IT'S BACK!

 

NOPPIN SUSPENDED

A casualty of Covid, Japanese auction assistants Noppin has now closed until next year. I've used Noppin many times when buying from Japan and it's always been easy. I do hope that Noppin can survive Covid and come back in 2021.

SIX FOOT SIX

 

I love this guy.

He's my favourite beaver.

I've been saying his hissy Six Foot Six [I actually remember it as Sixty Six Cents] my whole life and only recently realised its from the flick Lady and the Tramp.

What's your fave Disney character?

HAVE YOU A THUNDERCOP?

Woodsy, saw this Thunderbird knock-off from Cheng Ching Toys and thought of you. Saw it while I was looking for vintage toys at antique stores near where I live. Not sure if you've seen this before or not. They were asking $40 for it, which was more than I was willing to spend. Love your blog, btw.

Dave

Batman Returns: Ertl Penguin Ducks

Hi

As promised, here some shots of the Ertl version of the Penguin Duck, sometimes referred to as the Duck tank, which it is clearly not. 

This was available on its own, or in a boxed set with the rest of the Ertl Batman Returns models. These models were contemporary with the film. 

The photos are from Pinterest (single model) and Worthpoint (set).

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Adams

New Zealand

Homemade Batmobile: 1950 Studebaker Customized by Comic Book Artist Alex Ross

http://tomztoyz.blogspot.com/2009/02/homemade-batmobile-1950-studebaker.html?m=1 

further to my comments on the Batmobile [earlier this month] - MJ

UP CLOSE AND IKKY

I had a toy microscope as a kid.

It was a scientific wonder that came with glass slides and petri dishes.

I remember looking at large-scale images of my hair and dead fly legs. 

With the dishes you could look at twirling daphnia and ikky pond life, especially if a torch was shone on the tilting mirror. 

I blame toys like this, along with Survival on Anglia TV and Jaques Cousteau for a life-long love of the natural world.

Did you have a toy microscope as a nipper readers?

ANIMAL OPENINGS

Animals were allover Sixties kids TV and I loved 'em!

Here are a few theme songs for you, while you slurp on a glass of Tizer! What do you think readers?

Belle and Sebastian!

White Horses

Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau

Tales from the Riverbank

Black Beauty

Animal Magic

Skippy

Flipper

and Champion the Wonder Horse

ACTION FORCED

 

More ephemera from my drawers. Here's a mini-poster for the Palitoy Action Man Action Force range. This poster is called Ground Assault.

I've bought and sold quite a lot of Action Force over the years and recently picked up this SAS Frogman.

Is it a line you like?

TOAST TOPPERS

Today I had a blast from the past, a vivid memory of a foodstuff I adored in the 70's: Toast Toppers.

This delicious creamy spread came in dinky little tins and had a ring pull top if I remember rightly. The flavours were largely cheese and ham I think. That's what I recall, the liquid cheese bubbling under the grill with the chunks of ham all cozy and hot.

Biting into a toast toppered slice of toast was a unique experience. Hot, crispy, creamy, meaty. Totally delicious!

I've not seen toast toppers for years so I assume they fell into food oblivion. Please tell me that's the case and haven't been available at Farmfoods ever since!

HONEY WEST'S FIRST APPEARANCE ON TV: BURKE'S LAW PILOT - WHO KILLED THE JACKPOT

Further to Scoop's ace stills on the bloggiversary, here's the full episode on You Tube.

Honey gets out of a cab and takes it from there!

WHAT A FIGURE!

I picked up a few more plastic action figures at today's car boot sale.

All cheap as chips as well. I spent a grand total of £2.20.

From left to right we have a Burger King [BK] Batman, BK Dr. X [update: this is a GI Joe Dr. Mindbender], two BK Action Men, an unknown blue commando from 2005 [update: this is a Lanard the Corps SAS Diver] , a BK Action Man astronaut and a green Monster in my Pocket.

Next to that is an interesting plastic pteranodon, which comes in half to reveal a small paper leaflet explaining the wing span. No idea of the make or year. Could be a pencil attachment too. Do you know?

Perhaps the most interesting plastic figures are three brown thinnish ones from New Zealand front left. No idea what they are. Have you?

[update: these 3 figures are cereal premiums from 1962 issued in New Zealand's Sanitarium cereals]

The 20p in the £2.20 went on the only die-cast I got. A lovely 1970 Hot Wheels Redline Side Kick from 1970. Car boots are full  of diecast but this is the first redline I've seen for at least 2 years.

