Hi Woodsy
As regards having American readers you raise an interesting point. How did they find Moonbase Central? In my case, in 2012 I was able to unpack stored hobbies including my TIMPO toy soldiers. When I Googled TIMPO I found Small Scale World and there Hugh had a link to Moonbase. One of the first of your blogs that I recall was your memories of Butlins and model boats. That was my first reply to one of your posts. Maybe having a readers survey of how MC was found would turn up a majority who Googled Spacex? I also enjoy Kid's blog, CRIVENS! Comics &Stuff.
Terranova47
So, out of curiosity, how did YOU first come across Moonbase Central readers?
Stay safe,
Woodsy
Wotan told me you were setting it up in an email.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was 2008 Kev!
DeleteI was searching for information and photos of the old JR21 Gerry Anderson toys I used to have and remembered my old Project Sword Probe Force 3 toy too. Found your site by searching on 'Project Sword'.
ReplyDeleteGreat Yorkie. Hope you found what you wanted! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI have just seen your request for information on how people found out about Moonbase Central. In my case, pure luck. I was looking for some information on Gerry Anderson, and found it on your site, which I then began to explore in detail. Actually, I think I might have come across some of the entries before when looking for specific pieces of information, as some of them looked familiar, but I did not look elsewhere on the site at the time. But last time I did. This would have been about late January this year. Checking my emails, the first letter I sent in to you was on 6th February. As I have never sent anything in to a website before, it took me a little while to figure out how to reply to posts, and to add my name - I am not a computer buff. In fact, I have only had the internet at home for a little over a year, when I bought a new computer. My main interests are aircraft, military vehicles, die-cast models, Gerry Anderson, and other classic TV shows, and old movies. I also like Timpo toy soldiers, although I never had a large collection. Since you cover all of these, MC is a perfect fit for me. I simply stumbled across MC.
ReplyDeleteThanks for persevering Paul. Stay on board and stay safe.
DeleteI looked up Project Sword, think I initially replied to you on another blog about the moonbase toy (which I still think I saw!)
ReplyDeleteWow, another blog Andy. That goes back a bit. Thanks for stickin' round! And double wow, the moon base set! It was in a shop window wasn't it?
Deleteprobabilly seachin' for space toys,in any case glad to have find this blog and all the readers! EW :)
ReplyDeleteKeep searchin' and keep comin' over EW and stay safe in Genova!
DeleteThanks my friend!ew
DeleteI was looking for info regarding 'Space 1999' Eagle space craft and had heard about a modeller's website called 'All Stations Alpha'. However I Couldn't remember its name, so typed in 'Moonbase Alpha models' and it came up with various sites, including Moonbase Central.
ReplyDeleteOnce in, I was hooked by your love of all the things I too loved as a kid, and so have kept coming back.
Mish.
Cheers Mish. We have Scoop to thank for keeping the Space 1999 flame alight here on the Base. Glad you're hooked. I'm chuffed!
DeleteOn that note, Woodsy, I'd like to be able contribute to your site with pics as well as words soon, but don't know how to do it. Can you let me know how to send images to you, as well as comments, so I can do this.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Mish.
Just email me Mish with content and pics and I'll look it over and post it when I can. You know what we like here on the Base. My email is at the bottom of the page, moonbasecentral@...... Cheers!
DeleteYou emailed me and begged me to join you coz you were lonely!
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Without your help and enthusiasm it would never have got off the ground Wote! Thanks!
DeleteI was thinking about the SpaceX toys I'd seen as a kid and when I Googled 'em,
ReplyDeleteI discovered Moonbase Central and my life changed. -No, seriously!
This is one of my favourite sources of visual pleasure!
Too kind Looey! And we totally enjoy your fab creations from Oz and ace tales of your time in the film world of FX! Keep stopping by!
DeleteI bought a toy of you from eBay, and you enclosed a note asking if I'd check out your new website. I did, of course and very pleased I did too.:)
ReplyDeleteAh, yes Scoop, the Blue Box spaceship! Great header art if I remember right. So glad you came on board and your pin-sharp posts remain mega-popular and informative. I loved the Venus shot today! With atmosphere! Blew me away!
DeleteI think I came across your blog when I was googling reference images for a story in Network's one-off TV21 revival a few years ago. And I've been coming back every day ever since.
ReplyDeleteOf course! Your project SWORD story illustration Paul! I really enjoyed sharing notes with you for that. The end result with the SWORD trooper and the beast were spot on and it was super kind of you to donate your original sketch as a blog prize. I hope Moonbase can keep you on board!
DeleteI had been collecting Project Sword toys since 2003 using Woodsy's inspired Checlist as my guide. Tried to contact him even to an outdated email address mentioned on the checklist. Fast forward half a decade and one day while googling again for Sword, lo and behold! Must have been maybe a month into the start of the Moonbase Central.
