TENDER FLEET ON STANDBY AT DINKY AIRPORT BY MOONBASE CORRESPONDENT AT THE SCENE MIKE BURROWS

Hi Woodsy,

I was at a Dinky fair and picked up a couple of old Matchbox Crash Tenders similar to ones used in airport scenes on Thunderbirds and other G.A. series.

While I wouldn’t describe myself as a collector of old Matchbox toys, certain ones do peak my nostalgic interest. The Hendrickson ‘Cooper-Jarrett’ truck and the BP Autotanker are a couple of favourites and both of course feature as ‘extras’ in several Anderson shows.

The Crash Tender, which, as I’ve no doubt you’re aware can be seen sharing a scene or two with Fire Flash at London Airport, or parked at Glenn Field during the assembly of Zero X. It was produced by Matchbox in 1964 and early versions had a silver foam cannon and suspension. Latter versions had a gold cannon and no suspension. The plastic ladder, hose and lettering were supplied on a separate sprue ready to be fitted by the buyer .

The die cast toy was pretty much identical in design to the Century 21 version ( apart from size and features, of course) which came a year or two later.

I though maybe some of the readers might like to see a few shots I took of them.

Cheers

Mike B

Old Trade Photos

Here's three old black and white trade photographs from my online archive. The top one looks like the Tarheel/ Durham Super Copter. The bottom two, which I own, are of a SWORD Moon Prospector/ Probe Force 2, but I have no idea what the bottom picture kids and bunnies is about. Anyone any clue?

Never Turn Your Back on a Friend

Wote's fab post about Roger Dean and Chris Foss covers struck a chord with me as Roger Dean was and is my favourite LP cover artist. As a teenager I adored the welsh heavy rock trio BUDGIE and many of their early classic albums were graced with Roger's brilliant visions. Many were showcased in his book Visions published by Dragon's Dream and if, like me, you frequented Athena shops to get your Seventies posters you could find Dean's LP covers publshed by Big O. Any more Athena shopperes out there?

I've featured just one Dean here, above - the fabulous cover of Budgie's bangin' Never Turn Your Back on A Friend, which includes their stylised Budgie Man mascot, who appeared on many of their Dean covers. The album contains the epic 10 minute long opus Parents, one of the most important songs of my entire life.

The memorable inside cover featuring

Tony Bourge on lead, Burke Shelley on bass and Pete Boot on drums.

They produced more sound than herd of stampeding Rhinos!

Gears of War 3: Into Dust by Mazzy Star

I'd never heard of Mazzy Star until I looked up the beautiful and inspired backing track to the current UK Gears of War 3 TV advert. So here it is in full - Into Dust by Mazzy Star courtesy of YT. Haunting.

Halo Everybody

While were on the subject of computer games, its funny to hear Woodstock say that the whole video game thing passed him by. Nowadays, what was a bit of a niche market for geeks back in the early 80's, has become a mass media culture and almost everyone has played some kind of video game at some point either on a mobile phone, console or on a pc. The big draw for me was always the graphics, the Amiga being the closest thing I could get to the arcade machines playing R-Type and Nemesis with the gorgeous coloured japanese space fighters and alien monsters. Eventually I gave up on the floppy disk driven Amiga and bought into the playstation culture. The graphical leap between the 16 bit graphics and the full 3d rendered art on the Playstation and Xbox was immense and ushered in a completely different experience of play. Modern games on the PS3 and Xbox360 are so far removed from early platform and shoot em up games on the Amiga as to compare a pencil sketch with an oil painting.

Apart from the graphical leap, the way games are designed has changed radically and one of the best proponents of game design is Bungie games, creators of Halo: Combat Evolved. Ten years ago in November, they released a first person shooter which put you in control of a genetically enhanced super soldier battling against an invading alien horde. What set it aside from its competition, aside from the spectacular graphics, was the story. Every aspect of the game was scripted like a film and cinematic sequences punctuated the action. The backstory was immense and immersive and was completely enthralling. The game is on the verge of its fourth incarnation now and for the tenth anniversary, the original game has been updated with cutting edge graphics. The design of each and every element has been considered from the mechanics of the weapons to the cultural beliefs of the alien races.

If anyone had to start with one sci-fi themed video game, this would be the point of entry. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary edition will be on sale shortly and will definitely be on my Xmas list!

Heres a promo video for the last release, Halo Reach which set the scene for the Halo series. Features a strong female lead in the style of Vasquez from aliens, but the characterisations in the game are seriously realistic and its possible to empathise with the characters in the game. The game graphics of recent releases arent dissimilar from the standard set in this video either!

