Strange blokes initially taking small remnants (8)
I believe the answer is:
oddments
'remnants' is the definition.
(I know this)
'strange blokes initially taking small' is the wordplay.
'strange' becomes 'odd' (I've seen this before).
'blokes' becomes 'men' (bloke can informally mean a man).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'taking small' is 'ts'.
'odd'+'men'+'ts'='ODDMENTS'
(Other definitions for oddments that I've seen before include "just a few items" , "Remnants" , "Assorted leftovers" , "Isolated articles, left-overs." , "Bits and bobs" .)