ReplyDeleteThat was a turning point for me in many respects. What I had considered as a relatively limited collection to accomplish (still in the works!) has turned into multiple expanded Swordiverses. More importantly, Woodsy's enthusiasm and support has been a constant source of inspiration during all these years.
That old email! Doh! Why didn't I update it! Thanks Arto for your support and zeal for Project SWORD on the blog for over a decade. That's how it all started and is still the beating heart of what I do. I couldn't have done it without you.
DeleteI was doing a Google search for Zero X, and look at the trouble I caused!
ReplyDeleteYou did, you got us on the radio! How did that happen Bill! ha ha. It was great fun and I hope it will be in the future again. Thanks for dropping by from Main Mission!
DeleteI clicked on a link while searching for info about Tootsietoys Star Base Zeus Playset.That was around 2012.
ReplyDeleteTootsietoys Zeus Base! Wow! I've only ever seen it online. Glad you went looking Bri. Monster Base has been roaring ever since!
DeleteI was searching for some space related toy and stumbled across it by change. Never looked back :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tone. Your contributions are legendary and your support invaluable! Wonder if you found that toy you were looking for?
DeleteWell I knew you from before the blog, Woodsy. I was looking for info on Spacex and found your checklist. With an email address that still worked at the time. :) Must've been very early nineties that. Also bought a few things from your sales list (Thunderbirds bedlinnen for my boys is one I recall :) The rest as they say is history.
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul
Yeah, we go back a long way Paul, the dawn of the internet! Did you really buy bed linen? I don't remember that but I sold everything and anything TV related in those days. I even sold Domestic Goddess Nigela Lawson a milk bottle. Well, she's on TV! Thanks for all your support and knowledge over the decades. It was a huge thrill when you launched your SpaceX website, clearly the culmination of years of detailed research and dedication. Cheers!
DeleteLike Paul, I first came across your original Project SWORD checklist back in the 90s (think the page was http://www.danefield.com/alpha/misc/sword.htm) and was fascinated that someone else had an interest in these obscure old toys and had taken the time to do it.
ReplyDeletePrior to that, the only source of info about Project SWORD I'd found was in Dennis Nicholson's "bible".
Needless to say, I eventually stumbled across this blog and realised it was created by the same bloke who'd done the earlier SWORD checklist and the rest, of course, is history.
All hail Woodsy
Cheers - Tony
Tony P? I think that's you. Thanks for stopping by all those years ago. I'd no idea you'd seen the Alphadrome checklist - Brian Hayes was kind enough to publish my scribbles back then [and Kelly Lannan on the TV21 site]. Dennis's 'bible' was a revelation for me too in 1996 and opened up a world even bigger than Project SWORD! I'll do a post about Dennis soon so thanks for the ace stuff you sent recently. I wonder how many Gerry Anderson toy collectors there are in Oz and NZ? Thanks again Tony.
DeleteHi Woodsy. Yes, it's me.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how many Gerry Anderson toy collectors there are in Oz and NZ. Certainly the Gerry Anderson series were very popular here back in the 60s and 70s. Thunderbirds in particular, which was repeated frequently during the 60s, 70s and 80s and even into the 21st century (Channel 9 at 6.00 am on Saturday mornings). The other GA series were shown less frequently: Stingray appeared occasionally on the ABC channels; Fireball XL5 very occasionally; I think Captain Scarlet was only broadcast once on Channel 7 in the late 60s and was never repeated; I don't remember Joe 90 being shown here at all; UFO and Space 1999 were broadcast in the 70s and have been repeated occasionally since. Of course, we have all of these on DVD/Blu Ray now, but back in the 60s and 70s we only had the telly.
As well as the TV, we 1960s kids also had TV21 every week (and Countdown later on), although our copies took a few weeks to get here by ship from the UK. So we got plenty of exposure to the GA series through that, and the annuals as well.
Every kid here had at least one Gerry Anderson Dinky toy - usually the Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet ones, as well as the Joe 90 and UFO ones later on. The JR21 toys were far less common in fact I can only remember seeing one in my childhood (one lucky kid had a JR21 TB1 that he brought to school around 1968-69). The Lincoln International toys were around, but I don't remember seeing many of them (I had a Lincoln TB3, but it disappeared many years ago, although I fortunately picked up a replacement a few years ago). There would have been plenty of other types of GA toys available here at the time but I really can't remember them specifically - if I or my friends didn't have them then they didn't really exist for us (!!)
But the Dinky Gerry Anderson toys were everywhere.
