The Blue Box Pop Monsters Incident

Arto recently sent me these pics of an unusual toy he has in his collection.

Pop Monsters by Blue Box.

It contains the intriguing line 'Why did Dr. Baji Bah come to Mogsoon?'

Can anyone shed any more light on this set?

Tank Commander by Paul Vreede

 

It isn't every day you get to ride around a filed in a first world war tank, but this weekend, the intrepid Paul Vreede (on left of photograph)  and his brother had the chance to do just that, but not in the manner which you might expect!

I'll let Paul himself take up the story:

"I can't recall whether the chap told me why they built it (I think as a new memorial), but it was decided early on that the thing should be motorised. Which the builders persevered with out of sheer stubbornness after that decision being declared mad and undoable by their former associates. 

It took 17 years apparently, and was quite an adventure; fascinating to hear. They did pioneering 3D modelling work (back in the 80s if I got that right), built the thing out of steel in the correct thickness (albeit soft steel instead of armour plate) using 3000 rivets as per original spec. Finding a company willing to make 200 track links took some doing (a laughable quantity compared to usual MOQs running into the thousands). Most of the engine was donated by JCB (via the Tank Museum network of ex-officers) in loose components and no manual, but a specialist company in Holland was found with the expertise to turn those into a going concern. "

"Remote control was added because it was almost undoable to drive the tank onto a trailer while sitting inside; that now comes in handy to run it in a corona-safe way with the driver walking behind the tank (you can see the control box sitting in the grass at right in image D). Because of the all-metal tracks the tank can't be run on public roads (it would destroy the tarmac) but they did drive it to Poelcapelle village centre to commemorate the advance of the real Damon II. Volunteers placed rubber mats on the road and one of the crew walked backwards for 5 miles to direct the driver inside." 

The Damon II with remote control unit set on the grass to the right of picture.

"Pond Farm has a small museum of WW1 artifacts, a small German concrete bunker behind it, a genuine wartime lorry of US manufacture (in running order) and a cage with freshly dug-up ordnance waiting for removal. The farm was rebuilt in the early 1920s and still features the German-made roof tiles it received as part of war repayment."

"Chap we spoke to was a civil engineer teaching at a local technical institute, where they also bult a replica Morane Saulnier Parasol monoplane behind a genuine 1917 Gnome-Rhone radial engine. We saw that plane at a newly opened museum devoted to French ace Georges Guynemer who was reportedly shot down over Poelcapelle, The ground floor of the premises is devoted to handmade chocolates; the proprietors sold us tickets inbetween making a batch of truffles. :)"

"Forgot to mention that the inside of that replica tank is essentially an empty box filled with a huge diesel engine end some seats in red vinyl. The guns are just metal tubes on the outside. I asked whether it wouldn't be an idea to put (dummy) guns inside but was told that was a sensitive issue to some people so they didn't. "

https://tankpoelcapelle.be/

https://depondfarm.be/ (images seem to be lacking in english version)

http://guynemerpaviljoen.be/en/

So thanks to Paul and his bruv for making us all very jealous!

GERRY ANNUAL

Today we,re visiting Barter Books. It’s one of the biggest second hand bookshops in the UK. I may have blogged it before as we,ve been a few times over the years.

I found my first second hand copy of the 1967 Project SWORD annual in a similar but smaller shop called Cuvvins in Whitby 30 years ago. I still have it. My original childhood copy is long gone.

I,ve picked up a lot of Gerry Anderson annuals like this over time. 

Have you any Annuals, GA or otherwise? Where did you get them? Email me some pictures for the blog.

DO YOU REMEMBER BAZOOKA JOE?

 Check this out for a sticky face of nostalgia! Did you Bazooka Joe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7KKQCcldw

Castle Wizard

Yesterday me and the missus visited Alnwick castle in the ancient county of Northumberland in Northern England.

The castle is still completely intact and home to the current Earl. His family have lived there for hundreds of years. The grandeur of its interior is eye watering. Bristling with hung Canalletos and Titians and 14000  antique tomes, it is a fitting home for aristocracy. I did however, as I always do in such country piles, feel for the tens of thousands of ordinary subjects throughout history on who‘s shoulders this grand mound stands.

Modern barons have to make a living and Alnwick has been hired out. Blackadder has been shot there but it’s most famous turn is as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films. Judging by the number of excited youngsters thronging on the grounds it was easy to see the attraction. There was even a broomstick flying lesson going on, as well as an impressive falconry display. Kids everywhere had either swords, wands or even plastic Potter broomsticks. Dumbledore wandered through at one point.

