My latest scratch model is done!
Here's my interpretation of the SpaceX II Crash Tender.
Its been emotional!
Wednesday, 31 July 2019
FLY DAY
I used to love plastic flies as a kid. They were part of that great plastic menageries that was available in shops back then.
The flies came on blister cards if I remember rightly, marketed more as a joke than a toy. It was a hoot placing a toy fly on my older Brothers' bangers n mash! ha ha. Trouble is they swatted me afterwards!
Did you have any plastic flies?
Alas, the real thing is not so funny. Our fridge is on the blink - the door is dodgy - and its far too low down for us to now constantly keep bending down to find a lump of cheese at the far reaches behind the light. We're getting older!
We were hesitating getting a new one as it costs money. We were, however, pushed into a replacement by an insect ..... and its offspring!
We came home yesterday and opened the fridge, upon which, yep, a huge fly flew out from the shelves.
Immediately suspicious I checked the nearest meat product and lo and behold, my Ardenne's Pate, not properly sealed, was blathered with lines of tiny white cigars, unmistakably fly eggs!
Yuk! Double Yuk!
It was the final straw [I'm sure there's a pun lurking here somewhere].
Our new tall slim fridge arrives on Saturday, thank the Lord.
Just not the Lord of the flies!
Has anything insecty and yukky happened in your kitchen readers?
The flies came on blister cards if I remember rightly, marketed more as a joke than a toy. It was a hoot placing a toy fly on my older Brothers' bangers n mash! ha ha. Trouble is they swatted me afterwards!
Did you have any plastic flies?
Alas, the real thing is not so funny. Our fridge is on the blink - the door is dodgy - and its far too low down for us to now constantly keep bending down to find a lump of cheese at the far reaches behind the light. We're getting older!
We were hesitating getting a new one as it costs money. We were, however, pushed into a replacement by an insect ..... and its offspring!
We came home yesterday and opened the fridge, upon which, yep, a huge fly flew out from the shelves.
Immediately suspicious I checked the nearest meat product and lo and behold, my Ardenne's Pate, not properly sealed, was blathered with lines of tiny white cigars, unmistakably fly eggs!
Yuk! Double Yuk!
It was the final straw [I'm sure there's a pun lurking here somewhere].
Our new tall slim fridge arrives on Saturday, thank the Lord.
Just not the Lord of the flies!
Has anything insecty and yukky happened in your kitchen readers?
GOOGLEY EYED: LP AND LN PLASTIC TOY SPACE ANIMALS
This post biulds on several older posts about googley eyed Hong Kong toys.
Always looking for JR21 styled Hong Kong plastic animals [I've just finished writing a book about them in particular] last year I spotted this more general non-JR21 plastic cute animal in a bag.
Its part of the Cartoon Animals range made in Hong Kong by LN which includes a bunny, a kitten, a puppy and a baby mouse.
Typical of the Sixties/ early Seventies, they are pictured on a lunar background and as such can justly be called space toys. This one is numbered 403A. There may also be a nod towards early Disney cartoons in the way they look. Would you agree?
I had thought initially this animal was the bunny. However the animals are given letters on the header card, A,B,C and D. This header card is numbered 403A. If the A refers to the animal lettering then this particular animal should be a mouse!
The evidence against this idea is the colour, the mouse would surely be white and it would also have a long tail as pictured. This animal is red and has a short white tail.
It is more likely to be the bunny rabbit after all I feel.
Have the packers put the wrong header on the wrong animal?
The A in 403A may not even refer to the four letters printed on the animal pictures, ABC and D at all.
Blog friend and collector Arto has previously shed some light on the letter C in his brilliant 2018 post about LN brand space vehicles - and suggested it might mean 'Carded'.
Keen-eyed Arto then spotted another Hong Kong animal, which was also numbered 403, the same as the LN toy above.
Except this one was made by the much better known LP brand!
Arto suggests that it may be likely that these same animals were released both under LN and LP brands.