So there are lots of GA dinkies here if anyone wants to collect them - they appear on ebay a lot and at swap meets (although there seem to be far less swap meets here now than there used to be - think that ebay and the internet have reduced the demand for them). I'm sure there are plenty of collectors in this part of the world - it's just that we can't go outside at the moment!!
Cheers, Tony
Oz is a bot of a GA ccentral Tony! Lets not forget it took Aussie Dennis N to write the 'bible' on the subject! If you ever want to show off your Lincoln toy just send me two pics by email. Can't wait to get out, yeah, and find some more vintage toys at car boot sales!
DeleteTV arrived in NZ in 1960. As far as I know the first Gerry Anderson series to screen here was Stringray, followed by Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, the largely overlooked Secret Service, then came UFO and Space:1999. Much later, I think 1990s, Supercar aired in the afternoons, but it was on at a difficult time for me. I do not recall ever seeing Fireball XL5 or any of the other early GA shows.
ReplyDeleteI never had any GA toys, comics, or annuals. My first was probably the Airfix Angel Interceptor kit in the 1970s, but this was a rare item in NZ shops, compared to the aircraft models. It was only much later, as an adult collector, that I managed to pick up a few older die-casts. I do now have a few of the Dinky models. Fairs usually have a few Dinky, Matchbox, and Vivid die-casts, but often the prices are on the high side. A Dinky FAB 1 in a reproduction box is the most expensive die-cast I have ever bought, being $130 NZ. But I did get a first version Thunderbird 2 missing its legs and engine nozzles for $20. There are still many gaps to fill. I prefer to see the models I am buying, at a fair, or in a model shop here in Auckland that carries second-hand models (they tend to be a bit expensive too).
I bet you have a big collection of more general models and die-casts though Paul. is there a big toy fair in Auckland?
DeleteBrian just alerted me to this post!
ReplyDeleteI first found you soon after I started blogging (a few months after you started!) and was googling LP to do my first post on them, found your earlier post on them, left a comment (re the PW articles I think?), and you asked me to send you some stuff . . . which I did!
And here we all are happy as the proverbial pigs, 11 years later!
H
ha ha, pigs in space! Pigs in small space! Space Pigs in a small scale world! Thanks for stopping by Hugh! BTW what happenned to your Maverick moniker?
DeletePS. I loved those Plastic Warrior and One Inch Warrior LP articles. The editor did a deal on them for MC readers in the early days. Are they still in print?
Only just noticed your comments, which is why this reply is a little late. Yes, a number of general models, and various film and TV related models. Must be close to 200 James Bond models by now, but most of those are from the James Bond Car Collection partwork (134 regular issues, and three subscriber only specials). There are two sets of fairs in Auckland, each held twice a year. The last one, which would have been the first of the year, was cancelled back in March. No idea if there will be any fairs later in the year. Then there are a few general fairs, which usually have a few models and toys. Not many model shops, or even toy shops, left now. At least Hot Wheels models are widely available, and are affordable.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it'll all take linger than we think for things to settle down Paul. Might be no fairs for a while. As for 007, have the Bond films ever been filmed in NZ on location I wonder?
DeleteNo, Bond has never been to NZ, although a lot of other movies and TV shows have been filmed in NZ over the years. Often NZ stands in for somewhere else - in Hercules and Xena it was Ancient Greece, and in Lord of the Rings it was Middle Earth. Here is an item I found from the New Zealand Herald on Bond and his travels - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12291280
ReplyDeleteI remember an episode of the British TV series Mogul from about the early 1970s had an episode set in NZ, it strung together shots of NZ filmed in different parts of the country, and edited together so they all appeared to be on the same short drive. A bit like having the hero take a quick drive past Stonehenge, Mount Snowdon, and Loch Ness, on his way to the supermarket. This was well covered in the newspapers at the time.
Not heard of Mogul Paul. I adored the landscapes in Lord of the Rings. NZ looks like a truly beautiful place. In the very early 80's my two best friends, both brothers, emigrated, one to OZ and one to NZ! I've not really ever seen them again but I've heard they love life Down Under.
Deleteoh and thats a fascinating site about Bond's travels! Thanks Paul. Bet he'd hate lockdown!
DeleteMogul was a British series that began in 1965, but was later re-titled The Troubleshooters, and lasted until 1972. It was about a large international oil company - the name always reminded me of Mobil. It was a mixture of boardroom and field action. The actors I remember are Geoffrey Keen and Ray Barrett, who also worked on various Gerry Anderson shows. At the time the NZ episode was made, there was very little film or TV work being done in NZ. There was not much of a local film industry in those days, and only one state-run TV channel, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, modelled on the BBC, but with commercials.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am sure Bond would hate lockdown, although I doubt he would be alone.
Fascinating Paul. Thanks for the info.
Delete