But it has to be said that Alnwick castle hasn’t flaunted its famous link. It’s quite subtle and the main dragon Expo is a separate ticketed feature.

Even the town doesn‘t get too excited like say Whitby does with Dracula. I did see a stack of hardback Harry Potter books at £10 each in a Charity shop. It really could be Hogwarts Central if it wanted and I‘m sure the throngs of adoring HP fans would come running.

Have you been to a castle readers? Do you like Harry Potter?

Black Ops in the High Desert

Its dark when we set off into the high desert, a sliver of moon riding high overhead. Even at this hour, the heat leeches out of the ground into the air and the thin line of light on the horizon shimmers in the haze. Two hours before dawn and we are at the perimeter.  At the base of the distant mountains we can see light. The patrols are frequent, but we know their pattern now, this isn't our first rodeo, but we are still cautious. Gila Flats holds its secrets jealously, the treasures hidden here are not intended to be seen, so most of the activity happens in the small hours, as the rest of the world sleeps. 

But not us, not this morning. Intel has reached us of a new development and we are keen to verify the source. Infrequent visits to the base have revealed a glimpse into what has been secured here and we have managed to procure covert imagery with our scopes of just what is being drawn out onto the runways as the sun begins to lighten the desert skies.

In the past we have gathered collateral on a variety of high performance aircraft, sleek and subtly finned, languishing like silver darts on the sun bleached tarmac, or sweating stealthy in coatings of radar reflective umber. But these have been more standard fare, most of what we have seen has now left the shadowy confines of the black hangars and can be seen regularly swooping over the base.

The mud-movers and the lifting bodies that have paved the way for the newest developments in aerodynamics, their service life limited by the efficacy and breadth of their developments and by the skills of the intrepid test pilots who fly them.

We have seen the bright glow of the afterburners and felt the rock shudder with the throb of subsonics, listened to the empty air cloven by the mach-splitting scream of rent physics overhead.

For this is the place where angels are born, where wings are spread and put to the task and heavens' own limits are penetrated.

The suns disc is not yet visible, but the sky warms to a ruddy pink beyond the surrounding mountains. We huddle close to the sand and adjust our ghillie suits accordingly, checking the tarps on the equipment as we rest our lenses on squat tripods before us. Across the desert floor, a sound crawls, deft and patient, felt more than heard and we see a flicker of movement near the low adobe huts on the valley floor. 

Shortly we will know if our patience will pay off, if our intel is good. The dawn breasts the lowest point of the horizon and a subtle glow reaches over the flats. A dark shape emerges from pools of shadow to slide towards the runway. We adjust our scopes accordingly, tension knotting our shoulders as we hear the quietened whirr of focussing software homing in on our target. 

The shape resolves slightly in the viewfinder and we see a black delta, thrice finned, edging into place on the tarmac. Collectively, we smile inwardly and wait patient as the decibels begin their slow climb into the infrasonic. The delta creeps forward with a quicksilver grace and our scopes pan smoothly to tack its race. Soon it will slip from our view as the pilot opens up the throttle, disappearing on its spiralling climb to the ether. The sound crests and the nose leaves the runway. with insolent ease, flowing into the air, effortless and etheric. With a final pulse of superheated air, it jets into the dawn haze. Satisfied, we settle back into the sand like lizards shunning the day, to prepare for our leaving, mission accomplished.

WOW! MARS! ITS CHOKABLOK!

There's much more space hardware on Mars than I thought. Its choka! Check out this list on Wiki! Do you think we'll actually colonise the red planet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_objects_on_Mars

Palmer and Pyro Models

Hi
From Max's Models, another fine history lesson, on two of the smaller American firms, Palmer and Pyro. They made a strange mix of kits, some of which fit nicely on Moonbase. At 6:50 and again at 12:30 there is a set of small spacecraft toys that I am sure have appeared on Moonbase before, and a Tudor Rose X-400 Space Explorer. At 12:55 there is a set of movie monsters. They also did life-size anatomy kits, racing planes, figures, and firearms.

 

(3) Palmer and Pyro plastics: a brief history - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Scroll to the side!

https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

SUPER DINKY BATTLE CAR

 

I was looking at this online spare part chassis of a Dinky Battle Cruiser? and thought, hmmm, that looks awfully like .... Supercar!

Could Gerry Anderson's Supercar have influenced this Dinky?

or am I seeing things?

WHAT IS THIS THAT STANDS BEFORE ME?

