Poundworldbargain buy ? PAH!

So recently (well, in the last month) I as was in one of the many "£1" stores within walking distance of where I live and espied a well know manufacturers of 1/43rd die-cast vehicles (Burago).
I promptly picked up as many ones, I thought I could afford and that were distinctly different in some way from similar ones I already have .
At that moment I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.
I'm no car expert and can't even say  what makes etc. they are individually, but here's the pictures:

A red car!

Erm,...

A blue car with curvy front.

Blue car, with slight curvy rear (ooh err, missus)

Coppery Metallic coloured

Yup, definetly a car

Pick up truck

Seems a bit small

MIB , here we come !

There were some very nice Black SUVs too, so of course I had to have three  (all slightly different too)!
They'll look great escorting a limo (when I get one)

Very black.

Just in case you were wondering about relevance of the title to this post (I know you weren't), when I got to the till I was told that these particular items would cost me £2 each! Whilst causing me a little umbrage at being charged twice the amount I was expecting, I nevertheless coughed up the cash (obviously).
That's it for this week next week will be another tale of my shopping exploits  and a great (imo) 'find', once more from the shelves of £1 stores!

That's it then for another week, real life is still a pain (both literally and figuratively) and the only hobby-related activity I've managed is re-writes of "And a bottle of Rum" as I try to develop them into more of a Role-play game than a 'rp-lite ' (as they say).

As always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Shildon Loot.

Dave's Wargames Shipping Containers.

As it's seem to be de rigeur to present the 'loot' one buys at a show, here's my own meagre purchases.
With the mental note that I have already made 30+ of these (in card), my first purchase was three shipping containers in mdf from Daves Wargames stand.
At the measly sum of £4 each I thought they were a bargain. I've seen a a lot worse at a much greater price.

MDF Shipping Container.

Even better was the deal of 3 for £10! (Hence the three in the above photograph.
The other items in his growing range were excellent, easily amongst some ofthe best value for money in the MDF market, with superb detail on his building.
He has a Facebook page, "Daveswargames" and has also recently opened an e-bay shop.
I spent quite a long time talking the chap I  assumed to be "Dave" - great bloke!

Ainsty Fruit and Veg.

Second on the non-existent list  were these  Ainsty crates of fruit and veg, purchase from the very
affable Col. Bill's. He offers a 10% discount on all pre-ordered purchases from Shows he attends - one very reason that I didn't buy any of the Chicago Way buildings there and then!

Foam trays

Normally I'd scratch-build such items, but the detail on these is excellent - something I'm not that great with and "Ainsty" do great stuff. be it a little pricey imo. They are so generic that they could be used in just about any era from 1700 onwards!

My final purchases, again not on the list, were the four foam figure trays which I've been wanting for several years . They're standard fare and cost about a fiver each. I didn't go for the optional £5 cardboard box to contain them in as I have no intention of carrying them anywhere.

My 'gangster' collection all safely stored!

  Their purpose was almost immediately put into action, for storing my collection of 1920s era -related figures.(gangsters).
They are an identical size to the ones I use for my 28mm zeds, with space for  50 figures in each tray.
I filled three with ease, but the fourth had a measly three figures. This total of 153 figures was added to with thirteen finished cops for a grand total of 166 figures all least based and undercoated.  The extra space can be used to store some of my more modern collection that are usable across the decades too.

 Shildon's show "Stand To" must have suffered a bit from the lack of advertising and if all the local (North-east) bloggers had had the chance to put their flyers on blogs, perhaps it would have had a better head-count. The next event at the museum has many features that could of interest to me,  I thought it a good idea to 'advertise it myself! and maybe the idea will be picked up by others too (feel free to use my pic), though perhaps nearer the time of the event!
So that's my limited loot report, but I have made some other interesting purchases over the last two weeks or so from the inimitable Poundlandbargainworld franchise, which I'll be posting about next week.







That's then and as always your comments are welcomed and appreciated!

Shildon 2016

Bren-gun Carrier on a railway flat-bed.

Well, I did make it to "Stand To", the show at Shildon Railway Museum, following yet another magical mystery tour (thanks for nothing Sat Nav) through the wild lands of County Durham.
A quick look around the games, traders and museum quickly followed, just to get my bearings of what was going on and where was followed by a more determined wander to decide where to spend my limited funds.
I was with four others (friend, #Son, + grandchild, the Son-in-law and our mutual southern friend-recently moved North).

