Welcome to Flintstones Friday here at Toys & Stuff. Over the years I've picked up Flintstones toys from several countries, with toys from Mexico being the most widely available, but today's toy comes from Hong Kong and is most certainly meant for a toddler and looks to be a bathtub toy. It's made very simply using the blow mold process (I think it's best to let Wikipedia provide the description of the process):
"Blow molding (also known as blow moulding or blow forming) is a manufacturing process by which hollow plastic parts are formed. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and stretch blow molding. The blow molding process begins with melting down the plastic and forming it into a parison or preform. The pareson is a tube-like piece of plastic with a hole in one end in which compressed air can pass through.
The parison is then clamped into a mold and air is pumped into it. The air pressure then pushes the plastic out to match the mold. Once the plastic has cooled and hardened the mold opens up and the part is ejected."
For the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blow_molding
Fred stands 5 1/2" (14cm) H and is made from a fairly sturdy plastic. This Fred really isn't special enough (in my opinion) to warrant a full photo work-up BUT I did put him in a quickie display. Using a train tunnel made for O-gauge trains, I taped a piece of black craft paper behind the opening and posed Fred in front of it. This is a simple display anyone can do and takes a rather mundane toy and gives it a little special treatment when sittting on the shelf. The tunnel can also be used as the entrance to the Batcave, or for staging other toys. Enjoy!
I ended up with two of these. The crude coloring is very apparent on both examples.
A toy train tunnel and some craft paper are all that's needed for a quick shelf display!
