In the early 1990's I re-started my 1970's Preston teenage tradition of going 'up town' on Saturdays, albeit my young family in tow rather than my hairy mates! Back in the early '90's, Wakefield was a treasure trove of discount stores and charity shops (as it is now really 'cept I've stopped going) and not many people seemed to looking for the stuff I was after - vintage toys and cheap sci fi stuff. I remember one particular discount toy shop above a Fish and Chip restaurant. You walked up stairs to be greeted by tons of boxed toys, mostly unlicensed, stacked neatly on shelves and in piles. I bought lots of stuff there but I can't remember what apart from a carded red-eyed werewolf from a monster line called Howlers. What I do remember are the toys I didn't buy and looking back I could kick myself as they have become disproportionately important in my overly-nostalgic world! One toy was a rubbery monster in a large box. I think there were several types. They looked great or at least that's what I think now! Another one, which I remember clearly being on the floor in a neat stack was the unlicensed Thunderbird 2 knockoff THUNDERCOP. There was something aesthetically attractive about the translucent cockpit window and the gold rotation base-plate. There were at least 50 of them and I didn't buy one, not a sausage! Much later I realised that it's see-through cockpit had been seen before on the much older TB2 clone, the 1968 RAY-GUIDED X-2 SPACE SHIP as featured in Dennis Nicholson's Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide ( anyone got a pic of the X-2 or its sister ship, the X-3?). Anyone got a Thundercop?
I've since found a battered example of a Thundercop at a boot sale but it didn't make me feel any better! Has anyone else walked past toys you now wished you'd bought?
PS. Keen-eyed reader Paul Vreede spotted this black version of TCOP on Ebay November 2009 - above.
There is something I must know since I've heard it mentioned more than once on this blog. A boot sale. Is that the UK equivalent of an American swap meet or is it more like a yard sale?
ReplyDeleteThe boot of a car is what I believe you would call the trunk. In theory, a boot sale is where lots of people drive to a muddy field and sell things, sometimes out of said boot, but more usually laid out on a trestle table or a sheet on the ground.
ReplyDeleteSo, I don't know the answer to your question because I don't know what a swap meet or a yard sale is. Are they like boot sales?
Oh oh; going around in circles now :-)
A swap meet is where folks get together to sell or swap items from homemade kiosks. My dad loved to go to them to hunt for antiques. A yard sale is where a family will sell items from their front yard usually in preparation for a move. A boot sale and a swap meet seem to be the same sort of thing. Cool.
ReplyDeleteSee also "flea market." ;-)
ReplyDeleteand whatever happened to Table Top Sales?
ReplyDelete