The hall on our arrival

The place was never going to be full of visitors (despite there be NO entry fee!) but we'd arrived early and there was a steady stream of visitors throughout our time there.

The one-man-show that is Andrew Wiley, (who seems now to be a fixture at most NE shows) was there with his excellent Wild West game (Fittingly using Dead Mans Hand rules iirc) ; the town is almost 100% made from card using "Finger and Toe" models.
I quickly came away form the table having witnessed the poor sole in the centre of the table taking his first shot and scoring a '1' on a d20 - jamming his gun!

Early doors at Dave Docherty's Sudan game

I met up briefly with fellow blogger Roy Williamson, ( of the blog Never mind thejankers) and would chat with him  later too.
Dave Docherty (top bloke), of the blog One man and his Brushes put on the Sudan game (better piccies and write-up on Roy's blog btw). The game looked great and was very much to my taste; I would say "Old School" but that term seems to mean different things to different folks these days.
The game followed a fairly well-worn path of a desert column moving across the table to relieve a beleaguered garrison at the other end.
I did love everything about this game , a period that I have quite a large collection of figures for (though not a single one painted!)

Some time later the column has moved up the table

Looking back at the game later on, the desert column had moved some way up the (very large) table, but were still well short of their objective.
Alas I didn't stay around until the end, but there were people around the table all day long, rolling dice to fight off the various Ansar attacks.

A second desert game was put on by Redcar Iron Beards (iirc) using 15mm figures (as far as I could tell), once more with great looking figures.

Superb brushwork

For the fantasy fans, two very enthusiastic chaps from Catterick Gamers put on a fantasy display using Warhammer 40k figures (I think).
The enthusiasm of these guys for their game was unbounded as was their painting - both figures and scenery. Though not my cup of tea, it was difficult not to be drawn in by their love of what they do.
Their table, though busy with figures was not overly so, a feature I've noticed (and disliked) in a lot of this type of fantasy game.

Super looking terrain.

 Their great detailed terrain matched well with their figures etc. and had obviously had some TLC when built.

More of their great terrain

And yet more.

t was a bit disappointing to only have four games on show, just another tow or so would have made a big difference imo.
I was surprised not to see more of a showing from some of the local groups, Redcar and Catterick or hardly local!
The traders were, as always, very welcoming and I could easily have spent well over my limited budget.
I chatted with most of the traders as they weren't exactly inundated with punters, bu did have a steady trickle .


In conclusion, I did thoroughly enjoy the show (getting out is always a boon), it was easy going, the people in attendance were welcoming and the company I was with were good crack.

Whilst there are a lot of shows within an hour or so of where I live I do hope this one continues and garners support in the coming years.

Alive and....

Well?
Having taken in the Shildon Show last year, I am intending to once more brave the wilds of the Southern wastelands to visit this great show. I'm also looking forward to meeting  fellow blogger Roy Williamson of the blog Never mind the Jankers.
 For once, I have a few things on my list which I'd like to purchase and have some limited funds (advanced Xmas money) with which to do so (unlike the Gateshead show I recently attended on a shoe-string).
In other news:
I have had an enforced absence from all things blogging realted recently due to a resurgence of an illness I've had over the last few years. Whilst this is is bad enough I lost two days to being bed-ridden by flue (though mostly unaware of what was going on around me.
Of course this has left me with the job of trying to clear the back-log of blogs I regularly like to both visit and comment upon, but I've been trying to make the effort. Apologies to daGobbo though, whose blog seemed to have vacated itself from my reading list! (All OK now though.
In addition to the several carrier-bags of meds I have to take over the coming weeks, I also have two imminent hospital visits, having already had two and just for good measure a couple of optical test too -just to discover I now have a least one other problem in its infancy and one pending!
Take it from me people, getting old sucks big time - don't do it!

I'd also like to thanks the two bloggers that showed such consideration after my fortnight's absence from the blogging front - that's two more than when I disappeared from the interweb for two months a year or so ago!

In yet more news, some of you may be aware, I lost someone, about two years ago, whom I thought would be regular gaming opponent but a southern friend has recently moved North and now lives a mere five minute walk from my house. Even though he is  mainly a fantasy player (I know, I know) he has expressed interest in gaming with me in some of the projects, so things could be on the up!

Thanks for visiting and if you've taken the time to read to read through all of the above drivel - you're a braver man than I.

All comments of course are welcomed and appreciated.