MOONBASE CENTRAL

Happy Fiftieth Wotan!

2012-01-28T00:01:00.002Z

Have a Fab 50th Birthday Wote,

We may not be actually with you today but we are with you in spirit.

We all raise our glasses to you on your big day Bill and thank you for your friendship, infectious zest and true companionship on our cosmic journey.

Cheers!

Picture created by the uniquely talented Mike B.

LAST MINUTE BIRTHDAY CRISIS AVERTED

2012-01-27T20:42:00.000Z

WOTAN WAITS FOR MOONBASE DEBRIEFING

2012-01-27T19:23:00.001Z

Fired Up!

2012-01-27T17:06:00.003Z

Booster Rocket has now left Mars orbit en route for Moonbase - Commander Wotan on board with first mate Hendricks. ETA Lunar orbit 08:00 28 Jan....

Got a few hours to kill, a hold full of scotch and its awful lonely in space...

SPECIAL PERSONNEL DISPATCHED TO MOONBASE FOR WOTAN'S FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY BASH

2012-01-27T16:14:00.000Z

New suggestions welcomed!

Final Moon Ferry Departing 23 HUNDRED tonight.

Pilot: Luke Skywalker

UFPP'S: Unidentified Party Poopers

2012-01-27T12:00:00.003Z

For Wotan from Andy B

A SCABBARD FOR THE SWORD?

2012-01-27T12:00:00.001Z

WHICH ANDERSON TV SHOW WOULD PROJECT SWORD HAVE MOST EASILY SLOTTED INTO AND WHY?

1. THUNDERBIRDS?
2. CAPTAIN SCARLET?
3. SPACE 1999?
4. UFO?
5. OTHER?
6. NONE

It's a Group Thing

2012-01-27T11:30:00.000Z

We tried to get you a Century 21 Moon Base Wote, but the last one vanished when Brains blew up Tracy Island. We hope you like what we got you instead from Everyone ont' Blog!

Beer Necessities

2012-01-27T00:01:00.004Z

Beer Supplies En Route to

WOTAN's MARS BASE BASH!

Next Shipment being readied. What Drinks and Snacks would you like?

Shiver and Shake!

2012-01-26T17:06:00.000Z

whhoooo - takes me back forty two years to hiding these under the carpet! nasty!

Wheres the party ?

2012-01-26T14:00:00.002Z

Ive brought the jelly!

AS THE BIG DAY APPROACHED, THE SWORD FLEET GOT NEW BATTERIES.......

2012-01-26T00:07:00.000Z

The Next Generation

2012-01-25T00:02:00.001Z

Star gazing is the new rock n roll according to the UK News, largely as a result of Prof. Brian Cox, ex-member of D-Ream and TV cosmologist extroadinaire. With thousands of arnchair astronomers scouring the heavens, a member of the public even found a brand new planet last week. Are we on the cusp of a new space craze, with the promise of a whole new generation of space toys in the shops? Or will it take a Mars landing to do it? What do you think?

Year of the Dragon

2012-01-25T00:01:00.001Z

2012 | Year of the Dragon

Monday marked the start of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar and this year, SpaceX's Dragon will become the first privately developed spacecraft to visit the International Space Station.

Space travel is one of the most difficult of all human endeavors, and success is never a guarantee. This flight introduces a series of new challenges and new magnitudes of complexity; if even the smallest thing goes wrong, we will be forced to abort the mission.

What is guaranteed, however, is our commitment. There will be challenges along the way, but SpaceX will again make history and become the first private company to send a spacecraft to the Space Station. We take this responsibility very seriously and will not stop until we succeed.

Dragon is a spacecraft unlike any other. Not only is it the first privately developed spacecraft to successfully return from Earth orbit, but it is also the only reusable spacecraft designed for human transport in operation today. In the coming days, we'll take a closer look at some of Dragon's advanced technologies in celebration of the Year of the Dragon and the opening of a new era in space travel.

In the meantime, checkout out the interactive panorama below for a look inside Dragon in its cargo configuration, as it will be on its first mission to the International Space Station:

(click image to view interactive panorama--flash required)

At the top you have the hatch that will connect with the International Space Station. To the side is the hatch as well as racks and straps to hold cargo, which in our next mission will include several hundred pounds of astronaut provisions. And on the floor, just above the heat shield, is additional storage space behind metal doors that are shown both open and closed.

Never Zine Again?

2012-01-24T15:27:00.000Z

Last weekend I tried to find a decent UK magazine on vintage toys. There were a few die-cast mags but nothing like the old Model Mart or TV Toys. Do any of you still read vintage toy mags in your part of the world?

New SWORD Sightings 2012: Lost In Space

2012-01-24T00:01:00.001Z

Ever since our man in Japan Terry spotted a random Booster Rocket drawing in a Japanese Captain Scarlet comic I've had a good look at any new vintage Japanese merchandise online. It paid off last week when I saw something in this Lost In Space record and comic from 1966.

One of the pages features, yes, another random Booster Rocket as pictured on the right below! It's presumably been influenced heavilly by Ed Valigursky's painting in the Man and Space book. Whay the comic book artist should choose the Booster for a Lost in Space story is a mystery.

The same question can be asked of the random Booster found by Terry last year in the Scarlet strip [at least that's Gerry Anderson], which I've included here again for comparison along with Valigursky's original painting and the SWORD box art for good measure! What do you think?

Tickets Please!

2012-01-23T00:01:00.002Z

I can recall something this conductor set [Picture: Ebay] in the Sixties as if I still had it on! The pleasure I got from slotting the tickets into the red machine and hearing it click as I pressed the button was beyond words! Now thinking about it my ticket machine may have been made of tin. In the attic I have an original ticket and the red plastic strap. Alas, no cap! Anyone else have 'fancy dress' sets like this?

The Tanks Are In Dewsbury

2012-01-22T12:00:00.002Z

Yesterday we took a trip from Moonbase to the town of Dewsbury, which lies at the base of the Pennine Hills [a range mentioned in the Project SWORD Annual Moon Crawler story no less! see GACCH] . Like many UK towns it's taking a beating during the current recession, evidence of which is all around in the boarded-up shopfronts. Still, we like Dewsbury and remember its Sunday Car Boot Sales fondly. Amongst the remaining stores are however a few gems. There's a vintage toy shop called Cosmic Toys, a vintage comic shop called Strange Tales and a hardware shop called Imrans. Inside said shop are to be found many cheap toys. Now back in 2009 I reported on a horde of battery-operated armoured cars that they had at £3.99 each. Well, they still have them! Should anyone want one of these - pictured above and below - let me know here.

Another cheapo toy in the store is a slot-car set called Record Breakers. Now I'm not a slot-car collector so I wouldn't normally give it much of a look. The set looked a little bit like this below but much much cheaper.

What made me look twice was the fact that this knockoff set brazenly ripped off the Corgi Rockets typeface like the one below, which I'd recognise a mile off, for the words Record Breakers. I love strange trips out like this!

Andy B's Robot Empire!

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000Z

Molabbin'

2012-01-21T11:38:00.000Z

I do love a good MOLAB. Not owning the Spacex toy I always appreciate any other toy versions that might come along. Here's the cereal kit we've seen ooddles of times before but I just liked this picture of MOLABs, space stations and rocket carriers I found on Ebay Oz. This cool MOLAB shape would have made a fantastic SWORD toy, maybe Scout 4. What do ya reckon?

21st Century Crimson King

2012-01-21T11:10:00.000Z

In the Court of the Crimson King

by proggers King Crimson 1969

for Warren Z.

