He Ain't Heavy, he's my Bruder

West German toy maker Bruder have been making simple toy novelties for a long time, including farm machinery, planes, trucks and boats. Ive been lucky enough to pick up some of the smaller toys quite easily over the years, but just as easily lost them again. There are several nice space models, some of which I have retained!

But it I have recently made the aquaintance of a fellow Bruder collector in Brazil, who has an astonishing amount of different toys. Through his generosity, I was able to find a dealer in Germany who supplied me with four of the large Bruder Astro toys at a very reasonable price. Almost at the same time, I discovered the large space Whistle, pictured at top, on ebay. Although mising a spinning radar dish at the rear, the Whistle is a fine piece with spinning astronauts and moving cannons.

But my favourites must be my newly acquired Astro toys, four different in all.

Rare Green UFO variant

Original UFO

Space Dino-Robo

Robotic Probe Pod

Space Precinct-like Cruiser and Launch Pad