To confuse matters even more LP also issued another space dog with a different number, 108. This was issued both boxed and bagged. Arto suggests that the A in the numbering might mean that the toy was bagged, which he blogged about 2 years ago.
Arto has kindly shared this picture of both his LP space dogs, the smaller one 403 and the larger one with yellow vest, 108.
The LP-LN brands connection needs further research.
If anyone has any information about it or more LN toys or googley eyed Hong Kong animals I would be happy to share it on the blog.
As a fascinating and previously blogged footnote Paul V discusses the amazing link between the ball rollers below these toys and their use in other LP space toys. You can read it and much more about LP toys on Paul's site here
Tuesday, 30 July 2019
ACTION MAN EMERGENCY FIRE TENDER
I sold a boxed one of these for a friend in 1995. He'd kept it since childhood but wanted to let it go along with the rest of his old toys that had been stored in his parents' loft.
Its not an attractive tender to my eyes and I didn't have one as a kid. Maybe it came a bit later in Action Man's tenure.
I can't imagine that the siren was popular with parents!
Did you have one as a kid?
New Jersey BBQ Chicken & Ribs: A Meal Fit for Astronauts
Let me take a moment to share with Moonbase Central a Summertime labor of love. Barbecue!
This time consuming process is totally worth the fuss and bother when you sit down to eat with family and friends.
The chicken parts and pork ribs are first marinated in a brine of salt,sugar,Worcestershire sauce and Apple cider vinegar.
Then,the dried pieces are rubbed with a mixture of paprika, garlic,mustard, pepper and thyme.
After a long slow grilling over charcoal and oak chips,they are triple glazed with a sweet and spicy tomato based Barbecue sauce and cooked til the sauce bubbles.
Then,a glaze of honey and a final benediction of crushed Montreal peppercorns for the chicken, and chives for the ribs.
Some New Jersey fresh corn is grilled on cob next to the meat.I would usually serve baked beans and cold potato salad on the side,and finish up with a local farm fresh Watermelon.
Sound good?
The dinner bell is ringing!
BrianF
NJ USA.
Monday, 29 July 2019
THE SWINGING LIGHTBULB
As we've mentioned Callan a few times this week I couldn't resist.
I recall this swinging bulb as if it were yesterday!
THE JR21 AIR PORT CRASH TENDER
From old contributor Ferryman's collection, the gorgeous plastic Air Port Crash Tender issued by JR21 in the Sixties
[isn't airport one word and not two?]
I'm pleased to say I have one too in the Moonbase fleet.
There are a number of different brands of similar toy tenders from the Sixties: JR21, Lucky, NFIC, Matchbox and even a large Action Man tender, which I once had the pleasure of selling a boxed example for a friend in the 1990's.
Have you got a tender at all readers?
[isn't airport one word and not two?]
I'm pleased to say I have one too in the Moonbase fleet.
There are a number of different brands of similar toy tenders from the Sixties: JR21, Lucky, NFIC, Matchbox and even a large Action Man tender, which I once had the pleasure of selling a boxed example for a friend in the 1990's.
Have you got a tender at all readers?
FROZEN GLOBES OF CHICKEN
Back in the Sixties everything seemed new.
Toys, gadgets, TV and frozen food.
I remember getting something on my plate from my Mum that I've just remembered.
Battered chicken balls!
Although they were usually fishmongers, they were probably made by Birds Eye or Findus because these outfits were frozen food specialists.
These poultry spheres were totally delicious and if I recall they were deep fried along with the scrumptious home-made chips they were served with. A small hillock of peas completed a fabulous but totally unhealthy tea.
Bring back battered chicken balls I say and then I can happily go out on my chopper with my mates for an evening ride!
Toys, gadgets, TV and frozen food.
I remember getting something on my plate from my Mum that I've just remembered.
Battered chicken balls!
Although they were usually fishmongers, they were probably made by Birds Eye or Findus because these outfits were frozen food specialists.