Its been a strange week. A couple of highs. A small act of kindness made me feel valued and appreciated at work today and my Grandkids seem to have got over their recent ill-health. A couple of big lows. A very close and elderly family relative is going downhill fast and Missus Moonbase is struggling greatly with it.

We have been torn as to whether to continue with our long-standing planned holiday this coming long weekend but have decided we might as well worry and fret in a beautiful place rather than stew in worry at home. Because of Covid restrictions internationally, worry and fret is about all we can do anyway so we are going to go away Tomorrow. Blue the Moonbase Mutt will be looked after well by our live-in dogsitter. The ancient castles nestling around the Northern English coast beckon from the far lands and the promise of newly re-opened restaurants will keep us true on our heading North.

In the meantime and prior to packing I am listening to Black Sabbath. I'm a huge fan of Sabbath and have been since I discovered Master of Reality in my older brother's LP stack in the mid -70's. Its only in the last ten years that I've come to appreciate their defining sound and place in rock history as the originators of heavy metal, the musical genre closest to my heart. I have come to love the groundbreaking debut Black Sabbath, the musical mother of metal and equally adore the following three albums, Paranoid, Master of Reality and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. 

In these three LP's we really do find the genesis of a genre which would eventually sweep the world and spawn countless imitators and sub-genres, which are still stomping round today. The pulsing leaden funereal riffs, banshee man vocals and doom-laden lyrics smashed through the beats of the late Sixties and created a sound so heavy that the world wavered on its axis as we stopped to listen to this nunataq of gothic magnificence.

But like all masters of the universe this single glorious vision couldn't last. Like my other great Muses Budgie and Rush the original furious fires in which they forged their majesty faded. It was inevitable. Black Sabbath 4, which came between Master and Bloody Sabbath is a pale shadow of their true coronations and the rot really sets in with what came soon after, Technical Ectasy - which I am currently listening to - and the later doldrums of the waning Seventies and Eighties. Heaven and Hell is a wholly new sound and hardly Sabbath at all and what with Ronnie James Dio at the mic it might as well have been Rainbow.

This dissolution of the true sound is a perpetual battle for all bands as they form, find fame and eventually fall apart. Sabbath's glory is early on and what dark empires we see in their genius.

What do you think readers?

RED ROVER READY

This week China landed a rover on Mars. It seemed to happen without much ceremony, certainly here in the UK.

Its called Zhurong and joins the American motors Curiosity and Perseverance as they trundle over the dust of the Planet Red.

Both superpowers have staked a claim then. Is that how it is?

Here it is, Zhugong, with its lander and ramp and Roger Dean-esque solar panels. What do you think?

I was intrigued to find out the USSR landed also landed a craft on Mars in 1971, which included a small rover on skis. The lander failed and rover never got out. It was called Mars 2.

Jersey Gigantics!

I don't need the Gigantics insect model kit, I got the real deal in my backyard!

-BrianF 

NJ USA

Anyone got anything bigger?

PLASTIC MECCANO? BAYKO?

 

I saw this on an online sale and saved the pic 'cos I SO remember it, plastic meccano or whatever it was called. I never liked the metal stuff but for some reason really took to plastic and I can still feel the torque of the nuts as I tightened them with the plastic spanner. Happy times!

Did you have plastic meccano?

DID YOU RECORD THE CHARTS?

Reader EW recently mentioned his old mix tapes t'other day and it reminded me of making my own tapes back in the early Seventies on my rectangular cassette recorder, the ultimate tech of the day.

I taped from the radio using a mic set up in front of it. This way I recorded the Charts on a Sunday. I think they played the top 40 but I probably only taped the top twenty. Would that have fitted on a C60? I seem to recall having to turn the tape over at some point! How awkward and I bet you could hear it on the recording!

Did you record the pop charts onto cassettes readers? Anyone still got any?

You Lift Me Up

Woodsy's earlier post about Lockheed Hypersonic designs prompted me to go a hunting again for useable info on the origin of the Project SWORD Scout vehicles. I had originally found a tantalising glimpse in TV21 some while ago, but nailing down the actual design proved hard. However, a bit of digging revealed the image above, which, while it isn't actually as close to the toy design, is referred to as a 'Martin Scout'. Further poking about suggested that it may have been a long distance nuclear bomber and the 'scout' designation referred to finding suitable targets for an air/space launched nuke.

