Tinman Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Thanks guys. Here is my collection of Thomas Toy and Poplar Playthings spacemen; the bronze colored alien is made by Poplar and is molded in a soft rubber-like material, the remaining spacemen are Thomas and molded in hard plastic. The Thomas Toy hard-plastic version of the Poplar alien shown in this pic is extremely rare although later, soft plastic examples come up for auction every now and again. Thomas Toy releases predate the Poplar Plaything toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racerxc70 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Very nice set up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinluver2 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Great display of your Spacemen and great finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Great collection. One of these days I'd love to get into this category. When I do I'll probably be referring to and trying to replicate your collection. Great Job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Thomas and Poplar spacemen rarely stand on their own and if so are unstable; for these guys I mounted them on acrylic discs with a tiny bit of Fun-Tak on each foot. I have a few more Poplar spacemen to display but need to order discs. The pic does show an example of all the spacemen released by Thomas and later Poplar; I love the guy on top holding a gun in one hand and an axe in the other...an axe seems an odd weapon for a spaceman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 They are great looking spacemen. The axe looks great for the spaceman its very unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Finally on display are my "Space Raider Squadron" cars which I managed to fit in a thick display box and hang on a magnetic board; I'm still searching for one more casting although I've never seen it in hard plastic. The red and green cars in the lower corners were purchased on the card but I thought they looked better displayed this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejpetrie Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I agree with you about the Poplar figures rarely standing on their own (because of their rubbery quality), but I've had good luck with both the HP and SP examples. But you are right to use the Fun-Tak because even the slightest vibration or an errant breeze can send mine tumbling. You've got a really nice display, and I fully intend to swipe some of your ideas! Please let us all know where you get those circular pin holders and the clear disks that you are using as pedestals for the Thomas and Poplar guys. Thanks for the great photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Thanks for the kind words and welcome ejpetrie, it's always good to hear your work provides inspiration; I look forward to seeing your collection, please feel free to "swipe my ideas." HP and SP examples?I purchased the pin holders at a flea market near D.C.; they're made to fit in a cardboard and glass display box like the ones shown above and can be used to display anything small. The lid has a tendency to pop off when a pin is displayed so I drilled two small holes on opposite sides; the holes go through the lid and body of the holder, then I insert two small pins to hold the lid on...it's kind of hard to describe so I can post a pic if you like. The holders are displayed on magnetic boards using a small piece of magnetic tape stuck to the back. If I find a place that they're available online I'll post a link. The acrylic discs were purchased online via the site below, once there you can see a link to the discs in the lower left. This place can be kind of expensive for purchasing risers and the like so remember to try Amazon first, I've found some good deals there; the cylindrical risers shown in the pic with the Thomas and Poplar figures were purchased from Amazon.http://www.collectingwarehouse.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejpetrie Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi Tinman! The HP and SP designations are plastic toy and figure collector shorthand for "hard plastic" (polystyrene, like the early Thomas Toy releases) and "soft plastic" (usually polyethylene, in this case referring to the final Thomas runs of the space figures that were bought up and packaged by Aldens). That's the general use for the two abbreviations, but I've run into a couple of U.K. collectors that use SP, or "soft plastic", to describe vinyl in its rubbery state, ignoring the fact that this leaves polyethylene without a defining category. Personally, when I'm talking about plastic figures made from soft vinyl, like the Poplar pieces, I make it a habit of referring to them as "rubbery vinyl" as it seems to eliminate the confusion.I was fortunate to be able to buy most of the Thomas Toy packaging prototypes and packaged production pieces from Bill Hanlon's holdings several years ago. (Actually, I got all he had left, but none of the Kirksite masters which had already been sold.) But like most of my toys they have remained packed up since I bought them. However, my wife and I are now finally empty nesters for the last couple of months, and I am busy converting the upstairs of our small expanded Cape Cod into a big toy room. As I'm bringing in showcases and unpacking I am finding many wonderful things that I completely forgot that I owned. It's like Christmas. Once the unpacking and display set-up is finished then I will start with the photography, and I will definitely start to contribute some of my own photos for this great site. No need for photos of the small containers. I get what you did. Basically you pinned them as though they were each a small butterfly case. Clever. Must be a very small drill bit! And thank you very much for the collectingwarehouse.com lead. I really like how those Thomas figures look on those discs, and I'm going to seek out those cylindrical risers too. But most of all I'm going to order a few of those Ikea magnetic boards with a slew of magnets and load up my butterfly cases. What a great concept. Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks ejpetrie...hard plastic and soft plastic...of course, duh. Sounds like you have some great pieces, can't wait to see them. When this thread started I too was unpacking my collection because I didn't have a place to display it prior to my kids leaving the nest, I think I also used the term of feeling like Christmas when I was rediscovering things. Keep me posted on your displays and the use of my display ideas, I'm looking forward to seeing them evolve.BTW, as a model builder I have some pretty tiny drill bits. ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Beautiful! Never would have thought to mount these small toys in this ingenious way, wonderful!!! I've seen your model building talents Bill and am very impressed. The ones you brought to Botstock were absolutely wonderful to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Great looking display for your Space Raiders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Well, my collection has drifted a bit and I went down the path of collecting 6th scale figures from Hot Toys; I have several versions of Iron Man, a Wolverine (X-Men), Captain America from Age of Ultron, and a cast of characters from Star Wars...including R2 and C-3PO (I'll have to bring those to Botstock). Because my display cases were getting a bit jumbled I decided to add some lighting and bring my robots and space toys back together again; I even found a creative way to display my Reliable pinwheel spacemen using the same type of magnets I used to mount my ray guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Nicely done and I like how you have done the Pinwheel spacemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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