These poultry spheres were totally delicious and if I recall they were deep fried along with the scrumptious home-made chips they were served with. A small hillock of peas completed a fabulous but totally unhealthy tea.
Bring back battered chicken balls I say and then I can happily go out on my chopper with my mates for an evening ride!
SIXTEEN 12 'NEW ADAM NEW EVE' EAGLE EPISODE SET
Here are a few photos of the new Sixteen 12 ‘Episode Set’
Eagle featuring the pod side boosters briefly seen in ‘New Adam, New Eve.
In the episode a god-like being calling himself Magus
materialises on Moonbase Alpha claiming to be mankind’s creator. John Koenig is
sceptical, but after a demonstration of his powers, Magus offers the Alphans’
the chance of a new start on a new Earth and a new Garden of Eden.
Magus invites Comr. Koenig, Helena, Tony and Maya to visit
this new paradise, but they soon learn that Magus is not what he seems and
wants to use them for his genetic engineering experiments.
Meanwhile on Alpha, with all contact lost, pilot Alan Carter
endeavours to fly to the planet, and following one abandoned attempt, he equips
his Eagle with four additional side boosters to increase the force of take-off.
That’s all we get to see of the side boosters in that
episode. Magus uses his cosmic powers to prevent the take-off, and then it’s
all down to Koenig and co. to work out a way of defeating Magus and leaving the
planet. I decided it might be interesting to see what the Eagle with it's additional boosters might have looked like if Alan had actually managed to take off from Alpha and land on the planet.
In spite of their fleeting appearance, the boosters have
still proved to be a popular addition with Eagle modellers and collectors. The
actual prop boosters were designed and built by Martin Bower. The two nearside
boosters which were seen directly on camera were detailed; the pair on the far
side carried no detail and no engine bells.
The two detailed boosters also re-appear without their
engine bells in the episodes, Space Warp
and The Séance Spectre as hangar
decoration.
The four boosters with the Sixteen 12 set are all very
nicely detailed, and attach magnetically to the Eagle pod, almost positioning
themselves.
As with all the new Sixteen 12 Episode Set 12” die-cast
Eagles the rear engine bells are machine turned and hand finished aluminium.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Eagle Transporter itself
is nicely finished too, with light panel weathering on the pod.
The set comes with an Alpha moon buggy and a launch platform
display plinth.
The set is limited to 1000 units, and at the time of writing
there are currently just 14 still available direct from the Sixteen 12 collectables
website. They will also be available from other dealers for a time.
Thanks again to Steve and the Sixteen 12 Collectables team
for another superb die-cast Eagle set.
INTERPLANETARY SPACELINER MODEL
Hello Woodsy
If you liked the Man in Space here is the last model in the book.
It's a display model and reflects the worst of 50's wood models. To explain:
Maybe 1954 or so I was taken to the cinema and saw a colourful pirate movie. I was so thrilled by the galleon models that for the next birthday I was given a Keil Kraft Wood Kit.
My memory may be slightly off but there was a brick sized block of balsa wood, a small sheet of balsa and some wooden dowels for masts. Carve your own hull! I think the construction instructions were follow the illustration on the box lid.
Talk about basics. On seeing how disappointed I was the 'kit' was returned and I became the proud owner of one of the first AIRFIX plastic kits, either The Revenge or The Mayflower. It was only about 4" long but brilliant as my parents could glue it together.
The Inter Planetary Spaceliner is another start with a brick of balsa wood and whittle.
Regards,
Terranova47
NYC
EAGLE BOOK OF SPACECRAFT MODELS: MAN IN SPACE!
Hello Woodsy,
A while ago when I sent scans of space art from Eagle Annuals from the 50's I said I remembered Eagle having plans for a model spaceship. After going through my annuals I was mystified at not finding it.
Then I went on line and found that in 1960 there was an Eagle Book of Spacecraft Models.
I obtained a copy and this indeed was what I remembered. The models need the wonderful JETEX motor which I had great fun with back then though the plans in this book were unintelligable to me then and they still are!
Regards,
Terranova47
