It's Friday night, so I thought i'd just pop up a little vintage eye candy, from the catalogue collection my dad acquired over the years. The Dinky catalogues range from mid sixties, to mid 80's and cover the regular Gerry Anderson ranges, along with the oddball, like Parsley and Tiny and the rather unsettling Candy and Andy!
My favourites must be the fully painted artwork from the sixties landscape catalogues, which devoted a full page to each vehicle - such as the wonderful Fab 1!
Its interesting to see how some of the less popular models dropped away, to be replaced with more up and coming series, like Star Trek and Space 1999 and eventually, the ill fated Investigator models, which were slipped in under a different name.
Lovely stuff! Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI remember those plastic space helmets in the toy shops, although I couldn't afford one.
I made several versions out of paper mache, moulded around ballons!
I think we all had the same issue Lewis! I used to cut a hole in a cardboard box!
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with you Bill, eye candy at its best!
ReplyDeleteSome of these illustrations featured also on nice little folded leaflets that I assume came with the toys. Happy to own a couple of those little beauties.
Thats a rare find, Arto. I recall being bribed into having my Polio vaccination in the sixties with the Dinky SPV, but the box and packaging was quickly discarded in my haste to get at the toy!
ReplyDeleteDo you know, I completely forgot about the terrific illustrations of C21 craft used in the Dinky Toys catalog, and on the boxes themselves? Some of my fondest memories involve my collecting and cherishing my C21 Dinky Toys, from Thunderbird 2 through the SPV, and still my favorite FAB 1! I can still recall being mad that JOE 90 never aired on US TV (at least not in the New York area) because my Dinky Toy Mac's Car diecast was too good to be true! I enjoyed the series vicariously through the diecast Macs Car and Sams Car...
ReplyDeleteMacs Car is one of the most unusual designs and a fantastic little Dinky model, too. I hated the character of Joe with his smarmy expressions and silly comments when he was wearing the glasses, but the model work was some of the best ever.
ReplyDeleteProbably because I had to wait over 40 years to finally see it, I love JOE 90, although I agree with you about Joe’s somewhat snarky behavior. I watch my DVD set all the time. It’s a way of me instantly recapturing the glory days of adolescence.
ReplyDeleteIve not watched an episode for a few years now, Ill have to fetch the dvds out. I do enjoy the destruction of the rocket base in the pilot and the stolen MiG fighter, the Explosives truck and its successor in Colonel Maclane and The Race and the Spider security vehicles in the episode where he breaks into a fortress in South America. Oh and the russian Hunter Killer subs too! Thats it, ive convinced myself, im off to get my glasses and a date with the Big RAT!
DeleteI can't get enough of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 via the DVD sets. I can watch them over and over again. Instant time warp back to happier days. And even the lesser episodes with the "human-centric" plots are fun, as the art design is always a joy to behold. But of course if and when military and/or industrial stuff blows up, it is Supermarionation Heaven!
DeleteForgot all about the Dinky Toys Mini Moke from The Prisoner too! I think I had that one, or did that toy not make it to the States? Its a vague memory... The program itself aired on CBS for one glorious summer and I couldn't get enough, even though a lot of it was over my head.
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