There are a whole bundle of Candy comic covers on Pinterest.
Have a look. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/cjones158/comics-candy/
What do you think? Have you got any?
Candy and Andy was one of the more obscure comic and book phenomena in the worlds of Gerry Anderson in the 1960's.
For something so obscure, there seems to be a lot of interest in Candy and Andy. There was a letter on this, and the Dinky model of Stripey the Magic Mini, by another collector in the British diecast collecting magazine Model Collector, in October 2019. It was while I was looking for further information on this subject that I found Moonbase Central. My follow up letter was published in the March 2020 issue.
ReplyDeleteHere is a quick recap of what I found. The comic itself was simply called Candy - The Comic Full of Fun and Magic, and not Candy and Andy. But the Candy and Andy name was used for the three hardback Annuals (copyright dates 1967, 1968, and 1969), and various other books.
The comic was published from January 1967, and ran for 154 issues, priced at 9d in old money (what would that be in new money, about 4 New Pence ?). Photo covers were used from Number 1 to 54, thereafter drawn covers were used.
One thing I am not clear on, were the dolls actually intended to be dolls, or real children ? Their parents were adult-sized pandas, named Mr and Mrs Bearanda. They ran a toy shop, which was also called Candy. Dinky also produced their model of Stripey in 1967, along with plastic figures of the central characters. As I did not read the comic, I have no idea what was magical about the car. The number plates on the car were CANDY1, although I would assume these were not real, and were only applied for photographs ?
I should imagine the Annuals and other books would be more likely to survive the years, than the comics themselves.
Very interesting Paul. The backstory of the comics is a bit of a mystery to me too but I know the pictures of the shop in the comics were full of contemporary toys including JR21 toys so are great to look at and spot them! I once tried to track down many of the original Gerry Anderson-linked cars and CANDY 1 was one. I managed to find an interview online where a former staff member of Century 21 talks about how he used it as a runaround before being told to give it to an executive as a gift! https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-ever-happened-to-stripey-magic-mini.html
DeleteThank you, that is actually one of the items I found when I was looking for information on Candy and Andy, and which led to my discovery of Moonbase Central. I did mention Moonbase in my letter to Model Collector. I do not have anything on these characters myself (apart from the two-page entry in The Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide - I found my copy in a second hand bookshop several years ago). However now that I know about this strange corner of the Gerry Anderson empire I will look out for the books or the Dinky model at fairs, once these are able to start up again. I have no idea if this comic was ever available in NZ.
ReplyDeleteDid you get a reply from Model Collector Paul?
DeleteThe original letter in Model Collector, October 2019, was from another collector. My letter, published in the March 2020 issue, was actually the reply providing extra information. The Editor at Model Collector often adds a few comments to the letters she publishes, but not in this case. However she did add some photos.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Paul. There's a few more Candy covers coming to Moonbase soon as part of a Century 21 Publishing day.
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