Kikimalou's Indian rhinoceros collection updated July 5 2024

rogerpgvg wrote:

I meant the rhino though .

rogerpgvg wrote:

I meant the rhino though .

I should have started this topic with those…  

Tonight I'm taking you to China to meet some Rhinos from the mysterious AAA manufacturer.

This company produced many figures of all sizes from the 1990s until its closure in 2022.

Among them, a 'family' of four Indian rhinoceros, dad, mum, the girl and the boy.  

Although marked with the three A's in a circle, our friends were sold by Bullyland in the early 90s and also by ELC.
We won't be getting to know the little girl as she's still missing from my collection.

Let's start with Daddy
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Mummy is mowing the lawn
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About the 'boy', he doesn't look so juvenile and I tend to think he's just a smaller scale Indian rhino.
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I must admit to being quite admiring of this series. We're in the early 90s, the big post-war manufacturers have gone quiet and the new productions have a childish, unrealistic style. These AAA really stand out for their style and foreshadow the production of the 2000s.
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These figures from AAA were the precursors to many modern lines we know today. Indeed, the trend towards realistic style in figures wasn't the most popular at the time; people preferred well-finished but more polished figures with a certain degree of infantilization. I know for many, this style was less appealing, almost like miniature stuffed figures that sometimes caused a visual displeasure. I feel that lately, these figures are being better received by collectors, and there seems to be a greater demand for AAA models these days. They seemed old when they were new, and now they are aging well.
These rhinos from AAA are really beautiful. I hope you manage to find the missing element. I also received recently two armoured AAA figures and I hope I will have the chance to show them.

Congrats, I like very much the last photo.

So many indian rhinos

They are lovely! I like the grazing female a lot. So nice!

very nice looking rhinos i like the male rhino standing he looks great!!

Thank you all for your nice comments

Rogério I must say I haven't spend a lot of time and energy to find the missing element

What's your two armoured AAA ?

Nice rhinos. The girl is probably not too hard to find.

I don't know much about AAA, but I recently got some of their elephants and I noticed that (1) they were made before the Schleich first generation elephants and (2) they are more realistic than the Schleich first generation. In its beginning hears, AAA seems to have been ahead of it time, as Rogério already said.

On the other hand, the adult male AAA rhino seems to be heavily inspired by the Britains. Especially the underside looks remarkably similar. The Britains rhino is from 1929, so you might also say that AAA was a few years behind its time .

very nice family photo Christophe! I didn't realise that there were babies in this make. I think I have both the adults. It's a very heavy rubbery type plastic and I think that would be hard to produce truly fine details, however they do look great together.

Nice indian rhinos family!. It is right that dad makes me think to the Britains one!

Kikimalou wrote:

Thank you all for your nice comments

Rogério I must say I haven't spend a lot of time and energy to find the missing element

What's your two armoured AAA ?

I will try to show them soon and you will see but they arrived with this fox and one of the AAA can be seen in this picture.

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What a nice family, or what a nice pair of large rhinos and one slightly smaller one. It's interesting to learn about the reception of AAA since I've always liked their style but it is certainly distinct.

Thank you all

Yes Roger and Alain, the big guy has something of the old Britains  and also of the old Chialù  maybe mom and dad ?

This Tuesday, I'm taking you to Belgium, to the good city of Liège, nestled in the Ardennes.
This is where Mr. Klimov, a Latvian who came to study engineering in 1925, began handcrafting toy soldiers marked "Belgique".
Success followed, and in 1938 he founded the DURSO (Duratum ac solidum) company, which employed 63 people in its workshops at the start of WW2. Production slowed down during the war, but picked up again after the liberation.
DURSO continued to produce its figurines in dense composition material well into the 1960s. To face up to the competition from plastic, Mr. Klimov turned to the collectors' market.
Like all manufacturers of the time, he offered a "Farm" and a "ZOO" series.
My first encounter with DURSO was in the early 2000s. I had spotted a classified ad from a Belgian collector offering a lot of mysterious wild animals. I went to Liège for the occasion and spent a good time while talking about this manufacturer, which was unknown to me then.
The lot included a charming Rhinoceros, which I'm pleased to present to you here.
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The story could have ended there, but a couple of years ago, I went to a toy collectors' fair held a few kilometers from my home. I'd found a few lead animals and was just about to head home with my meagre haul when I spotted a little rhinoceros in a stall surrounded by little toy soldiers. It was a sibling of my Durso, only flashier and with more nuanced colors. According to the seller, it's most likely one of the "standard" models that didn't leave the workshop, which would explain the finish and the near-mint look.
I don't know if it's true, but I'd like to think so. Obviously, I've adopted it.
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A dance step…
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After Belgium, the last rhino of the evening, and the 45th in the series, comes to us from Slough, a district of London.
It was here, in 1938, that Ally Gee, who had fled Nazi persecution of the Jews, set up the company Toys Importers, known as Timpo. After the war, Ally Gee bought up the pre-war stocks of small manufacturers such as Stoddart and Kew, and also produced lead figurines whose design was influenced by English and foreign competitors, but also some original models.
In the zoo series, he produced an Indian Rhinoceros whose pause reminded me of the Durso. Of course, I'm not claiming that there's copy in the air, just that there's a family resemblance.
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Those artists used the same books.
I love this last picture and they surely share a familiar look.
It is interesting to read about these historical pieces and also the way you get them.

Thank you Rogério

The Durso rhinos are very beautiful indeed. On the face on photo their horns are turned slightly toward each other.
What a truly fascinating history, and all the more exciting that you are sharing your collecting stories Christophe! That's so wonderful that you got to talk in detail to the collector of your rhino and other figures.

Yes, the horns are slightly turned towards each other - rather charming, don't you think?
I'm delighted if my little stories interest you.

I agree, the history of these fellows makes them twice as interesting as they already are. I love the texture of all of these, especially that beautiful standard piece.

Thank you Jill

The Durso rhinos look very good. Great story how you collected your first Dursos. I guess buying and selling online wasn't so common at that time. There was much more effort involved in collecting, but I am sure it also gave you better memories, especially if the seller had useful information about the figures. And collecting Dursos in the city where they were made makes it even more special. Was the seller connected to the company in any way?

Splendid herd! I love those Durso's expressions.

Thank you Roger and Paige

The 2000s collector was a teacher from Liège, who also ran an old toyshop filled with wonders, including an impressive collection of toy soldiers in composition. His hobby was Märklin electric trains, but he knew a thing or two about Durso.
The second was from Brussels and had met some of Durso's employees.

Yes, in the early days, there was something heroic about collecting: I didn't know much, and I had a whole continent to discover.
The adventure isn't over yet