ScuzzBlog: Diaries September 2022
Entry 16th September 2022: Post 1: Airfix - Playing with soldiers.
Airfix - Playing with soldiers.
A little while back I featured a single Airfix soldier that I have
which was the only 'piece' left from my 800 piece collection. Back
in the eighties I gifted all my soldiers to my nephew.
Fast forward to today and I just felt so empty following the blog
and decided to put matters to amends. So I've again been buying
Airfix soldiers. I did reflect on whether it was possible after
some fifty plus years, but found it to be still very doable.
Fortunately I have my journals from 1971 and so I was able to
establish just what I had and how many. My entry for 3rd September
1971 talks of a new set of Confederate Artillery. It then goes
on to map out my finances for the period. There is then a list
of all my soldiers at that time. The very last page in the journal
states I had 805 individual pieces. It also sets out my earnings
from potato picking during the half term break. I used the money
to by a set of Matchbox SuperFast cars and track.
I love my old journals they paint such a vivid picture of my life.
The one page has a tiny sketch of my desk as I sat there. And
then on another page it not only talks of my footballing activities
but lists the friends that played on my side and the positions that
they played in. Incredible. Plus notes about homework, the weather
and even the status of the moon.
Onto the soldiers. Am I mad.. I guess I am. No matter. These are
the Blue Box earlier soldiers by Airfix, which came in bundles of
around 45 individual pieces. The Highland set was fondly remembered
as I had an abscess on my eye as I sat painting all my original
soldiers. I can even recall a Sean Connery film on TV called Woman
of Straw the day my eye lid burst. Nasty stuff.
Anyhoo I have been gathering the odd sets over the summer and have
now amassed a grand total of 477. Not bad. I was going to stand
all the soldiers up to photograph, but seriously it would have
taken an age.
I have now bought a new journal to record my soldiers, though I
was unable to get one the same size or colour. Never mind. It has
been 50 odd years.
Just to give a bit of background to the soldier collecting. My
brother and I did a paper round together. The money we made we
paid into a club at the toy shop next door to the paper shop.
The shop also sold fishing tackle. The way it worked is that you
gave the shop owner your savings and he then wrote the sums in a
small book. To buy most things of interest, ie Matchbox car,
Airfix model kit, Airfix soldiers you needed two bob, two shilling
or 10p. So when we had the required amount we would buy soldiers
say then split them between us.
Interestingly Google reckon that two bob/10p from 1970 is now worth
one pound seventy. Difficult to imagine me spending that kind of money
even with today's value on a set of soldiers.
I have about done with blogs regarding retro kids stuff from my
childhood/schooldays. It's nice to have the stuff back in the collection
if only to remind me of how much fun we had in the days. The great
thing about Airfix soldiers and kits is they have no nasty capacitors.
And so fifty years on they are pretty much the same as they always
have been. Only another 400 to go. Good old Ebay.
Airfix - Playing with soldiers.
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Last updated 16th September 2022
Chandraise Kingdom
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