The track was played in the modern film The Children of Men.

The album of the same name includes the track 21st Century Schizoid Man, a favourite of Wotan.

The SWORD Dyna Soar was the song's contemporary.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

2012-01-21T10:01:00.000Z

Whilst whirling your Nuclear Pulse round the room and dusting down your Moon Prospector why not treat yourself to a bag of your favourite vintage sweeties like the one's we've been chewing over on the blog. In the UK you could stop by at the scrummy Lancastrian online shop A Quarter Pound Of [sweetie images borrowed from it] and immerse yourself in toffee heaven!

PS. Did anyone have a toy sweet shop/ post office/ bus ticket machine as a wee one?

Oh Henry!

2012-01-21T09:05:00.002Z

The two times I've gone Stateside I've always made sure I partook of the local confections. The three yum yums I remember the most are: Oh Henry! like a cross between a Milky Way and a Snickers; Almond M & M's, need I say more, blissful and last but not least, Hostess Twinkies, which are more of a cake than a sweet but I do love them so!

US readers like Richard will be able to get these goodies down the corner shop but the rest of must try importers. In the UK we have, for example, instore in LIDL and ALDI and online you could try the Stateside Candy Co. Oh Henry!

Shards of SWORDS: My First Web Site

2012-01-21T00:01:00.003Z

Looking through my portable hard-drive I was chuffed to find that at some point I saved most of the web-page layouts from my first SWORD site before it was wiped by AOL or Yahoo [this is the third]. Now how I did this I just can't remember as they date from the days of floppy disks way back in 1999/ 2000. I seem to remember emailing them from my ancient PC to my laptop years ago after floppies had vanished and home computers only had USB sockets. Amazingly, all the copy pages I have still have working hot links to each other. I remember creating it in something called Dreamweaver I think. Rather basic now, it's been fun seeing it all again. You'll get a something of the flavour of it from these miniature screengrabs. It wasn't on the net that long before being a victim of web slinging!

Thank God it's Friday Night Record Cover Quiz 2

2012-01-20T21:01:00.000Z

OK Swordies, round 1 was no problem for you! Time to flex those Sixties and Seventies neurons even harder with this lot. To give as many readers a go as poss, just post one answer: artist and LP name. Kapow! Groovy man!

Thank God it's Friday Night Record Cover Quiz

2012-01-20T18:00:00.002Z

Right, you've watched the old shows, you've sucked the old sweets. Now it's time to play the old records. Well, name the LP records actually: artist and album name. One guess per Swordie please. Let's rock!

Six Pack

2012-01-20T00:01:00.002Z

Saw these Six Wheelers in cyberspace. The top one's Russian. The middle ones are SHADOMobile rip offs called Emergency Squad [these used to be sold loose as well 'cos I bought one in the late Eighties]. Bottom one's by Nanyang.

Seize A Salad

2012-01-19T23:27:00.000Z

Drumsticks and Fruit Salads just for Toad!

What our mouths were made for!

........and all still available!

Name That Sweet

2012-01-19T18:01:00.000Z

As well as watching cool TV shows after a game of War or Dolls back in the day we were also busy stuffing our faces with scrummy sweets and toffees from down the Penny Shop! Mmmm, yummy! So Swordies, same drill as before, to be considered Grand sweet Tooth please name JUST ONE of these old sweets and it's sticky number!

Name That Show II

2012-01-19T15:49:00.000Z

OK, round 2. This time Swordies, to give more readers a chance, please choose JUST ONE show and name it and give its location [left to right, top, bottom etc] in the comments. So that's JUST ONE please! That's all folks!

PROJECT R.E.D

2012-01-19T00:01:00.010Z

I do love the vintage Soviet space toys which appear on fleabay from time to time. Here's a small CCCollection of pictures, from the last few months, which I felt would have made really cool Soviet SWORD toys! I particularly like the red bubble car, a sort of SWORD Isetta! I wonder of there's a really good website about Soviet space toys anywhere?

Name That Show

2012-01-18T17:51:00.000Z

Get your thinking caps on Swordies.

Can you name these Sixties TV sci-fi series/ shows?

New SWORD Sightings 2012: Gemini Rocket

2012-01-18T12:00:00.001Z

Well it's just two weeks into January and already we have two new sightings of SWORD-related material new to the blog.

First up is something I bought from Fleabay [admittedly in December] and it's way cool! It's a vintage Gemini Space Rocket made in Hong Kong by an unknown maker. The rocket toy, not that remarkable, is elastic fired with a small descending parachutist. But it's the backing card that's on interest for on the front and back is artwork of the SWORD Apollo Saturn Rocket no less! Have a look yourself below. I've taken the blister off so that the front is completely visible.

Looking at the artwork of the rocket particularly on the rear of the card you can see that the four base wings are red and the upper body and wings are blue. Comparing this with the three known variations of the Apollo Saturn Rocket - from left to right Sears, Tomy and Century 21 - I feel the art is a deadringer for the Tomy version. Do you agree?

The second sighting of a new SWORD-related item to follow!

TAR FEATURES

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000Z

Milk Ferry Way,

a custom Tarheelised bit of Woodsy box art wishful thinking.

Wonder why Tarheel in the US never did any of the bigger C21 SWORD toys like this, the Apollo Saturn, Scramble Bug or Zero-X. Come to think of it, you'd have thought that the smaller Dyna Soar and the boxed Cape Kennedy set were eminently marketable as they would have been instantly recognisable to kids Stateside in the late Sixties. What do you think Swordies?

Dome Sweet Dome

2012-01-17T16:16:00.000Z

Looking at Wote's cool Lego figures with domed helmets reminded me of two friends of mine of the domed variety. Probably the earliest transparent domed helmet figure I recall is Mysterio, above, an early arch-villain and foe of Spidey. Here's the cover of his debut comic from summer 1964.

The second of my domed pals was a favourite toy back in the Sixties, Xodiac, The Man from Saturn and a member of the fabulous Colorforms Outer Space Men, which to my mind were the pinnacle of space toy design and production. The backing cards were also superb and Xodiac's was no exception. I particularly loved the picture of him with his flying device, which looked like a neat Sixties lampshade.

Were there any other domed helmets in the toy or comic world?

Pictures: Ebay

Time Slip

2012-01-17T15:49:00.000Z

I was thinking about an old TV programme I used to watch in the late 60's/ early 70's called Time Slip. It may have even be one word. I remember one kid actor having thick black plastic specs like I was to get a few years later. For the life of me I can't remember the plot[s]. Anyone recall it?

Go Figure!

2012-01-17T09:45:00.000Z

Following quickly on from my earlier look at the inherent colour code in various toys, heres another set of Lego figures that link directly to the earlier Kelloggs Bionicle ones. The original line of buildable figures included six hero figures in primary colours. Each figure came with a removeable mask which held a different power or attribute, the masks were initially available in small bags with a random selection of three inside and proved extremely collectable.

As the line grew over the years, large playsets were introduced and these included small scale minifigures of each character. The initial release of the figures were single piece molds with a detachable weapon and reminded me of the fifties and sixties Archer and Tudor Rose spacemen. Each one was produced in a single colour, relative to their larger versions, black, white, brown, blue, green and the leader, red.

Each figure is about 4 cm high on average with a ridiculously oversized weapon. Later sets would introduce multipart poseable figures.

Alvis Has Left The Biulding and Come Back!

