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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Howard Lamey Little Glitter Houses - The House of Two Gables

A simple shelf display - painted backdrop, cotton 'snow', some trees, and a couple of Glitter Houses

While paperboard/cardboard houses have been around since at least the mid-1800's, Little Glitter Houses as we know them today didn't make their first appearance until the 1920s.when the Japanese offered them for sale here in the States. For a more detailed history, visit Papa Ted's Place . Ted Althof is one of the premier authorities of these charming Christmas decorations.

For some years now, Howard Lamey, of Jacksonville, Florida, has been making and selling Little Glitter Houses, in the tradition of the original Japanese but with updated designs. His website, Little Glitter Houses  also includes detailed instructions on how to make your own houses. It is Howard's creations which will be featured over the next few weeks here at Toys & Stuff in preparation for the Yule time season. 

But first there are a couple of other Glitter House and paperboard building resources you may be interested in. Paul Race, in collaboration with Howard and Papa Ted has set up a new website Cardboard Christmas dedicated to this art as a way to bring together disparate sources and links and to provide a discussion forum for Glitter Houses. The website is fairly new and does have a good deal of content already but will be growing even more as additional  content is added. And the discussion forum is available for use right now.

The next site, Big Indoor Trains , is also owned by Paul Race and includes a lot of neat information on trains basically larger than HO scale. There is a portion of the site in which Paul plays host to Howard Lamey's projects. The section  Tribute To Tinplate is devoted to the building of cardboard buildings - but with a twist!. Howard Lamey has taken traditional tinplate structures and provided instructions on how to build these using common materials, like paper, cardboard, white glue, etc. There are patterns, free downloads and photos showing the finished projects. Many of these projects fit in perfectly with the Glitter Houses and as you browse through the various sites listed here, you will see Little Glitter Houses mixed in with Tribute To Tinplate buildings. 

We all know that the economy is in the tank and many of us simply don't have a lot of money for hobbies. Within the sites listed above are many projects that one can be involved with that are very cost effective (i.e., cheap) and satisfying. And remember, while Little Glitter Houses may be a Christmas tradition, one doesn't have to celebrate Christmas to enjoy the types of houses offered here. They make fine decorations for the Yule time or all year long. Enjoy!

(There is no specific cataloging system for theses buildings so the titles given are strictly arbitrary)

The House of Two Gables
[Base 4" (10.2cm) x 4 1/4" (10.8cm) x 4 3/8" (11.1cm) H]=






Monday, November 28, 2011

Marx Roy Rogers Rodeo Ranch Set Bunk House

Hey guys and gals, just a little note to let y'all know that things around Toys & Stuff may be slowing down a little. Many of you hail from outside of the United States and your holidays and traditions of course will be different than ours. Here Stateside, November and December are big holiday periods: Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. I'll probably be busy doing other things and may not be able to post every day. I haven't run out of toys, but I do need time to decompress and relax a little. So if you see a little lag in posting, stick with us, there's definitely more to come!

The ever popular Roy Rogers was well represented by Marx and Toys & Stuff has already featured a couple of tin-litho playset centerpieces. Today we feature the Roy Rogers Rodeo Ranch Set Bunk House from 1955. This is one of Marx's so-called down sized cabins and proudly proclaims the 'Double R Bar Ranch' atop the roof.  Enjoy!








Sunday, November 27, 2011

Johnny Lightning - Barney Rubble's Sports Car

Since the Flintstones first airing in September of 1960 until now it has remained popular. To this day one can go to the store and pick up Flintstones chewable vitamins or a box of Fruity Pebbles cereal. The introduction of new toys has slowed down but as you can see from Johnny Lightning's 1998 offering toys were still being made more than thirty years after the original series ended in 1966! While Fred Flintstone is forever associated with his flivver, Barney is mostly associated with his sports car and Johnny Lightning's little die-cast version is a nice reproduction. The 'hubcap's' are redesigned on the die-cast version looking more like a modern vehicle versus the Stone Age version shown on the package art. Unfortunately Johnny Lightning did not follow up with other Flintstones related designs. Mattel does have a Hot Wheels die-cast Flintstones flivver which is appropriately sized to match Barney's car, but those are the only two small scale die-cast vehicles I know of. Overall, this is a terrific little addition to any Flintstones collection! My Wife & Me Love it So Enjoy The Berg's
















Saturday, November 26, 2011

AOME LOTR - Fighting Fellowship

Today Toys & Stuff presents among the last of the Armies of Middle Earth, Lord of The Rings Soldiers and Scenes sets released by Play Along toys: the Fighting Fellowship featuring Gimli, Boromir, and Legolas all in action poses. Enjoy!


Fighting Fellowship: Fighting Gimli, Fighting Boromir; Fighting Legolas
Wave 5
Issued by: Art Asylum / Play Along Toys
Assortment: 48100
Item Number: 48118
Issue Date: Aug 2004

Issue Price: $8.99

Fighting Gimli









Fighting Boromir







Fighting Legolas