Press Play

Wote's Amiga post reminded me that I have a stack of old computer games I inherited from a relative somewhere in the loft. They were cassettes and floppy disks. This is a shot I took of some of them before they were stored away. Alas the whole games thing passed me by for some reason. I didn't even have a go with a Sinclair Spectrum! In fact I'm fuzzy about where Commodore, Amstrads and Sinclairs actually fit in the history of these games. Maybe I should have a go and start now with Wote's Amiga!

Fond memories of my old girlfriend

Ok. Before we start wondering what the hell i'm on about now, id like to clarify. Way back in the mists of video game history, when computing power was still measured in bits, Commodore released the 16-bit computer that changed the way I viewed the world, the Amiga. For some largely unexplained reason they called it Amiga (spanish for 'girlfriend') and I fell in love with it immediately. Besides being able to save the universe from invading aliens, the Amiga came bundled with Deluxe Paint, a basic art package that paved the way for me to tread the route into digital art on the mac and Photoshop. What really drew me in though, were the gorgeous boxes for the games, especially those by Liverpool based software company Psygnosis. Using a huge back catalogue of Paper Tiger artists work such as Roger Dean, Tim White and Peter Jones, the gloss black boxes all featured evocative typography and wonderful colour illustrations, some of which even found their way into the game graphics too - albeit in a much simplified fashion. Ive still got almost all the boxes of my games and the games themselves and a small pile of Amiga computers too, which are dusted off periodically to give the old Xbox, Wii and PS2 a run for their money.

Artwork originally used on 'Cities in Flight' series of books

Artwork for 'Forever War'

Robbie the Robot on steroids - also appeared in the game!

Psygnosis early game - almost unplayable

Blue Oyster Cult!

Meanwhile, heres a selection of the artwork. Some of the games were utterly awful and near unplayable in the early days, but some were classics and led Psygnosis to become one of the biggest developers in the UK and still in flourishing business today.

From the Archives

Sorcerer's Cave board game.

Sugar Daddy

My poor old Stretch Armstrong is suffering from advanced corn-syrup hardening!

Besides warming his cockles how else can I soften him up?

Only the most humorous suggestions please!

Mall Guy

I recently joined Missus Moonbase on an evening shopping trip to the local 'outlet' or 'mall', which as is the case around the World, is basically a 'pedestrianised' street of shops spliced with the odd eatery. We went for something to do immediately after finishing work. Having not been for at least a year I had visions of continental-style street cafe's brimming with convivial chatter and the tinkling of expresso cups. What we got was a soulless desert of empty shops, where the only place to get a coffee was deep inside the bowels of Thorntons. Outdoor tables and chairs were forlornly stacked up everywhere else.

Okay, I admit it was mid-week around 5pm and most normal folks would be heading home for their tea. But this particular outlet loudly boasts late-night shopping every night so we expected a hive of activity. The odd person I saw actually wandering around reminded me completely of the listless zombies in Dawn of the Dead, as they were no doubt suffering from the same sense of tedium beginning to grow inside me!

I realised as we sauntered about the place that I really do dislike shopping! I particularly dislike shopping for clothes and household utensils. But really I dislike all shopping which involves physically entering shops! Now I am confused as to where this condition has originated. I had simply dismissed it as the onset of my grumpy old git phase. I have also toyed with the notion that the current recesssion and incessant economic gloom has brought out the miser in me, my hunched alter-ego  lurking just below the surface! But no, I do actually think that I really do dislike the whole shopping experience.

I very seldomly need anything new and being a bit of a luddite have no requirement to upgrade my lo-tech life. Most modern stuff I simply dismiss as clutter! I still listen to tapes and watch videos after all! No, I have a sneaky feeling that my current ennui has more to do with a bad case of chronic nostalgia, where past purchases have become artifacts and objet d'art to be bid for on auction sites and haggled over at boot sales. In my defence I do contend that Ebaying and car booting are themselves a form of modern shopping, albeit one where the outcome is not certain and the goods are invariably wants rather than needs. Chance shopping if you like!

Now I do realise that my apparent stinginess is not in the least patriotic. If everyone was like me the economy would never recover. After all we are all born to shop aren't we, but I have a suspicion that the biggest consumers are somewhat more youthful than me. What's that saying, only the good buy young!

So dreaming of my next SWORD bidding war on fleabay, I wonder if I am alone in my shopping mall hell?