So presumably, the Sword designers were looking for inspiration for their designs in the aeronautics and space industry and pinching anything they liked the look of. I also came across this YouTube video of the Lifting Body Era, which shows some great footage of tests of the vehicles which informed the design of the Space Glider. It also shows the horrific crash of the M1 F2 vehicle which saw light on the opening cedits of the Six Million Dollar Man!

More on Gigantics Monster Kits

Hi

          Here is another You Tube video on the giant insect kits that have appeared on Moonbase Central before. It shows the Colossal Mantis kit, along with finished examples of the Mantis, Rampaging Scorpion, and Huge Tarantula, but not the Gigantic Wasp. The only problem is that the sound does fade off sometimes. These kits were first issued by Fundimensions in the US in 1973, with the Mantis and Scorpion being released in Britain by Airfix in 1976. Then AMT/Ertl reissued everything but the Wasp in 1996. There were printed, full colour backgrounds, three-dimensional plastic parts, and various accessories. It seems the figures and vehicles were common to all the kits. The information on dates comes from the Scalemates site, which is very good.

AMT ERTL Gigantics Diorama Scorpion Tarantula Mantis unboxing making and in-depth look - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Knocking on the Sky and Listening to the Sound

I was watching Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy the other night, and besides the stunning visuals, I was taken with the Flynn characters adoption of the zen lifestyle after being stranded in the Grid. His almost unshakeable calm and deliberation was apparently attributed to his 'zen thing', having spent many cycles in meditation of his predicament. 

Meditation takes many forms and some practitioners suggest focussing the mind on a specific point, such as the head of a pin. I have no trouble meditating lately, which invariably ends up in me nodding off at inappropriate moments, when my thoughts drift and I go into 'lucid dreaming' mode. Whether this is a product of old age, or an over active imagination, I'm not sure, but I do find I quickly slip into a state whereby I am semi concious of my surroundings, but am dreaming vividly. Only downside is I sometimes end up snoring!   

Far from being a Flynn-like zen practitioner, I do enjoy focussing the mind on a single issue and find it very easy to visualise things. Something which I find very relaxing and enjoyable to watch is a spinning top. There are branches of buddhism which use spinning tops as a means to focus the mind and prayer wheels perform a similar purpose. 

However, I have always loved tops, ever since I got my first Gyroscope and felt the strange force of centrifugal power as I tried to move it out of plane. Since then, I have made a point of picking up tops when I come across them, in xmas crackers or gumball machines, or like the tin top I bought in the lot of vintage toys, on ebay for a few quid.

An early 'Progress' Gyroscope, battered with age, still spins happily on its pedestal. Most gyroscopes come with either an 'eiffel tower' style stand, or a space age conical one.

So far I have found four nice examples of spring wound tin tops.  The round yellow one is an early Triang toy, but the others are japanese. The smallest has 'MO-SpringTop' and an early japanese trademark on the body. As I always say, I am not a fan of tin, being a child of the sixties, plastic is my go-to medium. But there is something quite wonderful about the simple process of winding up a tin top and setting it down to whizz away, humming as it goes.

The humming element is part of the attraction, the larger white coloured top - along with most of the others - has to holes on its rim, which cause it to 'sing' as it is spins. The white one has a sound not unlike thunderbird two landing, a descending wail like a tiny jet engine. The other three have similar notes, but the undisputed master must be the Merit plastic saucer, shown above. 

An unbranded tin top, probably japanese manufacture. The winders tend to be more or less universal, so can power most tops of the same size. This top has four holes around the rim, which make the sound.

Whereas all the others have axles which protrude and fit into the winder, this one has the axle as part of the mechanism, so on release, the top drops away. In the base are five additional slots and inside are two plastic reeds. As the top spins, air is drawn in the bottom across the reeds making an eerie wail like a small mouth organ, almost like the wind in telegraph wires. Its quite a beautiful sound, which drops by a few octaves as it slows. The smaller Triang plastic top on the right of the photo has a stem protruding into the winder and slots around its rim, but without reeds, its emits a keen whistling sound, like its tin brothers.

 

The Merit Saucer top, twin reeds in the base make a wonderfully mournful sound as displaced air is drawn in at the base.

MONSTERS ON THE MOONBASE

When I saw this online earlier this year I thought, wow, that's the creature from the black lagoon dressed up as a soldier. And that's just what it is!

Its the Creature, one of the Wrecked Souls of Forgotten War by Suckadelic. I think they only made a few hundred of these action figures, if that. Anyone got any Suckadelic stuff?

Do you like custom work like this?