2012-01-17T00:12:00.000Z

Like Wote's Clifford Alvis posted yesterday, Alvis-style vehicles are old favourites on the blog. In no particular order I've selected a few from the archives. Back in Autumn 2009 we featured some custom box art for a SWORD Super Tank based on a cheap plastic toy found in local discount shops [above].

An old friend of mine, we've had the Airfix troop carrier, above, on here a number of times. It'd be great to do a feature on all the old pre-built Airfix military vehicles if anyone can help?

Also back in 09 we had a great time looking into the two land vehicles which featured in Joe 90. First up was the A14 showcased on this old Arrow Films case. Toad, ever helpful, at the time supplied me with two neat video clips as well: the A14 and the other vehicle, the U59, which you can enjoy once again below.

Where there any other Alvis-style TV vehicles [UFO? Thunderbirds? Sci Fi films] or toys?

Soldering On

2012-01-17T00:01:00.001Z

We recently had the central heating boiler fixed here at Moon Base. I got a gas fitter earthside but it cost me a new set of anti-grav spanners and a zillion creds for the new circuitry. I rescued the old circuit board from the bin and it gave me an idea!

Hey presto! one Circuit City patrolled by Task Force 3!

Starcruiser Redux

2012-01-16T17:06:00.004Z

The famed Starcruiser model has a chequered history, originally intended as a follow up to Space 1999 as a tv series, the Starcruiser concept never really made it beyond the model kit stage. Originally designed by Martin Bower, the craft was intended as a modular craft for exploring the far reaches of space, with separate units for various missions. The model had more than a passing resemblance to Bowers 'Swift' vehicle which appeared in Space 1999.

Airfix made a rather toylike version of the basic Starcruiser design, a snapfit kit with the various modular elements easily separated even after the kit is complete, to aid play value. I had the kit at release and made a complete hash of the paint job trying to add red stripes to the hull with masking tape. I loved the design of the kit, even though it was a much simpler version of the design i'd seen in the pages of Look-In.

The kit appears to be around the 1/48 scale, judging by the figures which look as if they are sat at the dentists waiting room with hairdryers on their heads. Consequently, one thing I am going to do is substitute the pilots provided for something a little more suitable, Matchbox Mega Rig figures. The poseability and slightly more animated shapes sit better with the toy like feel of the kit.

I've built the kit up without using glue, as each part aside from the clear elements, snaps firmly together. The base kit looks great and really brings memories back, but what I don't want to do is botch up the paint job.

This leaves me with the problem of what to do as I don't want to repeat the mess I made years ago. Also, i don't want to decorate it as it is out of the box and was considering alternate schemes and liveries, plus maybe a few modifications.

One of my all time fave liveries is the style of finish on Zero X, a lovely metallic blue with red highlights. When I got the Revell Nuclear Shuttle model, I finished it in this style and am tempted to try it out on the Starcruiser, but im not sure if it will work. Watch this space!

Kevin D's Scratchbuilt SHADO 1

2012-01-16T00:01:00.001Z

Hi Paul,

I have just finished scratchbuilding a studio scale SHADO mobile from UFO. It is built onto the wheels and tracks of the Tiger Joe tank. The body is made from plywood, plastic and car body filler! Hope you like it.

take care,

Kevin D.

Grapheme Designer

2012-01-15T16:27:00.000Z

I was discussing books on the way to work with a collegue the other day and she happened to mention finishing Daniel Tammets, 'Born on a Blue Day', about the authors life dealing with Apergers Syndrome and the titular Synaethesia. Synaethesia occurs in many forms, the most common of which involves perceiving sensations in more than one way such as 'hearing colours' or 'tasting sounds' so that the normal cognitive pathways in the brain are subtly rewired to allow the synaesthete to apprehend sensations in other ways different from the normal five senses. Tammets title refers to a common condition where the person associates or 'sees' a colour in relation to a letter, word or number, this sensation is invariably consistent and memorable. For example the number 1 may appear to a person with synaethesia as red or blue each time they encounter it or think of it. The discussion in the car made me think about something that I had taken for granted since I was a child, the colour associations I have with days of the week - Monday/Red, Tuesday/Green, Wednesday/mid Blue, Thurday/Chocolate Brown, Friday/Dark Blue-Purple, Saturday/Bright Yellow-White, Sunday/Yellow. I also have strong associations with numbers and colours and looking further into the condition, this colour association is called 'Grapheme Synaesthesia' .

Until I heard of the concept of Synaethesia, I didnt give my associations of colour a second thought, but looking back now, its easy to see how this connection with colour informed my life. As a kid, one of my favourite things to play with was a packet of felt tip pens and it still is today. Not so much drawing with them as having the set of coloured pens ranged together so I could admire them. Another favourite item was an eraser encased in a series of connectable plastic 'bricks' that you removed as the central eraser wore down and added them back on to the pile at the back, forming a handle, The colours of the bricks were almost always matched to the colours of the pens, with the obvious addition of a white block. Colour has always been very important to me and seeing the inclusion of colour codes in things always drew me to them, such as the colour code of Thunderbirds vehicles or the bright colours of Spacex toys and Hot Wheels cars.

Cereal premiums often included standard colours in their production, most notably Kelloggs with Crater Critters and Totem Tribe, which had bright blues, oranges and violets amongst them. Some years ago, Kelloggs joined with Lego to include a range of themed premiums to support the Bionicle figure line and the six premiums included in the cereal reflected the strong colour associations that had been introduced in the figure line - six hero figures each having an elemental power and a colour such as Blue for Water, Red for Fire, Black for Earth etc.

The small two inch high figures were a natural draw for me for a number of reasons, not least as a fan of Lego and premiums, but also due to the strong colour code. Each figure came with a weapon and a spinner, not unlike the ones from the Triang Nuclear Pulse. Putting the spinner into the upraised hand of the figure and slotting the toothed weapon into the side, the spinner could be launched with a quick pull and a satisfying whirr into the air.

The red, green and blue figures represented half of the original heroic side and the black brown and white figures were the enemy forces. These slightly ungainly figures had a disk shooting mechanism in place of their arms which held a small frisbee like disk.

The consistent colour code appears in a number of different toy lines even today, probably a more extreme example might be the Bandai Power Rangers which highlights the colour theme intentionally. Ill be looking at other examples of the use of colour in toys over the next few weeks.

Stalwart Memory

2012-01-15T12:14:00.003Z

A little while ago while delving in my toybox of matchbox cars, I fetched out the Stawart truck. Always a big favourite of mine, the little metal car enjoyed many exploits round the garden and on the beach. At some point in the sixties, I was rewarded with a plastic Clifford version in garish red and green, now lost to the mists of time. As is usually the case, one surfaced on ebay recently, in the same livery as the Matchbox original, but as a tanker version like the one I had many moons ago. The company also used their own logo on the toy as the insignia for the 'petrol' company. As I recall, it was about 6 inches long with a friction drive. As a kid, i fretted for ages trying to open the twin hatches on the cab! This lovely boxed version finished today, but I couldnt risk domestic disharmony going after it! Shame!

A Full Gantry

2012-01-15T00:01:00.001Z

Now and then I have a senior moment! I had one recently. I've long wished for another battery-operated Cape Kennedy Set- style you to surface. Alas, this hasn't happened but I dod come across the Cashulette/ Countdown Inc. Apollo Saturn V and Gantry model kit a couple of years ago. I thought that would be it.

But, like Yoda said, there is another! It's been right under my nosecone for years! I've even admired the box art many times. But not until this week did I realise it was another Saturn V AND gantry/ crawler [LUT in NASA circles] set. So here it is, the Aoshima Apollo Saturn, released in 1969 and re-issued more recently.

