never saw the success that Tintin had.  Nevertheless it remains a fun addition to the universe of Hergé.

Until next time....

Mars Attacks Topps cards

One of the all-time classic collector cards series from Topps that was not related to sports was called Mars Attacks.  It was printed in 1962.  There were only 55 cards in the set, and they were not printed in great numbers because some felt they were too gory and Topps stopped the print run.  The cards are very collectible today and can fetch nearly $20 a card.

This month Topps is reprinting the set to celebrate 50 years since the original cards came out.  On a trip to Target with the family yesterday, there they were!  I caved in and bought two packs.  (A bargain at $2.09 each)

The story goes that the cards were inspired by the cover of Weird Science #16...another EC comic classic (see my July 19th post).  Wally Wood was the cover artist for that issue of Weird Science, and he also did the art for the original card set.

Vintage non-sport collector cards are actively collected by many die-hard collectors out there.  I have been known to dabble in this hobby...but it has only occasionally been a focus.

Until next time....