TOYS ON TV

Like Woodsy,  I'm always pleased to see recognisable toys on TV, especially if they were sometimes in on the action.  Woodsy's already pointed out Action Man's capsule in UFO, but who remembers the fleeting glimpse of the Action Man Scorpion Tank in Tom Baker's début Doctor Who story 'Robot'.

These are some other examples of recognisable toys I remember seeing in TV programmes, but I'll bet you lot can recall a few others?

Here's an early episode of The Saint starring Sir Roger Moore. In the aptly titled 'The Man Who Liked Toys', simple Simon Templar is playing with a Quercetti Fireball XL5 toy.

We all know that Gerry Anderson's TV series used many toys, mostly heavily disguised and dirtied down, however I remember Woodsy pointing out Tri-ang's Big Big Train toy  and the fact it's easily recognizable as 'The Last Train to Buffer's Halt' in the Secret Service TV series.

The BBC liked to use  toy Daleks during crowd scenes. Although The Power of The Daleks doesn't exist in the BBC archive, there are snippets that show toy Daleks made by Herts being used during a famous Dalek  production line scene.

  Marx Daleks appeared in The Evil of The Daleks and later, in The Planet of The Daleks, all doomed to be destroyed!

However,  when they're not part of the action Marx Daleks did make other cameo's - in The Avengers for example.

Most cult TV fans will remember the Avengers  episode 'Death At Bargain Prices', which featured several cult toys of the time.

Here's a couple of Pelham  puppets of Steve Zodiac and Venus, slightly altered to resemble Steed and Mrs Peel.

Mrs Peel goes undercover as a toy sales assistant. You can just see some Marx Daleks hanging on the wall.

Another Marx Dalek and what could be a Remco Supercar toy. It's certainly got a Supercar look about it. You can also see a box in the background with Tri-ang Toys written on it too.

Woodsy has identified the tin plate Supercar knock off  from a photo on  the Vectis site.

It's described as an Interplanetary Space Fighter from TN toys of Japan. Nice one.

Here's Steed using a ping-pong ball firing Burp gun toy.

Here's an ad featuring the Burp gun.

Burp guns also turned up in an episode of Here Come The Double Deckers.In 'The Invaders from Space' , actors in Moon Zero Two spacesuits fire candy using the air-powered toy tommy guns.

Here come The Double Deckers also featured an episode called' ' The Case of The Missing Doughnut', with much of the action taking place in a toy shop.

The shop keepers above, played by Julian Orchard and Jack Haig.
You can see a Computacar made by Mettoy on the shelf behind them.

Can you spot the couple of Matt Mason Crawlers on the counter.

Actually the shop set is full of Matt Mason toys, along with a few from Tri-ang.

The Matt Mason Space Station above, and Captain Lazer dolls below.

You can see some Matt Mason bubblepacks  on the wall next to Jack Haig.

And even more Matt Mason Bubblepacks.

Finally, for Gerry Anderson collectors, a Dinky Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle amongst some other Dinky toys.

I'm sure if any of you lot ever watch this episode you'd spot even more than I did.

Moving across the pond, American TV series occasionally featured toys too.

The second season Lost in Space episode 'The Mechanical Men featured an army of Remco B-9 robot toys menacing Doctor Smith, in a blatant bit of product placement.

The Man from Uncle episode 'The Double Affair featured two Robot Commando toys made by Ideal.

Footage from the Double Affair, which was  originally shown in black and white, but was filmed in colour was reused for the UNCLE theatrical feature, The Spy With My Face.

Now to a  toy that I've featured on Moonbase Central in the past - the Bristol 188 Jet, made by Marx.

This toy with a different paint job turned up in the Batman TV series episode ' The Puzzles Are Coming', featuring Maurice Evans as the Puzzler.

"Commissioner, I think I've seen this toy on Moonbase Central"