Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax Deep Dive: Pt 76 Set #93040 (2009) Battle Hardened Soldiers (UK 7th Armored Division) Pt 3 Pose 2

The second of five figures in set #93040.

Ed

FOV British / UK Pose 2

BREWERIANA: Menard's #279-4493 O-Scale Sprecher Brewery

Technically, this is not 'breweriana' - however, that's the name I gave to this on-going series of beer, wine, and spirits related collectibles so I'm sticking with it!

While the diminutive Plasticville and Marxville buildings were the staple of toy train layouts for many years, companies like Lionel, K-Line, and MTH did start making larger ones more suited to O-gauge layouts. However, they were rather bare bones, relatively plain, mostly unlighted, and not having a lot of details. Later, firms like Woodland Scenics and Menards would offer more detailed structures which were lighted and offered a ton of interesting details and of the two, Menards gave you more bang for the buck. They were made of cheaper materials which brought down the price, their lighting system didn't require expensive transformers, hubs, etc., and they feature gobs of details. All of this meant you could get large buildings in true O-scale for a relatively modest price comparatively.

When Menards came out with this Sprecher Brewery I had to get it for the layout. Sprecher is located in Milwaukee and as my layout was slowly becoming more Milwaukee-themed, it was a natural. The only issue I had personally was that Sprecher didn't come to Milwaukee until after I left in 1978. This was one brewery I never knew! Oh well, it's still a cool addition to the urban landscape of my Milwaukee North western layout. I never took measurements but the photo below shows how it fits in with the rest of the layout.

Ed

At the bottom middle, there is a socket to plug in the lighting transformer. However, if you don't want the cable and transformer showing, there is another lead under the building.

Stuffed just inside that opening is a dongle which allows you to plug in the transformer and hide the cable under the layout.

Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax Deep Dive: Pt 75 Set #93040 (2009) Battle Hardened Soldiers (UK 7th Armored Division) Pt 2 Pose 1

FOV made a very limited number of British poses and those few kept getting recycled between sets. This set has the first five poses that I covered previously but again, the photos presented here are the actual figures that came in the box posted yesterday.

Ed

FOV British / UK Pose 1

Jada #33832 1/32 Scale Fred Flintstone & Flintmobile (2024)

This diecast Flintmobile is a recent acquisition and a cool addition to the Flintmobile collection. Made by Jada in 2024, the set features a 40mm diecast Fred along with his diecast Flintmobile. The car measures 3" (7,62cm) L x 2.25" (5,71cm) W x 2.5" (6,35cm) H.

Ed

Try as I might, trying to get the lettering under the car was a bear/

Diecast Fred Flinstone