Dig Allen and his Apollo Saturn

1960 novel.

Do Robots Dream of Arduinos?

Would you like your light to come on when a friend's comes on on the other side of the world? Would you like a bubble machine to fire up when your favourite song plays on the radio? Well you can with an arduino!

But can they make SWORD toys greet you when you come home from work [aka Stepford SWORD!]?

The future's bright. The future's arduino. I'm confused.

Ice Cream Sunday: New Pictures of the Century 21 Topo Gigio Vehicles by Ferryman

Hi Woodsy,
Not sure if you ever came across pictures of the Topo Gigio Ice Cream Van. In case you didn't I've attached some shots of one I just picked up [above]. The box is dated 1967. I also got the camper from the same seller [pictures below].

They are smaller than I expected. The boxes measure approx 15 cm long. Overall the condition is pretty good but Topo Gigio's little friend is  missing her left arm in both toys. The build quality isn't up to Sword standards.

I've taken a look at the bases. There is no makers mark but the  following text is molded into the friction motor bulge: MADE IN HONG  KONG, TOPO GIGIO © 1967, MARIA PEREGO.......cont.

The same seller also had the hot rod but it was missing the chrome engine and had no box [pictured below].
Cheers,
Ferryman

PS. For the sake of completeness, I've posted a piccy of the Hot Rod box at the bottom [Vectis auctions]. Woodsy.

John Schoenherr's Moon Crawler: Unpublished Paintings; A Bloggiversary Special

As I've blogged before I've always loved John Schoenherr's fabulous Moon Crawler painting pictured above, which he painted in 1961 for the cover of Analog magazine that year. It also featured in a number of other space publications. It is my favourite Sci Fi vehicle painting of all time. Sadly the artist died in April 2010.

About 18 months ago I began corresponding with John's son, Ian, himself an illustrator and children's book author in New York. During our correspondence Ian discovered two sketched paintings by his Father, which were clearly further studies of his Moon Crawler! As you can imagine I was very excited and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them. They are truly awesome. To think that they are most likely part of the inspiration for the SWORD Moon Crawler in 1967 sends a shiver up my spine!

Terrifically Ian has kindly agreed to allow me to publish the two paintings for the first time online here [they did appear in my final SWORD article for FAB magazine, #69, this year but were too small to see any detail] and without further ado I'll let Ian explain:

"Dear Paul, I don't think Dad ever knew about his influence on these toy makers - at least I don't recall him mentioning anything like that. Then again, I was still pretty young when Dad's science fiction work trailed off.

I wish we had the original art for the moon crawler cover, but Dad sold off many - most - SF things soon after creating them. I have two unpublished preliminary studies, however, which I've attached [below]. I assume he made these to show John Campbell (the editor of Analog, who most likely wrote the text about the cover) and then Campbell - and/or possibly the art director - chose which concept more effectively depicted what was described.

I was going to mention that Mission of Gravity cover to you. It wasn't a series at all - the subjects Dad painted were very much luck of the draw and his paperback work generally had no connection with the magazine work, except, I guess, by accident or coincidence.

Dad was also very fond of cars - sports cars especially - and other "streamlined" vehicles, like WWII-era aircraft - nicely rounded, semi-organic-looking forms, etc. - and I think he'd try to work such things into his SF pictures when he could. And, naturally, a lot of his vehicles and aliens and landscapes have much in common with each other.

Often things like the moon crawler just came "out of Dad's head" - but his head was full of automobiles and aircraft and a basic knowledge of geology, gravity, physics, biology, and so on - all of which helped him create convincing space craft and aliens and worlds.

Over the years, Dad also assembled files of photos and pages extracted from magazines to help inspire the places and things he depicted in his science fiction illustrations. And in the file he titled "SF VEHICLES / LAND / ROUGH SURFACE" there's a clipping from LIFE magazine (November 11, 1957) which must have contributed to his concept of the moon crawler. You can see it here.

I'm trying to fully catalog Dad's illustrations, especially the SF ones (for a book, ostensibly), so I'll keep an eye out for more vehicles. Congratulations on your anniversary!

I think it'll be fine to show those sketches, etc. Send me a link to the article when you post it and I'll spread the word.

Thanks,

Ian Schoenherr"

......and here they are! Feast your eyes!
Woodsy

Above two images the property of Ian Schoenherr.

Reproduced here with the owner's permission.