Finally I got this little female figure holding a parcel or pack of books. Maybe a schoolgirl. Anyone any clue?

Have you been car booting today?

KP SPACE RAIDERS ATE MY POPPETS

 Rifling through folders and files I keep finding papers I've squirreled away like this lot.

In it is an old Space Raiders snack packet and a Poppets Robot cover box and a WHAM chew wrapper!

Newspaper clippings about Michael's Keaton's Batman and a shop in Leeds with a set of ABC batman cards in 1990.

A Monsters movie flier, a modern Hammer flier and a Superman can label.

Do you file away stuff like this?

MAISY

 Maisy, one of Moonbase Junior's fave TV theme tunes on his car CD! It's a real hoot!

I FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW WON: My adventures in Merchandizing Part 2 by Lewis M.

I'd been feeling pretty good about my Phantom lamp with the white glowing eyes, it looked exactly like the 80's original - or so I thought.

King Features who owned the Phantom property thought otherwise. They claimed the face didn't look like the face on the lamp in their office, but despite emailing photos of said lamp, they couldn't effectively explain what they thought was wrong. 

The easy way out would have been to drop over to their office and take a look myself, except... their office was in New York NY USA!

As luck would have it, I was actually just about to go on a holiday that was taking in Tokyo and New York. So I made an appointment and packed some tubs of 2 part silicone putty in my suitcase. 

King Features in NY was a swanky office complex and I spent about half an hour photographing the face of this damn lamp and making a rubber mould of the face. When I got back to Australia, I made a direct cast and glued it over my own sculpt, so the client would get exactly what they wanted.



The final approved lamp was a good seller and encouraged my Merchandiser to look at other options for lamps based on the same gimmick. He tried Marvel and got me to sketch up a proposal, but it went nowhere...




So next, he decided to try Star Wars and here is where the troubles really began...

What was proposed was a ceramic Darth Vader with red glowing eyes. I clearly remembered a pottery Darth Vader coin bank I had in the early 80's and as The Phantom had basically been a ceramic vase with empty eye holes, I decided to go for a smoothed feel as opposed to a hard edged look. 

The merchandiser also wanted a Yoda lamp as a companion with green eyes and I was actually quite pleased with the organic/ceramic look I achieved.





So we now had two reasonable working prototypes to take to the next level. Unfortunately things got off to a bad start with Lucasfilm who had very specific procedures that my Merchandiser didn't follow to the letter and things only got worse. The Darth head was sent to China to get a quote on manufacture and instead, they chose to cast the entire thing as a solid lump of resin.

I don't know what happened to my prototype, but the resin lump really got up Lucasfilm's nose. They didn't like the sculpt, they wanted to know which film the design was based on (the actual design changed subtly from film to film and they were insisting our piece represent a specific version).

They were suggesting the Merchandiser hire Gentle Giant Studios (fully owned by them) to do a sculpt at his own additional expense. He could see how it was going and already being several thousand dollars out of pocket, he decided not to throw good money after bad...

So I don't think my Yoda lamp was ever even seen by Lucasfilm, certainly it stayed with me and still peers down at me from the top shelf of my studio. Whilst a white eyed Phantom worked quite well, the red eyed Darth (although quite effective) never got to strut his stuff and poor old Yoda... 

While the idea of a glowing green eyed Jedi might have seemed a good idea, it practice it was more reminiscent of "Village of the Damned Yoda"!



And pretty much here ended my Merchandising adventures, certainly we never worked together again.

I think the demands of Licensing Holders are very specific and certainly the charming "off model" toys of the 60s and 70s are a thing of the past, in this pre-vizzed computer designed, computer manufactured world. Sadly, movie making has now gone the same way with everything pre planned down to the micron.

But like Rock and Roll, I'm thankful for the little bit I knew.
Cheers, 

Looey

CAPRICORN GONE

De-cluttering is hard. Especially if you're a bit of a hoarder like me. It doesn't come naturally.

Chucking videos is a case in point. I love video. I collect 1980's big boxes and clamshells and have loads.

But we also have stacks of the normal-sized later video tapes, which we don't want anymore and I don't collect. Throwing them out seems wrong though.

But that's what I've had to do. We couldn't even give them away. Video has been killed good and proper. Even charity shops won't accept them.

We had a stack of about forty VHS was available free of charge to any good local home that wanted them, via Freecycle online. Twenty were kindly picked up yesterday by a lady who still watches VHS. 

One video was put aside for someone who just wanted Capricorn One last week. It's still on our outside porch step in a bag!