I'd love to see the biult-up Aoshima and Cashulette/Countdown Inc Saturn kits and Century 21 Cape Kennedy Set pictured together in one big V-Off! Can anyone help?

Super Blooper

2012-01-14T00:14:00.001Z

Continuing our peep at auction misspellings of Century 21, here's an X-rated example spotted on Ebay Australia by Agent Terry. The mind ~~biggles~~! ~~baggle~~s! boggles!

Empire of Tarboro Trademark History

2012-01-14T00:01:00.001Z

For Swordies interested in the history of Tarheel Industries, the US manufacturer of the SWORD range, you can read about their subsequent incarnation, Empire, which began in 1973. Read here.

Midnight Movie

2012-01-13T23:25:00.000Z

and the second feature would be what?

Moonbase Meanderings

2012-01-13T00:01:00.002Z

Sometimes oxygen levels run low here at Moonbase and I start to notice all sorts of strange things in cyberspace. The mis-spelling of Century 21 for instance. I've been aware for some time that some Japanese 'museum' books mis-quote it as Cenpury 21 but the most recent example I've seen was on Ebay where a Space Glider was introduced as Sanctuary 21! Somehow it sort of works! Can you think of anymore Swordies? Made-up ones are always welcome too!

Recently in the Moon Base mailbag was an intriguing message from one Doctor from Ukraine who asked whether I simply produce space toys [!] or would I discuss real solution for future industries. Anokin went on to suggest my involvement in using lunar soils in moon cement for biulding future moon bases! The mind boggles particularly when oxygen is at such low levels. I'm expecting Wote and Toad to make a delivery any minute, hopefully before my moon mortar crumbles!

It is Friday the 13th after all!

Gremlin Returns

2012-01-12T23:40:00.000Z

My Blogger gremlin is back. Once more I can't post large images. It's very frustrating. There are a number of planned projects and posts, which this will delay so I ask for your patience Swordies. These include:

SWORD stories in TV21
SHADOMobile Model by Kevin D
Adventure Stories Strip from Andy B

Going Solo

2012-01-12T00:01:00.002Z

Looking at SWORD in SOLO is always a blast. Here are two interesting bits from August 19th 1967. First, regarding that old chestnut of scale, we see that one of the smallest SWORD toys, the silver jet on the nose of the Booster Rocket, is actually HUGE and easily holds a Moon Bus! Interestingly, and as we've discussed before, the 'silver jet' is actually a deep space probe. It gives us some idea of just how big the Booster Rocket was!

Second up are some cool rotating canons on the side of the Moon Bus! Now that would have made such a great 'star feature' on the toy and combined with mystery action it would have been awesome! What do you reckon Swordies?

SWORD BOTS

2012-01-11T00:01:00.001Z

Flicking through the SOLO comic strips posted on here I noticed at least three robots in the SWORD stories. SIBOR reminds me of the friendly pilot robot Robert in Fireball XL5 [which was apparantly voiced by Mr. Anderson himself! wikipedia]. The Quatermassesque 'alien machine' beetle bot recalls a toy I've seen but can't think where. The Walking Bomb is actually from a TV21 strip and drawn by Ron Embleton. It's on a course to destroy SWORD HQ! Yikes! [GACCH].

Generation Jones Is Go

2012-01-10T18:43:00.000Z

Like Toad, I've been thunking further on the nature of nostalgia. She made an interesting point about the 'specialness' of the Sixties generation. According to Wiki's list there are many generations and it is the baby Boomers who feel the most special. Alas, as I was born in 1960 I belong to the more cynical Generation Jones! Never heard of it! Not to worry, I feel more comfortable with something like the Flower Children's Children or Thunderbirds Babies! Which generation were [or if we're still in it then should that be are?] you in?

Zeitgeisting

2012-01-10T12:00:00.001Z

I've been speculating on the nature of Zeitgeist, you know, that stuff that defines a generation. Maybe I've chosen the wrong word but for 'my' childhood generation the prevailing influences are easy to remember: the space race, the monster craze, glam rock, military toys, TV like Thunderbirds and Hanna Barbera cartoons, tank tops and parallels and Butlins. There was much more memorable stuff but that'll do for now.In many ways it helped make me who I am, the cultural bit. Teenage was next and was an equally remarkable time in the Seventies.

But am I simply being overly - nostalgic or was there something special about the Sixties and Seventies? Will every other generation, those of the Fifties, Eighties, Nineties and Noughties, have the same strong sense of a distinct popular culture from that time?

Will the kids of today look back on 2012 and excitedly recall the colour of their mobile phones or favourite computer game? Will they remember the sounds of their Ipod and the cut of their clothes? Is the alluring memory of childhood the same regardless of the prevailing pop culture and does every generation in every land form a distinct whole?

Mini Robot and Me

2012-01-10T00:01:00.001Z

Wote's post about Robbie and YM3 has reminded me of my own personal favourite bot toy, the petit but wonderful Mini Robot of Japan. I had one of these clockwork fellows when I was a wee droidlet myself. Simple, wobbley and totally unforgettable, with his red body and blue arms. We parted company sometime in the early Seventies - I think the Jawas got him, but I was lucky enough to have a friend who wanted a good home for her own loose Mini Robot. So in the mid-1990's we were once more together. Friends Re-united! Anyone else have a Mini Robot?

Picture: Ebay 2011

Remote Possibilities

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001Z

Remote control toys were always the Daddies and Zero X was the Daddy of them all. But there were three other remotely-controlled SWORD toys: the spectacular Cape Kennedy Set, the phenomenal Nuclear Ferry and last but not least, the far less-well known Hover version of the Probe Force 3. Thanks to the power of modern technology, you can see the toys above and their respective packaging below.

Broadening the net somewhat and despite not having it's original SWORD name, Imai's Thunderbird 7 is also a remote-controlled plastic toy version of the Beetle [the shielded Snow Train]. OK it's a built-up kit but looking at Ferryman's cool snaps below it looks every bit the SWORD toy [please note that the JR21 box is a custom job created by said Ferryman for his TB7]. Are there any other SWORD r/c toys?

What are your memories of remote-control toys?

Rubbish TV

2012-01-08T21:29:00.000Z

A friend of mine recently observed how rubbish TV was over Christmas here in the UK. OK, there were Xmas staples like Alistair Simm's Charles Dickens, Jingle All the Way and Home Alone but no real thought went into any vintage series or unusual oldies over the holidays. No proper Sci-Fi, no real monsters nor were there much ghostly goings-on. And to add insult to injury, the same films, which are on an endless digital TV loop, are back again now so they didn't really try at all! Pants really! Was this your experience in your part of the world?

A Right Pair of Robots

2012-01-08T15:22:00.000Z

Woodsy, a follow up to the robots feature. This pair normally decorate my workroom. The silver one at left is Japanese, from the mid 80s; it also appeared as a smaller version in coloured plastic; the one on the right is more recent. This is one of two designs marketed by Hawkin's Bazaar, it's actually a pencil sharpener - the robot can be would by key or by sharpening a pencil!

Andy B

More Magic Robots

2012-01-08T00:06:00.000Z

After a comprehensive search in the Wotan archive to find the original green robot from the Magic Robot game, it soon became apparent that he had been sold off on ebay back in the early days of my collecting fever. However, the search did remind me of two other fine examples of robotic design from japanese toy maker Masudaya. These small clockwork models, each about 3 inches high, were produced in limited numbers in 1984.

