CRUSADER

«We’re marching, we’re marching to a land far from home

No one can say who’ll return

For Christendom’s sake, we’ll take our revenge

On the pagans from out the east

We Christians are coming, with swords held on high

Unite by faith and the cause

The Saracen heathen will soon taste our steel

Our standards will rise ’cross the land»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 94: Mounted Templar Knights (Timpo plastic figures) gallop in front of the gate of Jerusalem (Elastolin toys) and among the large bushes (Elastolin toys).

The lyrics: From the song Crusader, by the NWOBHM band SAXON.

WORLD CUP 2026 FINAL

 

SPAIN meet ARGENTINA in New York Jersey on 19 July.

 

 

 

 

Scene no 93: The black-clad referee (Starlux toy figure) stands between the two teams and prepares for the final game (Subbuteo table football toys, Terrace Set C 142, Crowd Figures C 168,  Match Balls C 127,  Lightweight version teams of Argentina 457 and Spain 63791).

The announcement: From FIFA World Cup 2026 final: All you need to know.

UNDEVELOPED SPIRIT

 

 «…We leave Africa, not to mention it again. For it is not historical part of the World; it has no movement or development to exhibit... What we properly understand by Africa, is the Unhistorical, Undeveloped Spirit, still involved in the conditions of mere nature, and which had to be presented here only as on the threshold of the World’s History.»

 

Scene no 92: African warriors (Cherilea Toys) dance in front of the Vodun shrine (Unknown manufacturer), where they communicate with their ancestors and deities.

The text: From The Philosophy of History, by Georg Hegel.

SKY-RIDER OF THE SPACEWAYS!

«Issue No. 4,

wherein the gleaming alien journeys to Asgard to battle Thor,

represents yet another apex of Marvel art – for a second issue in a row.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 91: The mighty Thor (Diamond Select Toys, Marvel Premiere Collection, Resin statue no 561 of 3000) against the Silver Surfer (TOY BIZ, Marvel Legends Action Figure, Series V, 39 points of articulation). Recreation of the famous cover of comic book THE SILVER SURFER No. 4 (Pencils, John Buscema; inks, Sal Buscema; February 1969).

The text: From The Marvel Age of Comics 1961-1978, by Roy Thomas.

ROBERT E. LEE

«A nation which 

does not remember what it was yesterday

does not know where it is today.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 90: The overall commander of the Confederate States Army (COMANSI toys, Legendary personages of The Wild West, hand painted figurines, ref. 19500) and the General Lee 1969 Dodge Charger car from the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (NOREV toys, Charger, 1:43 Metal).

The quote: Famous statement of Robert E. Lee.

RAGING SEA

 

«The Ocean has its silent caves,

Deep, quiet, an alone;

Though there be fury on the waves,

Beneath them there is none.

The awful spirits of the deep

Hold their communion there;

And there are those for whom we weep,

The young, the bright, the fair.»

Scene no 89: Warships (Unknown manufacturer, wooden small models) that are sailing in a raging sea (IMAI plastic models, Operation Sail). 

The verses: The first two stanzas from the poem The Ocean, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

MEIFUMADO

 

«Our lives are indestructible.

Immortal!

Though waves break and blood flies, never shrink.

Though my body falls, never quail.

 Though my eyes shut, my lips close…

Do not fear.

  In that world of rebirth,

I’m still your Father.

In that world and all worlds,

You are my Son!

We are Father and Child!

Forever!»

 

  

 

 

Scene no 88: Itto Ogami and son Daigoro (Improvized models and scenery by an unknown artist) abandoned the way of men to walk the demon path to hell. Always surrounded by enemies (Aoshima Japan History Miniature Model Series).

The text: From the twenty-eighth and final volume of the epic LONE WOLF AND CUB by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.