Wonder Toys Don't Last Forever

The recent post showing Woodstocks tray of car boot figures which included the little Pear pencil topper took me back to when I was a kid again. Doesn't take much as i'm usually halfway there already, but sometimes small things trigger memories that are largely overlooked. Back in 1969 or thereabouts, while I was in  primary school, i was always trekking off to Parkhill Primary at the top of the road in Dingle, Liverpool. My pockets would always be loaded up with stuff to swap, thunderbirds cards, cereal premiums,marbles and anything else I could find that I thought might be useful. I loved finding stuff in my cereal or in crackers at xmas. The other thing I loved to do was taking my pocket money and feeding it penny by penny into gumball machines to get the little plastic pods with the toys inside. Usually the toy was rubbish, a plastic charm or a cheap gilded necklace, but every now and again id come across something cool. One day, I opened one up to find a strange little rubber figure, green and bulbous with staring eyes. My immediate reaction was that he was a little alien, but closer inspection revealed he was a blackberry, with four leaves on his head. For some reason I was immediately smitten and the little figure was drafted into several precarious adventures such as being submerged in the bath in his pod on several occaisions, crash landed in the back yard after a failed re-entry and lowered down holes and over walls into the street on pieces of cotton. Unfortunately, tying the fine cotton round his arm eventually resulted in the traumatic amputation of his limb one day, much to my annoyance. A similar fate befell the rubber Wotan after I tied the cotton onto the top of his head and cut the little knob off the top of his 'suit'.Luckily though the little rubber figures have  survived further indignities, several house moves, mice, damp and a number of small children attempting to make off with them over the years and are now safely in retirement in the Wotan Archive on a soft cushion of silica gel. aaaaahh.

Four and Twenty

Blackbirds at the ready to save the world! These X-tra special mini-planes were very kindly donated recently to the Moonbase fleet.

The micro-Machines Blackbird came in it's own orange case, above, from super-friendly Toadia, the Philisophical One. Thank You Toad!

The die-cast and orange plastic Blackbirds came as part of this fab bundle from the ever-amiable Mr. Vreede, complete with Shuttle spoon [aka Lunch Launch!], cool shuttle rubbers and clockwork shuttle. Thank You Mr. V!

The Dark Knight

I saw Dark Knight with Heath Ledger's Joker when it first aired at the flicks in 2009. I re-watched it this week on DVD. I must say after my initial excitement I was left disappointed the second time round. Despite Ledger's brilliantly maniacal and ultimately tragic Joker rendition, I found the rest of the film tediously convoluted, bloated and overlong. It just wasn't comics. Batman's voice sounds like a Rottweiler growling through a letterbox and the whole Two Face/Rachel/Mob thing just got in the way and if ditched could have halved the film's inflated length. They should have tossed for it!

Christopher Nolan's film is supposedly iconoclastic but If I wanted to see a gritty crime thriller then I might as well have watched The Departed or Get Carter. I understand that it's not 1989 anymore and Tim Burton/ Micheal Keaton's original gothic comic vision belongs back then and we have grown cynical but this most recent effort is unduly realistic, everyday and stripped of any imagination. If nothing around the comic characters is itself comical then they will inevitably appear ridiculous like clowns in masks. The Joker is a comic character and not a real-life terrorist.

As for it's review's at the time I can't believe it's been ranked the 15th greatest film in history. I surmise, that like Brandon Lee's The Crow, the Dark Knight's legendary status has more to do with Heath Ledger's untimely and tragic death in real life than any mould-breaking by the film.

What do you think?

Badge of Honour

The 4 SWORD badges.

Are there any colour variations of these?

Mission Drift

Two and a half years ago in the heady first half year of the blog, I posted my first sighting of the Thomas Salter Starcruiser Mission Kit made in 1979. The bloglet also included a scathing review of the toy by Toad in the comments! A couple of months later in the Summer of '09 I blogged about Thomas Salter's 1981 Starblazer set, pictured below, which I mistook for the their Starcruiser Kit at a particularly bountiful boot sale session [those where the days, unlike now!].

image: Starblazer Website

Bringing this sort of full circle, only this week have I come across a further re-incarnation of the design from 1980, the Buck Rogers Galactic Mission Control Centre, pictured below. From what I can see online I would say that this is a straight re-hash of the Starcruiser Mission Kit from one year earlier, but until I can find a picture of the contents I can't be certain.

image: toy cabin

Board Room

Ebay

More games that have found a home in my attic at one time or another. Booby Trap too - for Wote and Toad!