Possibly two of the most iconic robots ever made and before the advent of Star Wars, the inspiration for a whole legion of spin offs and copies. Robbie, the lumbering giant from Forbidden Planet, manages to encompass both the anthropomorphic characteristics of walking and having a deep resonant voice and the whirring, clicking electronic brain from an early computer. His appearance in the 1957 film and in a subsequent feature, the Invisible Boy, spawned millions of tin lookalike toys. This model is all plastic and has a clockwork mechanism that moves him in a mock walking motion with his static legs, by using pins in the feet to wobble him forward.

A second model in the series Robot YM-3 hailed from Irwn Allens Lost in Space tv series and shared similar characteristics to Robbie, the clear glass head, lack of face and the mechanicl brain. YM-3 benefits from a wheeled base and clockwork motor.

Both toys came originally unpainted with minor surface decoration. Looking at them now its almost possible to hear their distinctive, rounded tones reciting classic phrases such as "will sixty gallons be sufficent ?" and "Danger Will Robinson!".

Alphadrome: Home of the Robots

2012-01-08T00:01:00.001Z

Tonight I did one of my regular searches of Alphadrome 'Home of the Robots', the robot and space toy database and forum run by the botfather himself, Brian Hayes. Brian was the first online UK website owner to take an interest in my penchant for SWORD and published my original and somewhat clunky checklist many moons ago [the friendly Kelly Lannan of Oz kindly did the same over at TV21 as well].

I first came across Brian at northern toy fairs as he always had a great assortment of space and monster toys nestling side by side on his stall. I still have one of his old business cards and magazine ads somewhere. When the SWORD checklist first appeared around 1999 I had an AOL email address. A few enthusiasts succeeded in contacting me through this I think [Wote, Paul V, Mark M] but it changed fairly quickly after that when I left AOL to join Freeserve. As such it became a dead address, which I forgot to update Brian about. So I was pleasantly surprised tonight when I read the following comment from 2010 by him on his forum:

Alphadrome has been fairly tightly preoccupied with traditional vintage pieces but why not accommodate some other interests? For example did you know there's a very popular Project Sword item on the site that has attracted thousands of visitors despite having had NO links. (I've added one now.)

The link Brian refers to is in the Articles section of Alphadrome, where you'll find some great reference material by other space toy enthusiasts.

Brian's also updated his database, which now includes many SWORD and related craft amongst the hundreds of cool space toys. If you haven't already checkout out Alphadrome what are you waiting for! It's the home of the robots!

Imitation is the Sincerest form of, err, Copying

2012-01-07T13:28:00.001Z

I love it when one thing leads to another.

The boys' comic Hornet isn't really my cup of tea. Searching through numerous issues for advertisements has left me with the impression that World War II never ended. But that might be an unfair view as there was time only for the most cursory of glances through the picture strips.

But one stood out amongst the others. No Return From Zorun is a science fiction story about a man sent to an anarchistic prison planet after being framed for murder. A crashed spacecraft is his chance of escape and revenge.

Apart from the story itself, the artwork is very interesting because the illustrator has clearly been, erm, "inspired" by TV21 comic strips. Take a look at the rear view of the crashed ship. From this angle there is more than a touch of Fireball XL5.

Actually it only looks like Fireball from certain angles. A fuller view shows the overall design is quite different apart from its rear.

Here's another vehicle from the story. This one is called a "Skimmer". But, excuse me, isn't that an Angel Interceptor?

And what about the pilot of Law Corps Patrol Ship Dove-Nine? Surely that's Troy Tempest, albeit sitting on the "wrong" side.

And finally, here is Colonel White with a beard. Is Lieutenant Cass (in the background) wearing a Spectrum Captain's uniform?

All of which leads to this question. Is the Law Corps ship below based on anything? Given the amount of borrowing in the (actually good and worth a read) strip, I'm tempted to think this design might have been copied too. Can anyone identify it?

New Year Scoop: Rollout Found!

2012-01-07T00:01:00.001Z

My ongoing research into the origins of Project SWORD toys box art has slowed down somewhat as new seams of information have got harder to find. However, during the last couple of months of 2011 I had a small breakthrough.

One night in Early November I stumbled across what I thought was just another image of Robert McCall's Rollout painting. Already knowing that the painting was the basis of the box art for the SWORD Cape Kennedy Set [as blogged] I expected it to be a re-use of the picture as can be seen on the Look and Learn comics website. I was wrong.

The image I was looking at on the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was a picture of the ORIGINAL painting! I was ecstatic! Since the McCall estate had told me in 2010 that they did not have the painting I had been looking for this for the last couple of years without any success!

With wind in my sails and without further ado I contacted the Smithsonian and received the following amazing reply:

The painting in question, Robert McCall, "Rollout," (A19800452000) is currently on loan to Senator William Nelson, the only current member of Congress to have flown in space. It hangs in his office in the Senate Hart Office Building. The loan is set to expire in December 2012, but may be renewed at that time. I can't answer your question regarding the timing of the painting or Bob McCall's sources. Your request to include an image of the painting on your web site should go to the rights specialist in our NASM Archive. I have included her in this response. I do hope that this is of some help to you.

Tom D. Crouch, PhD
Senior Curator, Aeronautics
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
National Air and Space Museum
Room 3232 MRC312
Washington, D.C.

So the box art of the Cape Kennedey Set, so to speak, hangs in a US Senator's Office! What a strange inter-connected world we live in! Whilst taking this in the Snithsonian Air and Space Museum's Rights specialist contacted me regarding use of the image:

Dear Paul Woods:

I have reviewed previous requests similar to yours and find that even though your website does not strictly conform with our guidelines for a non-commercial site, that we would be able to offer a reduced use fee, in this instance, of $20 USD. I must reiterate, though, that is image is not available at a higher-resolution than that at which it appears on our website. If this is agreeable to you, please fill out our form, mentioned below, and submit to my attention. I can then generate an invoice that can be paid via Visa, Mastercard, money order or a check drawn on a bank that has a branch in the United States.

Thank you for your interest in the National Air and Space Museum. I look forward to hearing from you.

All best,

Kate Igoe

Permissions Archivist

National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Institution

I know we've had examples of this image before on the blog but I was never sure if we were looking at a picture of the original art. So, after some form filling and twenty US dollars later, here is Robert T. McCall's original Rollout, gouache on paper, as it appears on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website, Inventory number: A19800452000 [published here once only with written permission]. The actual site page, complete with fascinating summary and long descriptions about NASA's art programme, can be found on their excellent Smithsonian website. Enjoy!

What is it if it's not really Magic?

2012-01-06T11:55:00.000Z

My curiosity has been piqued by the Magic Robot game which Grif mentioned in relation to Andy B's recent Christmas pressie. Here's a YouTube video showing one working. Or rather, not working.

What I want to know is, how did the robot point to the correct answer? Assuming it isn't really magic but more likely magnets, how did it work? It looks like the base of the robot has to be slotted into the question area. Is it turning a pulley? Has anyone got a photo of what lies beneath the board?

The Robot we know so well wasn't the only quiz master. Here's an altogether different figurine from a Spanish version of the game, posted here courtesy of Willy Mertens at Board Game Geek. (Thanks, Willy)

Old Christmas Day Special: The Century 21 Street Fleet

2012-01-06T00:01:00.004Z

May I present the Century 21/JR21 Street Fleet as I call it. To get into my Street Fleet the toys have to be:

C21/JR21

Non-space

Non-military

Non-character

Non-TV

As seen in the above Joe 90 comic ad showing the Four Wheel Drive Toys [which appear to be re-issues of Marx's Hill Climbing range], there was also a C21 Wrecker Truck, which most probably was derived from the Marx version pictured here.

