Heiße Rädern: Hot Wills

Hi Woodsy.

I don’t buy much on EBay, but I saw this the other day and had to have it! 

It’s a German redline set, the equivalent to our dual lane rod runner set.

I don’t know what date it’s from, I assume late 60s or early 70s , or if the cars are correct.

 Perhaps you might know or one of the other moonbasers! 

Will O

UK

Ed's SpaceX Moon Base

Woodsy,

Here's a practice shot of the Moon Base taking shape on the moonscape.

From Vegas Base

Ed

Pull Harder! A FAB1 Cracker!

 During the summer car boot season I picked up this little old plastic FAB1, far right next to a Carlton one. I blogged it at the time.

About an inch long, here it is up close.

A mystery, I think it was Mish who first suggested a capsule or a cracker.

I consulted my Nicholson Guide to Anderson Merchandise and checked Japanese premiums first like Yujin. No. Morinaga. No.

I then came home and checked the British Crackers section. Bam! There it was!

A little FAB1 from a 1993 Boots cracker! What a prize!

I'd have loved it! 

Checking the net, here's some pics of the box.

Prizes pictured on the box rear.

And Lady P's Rolls is off centre to the right.

Toys R Smyths

I recently found my old Toys R Us gold card, which I'm sort of nostalgic about. 

I spent good times buying from their clearance shelves in the late 90's and early 00's. So many cool dead lines like Marvel Super Heroes and Defenders of the Earth. I bought tons for my toy fair stall. I still regret not getting an end of line boxed Supernaturals castle tho.

Thinking about TRU I began to wonder why they eventually folded here in the UK? I'm sure there were many knotty business reasons, but it seemed that almost immediately another toy chain arose in their place. 

Smyths.

How come? They're both toy shops. How can one rise where the other fell when they basically do the same thing?

Strange. 

Do you like Smyths?

What's the big toy shop chain in your neck of the woods?

Zero G with Brian B

 Reader Brian B recently spotted these neat brand new space toys Stateside.

I really like this Zero G rover! Its magnetic! 

A solar system display

A balancing space shuttle is pretty smart too.

And a 3D ISS puzzle.

Which would you like? 

C'Mon Boys! Bob's Spanish Space Toys

Hi Woodsy

I was trying to decide what to take pics of...I saw your post on Spanish Space Toys. Good place to start I thought. I believe others have posted these before. But here are mine.

Starting out with the huge Luna Car by Jefe. Nice cable control action vehicle. I'm recasting new springy wheels for mine presently. Disc satellite launches. vehicle lights up.

Next items are lunar rovers and a playset of the Coman Boys. First one is a complete mint playset with a Grey rover and orange trailer bus. Second set is a orange rover with matching trailer bus. There are two versions of the trailer. And various color combinations of the rover. There is also a rocket (which is hiding from me in a tote somewhere in my studio). Thanks.

Regards

Bob Aucutt

USA

Hot Wheels XL

The Hot Wheels range has expanded exponentially in recent years, with more and more different ranges and models being added on a rolling basis. Besides the standard mainline range, there are premium models, limited editions, themed cars and now, a separate range called XL.

Hot Wheels XL are 1:46 as opposed to the usual 1:64 scale cars and are the same size as the older Pull Back Speeder range. Whereas Speeders have a clockwork engine in them, XL models are static and essentially just larger versions of existing cars. Whilst looking for a variant of the Police car above, which is re-decoed as a Japanese style Race Pace car, I came across the latest releases from the XL range. So far, the series is very limited and has around 12 models in total, but one particularly caught my eye. The Small Bloc coupe looks like it has been carved from a block of timber and has been released, along with a couple of similar models in the mainline range.

The bloc range has been designed by Fraser Campbell and consist of the Small Bloc, Long Bloc and Chop n Bloc racer. There’s also a flatbed truck coming to the line as well. The flat, slab like body is very reminiscent of futuristic 1960’s designs from Syd Mead.
 

Corgi Inter-City Mini-Bus! Wow!

 I've always loved this Corgi die-cast. It's just so slick and streamlined, like the OK Toys Transcontinental Express, albeit much smaller.

There's something very Gerry Anderson about the Corgi mini bus, what with the tapered nose and the huge split sunroof.

Digging around* I couldn't find any mention of it appearing in Gerry's shows, certainly not Thunderbirds. 

Maybe the dates don't match up?

Anyways, I'd love to see vehicles like this cruising up the M62 to Leeds. The future is now!

Is it a die-cast you had? Do you like it?

*

* In particular I watched Matteline1968's superb video about toys used in Gerry's shows, which included the OK Toys Transcontinental Express several times no less

https://youtu.be/wlD912KKMhA?is=0IE0lc7_0v08OeHT