For the rest I had considered specialist recycling but it seems so complex and I was appalled when I saw the image on this site with piles of tinned film stock for destruction. God knows what treasures and gems people throw out! https://www.tiptopmedia.co.uk/recycling/

I even checked Cashconverters and Musicmagpie but Video isn't listed as something they buy anymore so no joy there.

The bin seemed the only option. In a bid to reduce what I had to chuck I have recycled all the paper covers [sleeves] and kept the plastic cases as hard packaging for when I sell action figures. That just left the tapes themselves.

So into the wheelie bin they went. I hate the idea that this once beautiful and ubiquitous technology going to landfill but they had to.

Only Capricorn One remains. Waiting for a final launch. My favourite film of the whole pile. It's still on our doorstep, where next door's cat has left half a shrew. Not a bad trade really!

AOSHIMA ZERO-X IN DIECAST COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

Hi Woodsy

The latest issue of Diecast Collector, the November 2020 issue, has a four-page article in it on the Aoshima version of the Zero-X from Thunderbirds Are Go. By Mike Pigott, who has done a number of Gerry Anderson articles over the years. I thought it might be of interest to readers.

Paul Adams

New Zealand

BILL EV'S MINI-DISKS

In the days before Computers ruled all in broadcasting, Mini-Disks were one cost effective solution to replace NAB Standard Jingle Cartridges. When I built the original studios for the Bridgend Local Radio trials I installed Mini-Disks as replacements for the Cartridges which we all found very easy to operate and were reliable.

Needless to say when Celtica Radio's studios were first set up we used Mini-Disks as Computerisation was still in its infancy at that point. And I was not convinced that it was reliable enough.

Within three years though, by 2003, the Mini-Disks were virtually obsolete. But we decided to keep a couple of these great instruments operational in each studio installation, as even now they are still useful.

This full size Rack Mount Mini-Disks is only rarely used, but it is occasionally needed.

This much smaller Mini-Disk has a removable 4Gigabyte disc as it's recording media and can support a high quality digital recording of many many hours.

On this link https://www.celticaradio.com/archive.html you will find a number of outside broadcast recordings, interviews and concerts all either recorded with this 'NET' Mini-Disk, or an earlier version owned by Ed Risby who is Celtica Radios Company Secretary.

The quality of these recording instruments is absolutely stunning. And of course without them, Celtica Radio itself would never have been able to exist in the first place.

Keeping them serviced and in use, together with CDs, Turntables and Reel To Reel Tape Recorders, means that if our Playout system stopped working we could still sustain the service the old fashioned way!

Bill Everatt

ROB'S KINTSUGI

Woodsy

Here is another small project I'm working on. I found various pieces of an old Tootsietoy Car behind the radiator of our very old house when I was doing some cleaning last year. It was in such crummy shape, I was going to chuck it, but for some reason I didn't.

Then I read about the Japanese Art of repairing broken things, Kintsugi. Traditionally, it applies to pottery, but philosophically, it could apply to anything which cannot be brought back to perfection, but which is still a beloved object. The purpose of Kintsugi is not to restore the object to its original, pristine state, but to repair it showing the cracks and seams and all, to show it's "life journey" as it were.

So I'm going to take the existing pieces and try to patch them together as best I can, and see what I come up with. I might try to polish up the surface, but then again, maybe not. I'll send along the results. And maybe somebody can identify the car model? I'm thinking somewhere in the 1930s, but I don't know my classic cars.

Rob C

USA

TO THE BATCAVE!

I love the Batmobile going in and out of the Batcave.

I would have given an entire bag of gobstoppers for a go!

There's the original 1966 Batmobile leaving the cave.

and perhaps my fave bat-ride on film, the 1989 batmobile zooming through Tim Burton's gothic forest as it wends its way to the Wayne cave.

Have you a favourite Batmobile scene from the last 60 years?

MINI WIND UP SPARKING MOON PROBE

You don't often see the Mini Wind Up Sparking Moon Probe, part of the Mini Wind Up range. This was on an online sale so I kept the pics.

Its an unusual looking space toy with its long sweeping blister dome like a steam-iron snout.

It includes this small silver thingy, which I'll have to read up on.

Colour variations include an orange version.

if I was to get one it would be the blue version.

Do you like them?

BIG DRIPS

Well, Moonbase has become a leaky ship this week.

The washing machine packed up. We have a burst pipe below the bath and a dripping radiator, leading to a dodgy boiler.

Super Mario is coming round tomorrow to assess the leaks and tell is what the damage is!

In a further twist, I only this week found out that in the Southern hemisphere water flows down the plug-hole in the opposite way to us here in the North. How weird is that!

