The Last Tree

I was attempting to Find Stephen Lack's painting Boys in the Last Tree, which I couldn't, but I find this amazing sculpture elsewhere by Will Ferreira.

See what you think.

Will O's Wonderful Watches

 Time to Dare!

I Predict a R.I.O.T! I don't know my Acronyms from my Elbow!

In the '90's I had a vintage toy 'shop' in my cellar. It was my toy stock room for my mail oder business and also a 'shop' for a few personal callers.

Two of my nephews came one day and I said (foolishly?) choose whatever you want! 🤣

I remember the older one picking a boxed tank.

Now memory is a funny thing. I could have sworn that tank was from a range called R.A.T.S.

I also recall a die-cast soldier with a beer belly and a beard in the box too.

Looking it up, it ain't R.A.T.S.

Turns out it's R I.O.T!

RIOT verses Strike Force in full.

Released by IDEAL, I thought I'd check in on that bearded portly trooper too.

Turns out he's called Harley and the range was 1981's EAGLE FORCE ... By MEGO!

But hang on a minute! Here's EAGLE FORCE vs. R I O.T by MEGO. I thought R.I.O.T was by IDEAL!

And just when you thought the eagle had finally landed, along came another brand, which I can't even read!

And I'm sure I've seen a Rainbow toys version!

Next 'll be an Eagle Force Vs. Strike Force header too by MEGODEAL! 🤣

Anyone come across any of this stuff? What's going on?

Amazingly my nephew, now grown up, still has his R.I.O.T tank! 

I want it back! Ha ha! 

Cards on the Table

Too young to have collected them at the time, I was recently talking about Civil War News with my older brothers, who did collect them back when they were kids in the Sixties.

My only real experience of these American gum cards was as a collector and toy dealer.

 I first came across them in the early 1990's in a TV ToY Zone catalogue from Andy Foley - I adored those catalogues and they were my springboard - and I went on to buy a complete set in an ABC album for £60 from a fellow collector, Alex B. 

This full set was fabulous and came complete with a superb set of paper bank notes i.e. confederate money (I think it was confederate).

The odd thing is, neither of my brothers could recall these bank notes. I wonder if they were unusual in the UK or maybe even rare? Then again they may well have been mail-ins and only available to kids who sent in whatever. 

Does anyone know about the Civil War News bank notes? Where there any other sidelines to the cards? 

As a footnote, I was amazed to hear one of my brothers mention the gory aliens cards from the same period. He meant Mars Attacks! I was stunned that they were around long enough in the UK to have become known by kids. Then again, I did find a full set at a car boot sale, so they were around here in Blighty. I wonder how far across the globe they went and for how long? 

Did you have any Mars Attacks cards? 

Flying a Kite

It's windy where I am and it got me thinking about kites.

I remember plastic kites shaped like eagles and of course the classic kite shaped ones, but to be honest, kites were incidental in my childhood. Tested on occasion on holiday beaches and often failing watching the things writhe on the wet sand.

I used to buy any TV related kites I found in packets at boot sales. A-Team and Thundercats spring to mind, which I sold on. Not really kite flying though.

A few years back we visited a local kite festival on a hill in Heath and I have to admit it was spectacular. It helped that the people knew what they were doing! Huge Dragons, birds, shapes, streamers, - it revealed a whole new exciting world of kiting.

Have you flown kites readers? Where? Are you still keen on kites? Is Autumn the best time? 

Kevin's Terrahawks Zeroids

 Hi,

At the risk of winding people up, here are my Terrahawks scratchbuilds. Sorry, but they are all of cute robots.

The small Zeroid perch is an original prop. It is from the cockpit of Treehawk.

Stroll on

Kevin

Drop it Down the Chimney

I was fascinated to see the old Haunted House board game I loved as a kid being recycled as a later Ghostbusters game! 

Is it a game you had, in any form? 

Dekkertoys Space Tent Mystery

Hello,

I hope you don't mind me getting in touch. I'm trying to identify a rather obscure Dekkertoys space toy from my childhood, and having found Moonbase Central and your coverage of Dekkertoys space toys, I thought you might be just the person to ask.

I've attached the only photograph I've been able to find of it. I had one of these as a child and believe I received mine for my sixth birthday in 1982.

It was a large silver vinyl space capsule/play structure. It wasn't a conventional framed play tent. The main structural uprights, the tubes/poles around the base and the roof structure were all inflatable, and the rest was made from vinyl. The black horizontal ribbing visible in the photograph was printed decoration rather than part of the inflatable structure.

I'm trying to establish its official Dekkertoys product name, catalogue/model number, when it was manufactured and sold, its original price and, ultimately, whether any examples are known to survive.

I've been unable to find another example online despite quite a bit of searching.

I noticed that you've featured Dekkertoys space toys belonging to Will Osborne. If you don't recognise this yourself, I wondered whether Will might recognise it or know anything about it.

I'd be enormously grateful for any information or leads you can provide. It would be fantastic to finally put a proper name and history to something I remember so well from childhood — and I'd absolutely love to find a surviving one one day.

Many thanks,

Tim R

*

And mine and Bill's research:

Woodsy:

Argos No.20 1983 Autumn/Winter

Published on Oct 18, 2014 By Retromash

*

Bill:

Newspaper archive,

 advert from Argos Stores in 1981, which lists a 'Dekkertoys Play House'.