YELLOW SUBMARINE

 

«So we sailed on to the sun

Till we found a sea of green

And we lived beneath the waves

In our yellow submarine.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 87: The legendary submarine (Sutcliffe model, The Sea Wolf Atomic Submarine, boxed tinplate clockwork toy) is preparing to dive into the green sea of 60s pop music (McFARLANE Toys, The Beatles Yellow Submarine, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band).

Lyrics: From the song “Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles.

THIS ENGLAND

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Feared by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home

For Christian service and true chivalry.

 

                                                  

Scene no 86: English knights (Britains Swoppets, 15 th Century Knights, The Wars of the Roses, 10 different plastic figures) protect the throne which encloses the Stone of Scone (Britains Toys, Coronation Chair).

The lyrics of the play: By William Shakespeare. From «Richard II», Act 2, scene 1.

DUEL IN VENICE

«Elsewhere is a negative mirror. 

The traveler recognizes the little that is his, discovering the much he has not had and will never have.»

 «“Memory’s images once they are fixed in words, are erased” Polo said.

“Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it, or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little.” »

                        

                                                  

Scene no 85: Elizabethan swordsmen (Cherilea Toys, 4 different plastic figures) duel in the flowerbed (Britains Toys, Floral Garden), in front of Desdemona's mansion. (Signor Blum Wooden Toys, Palazzo Contarini-Fasan puzzle).

The text excerpts: From “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino.

SPACE-MASTER

«This is the command deck of the space-ship “Asteroid” and YOU are the captain, 

seated in the centre there in front of your impressive array of instruments.»

                            

 

 

Scene no 84: Venusians (Manurba Toys, astronauts, 3 different plastic figures) have just disembarked from their alien spaceship (Cherilea Toys, Mechanoid Space Pod). In the background the command deck of the Earthlings’ spaceship (Three dimensional pop-up picture from the book INTO SPACE WITH ACE BRAVE!)

The text: The first sentence from the aforementioned pop-up book (Birn Brothers Ltd. London 1955. Illustrated by Ron Turner.)

THE COVEN

«… Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. This tells the story of how the goddess Diana had an incestuous affair with her brother Lucifer, and gave birth to Aradia (or Herodias); it was Aradia who eventually came down to earth and taught men and women the secrets of magic.»

                            

 

 

 

Scene no 83: Gathering of the witches. Scarlet Witch (Diamond Select Toys, Marvel Characters), Raven (DC COLLECTIBLES, Cover Girls of the DC Universe), and Zatanna (DC DIRECT, Cover Girls of the DC Universe, 3163 of 5000).

The text: From the introduction of the book WITCHES, by Colin Wilson.

SEVEN ROMANS

 

«For the safety of the Emperor, the vow that I,

Lucius Maximus Caetulicus, son of Lucius,

of the tribe Voltinia, from Vienna, made

as a new recruit in Legion XX Valeria Victrix

- to Imperial Victory, All-Divine and Most Reverend -

I have now fulfilled as chief centurion of

Legion I Italica, in the consulship of Marullus

and Aelianus, after 57 years of service.»

 

 

 

Scene no 82: Legionnaires of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix of the Imperial Roman Army (King and Country toy soldiers, Romans 2001) fight in a forest (Elastolin plastic trees) somewhere in Germania Inferior.

The text: Inscription of AD 184 from Novae in Lower Moesia.

DEVILISH CATECHISM

«And what are Gods, that Man may not become

As they, participating godlike food?

The Gods are first, and that advantage use

On our belief, that all from them proceeds.

I question it, for this fair Earth I see,

Warmed by the Sun, producing every kind,

Them nothing.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 81: Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge forbidden (Wilhelm Schweizer pewter piece, hand painted). In front of them, the ordinary snakes (Starlux and Elastolin soft plastic animals) that crawl in the grass (Unknown manufacturer) in the Garden of Eden. Behind them, the Serpent that has both speech and reason (Elastolin composition toys) watches them.

The verses: Satan’s guidance to the first woman. From Paradise Lost (Book IX), by John Milton.