I hope Super Mario knows which way it flows on a Moonbase.

Do you?

HALF PAST DAN

Have I a space watch?

The definitive one!

Terranova47

USA

PLEASE MISTER, HAVE YOU ANY IMPKO HORROR DECALS?

I loved staring at Impko horror water decals as a kid. I remember seeing them in the back of Creepy and Eerie monster magazines. I imagine I tried to get some from Heatleys, my local bike shop, which carried lots of stickers and decals but I doubt Impko was available in the UK. Anyone know?

Damn they are iconic designs though! Do you remember them?

DOCTOR DECAL

Hi Woodsy

I came across a video on You Tube explaining how to save old waterslide decals.

Often, if you put old decals into water they just break up. The video shows how to prevent this by applying a coat of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic spray varnish. 

First a light coat, allow to dry, then a heavier coat. This will keep the decal from fragmenting. The examples shown are from the 1960s, and are being applied to a model car. Other brands of varnish should also work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzq9spb-QNk

Paul Adams

New Zealand

WATCH IT!

I love a good watch. 

This is a Vianni Halter Deep Space Tourbillon 10 Quill and Pad.

Wow!

Also cool is this Spacex-inspired wristwatch.

Having said that this plastic Shuttle watch is pretty darn smart as well!

Have you a space watch readers?

Did you have one as a kid?

WE'VE SEEN IT AT THE MOVIES

Your mention of Cliff Richard in August had me searching for my 'Summer Holiday' bus. Couldn't find it, looked on line and found there's a second version!

Terranova47

USA

Woodsy asks: Does anyone collect Cliff Richard stuff?

THE MEDICINE CUPBOARD OVER THE SINK

Our medicine cupboard was full of strange potions and elixirs when I was a knee-scuffed lad. Here are a few of the concoctions I recall.

Milk of Magnesia: this wasn't milk at all but it was at least white and came in a blue bottle. Not for your corn flakes.

Germolene: pink hard creme in a flat blue tin. Windowlene for germs.

Savlon: toothpaste for cuts. Not sure it was a good idea.

TCP: hospital smell in a bottle. What sickly kids niffed of at school. Strangely compelling, a smell to be followed.

Dettol: similar to TCP but brown. It could kill almost anything yukky.

Domestos: could kill anything, even Dettol. Reeked of ammonia.

Calamine Lotion: pink pina colada for itchy ikky bodies. Came in large demi-johns.

Andrews: fizzy drink powder for Mums and Dads after a sesh the night before.

Can you remember anything else?

HORNET'S RING

I love this knockoff gumball Green Hornet ring.

Do you have one?

I saw it on Worthpoint.

Have you any TV or film - related rings?

SECOND WAVE BOOT SALE

With Covid rising in a Second Wave here in England I was chuffed that outdoor car boots sales can still happen.

With that in mind me and the Missus are going every Sunday at the moment in case the curtains come down with a viral bang very soon.  We wear masks and use alcoholic wipes as we're going round. Social distancing isn't easy though but we do try hard and walk down the middle where we can.

Going to these sales gives us a sense of some normality, which feels important. I imagine they'll be stopped soon.

This Sunday just gone was speckled by an unforecast and lengthy rain shower half-way through, which we thought was going to ruin it, but it passed and the covers came off the stalls and away we went again. Yay!

Sticking to my new regime of only buying old action figures, of which there are luckily always a few - and shelling out very little for them, here are this week's pickings [I never see any space toys anymore hence my switching to figures]:

*

McDonalds Action Man figure 2001, already 19 years old!

The Gasman from Lanard's The Corps from 1990. 30 years old!

My personal favourite from this week, Captain Kidd from Imperial's Pirates of the High Seas line, again from 30 years ago in 1990! This was dear for me at £1.50! Imperial released Apollo Moon Exploring toys in 1970.

and a final small figure, which made up my three for a pound deal, is a mystery. It says V.I. 97 on the back and the word China. It came with a soft life vest. he looks like a swimmer, maybe a life guard? Any ideas who he is?

HELP WITH THE DECORATING

Here's yet another crafty little baggy of LP toys assembled for the vintage cake decorators of Detroit, Michigan back in the day.

I wonder of Heinrich's Decorating Nook is still going?

I saw the baggy on Worthpoint. Have you anything like it?

VAMPIRE VILLA

Hi Woodsy

More vampire-related models from German model railway companies, this time Vollmer, a maker of plastic building kits. Kit 43679 Villa Vampire. It comes with gravestones, an internal red light, and there is a smoke generator available separately.

