The Away Kit Mentality

The Twentieth of June Two Thousand and Eleven. Monday.

A small insight into my personality.

Yes, I want to be 'quirky' and perhaps a little bit 'alternative'. But I've always enjoyed doing this in a low key and pointless way. For instance, the few Man City shirts I've had over the years have typically been away ones. My very first one was the seventies one that looked like this:

only instead of the League Cup winners crest it had the traditional circle badge, thus:

 

I even had a No 8 on the back for Colin Bell - ah, Nijinsky, I never got to see you in your prime, but at least I saw you a few times after you returned from injury (Martin Buchan, hang your head in shame).

Over the years, I've gone away more than home, the red and black stripes being a regular fave (they're back again next season) with the odd maroon version, or that navy and white Kappa job from the 90s. Although I have fond memories of this:

which I had in the early 80s and am tempted to get from a retro shop. It's rubbish polyester mind, so the 70s one at the top in cotton's probably the better bet.

Anyway, I'm straying from the point somewhat - which was that given a choice I'd always go for the second option. On Airfix kits I'd choose the paint job and decals that were different from the picture on the lid. I've always illustrated this by saying that when I bought a Lockheed Starfighter I went for the Royal Canadian Air Force livery instead of the Luftwaffe camo version on the box, but imagine my horror when googling to try and find a picture I discover this:

On the orginal issue of the kit, the Canadian version was the cover star! Kind of undermines what I was saying, but also illustrates the satisfyingly arbitrary nature of it all. Ah, here's the one I had:

but my assertion is looking increasingly flimsy as it seems there was another Canadian version:

Although I did go for the 'Dogfight Double' of a Dassault Mirage III vs a MiG15 so I could get them in the Israeli Air Force and Egyptian Air Force markings instead of their regular ones so I think that says something -

Other examples: I had a white Stylophone

I got Stock Car Classy Crashers instead of the regular Stock Car Smash Up

(that orange one always seemed to lose) and I have a thing for White Maltesers. Although you don't see them quite so much these days.

So stick all that on your personality test, Mr Scientologist. Ha!

More soonliest.