Last Saturday my good Lady and I had a saunter through the ancient streets of York. Seeking out our usual menu of bookshops, charity shops and Blakes Head cafe we found ourselves in the Oxfam bookshop in Micklegate. Amongst it's many delights, including a huge stack of 2000AD comics, I found an old Model and Accessories Mart from 1988 (pictured). I used to really love Model Mart or Model and Collectors mart as I came to know it a few years later. The 1988 edition just shows how TV toy collecting was really yet to happen, as just 7 sides are 'sci-fi' related out of 120! The pioneers back then were Englale Marketing (pictured), The Sheffield Space Centre, Comet Miniatures (pictured) and Hobby Bounties. A third of the sci-fi section is an article on model rocketry by Matt Irvine.
Reading this old mag sent me rummaging in the attic for my own early editions of Model Mart. Back in 2003, when we moved house, I regrettably threw out about a hundred copies going back to the early 90's, as they were covered in mould (cellars and paper don't mix). But I rescued the first two from 1992. I can't describe the excitement I felt when Model Mart arrived on the mat. I had it delivered to my home just like TV21, Look In, Shoot et al back in the 60's and 70's! It was a second wind really and a welcome relief on the dreadful double bus journey every day to my work in Morley, Leeds. I devoured every word and once I'd finished the 'sci fi' section I even read about toy 'cars' and all the rest! It's hard to appreciate now just how important Model and Collectors Mart was to vintage toy collectors just starting out like me back then. There was no email, no internet, no mobiles. Just the typed page, landlines and word of mouth. How we would have loved to have had Ebay and now it's here I'd love to have those Model Mart days back! Despite everything being low-tech I managed to send away for toy lists, ordered stuff by post and most excitingly for me, I actually placed small classified ads advertising my own meagre sales list and more importantly asking anyone for info on SWORD toys. I remember the title to one of these being 'DESPERATELY SEEKING SWORD!' Not very original I know but it sort of worked. I was amazed how people would actually write back to me with a little info and offers of toys. It may have been through these classifieds that I got to know my two 'oldest' 'contacts' WOTAN (or 'Thunderbile' as he was known then) and Paul V(reede), but that may have come later with the advent of email (maybe they remember!). Anyway, pictured are a selection of covers, dealer pages and SWORD prices from my two 1992 Model Marts and despite never really getting into Collector's Gazette, there's the 'Star Wars Jim' cover of the 1989 November edition heralding what was to come.
Did anyone else get Model Mart or other Toy guides like the gargantuan newspaper Toy Shop?
Nope. I was unaware of the existence of these until now. But I can easily imagine the thrill when an issue arrived through your letter box!
ReplyDeleteI've just bought this months Collectors Gazette, they haven't even got Gareth Morgan's name right! It gets thinner and thinner every month, I used to get MMart (as opposed to MM - Military Modeling!) and even had an ad. in it running through mid-1991 when I was the importer of MAB Mobile die-casts from the then just 'former' E. Germany.
ReplyDeleteWith the sad demise of Model Mart and it's successor Tv and Film Memorabila, vintage space toy collectors can only really turn to the Collector's Gazette in the UK now, which is traditionally die-cast biased. I used to also get the wonderful US Toy Shop paper in the 90's. Now that was Ebay in paper form years before the internet! Huge! There must be demand for a sci-fi/space/tv/film toy/merchandise magazine in the UK. Or is the death of Model Mart/ TV Film proof that there isn't? Are there any in other countries?
ReplyDeleteI'd guess that the internet means magazines just aren't as essential as they once were. There's also the cost of buying magazines - why do that when you can access much more information and contact far more traders online?
ReplyDeleteAs someone on a low budget, I rarely buy magazines anymore. I look at the cover price and think, "I could buy a paperback book for that ... or go into a charity shop and get three or four!"
It just doesn't seem worth it anymore, from those perspectives.
Another M&CM reader here Woodsy and like yourself I'd read it cover to cover and it was indeed a sad day when it folded (I also had a bunch of Toy Shop issues). I kept a huge amount of issues but eventually had to take the decision to give them to charity to save space. But before that and having got a computer, I scanned a bunch of articles I thought would be useful and saved them to a disc.
ReplyDeleteWhat were those articles, Spectrum Steve?
ReplyDeleteToy Shop was just a brilliant newspaper from the US. I've still got a few so I'll probably have some fun and do a post on them.
ReplyDeletePlease do, Woodsy. It's going to be another new one for me.
ReplyDeletePT, sorry for the delay in this reply but working late recently has made it hard to keep up! I copied articles on building kits that I possessed such as the Airfix 'Little Nellie' which did indeed come in handy when I did that build (One of the best is an excellent article on building the Doyusha Stingray....which REALLY needs work!) I'll dig out the disc and check what's on it to see if anything may be useful to the esteemed audience, Watch this space.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I,ve got good stuff on converting kits to become Anderson craft such as the Stingray fighters, Thunderbirds Red Arrow etc. Also scratchbuilding a Lightsabre, Building the Cutaway Millennium Falcon & U.S.S. Enterprise kits, Star Trek & Star Wars vinyl kits, U.S.S. Defiant kit. So if any of this is of interest I'll send it in.
ReplyDelete