But did they go further and do a C21 version of the Marx Hill Climbing Cement Mixer too as seen below? I would be very interested in pictures of any other C21/J21 toy vehicles that you may know of.

Pictures: Woodsy, Vectis, Ebay, Ferryman, Toad

Screwing Around!

2012-01-05T15:17:00.000Z

Our Man in Japan, Terry recently sent me some links to some of the outlandishly priced kits on japanese auction sites. Not content with producing fanciful models of space related designs and anime tv shows, the kit companies bring out models of other strange vehicles such as this fabulous Delta SF Tank with novel archimedean screw motivators. Seemingly impractical, the screw drive was originally devised by Fordson as a means to propel tractors through thick mud, but was also considered by Chrysler during the Viet Nam conflict. This fabulous kit is a motorised version of what appears to be an amphibious tank all set for exploring alien seas and terrains.

Naturally, given the range of extreme conditions in the USSR, the soviets took the idea and developed a number of variations on the theme into military vehicles. Dark Roasted Blend has a great gallery and comprehensive information on the weird and wonderful vehicles.

Twelfth Day and Night Special: Andy B's Dan Dare Jigsaws

2012-01-05T00:01:00.004Z

Woodsy,

In case you want a follow on to the jigsaw theme. This is a 1950s Dan Dare jigsaw, or rather a scan of the boxlid art. The scenes are adapted from the early Dan Dare strories. It was a jigsaw I inherited from my father (who liked jigsaws and comics), and remains one of the strongest images from my childhood - I have many happy memories of working on it.

And below, not as good an image as the above, but this Eagle jigsaw, also by Wadddingtons includes a Dan Dare scene.

Andy B.

It's Still Grifmas

2012-01-04T16:10:00.000Z

Dear Woodsy,

Since it's still technically Christmas, I thought you'd like the attached - I got this old SF mag in a second-hand bookshop, and it's so evocative of the "reveries of reclusive boys and hopes of the handful of men" that the "Dreams of Space" guy spoke of!

Grif

Zorglumobile

2012-01-04T15:55:00.000Z

In case anyone missed the comments to
The Future Never Become, Paul has pointed out that one of the models pictured on the cover of the book is the Zorglumobile from the Spirou et Fantasio comic strips. (It's the red vehicle with the four rotors, to the right of the boy's head.)

He also found this movie on YouTube of a flying model! Thanks, Paul.

Now if only someone would make a radio-controlled flying model of the SpaceX Nuclear Pulse.

MAC PACK

2012-01-04T00:01:00.001Z

Here's a few more goodies from my old Ebaying days. Like all my bits and bobs these were all purchased from Car Boot Sales and Charity Shops between 2000 and 2010. Sometimes friends just gave me bags of stuff as well, which were always great fun to root through! Long gone now, we have amongst the above a nice boxed Matchbox MAC Snow Rescue Unit and some unidentified GI Joe vehicles.

Oddly enough, MAC is the sign-off in the SWORD SOLO comic strip, like FAB in Thunderbirds. Matchbox's acronym meant Mobile Action Command. Like FAB, I don't know what MAC stood for at Century 21, although the superb GACCH comics history site postulates that it might mean Moving As Commanded and tongue in cheek, Mainly A Commercial! I personally like the other use of MAC on GACCH, namely a shortened version of machines or machinery, which reminds me of the Japanese Mecha. What do you think MAC meant?

Shinji Okada Husband Doo

2012-01-03T18:14:00.001Z

Toad's look into the Space Game at the back of the page of the FUTURE NEVER BECOME book inspired me to look closer at the covers, where I found an ISBN number. The book is available from Amazon Japan.

The Author of the book is Shinji Okada Husband Doo, [aka Okada Toshio or Toshio Okada] who has also written another two interesting looking tomes called LOST FUTURE and LOST PLASTIC MODELS, also available on Amazon Japan. Anyone got these?

The Future Never Become

2012-01-03T16:14:00.000Z

One book I would have liked from Santa SWORD is this THE FUTURE NEVER BECOME from Japan. There's some pics of SWORD ships in the top picture, which, along with the covers, are pages featured in an Ebay listing a couple of years ago. Maybe there's more? Has anyone got a copy?

No, It's Not Time ...

2012-01-03T01:27:00.000Z

After Hector's House and Barnaby Bear, here's a more spacey puzzle. OK, it's not a jigsaw, but it is an interlocking puzzle. The fourth "D" is for "Details".

The pieces are made of a heavy rubbery material, and the ones in mine seem to have become distorted over time (that other 4th D). They don't fit together that well, as you can see from the third photo.

There was at least one other space-related "4D Puzzle", but I can't recall what it was. The LEM, maybe? Does anyone have it?

Just Brazils

2012-01-02T17:02:00.000Z

Putting the Xmas decs away for another year this afternoon in our attic [is it too soon?] I remembered how I used to spend hours in there selling old toys on Ebay. My old desk and chair where I had my laptop look forlorn and unused under all the junk piled on them. I loved selling on Ebay and I once even had a shop and powerseller status back in 2006 for a couple of years. I suppose I finished in 2010, when Ebay just got too much of the profits. It wasn't worth it. Maybe I'll start up again some day. Who knows. Anyways, looking through my old Ebay photies here's a few jigsaws I once found already made and laid flat in layers in an old Just Brazils christmas cholocate box [yum!]. A couple are TV shows. Do you recognise them?

I've included the game The Sorcerer's Cave as well, as it sort of related to the Mystic Wood game we featured last year. I sold a couple of examples of both of these during my Ebaying years. Do any of you still sell on Ebay or do you just buy?

Andy B's So Bad it's Good Christmas Cracker

2012-01-02T11:57:00.000Z

Dear Woodsy,

Re. your enquiry to the readership about Xmas presents, thought this might be suitable for the Blog.

This 1950s Adventure Annual was an unexpected and delightful present (under the category of "so bad it's good"). Its main interest is the cover and a space story illustrated by Denis McLaughlin. I knew he used toys as models, but didn't know how far this went. As I am sure others recognise, all the spaceships are Pyro toys -in some illustations even the wheels are included. The space suits are copied from spacemen marketed in the UK and US (Alphadrome website identifies these as Tudor Rose spacemen). Even more extraordinary, the robot is from a "Magic Robot" game!

If anyone wants to see the whole story (it's terrible!) I'll scan it for the blog.

Seasonal greetings,

Andy B.

Toad On The Team

2012-01-01T20:39:00.000Z

Not wanting to the Postings hog,

We invited Toad to join the blog,

Warmed by her witty repartee,

Please welcome Toad most heartily!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.002Z

Art by Pierre Mion

Space Age Pressies

2011-12-31T17:35:00.000Z

I've said before how surprise pressies are often the most memorable (and the most enduring) for me. Well my significant other gave me a completely unexpected New Year's present! Unwrapping a tiny package wrapped in bright paper left me puzzled ... until it was explained to me that it was an iPod Nano.

Is it just me, or does it sometimes (just sometimes) seem like aspects of real life knock the socks off imaginary worlds? The Tracy brothers didn't have anything like this, and I'm pretty sure Captain Kirk didn't either. Sometimes amongst all the mundanities of modern life something comes along that deserves a "Wow!"

