Childminding the Grandkids today. Turns out I didn't need to make Junior a lightsaber yesterday. He's got his own fine example from 2015 here on his Playmobil launchpad.
Inspired by Kev's masterful scratch Graflex I went into the shed.
No Jedi would be seen dead with this bad boy!
A final look at the badges that were given away free with Kellogg's Sugar Smacks; this time they feature characters from Jon Pertwee's tenure as Doctor Who.
These were launched towards the end of 1971 and consisted of a set of six.
Like the previous Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 badges, these are simple drawn likenesses of the Doctor, The Master, The Brigadier, and Jo Grant. There's an illustration of the Doctor's modified vintage car, 'Bessie', and probably the most sought after, a U.N.I.T. Badge.
You can see my U.N.I.T badge is still sealed in it's original cellophane bag, which , of course is how the badges were packed in with the cereal.
These days, there's still plenty of the Kellogg's Dr Who badges about, consequently they're not rare , and not expensive, with the exception of the UNIT badge which does seem to command a somewhat higher price.
An advert for the badges appeared in several comics w/e 6th November, 1971, including Countdown issue 38, which carried the Doctor Who strip featuring Jon Pertwee's incarnation.
It's not a particularly impressive advert. I never found this style of art from the time appealing, a bit too trendy for me, even though I would have been more or less the age group it would have been aimed at. Unlike the previous Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Star Trek adverts , this one is a lot less eye-catching to me!
It shows a rather unflattering likeness of Jon Pertwee's Doctor having a rather stylised, cartoony look which it's hard to imagine Pertwee, himself approving of.
Possibly because of it's timing I tend to connect Jon Pertwee's Dr Who and Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's UFO series.
Countdown was launched week ending 20th February, 1971, with it's first issue featuring a photo of a UFO on the cover, and a photo feature of the SHADO organisation and it's vehicles. However, I think it's fair to say the comic seemed to give equal billing to both UFO and Dr Who.
The third issue featured a Dr Who cover.
Although UFO had already begun in other TV regions, it was yet to be broadcast on my local TV station, Granada, that would happen on the 10th July, 1971, so my first look at film of the SHADO Interceptors firing their missiles was in a TV advert for Countdown comic!
After the previous season's revamp, and move into colour, the series was now getting into it's stride, with it's fresh modern look, good stories with a nod to the new technology of the time, and in my opinion , some perfect casting.
The season closed with fan favourite, The Daemons, the final episode being broadcast on June 19, 1971.
Three weeks later, on the 10th July, 1971 Granada began showing UFO. During the same month, the BBC repeated Jon Pertwee's opening story, Spearhead from Space over four Friday evenings.
Over the year Countdown kept up my interest in Pertwee's Dr Who, although for some reason Polystyle, the publishers, didn't licence the use of the other U.N.I.T. characters, including his companion, Jo.
However, we did get the Daleks eventually.
Jon Pertwee as Dr Who gracing the front of the Sugar Smacks box with the tag line,' The timeless energy of Dr Who' - Presumably acquired after eating what is pretty much a bowl of sugar!
An advert from Valiant comic for another Kellogg's Sugar Smacks for promotion, still featuring Jon Pertwee's Doctor on the box; this time free model vintage cars!
However, I should add that it seems Kellogg's apparently ran another Doctor Who promotion a little later in 1972, featuring a cut-out Bessie on the back of the Sugar Smacks cereal box, but I must admit that one totally passed me by, and I don't recall seeing those packets, or even adverts for it. A friend of mine, who like me doesn't remember it either, suggested it might just be a made up modern creation by a clever fan. I'm not so sure but when it comes to looking into the past, Who knows!
As my two previous Sugar Smacks badges on Captain Scarlet/ Joe 90 and Star Trek proved fairly popular here's he links:
https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-look-at-sugar-smacks-badges-2-tv21.html
https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-look-at-sugar-smacks-badges-1.html
The Missus and me wandered round a modern toy shop looking for Star Wars figures last week.
There weren't any but there were lots of Kong and Godzilla toys. I was surprised there were so many. Its a relatively old film now isn't it, Kong V. Godzilla?
The second part of my look at the vintage TV series related badges given free with Kellogg's Sugar Smacks: This time we go where no Sugar Smacks badges have been before!
My memories of collecting the Kellogg's Star Trek badges also put me in mind of the major change that TV21 went through at the time.
The BBC had begun broadcasting the original Star Trek TV series from 12 July 1969, I imagine to tie-in with the immense public interest in the impending Moon landing on 20th July. Joe 90 (Top Secret) comic was already running it's own Star Trek comic strip, and had been since the publication launched in January that year. I remember getting that first issue, and although I'd never seen an episode I was quite intrigued by the adventures of Mr Spock and Captain 'Kurt'!?
Joe 90 (Top Secret) issues 1 & 34
After just 34 issues the 'Rat trap' closed on Joe 90 (Top Secret) comic, which, although it had been reputably selling better than TV21, it was decided to amalgamate the two publications, and re-title it, TV21 & Joe 90.
By now Mr Spock had replaced Joe 90 as the face on the Sugar Smacks box, and the first issue of TV21 & Joe 90, dated 13th September, 1969, although delayed until w/e 27th September began to arrive at newsagents.
The front cover was totally underwhelming to me as it featured football, a subject that had begun creeping onto some the previous weeks' TV21 covers. The free gift of soccer stars portraits certainly wasn't a pull, either. Still, the comic retained a nod to a couple of Andersons' series; a single page full colour Thunderbirds strip and a page and half of Joe 90 in black & white.
The comic's high points for me were the Star Trek strip, and Land of the Giants, and as a bonus, the first issue also featured a full page painted advert for the Sugar Smacks badges. It showed drawings of the five badges, Mr Spock and a oddly proportioned 'Enterprise'.
The 32mm badges featured photos of four Star Trek characters: Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Dr McCoy and Sulu. The fifth badge showed a Star Fleet emblem .
Written on the rim : Copyright 1969 Paramount Pictures Corporation.
Collecting them as a youngster, I do seem to recall getting a disproportionate number of Dr McCoy swaps, but in spite of that I did eventually get a set.
The fun thing about these badges is, apart from their nostalgic value they are still easily affordable. There's plenty of them about and generally speaking full sets can still be bought for a few pounds.
The final part of my Kellogg's Sugar Smacks promotional posts to follow soon.
I recently bought two chunky second hand plastic toy lightsabres from a Charity shop. From the early 2000's. Some of the silver paint work had come away as well as some detailing on the gold and black areas.
There's something totally Jedi about handling a lightsabre. Even a toy one like this. I think its those fabulous black ridges on the handle. They grip so well! Not as clumsy or random as a blaster!
I decided to clean up and re-touch one of them - on the left - and this is the result. An elegant weapon for a more civilised age don't you think?
