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H.C.F Figures
Trumptonalia.
A range of small figures made by H.C.Ford of London.
A company also widely referred to as H.C.F or HCF,and perhaps best known for their range of Star Wars stationary.
But they also produced these types of novelty figures for a lot of kids tv shows in the 70's and 80's.
Although exactly when these particular Camberwick ones came out is unclear.
They're solid construction with no moving parts and they stand about 5" tall,with a sort of felt-like finish that appears to have had the colours air-brushed on.
Often described as "flock-covered" but I'm not entirely sure that's the right term.
Each came with a small,gold sticky manufacturer's label on the base.And they also did keyring versions too.
I've yet to see any original packaging.But I've found a photo of some Noddy equivalents from the mid 70's that might give a clue as to why,because they're simply in un-printed,see-through bags....assuming they're the originals of course Pic here
The 6 pictured below are all the ones we know about so far.And it's entirely possible that's all there is,because they're pretty much all the Camberwick big hitters.Although the likes of Farmer Bell and Mrs.Dingle might have something to say about that,so maybe they're floating around out there somewhere too.
They're surprisingly well-executed considering they were probably quite cheap.Although they're not the most tactile of things because they're so hard and inflexible.
Aesthetically-speaking,the pick of the bunch are probably the ones where they've used the most artistic license.
With Doctor Mopp sporting a very snazzy,never-before-seen jacket and trouser combo,and a new green bag.
And Captain Snort with a much more exotic hat plume,a bigger medal.....and a bigger girth,as he seems to have let himself go a bit since filming ended -presumably too many trips to Mickey Murphy's bakery !
The Dr.Mopp makeover is particulary odd though,because he was already Camberwick's snappiest dresser without it.
But maybe they were having technical difficulties reproducing the purple and orange.
Who knows ? But they both make poor old Windy look positively dowdy by comparison.
By the way ......... did anyone struggle with the first one ?
Yes,it's Peter Hazell the postman of course.
But without his trusty "sack upon his back" I immediately thought of the Mayor of Trumpton's
chauffeur,Philby.
And were it not for the fact he was just a "c" lister,and all the other ones are from Camberwick,
it's actually not a bad shout.
HCF's 2 best dressed men ?