It's things like this which remind me how clever our species is. A good thought to begin a new year.

Hoping 2012 is a wonderful year for all of us, and a year of dreams coming true. (raises a glass to you all).

Farewell 2011

2011-12-31T12:32:00.000Z

Well New Years Eve is upon us and another year can only be seen in the rear view mirror. Hope you enjoyed great merriment and yulery over the Holidays. I personally ate far too many Mince Pies, which will be one of my New Years resolutions - to not eat all the pies!

Hope you all have an enjoyable New Year whatever your'e doing. With glorious visions of Higs Bosons and Nu Earths spinning round my head I'll hopefully see you on Moonbase in 2012. Stand by for Blast-Off, the Shuttle's making pick-ups near you........

Today in 2008

2011-12-30T00:05:00.002Z

On this this day back in 2008 the blog looked like this http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-crackers-sword-rubbers.html

From the Archive: 2008

2011-12-29T23:58:00.002Z

The first Christmas Post on the blog, way back in 2008, was http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post.html

STAND BY FOR CHRISTMAS

2011-12-27T10:01:00.002Z

Having at last managed to fathom the new labyrinthine image-uploading process Blogger has , maddeningly involving picasa and google+, here are the delayed Christmas Adverts Mike B sent me before Xmas! Hopefully you will now be able to click the image to see a bigger version - fingers crossed!

Hello Woodsy,

Seeing as I’m going through a bit of a Thunderbirds kick I thought I’d dig out a few adapted Xmas ads for the Thunderbird JR21 toys which might cheer you up as well as put us all in a nostalgic mood for the upcoming festivities.

First up was Thunderbird 2 from TV21 issue 95 (November 12th 2066). I always assumed this was the most popular of the Thunderbird toys. I certainly liked it, although I never owned one.

Second was Fab 1 from TV21 issue 96 (November 19th 2066). I always liked Fab 1. A great shape and a very nice toy. My brother and I both got the radio controlled version that Christmas. great to race. Very good, Ma’ lady!

Third up was Thunderbird 3 from TV21 issue 97 (November 26th 2066). Lovely little toy, very nice detailing. Not used that much in the series but I’m sure it was popular. My brother got one of these that Christmas – I don’t think he was a big Thunderbirds fan so it did end up in my toy box!

Finally, Thunderbird 1 which appeared in TV21 issue 98 (December 3rd 2066). I got the friction drive version for Christmas. Looking back I don’t remember thinking how bad it was, those awful wheels, the soft plastic nose cone and the’ look at them and they fall off’ tail fins. still, I liked it at the time.

Now you’d think for the next issue they’d do a Christmas Thunderbird 5 ad which had appeared earlier in the year, or a Thunderbird 4 which never had an ad totally devoted to it. It didn’t happen.

Issue 99 re-ran the Thunderbird 2 ad (December 10th 2066), followed by Issue 100 which reprinted the Fab 1 ad (December 17th 2066).

By issue 101 ( December 24th 2066) Christmas was upon us and to publicise the new film TV21 started the photo strip adaptation of Thunderbirds are Go! . The next JR21 ad to appear was in issue 105 which altered the wording on a Thunderbirds are Go! film poster . This had the 1967 revised price list to tempt those with some spare Christmas money left.

Seasons greetings

Mike B

Christmas Crackers

2011-12-26T14:44:00.000Z

Well we waited for it all year and Christmas is nearly over already! OK it carries on till Twelfth Night but the main event has unwrapped itself for another twelve months. Still I hope everyone enjoyed themselves yesterday and tucked into some delicious left-overs today for a second round of Christmas Dinner! Yum! But does it really taste better than the first time round?

The biuld-up to Xmas is always special and Moonbase was no exception. A few things I recall from late December include [top L to R], vintage Xmas Cards found in Oxfam, my two fave Cards this year - one Birthday [from our Daughter] and one Xmas [from our Toad] and a battery-operated Santa I picked up in Headingley for £2! He rings that bell like a madman!

The big day itself was it's usual mix of magic and mirth with the decorated tree at it's centre. Having thought I was on the Naughty List I was pleasantly surprised to find that Santa SWORD had actually visited us all the way here at Moonbase [I did leave some oxygen tanks out for the Reindeer!]. A couple of prezzies from my friend Ferryman even came wrapped in his own C21 style paper! [above]. Along with scarves, socks, incense sticks and choccies, here's a snap of the tree with my SWORDy/ Sci Fi gifts nestled beneath. I know the piccy is fuzzy but I kinda like what it did to the lights!

...and a close-up reveals: three lovely TV21's from our Daughter, Sci-Fi Art book by Steve Holland from my Missus, two horror books from my Missus, two VHS/ Grindhouse books from my Missus and a Hoover XL9 and Golden Astronaut Lift Loader from Ferryman. Arto also sent me two wonderful pieces of vintage space ephemera [not photographed]. Thanks guys!

Pictures of your prezzies/ tree/ wreath/ decs/ food of whatever type would be welcomed!

Whatever you do [and what do you do?] have a great Boxing Day.

Boxing Day Special: Hot Wheels Thunderbirds by Mike B

2011-12-26T12:00:00.000Z

Hi Woodsy, I’m going through a bit of a Thunderbirds thing at the moment having recently bought some of those little 1/200 scale Bandai Hotwheels rescue vehicles. They really are very nice little ‘toys’. Even the boxes are well thought out. Yeah, I’ve got all three sets containing both the Fire Truck and the Transmitter Truck which appears to have inspired the Spacex Tractor.

Happy Christmas,

Mike B.

Boxing Day Special: Moonship Box

2011-12-26T00:01:00.003Z

Just in case you're checking in online in between the Boxing Day cold cuts and turkey sandwiches, here's a box you'd wish you'd had in your stocking! Rarer than Hens Molars I give you the Century 21 Moonship box. You might have seen it before in the very top piccy from the blog but the owner, ZZRobot, kindly got in touch and eh voila, pictures of the box from every angle! How cool is that!

As well as the blue and white version of the toy ZZ has, here's the red and white one from the Moonbase fleet. Happy Shipmas!

It Took An Age to Get One There But At Last They Are...

2011-12-25T16:00:00.048Z

Such a Big Job Needs a Big Team:

Site Gaffer: WOTAN

Crane Operator: Toad

Bar Manager: Woodsy

Chef: Paul V

Dyna Soar Pilot: Mike B

Task Force One Mechanic: Andy B

Scout 2 Engineer: Kevin D

Task Force Three Inspector: RAB

Radar Tower Controller: Grif

Earthlink: Evil Ed

Merchandising: Darth

Cloudbase Link: Spectrum Steve

Santa Claus : Maverick

Christmas Party Goers: Everyone Else

and

Switching the Lights On -

Who would you vote for?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.001Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Darth Xmas

2011-12-24T16:36:00.002Z

From reader Darth.

Festive Film Clips

2011-12-24T16:09:00.000Z

Just watching Jonathan Ross's 100 Greatest Toys on Christmas Eve TV. Just got up to the board game RISK followed by Subbuteo. I wonder if they'll show Matchbox's Tracy Island from Xmas 1993. The must-have toy that Yuletide, like Turbo Man in the Arnie film Jingle Bells, it sold out yonks before the Big Day. Anyway, I found this clip of the next best thing at the time, the Blue Peter DIY Tracy Island, put together by the delightful Anthea Turner. Toilet Rolls were never so cool!

Like any good old Cinema presentation, here's a rather cool second feature, a You Tube clip about an original puppet from Captain Scarlet, which graces some lucky person's collection. What a Crissie Prezzie that would be! Drool!