From the site https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/Landscape+%26+Decoration/houses/Vollmer-43679/gb/modell_36080.html

If you go to this site, and hover your cursor over the picture of the villa, the image changes to a diorama with an eerily red glow, and smoke. Very creepy. There are also giant spiders in the garden.

That is at least three German companies making HO scale vampire models: Noch, Preiser, and now Vollmer.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Adams

New Zealand

A PIECE OF THE ACTION: WHEN THE GREEN HORNET AND KATO FIGHT BATMAN AND ROBIN!

Checking out the Batman Green Hornet crossover episode I found this short clip of the fight scene on You Tube. Who would have thought that Bruce Lee was in Batman! Hi-Ya! What do you think?

Belated Happy Birthday!

A belated Happy birthday guys! Many Many Many Thanx for all the wonderful posts! You started Sep 2008 and inspired me to start my blog Oct 2010! I wonder how many other collector's you have inspired along the way! 

Cheers 

Ed

Toys and Stuff Blog

DAZZLING ALBATROSS

Hi Woodsy

here is an Albatros shooting down a Sopwith Pup. 

I just built them after the 'dazzle' camouflage on ships from WW1 posts.

I painted from memory as I couldn't find the book I've had since the early 60's with photos of WW1 paint schemes aircraft carried. British aircraft were standard colours with the possible exception of the cowling, German aircraft were almost always individually marked.

Regards,

Terranova47

USA

PEOPLE WHO WERE MEGA FAMOUS WHEN I WAS A KID

Barry Sheene - the king of Seventies motorcycling. He was a long-haired leather clad hero of burning rubber. Sheene was the British equivalent of Evel Knevel. He died in 2003. Don't recall any Barry Sheene toys.

Uri Geller - spoon bender extraordinaire. Geller became an unlikely celebrity who was bending spoons and showing off his hair virtually everywhere in the Seventies. Uri is bending time and is still alive. He even got his own board game!

Tony Soper - OK Tony wasn't mega famous but he was a regional naturalist of some import. A TV birdwatcher, his lilting accent drew us budding birders into the reeds where he was watching a nice warbler. Tony is 91. It pays to watch birds.

Leslie Crowther - the anchor, along with Peter Glaze, of the famous TV show Crackerjack, which with Blue Peter and Thunderbirds, formed the Holy Trinity of Kids TV when I was a little telly watcher in the 60's. Crowther was hilarious and his laugh infectious. He died in 1996.

Shari Lewis - I was in love with this gorgeous American puppeteer. Lamb Chop was funny and cute too but I secretly wished that I was that sock. Shari died in 1998.

Morticia Addams/ Lily Munster - there wasn't much difference between these two scream queens as I liked them both. The Munsters and the Addams Family were must-see TV in our house. Lily/ Yonne De carlo died in 2007. Lily/ Carolyn Jones died in 1983.

Paul Nicholas - Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, this cheeky blonde frizzed big smiler seemed to be everywhere at one time. Not really on my radar but I knew he was there. Eventually I was much more interested in his similarly-frizzy big-smile lookalike Peter Frampton the ace guitarist. The Germans had there frizzed big smiler too called Thomas Gottschalk in the 80's. I think they may all be the same person! Nicholas is 75.

Suzi Quattro - I really was in love with Suzi. When she first wielded her massive bass guitar on Top of the Pops I was smitten by her leather jackets, her faded jeans and that unusual and incredibly alluring upper lip. Can the Can and Devilgate Drive are the rock soundtrack of my youth and she didn't half put some umph into it. Suzi is 69 and is not married to me for some reason.

That's it for now. Who would you add readers?

BAT HORNET

Now that's what I call a car meet!

Could it get any better than that?

PANDORA

 Well, its official, the UK is in the grip of a Second Wave.

The virus is once more out of control. Out of the box again.

With our Government increasingly and eerily employing the icons and lingo of Science Fiction, like Rule of Six, Circuit Breaker and Second Wave, the situation seems almost incredible. Like characters in Wells' War of the Worlds, the reality of our circumstances seem too stark to fully accept.

I have just returned to work after 6 months furlough. Already the systems of the State are falling apart again. I fear I maybe back home again soon.

In the words of Theoden of Rohan,

"How did it come to this?"

STAY SHARP

I liked this Reliance pencil sharpener on Worthpoint.

he's a very proud looking astronaut as is the floral dress lady on the backing card. Its a strange combination.

Did you have any space related or fantasy related pencil sharpeners readers?