Blue Box Western Town Playset Cowboys More Erwin Sell is back with some more information on Blue Box. This time Erwin shares a Blue Box Western playset.
Blue Box Western Town Playset Cowboys More Introduction
Blue Box Western playset town -mint 1964/65 approx!
This Play set was opened for first time for you folks to see.
Blue Box Western Town Playset Cowboys More Accessories
In this case only the accessories and building had the Blue Box typical logo wile the figures not,even original done by Blue Box are marked bellow only (Hong Kong=HK).
It is normal and common for Blue Box also to do original designed and manufacture figures with out marking then with it own logo as ACW and others sets they did.
Western figures made by them and US civil war were sold made as that and are not copies of any brand.
Same with the Jean Hoefler and Merten two separates series set Knights made by Blue Box.
Blue Box Western Town Playset Cowboys More Figures
About Western Town playset by Blue Box.
The cowboys and Indians are in 6 poses each. Cowboys made in plastic pink skin color base hand painted over at factory.
Indians “brown” base plastic color with hand painted over.
With years and set release production the hand paint job colors used varied some times in all figures. By 80s some last playset show up with mold waste damage and crude paint job as well in figures and often changing the trees and carriages models inside with others different
All 12 Indian and cowboys poses are original designed .Not copied from any manufactures at all.
But few could or may resemble Elastolin/Merten other poses in minor cases if want to be or look specific origin by coincidence if any at all.
Any ways according to other experts in toy soldiers they are not copies or base in any made in Europe or US as far we know.
Some of the poses were showed in Plastic Warrior magazine #52 where they clearly indicated are not copies.
The artist designed faces expression of Indian are very well depicted versus the cowboys
Accessories were base and/or copied from others.
The wagon/horses is a direct copy of (Crescent)
Horses are Jean Hoefler down sized scale 2 poses copied.
The rock are Elastolin copied while 2 type cactus are copies or varied from other firms or brands.
Blue Box Western Town Playset Cowboys More Final Thoughts
The most interesting -rare items are the way they did the lithographed houses/building in cardboard case build/fold design . They look like some type of cereal box. The doors open and you can hide figures inside as well use back door for escape play…
What many won’t realize is that they are exact photo copies of original Jean Hoeflel /Big-West Germany – Town western play set 4 buildings just paint/scan over the case box building. I think were made as that as a simple way to fold all inside small box for easy set up and fast distribution plus cheap cost by Blue Box .
In a twist Irony of coping or and piracy=plagiarism by main more older bigger companies…..
Ideal US company in 1971 release a playset using same figures from Hong Kong BB brand either license or bough and repack or else,immediately after Ideal launch same vacuum boxed playset using cloned Airfix HK early well done copies as well.
Yet it was very normal by Ideal in those year(1970+) use others brands copied or else in their sets .
By then Lido,MPC and even Marx were making playsets and toys using Hong Kong knock off or designed figures-pieces as well . Look close up Indian faces and will notice it. The poses have great dynamism as well.
Ironic is that Hong Kong makers that often had copied ,when making their own few figures designed were being used by those from whom they copied before !!!
I always like these figures and considered the sculpting as good as Britains. The faces, especially of the Indians are excellent and the poses generally good, although the clubbing figures were a little annoying. (Who wants a row of cowboys clubbing with Henry rifles when they could be shooting them?)
i agree in pose is not typical ,still done by many western series brands and in my opinion i will not need a row of cowboys in an action scene as not battle line ,but still i understand the point .my thoughts..
best
Erwin What size are those figures?
Sorry the description of size was suppose to be in the original post.
The max high are 53 mm a bit taller than MPC ARW soldiers but much body feeled or thicker .
I did pic compare w other brands but did not summit I think.
Best.
Those scuplts aren’t bad at all, but the cheap paint jobs make them look cheesy.
I agree in paint ,this set i open and there more pictures i send of course was bought after my early ,
The one mint was made much later and paint job with time was sloppy and bad .Another smaller version of set using the same figures with minor paint job difference i sold recently .here.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/222632835438
If many will notice the cowboys w revolver are left handed!!!the holster is positioned as to pull w left hand too .An interesting unique detail i think.Best
The holsters are on the right side which would mean they were designed for a righhander. I can’t tell if the the holster is backwards or not so a lefthander could draw.
They are in right site, positioned as To be pull by lefty.That is what I point out .
oh, I think I understand now.
Sounds like holster is backwards on the right side for a left handed cross draw?
Not to be a wise guy, but if MPC and BMC are “junk”, what’s the big deal on these?
They look OK as kids’ toys, but not adult collectibles. What am I missing?
Andy i have the figures ,the paint sounds as confusing your view,thanks x thoughs…best
We can not look at the Blue Box cowboys as an adult collectibles nor MPC or BMC. Each person has their own favorites that they grew up with. One person I know loves the MPC cowboys. each to their own.
Yeah if you can look through the crappy paint job, the sculpting isn’t bad at all. I don’t think they are great figures, but they are okay.
I guess it’s like Lido swivel figures with separate weapons; I have a few for nostalgic value because of childhood, just to have them.
I think because much of the new plastic production these days is geared towards older collectors like us – and some of it like the new Russian-made Vietnam War GIs is so finely-made and priced to match – we momentarily lose touch with the living reality that almost all plastic soldiers were mass-produced inexpensive toys for little boys. I bet kids loved these Blue Box cowboys and Indians and thought the painting was cool. Heck, a year or two ago I bought some New Ray or New Ray knockoff cowboys and Indians that were similarly painted, even down to the idiotic silver paint. Personally, I like a range of figures, with various levels of sculpting quality. I love the old Lido GIs – they may be crude in some ways, but I think they have an animation and charm that is delightful. As a little guy I loved my highly-detailed Auburn rubber guys, but also my early-version TimMee cowboys and Indians. But even figures for which I had little regard, like Payton GIs, could be fun. Those Paytons (or later BMC D-Day guys) made MPC figures look like they were sculpted by Michelangelo by comparison. So for now I’m grateful for and glad to see any decent figures in the stores for the kids – for instance the Corps Elite buckets, Blue Box/Sunny Days buckets, and ToysRUS buckets.
Yes we have to look at the figures in different light. The new figures are for collectors. Many of them will only end up on a shelf due to their cost. The New ray are interest and nice. Some of the bad paintings could be due to knockoffs of the figures. A favorite figure is the Timmee army with rifle at waist. I found in the inventory a Timmee Gernade army figure. I would normally throw it into a junk bag, but I will keep it.
In the very early ’70s, I received a playset containing these same cowboy figures – but the town itself was self-contained (a “suitcase” affair). The village contained several different buildings, but they were all permanently attached to the base of the case. Great memories of that playset. The town/suitcase vanished, but I still have the figures.
Ideal corp is the one who apparently used the original made by and designed Hong Kong Blue Box brand figures to sale it as suitcase vinyl BOX playset and it is still around in many times off ebay .
Because of been label Ideal many believe these figures made in 60s were non BB but Ideal made.
Kent Sprecher have a sample where u can see it here.
As a very funny opposite sample too of HK been the copiers,.IDEAL a company as well Lido in 70s start selling HK figures under their brand .
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/toysoldierhq/Ideal.html
In Ideal link if scroll down will see a black and white picture advertise of such playset with BB figures included as well another Ideal playset using HK figures coopies of Timpo and Crescent too.
best
Yep! That’s the one! Thank you for directing me to that link. (I also had Ideal’s Fort Cheyenne – STILL have it, in fact, but it’s in bad shape. Even as a lad, I thought it odd that the set’s U.S. Cavalry figures were gray. But I simply used them as Rebel cavalry.)