Andy B's Selection

2011-12-24T14:00:00.002Z

Dear Woodsy,

Catching up with the excellent Blog. Some attachments for you. I Particularly like the more ornate Russian card, which uses traditional folk art designs. TB2 is from a selection box.

Happy Xmas,

Andy B.

Planet of the Santas

2011-12-24T12:00:00.001Z

The Santas are coming!

[you didn't think that one could really do it all did you!]

Its like something from a Dr.Who Christmas Special!

There's a sort of SWORD link too - these are blow moulds pictured in the old Empire factory I think, previously Tarheel Industries of Tarboro.

Christmas Cruising

2011-12-24T09:53:00.002Z

Well the big day is almost here and its been a rollercoaster of highs and lows to get here. A New Year beckons and more treats in store, but before all that and on this momentous Eve, i'd just like to spend a moment to celebrate the small things, the gestures and the work that although seemingly simple, mean a lot. My bit on the blog represents a culmination of several years collaboration between a number of good friends, most of whom with the exception of Woodstock, ive never had the pleasure to meet in person, but have shared more with over the last ten years or so than wth anyone else.

One such great friend and confidante is our very own Philosophic Toad. Working tirelessly away behind the scenes, she has been responsible for uncovering some utter gems of ephemera which have changed my perception of collecting toys, radically. Shes been a blog regular with her witty and insightful comments and a valuable source of support to me personally when thing got tough.

Never one to blow her own trumpet or draw attention to her successes and amazing research skills, Id just like to take the opportunity to show another wonderful facet to her already stuffed pocket full of skills, that of needlecraft! This Xmas myself and a few other friends received a wonderful hand crafted xmas card. Not just a nice thing in itself, but a cross-stitch depiction of her own favourite Spacex ship, the Pleasure Cruiser! If that wasnt enough, she kindly sent me the rare 2005 and Beyond violet version too! As an artist myself, I can appreciate the skill involved in transferring the detail and tone from a blog photo into such fine needwork, all the more imppressive when you consider each piece is only a couple of inches square! So i though such beautiful handiwork should not go uncelebrated, so here are my card and Woodstocks to show you all her amazingly detailed and precise work!

xxx Bill

By the Light of a Star

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE

FROM MOON BASE CENTRAL,

PEACE ON EARTH AND GOOD WILL TO ALL MANKIND.

Who Dares Party's

2011-12-23T17:59:00.000Z

From Andy B.

Mini Adventure

2011-12-23T14:00:00.001Z

Here's another pic of the Imai Mini Series Sub. This one's on Yahoo Japan. I love the translated item description: "The old ones.......Also Available for rubber power."!

WE'VE GOT WOOD!

2011-12-23T09:55:00.004Z

"WHAT ? NO SWORD MOONBASE ? !!"

Yes folks its the Woodstocks Birthday today - 51 years young! Join with me and wish him the very best of days!

Kevin D's WASPS

2011-12-23T00:01:00.001Z

Hi there Paul,

I know you have featured a WASP Spearhead jet before (and excellent it was too), but I thought you might like to see my attempt at it along with its stablemate the WASP Arrowhead fighter. Both of these are made by converting model kits (The B 58 Hustler and the F5 Freedom Fighter). Hope you like them.

Kevin

My Top Five Crissy Prezzies

2011-12-22T13:50:00.000Z

Christmas is a time for reflection. Like a prism it beams the fairy lights of Childhood into view. For 15 years I enjoyed truly wonderful family Chistmassses during the 1960's and early 1970's. My parents were very loving and kind and treated all their children to a great festive season full of tradition, feasting and presents. I can see now my Mum wrapping countless gifts for Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, nephews, Cousins and freinds. All got beautiful paper finsihed with christmas sticky tape and glittered labels. These gifts were delivered by my Mum and Dad during Advent as they motored round Lancashire like breathless chickens.

As for me, well I was the youngest of five and inevitably this status confered on me special priveleges at Christmas. Principally this meant more prezzies than any of my sibs! These gifts were the stuff of my childhood and are now the bright tinsel of memory. I often muse if I were to assemble every present I ever recieved would my parents magically appear to complete the scene! I'm staring at a twinkling Xmas tree so you must forgive me for becoming nostalgic.

Like my pals, I got the must-haves of the time: Rock 'em Sock 'Em Robots, Raleigh Chopper, Moulton Mini, Johnny Seven OMA, Action Man, HotWheels, Superfast, Airfix Flight Deck, Fossil Hunting Kit, Thomas Salter Adventure Set and so on and on and on until our last family Xmas in 1976 when we lost Mum far too soon and Christmas changed forever.

Like many readers of this blog, I loved all my toys and remember nearly all of them. Some were especially cherished at the time and taken into my primary school on presents day, where we 'showed off' our gifts in early January. My top five toys are pictured above. Friends all. We are now re-united.

What would your top five prezzies be?

Post Dated

2011-12-22T12:00:00.002Z

Well 2011 is nearly over and we've had another fabulous year on Planet SWORD. Blog readers have done us proud with utterly fab contributions. Co-blogger Wote has also excelled with some truly great posts.

As it's about the top of the year it's apt to reflect on our favourite posts. My own, one of Wote's, was his look at the 007 Moon Buggy. The Ken Adams concept, looking like the Spacex MEV, was a revelation!

for fun, the most popular over the last 3 years are listed in the left hand side-bar about half way down [created as part of the blogger stats package].

What has been your favourite this year or over the last few?

Good Models

2011-12-22T09:05:00.001Z

Here's our friend the Scramble Bug in miniature die-cast form from Imai's Good Model series. It also included the yellow Submarine 707, which I understand may have been a TV show. Both are on Ebay USA [ mach-5-racing]. I've got the Bug but does anyone collect the whole range?

Christmas 2069 Style!

2011-12-21T13:04:00.001Z

Well here we are on the slippery slide towards Xmas! Its raining, a dull and generally an ordinary day in Liverpool and its hard to imagine that this is that magic, wonderful period from my childhood, when I was counting down the 'sleeps' before the big fella came down the chimney with a sack of toys for me and my sisters. Gone forever is that incipient sense of wonder as I opened my eyes to find a stuffed stocking on the end of my bed and a carpet covered with gifts and annuals and selection boxes under the tree. That sudden rush of excitement when I tore open the wrapping paper to see the black starry background of a Spacex card or the familiar red and blue of a SWORD toy box is sadly missing these days as socks and tins of deodorant and sensible jumpers really don't elicit the same kind of response.

Or so i thought… I got home last night from a seriously tedious day at work to find an expertly wrapped package waiting for me from my very good friend and Wotan Archive benefactor Terry. After releasing the box from its wrapping, I found a small parcel inside wrapped in xmas paper. Never having had a lot of patience or a deal of common sense, I tore open the xmas paper too - rather than wait another three days - and lo and behold, I was instantly transported back to 1969 and was a small excited child once more. That fabulously magical feeling that had long since been missing for many an xmas grabbed me and lifted me out of my pre-xmas humbug and flew me round the room with excitement! My 14 year old daughter looked at me like i'd lost the plot as I pulled back the paper to reveal…. Zero X!

So in short, thank you for a very Terry Christmas!

Oh My It's Imai!

2011-12-21T08:35:00.000Z

Fancy a Zero X for Xmas? Here's a cool series of TV ads from Japan courtesy of ak1go on You Tube. The OX appears towards the end.

Enjoy!