ORBIS NON SUFFICIT

«All the greatest men are maniacs.

They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards their goal.

The great scientists, the philosophers, the religious leaders - all maniacs.»

 

 

 

 

 

Scene no 80: James Bond (Corgi toys, Icon collectible figures, hand painted) among eager young women (Topper toys, Dawn dolls) and Mercedes-Benz 300SL sport cars (SSS International toys, TINY GIANT series friction powered & Corgi toys, 50’s Classics series) in a hippie flower meadow (Topper toys, Dawn and her friends Doll Case).  

The statement: From DR. NO, the sixth James Bond novel by Ian Fleming.

THE NEW ERA IN SPACE

 

«I believe that this nation should commit itself

 to achieving the goal,

before this decade is out,

of landing a man on the moon

and returning him safely to the Earth.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 79: John F. Kennedy (Louis Marx and Company toys, plastic figurine, made in Hong Kong) in front of a Satellite launch rocket (Caltex toys, plastic missile, with box, made in Western Germany) and the Gemini space capsule (We Toys, plastic spacecraft, friction drive, detachable nose-cone, opening doors and removable astronauts, with box, made in Hong Kong).  

The statement: From the speech of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 (as he stood before a joint session of Congress).

DIVINE WIND

 

«There is no fear to stop me.

There is no anger to stop me.

There is no love to stop me.

There is no death.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 78: Kamikaze airplane (Oxford diecast 1:72 scale model Kawasaki Hein Ki61 KAI-Hei of HQ Chutai, 224^th Sentai, Chofu, Tokyo, Winter 1944/45) soaring through the clouds in the sky. Surrounded by the spirits of the glorious ancestors (ARGO Toy Soldiers Samurai warriors). Beneath the warlike wings, the cherry blossoms (Gean, Prunus Avium, WILLS’s CIGARETTES collectable cards, Flowering Trees & Shrubs, card no 21 from a series of 50).  

The verses: From World War II Japanese Kamikaze pilots Death Poetry.

EOSTRE

«Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated 

“Paschal month” 

and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named 

Eostre, 

in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 77: The goddess Eostre (MEGO Candi fashion doll made in Hong Kong) surrounded by symbols of fertility like hares and eggs (old plastic squeeze and dime store toys made in Greece from unknown manufacturers).  

The text: From “De temporum ratione” by the English Catholic monk St. Bede.

BALLAD OF BATTLE

 

«Father, I honor thee;

Not for earth’s hoards or honors we here are contending;

All that is holy our swords are defending:

Then falling, and conquering, I honor thee.

God, I repose in thee.

 

God, I repose in thee;

When the thunders of death my soul are greeting,

When the gashed veins bleed, and life is fleeting,

In thee, my God, I repose in thee.

Father, I call on thee.»

 

 

 

 

Scene no 76: German soldiers (KOBER SPIELWAREN semi-flat zinnfiguren, Bavarian army Nr.2767 Infanterie im Gefecht, made in Austria) taking positions on a battlefield (LOTT’S BRICKS, solid stone building bricks and trees – British made).  

The lyrics: From the poem “Prayer During Battle” by Korner.

ΤΙΝΤΙΝ ΤΗΕΑΤRΕ

 

«The child will be gripped by the excitement of Tintin, the comedy, even farce.

The adult will additionally find political satire and parody, puns and prescience.»

 

 

 

 

 

Scene no 75: Bianca Castafiore (Hard plastic figurine) sings in the center of the stage, while well-known supporting actors of the troupe dance around her: Rascar Capac, Alcazar, Fakir, Foudre Benie and professor Philippulus (Figurines Tintin Collection). Tintin himself and Captain Haddock are watching the performance from their private balcony (Tintin Theatre and Finger Puppets).

(All pieces are HERGE/MOULINSART editions).

The text: Βy Michael Farr (from the introduction to the book TINTIN The Complete Companion).