Whilst on the subject of monsters, I loved this monster blow dart target set artwork seen on auction.  The beasties look like film monsters but I just can't place them if they are. Can you?

I would have adored these monstrous toys as a kid!

A Shop Window on the Past

Well yesterday was a real throwback day, as two parcels arrived for me, both of which were expected. The first was a job lot of old toys i'd bought on ebay for a fiver, chiefly due to the presence of a small tin spinning top - of which more later. Besides this the other bits looked unremarkable, but on closer inspection, I was quite pleased. A small Matchbox Model Of Yesteryear train was included, The Duke of Connaught. I'd had one of these from new as a child, so that was a welcome addition. The Lledo bus was standard fare and the plastic bits and pieces were nothing interesting. The red and blue dogs turned out to be the magnetic 'kissing dogs' novelty, whereby putting them into close proximity caused them to jump nose to nose as the pole attracted on the magnetic bases.

 

However the real gem of the lot (aside from the top) was an old Hornby train chassis, with a home made body tacked on the back.  I had an old Meccano key knocking about and when wound, the motor ran steadily, despite some dings and bends to the levers and axles.

The second parcel contained a delivery from my sister, who restores old dolls and bears. Some while back I had rescued my original teddy bear from a mouse ravaged box in the garage. Poor Ted has been my companion since before I can remember and must be one of my first toys. Probably a Chad Valley bear, Ted has been with me well over 50 years and been stuffed in cupboards, boxes, several attics and finally ended up in the garage. Moths, mice and mildew had taken their toll and he was looking in a bad way. My sister suggested a spell in the freezer would kill off any moth larvae in his fur, so in he went, secure in a ziploc bag.

But as usual, life got in the way and a few days turned into almost a month. After he came out of the freezerino, his wet fur had frozen solid, so he was set on a shelf to thaw. Unfortunately, he dropped off the radar once more and a week later, I unwrapped the bag to find that the damp and the warmth of the house had thawed him out, but also made a perfect breeding ground for the mould and mildew which had blackened his fur. The result was that half his head, most of the left arm and a good portion of his body had all but disintegrated and the mildew was happily munching its way through the rest.

At this point I thought Ted was a goner and berated myself for my negligence, letting such an heirloom rot away in a forgotten corner. I had asked my sister to give him an initial clean when I first brought him in, but this seemed unsalvageable. Needless to say, she took him in after I had dried him out and thrown away all the foam rubber stuffing. That was some while ago, but yesterday Ted came home and amazingly looks almost like he did before his near death experience.

Using parts of an old scrap bear, she rebuilt his head, replaced the rotted ear and arm and sewed up his poor battered body, with fresh stuffing.

He's a little cock-eyed now and still stained with the mildew and years of abuse, but is whole again and free of bugs and damaging bacteria. From now on Ted will sit in pride of place in the mancave, where a vintage toy from childhood should be resting.

BUILT LIKE A TANK

 

I love this old cover and its amazing prawn tank emerging from the sea.

It reminds me of an Osibisa elephant tank that Roger Dean included in his Views book, which I adored as a teenager.

Have you any animal tanks or creature machines?

HELP! BARAVELLI CATALOGO CHRISTMAS 1967: PICTURES NEEDED

I'm trying to look at this page here but I need a much better image than this one on Picclick. Can anyone help? In particular I need to know what the writing is next to the two female spy dolls on the right.

Similarly if you can find any more images of secret agent dolls in baravelli catalogs I would be grateful.

BEEN TO THE MOON LATELY?

 

I had to chuckle at the typo on this Chemtoy MOON SHOT game.

Instead of Bean, it says Been!

It gives a whole new spin on Moon Shot. They've been already! ha ha

I do like the LEM illustration on the card art.

The image is from an online auction.

Anyone got this game?

DC SUPER POWERS: THE MODERN BOOKS

My Missus and me recently picked up three modern thick card My First DC Superpowers books for our Grandson Moonbase Junior.

As soon as I saw them I knew they were related to toys I know, DC Super Powers by Kenner. In fact I was covinced they used the same artist as the toy card artist, the name of which I don't know.

DC Super Powers is one of my favourite action figure ranges. I've only discovered it later on in life and have none of the figures myself but I adore the whole like and appreciate the effort Kenner put into it back in the 80's. Its always a huge treat to see these figures and vehicles at toy fairs. Here are the figures courtesy of Pinterest.

Figures in the books include Hawkman, seen here with Hawkgirl.

and the wonderfully designed Batmobile, the toy version shown beneath.

There's Aqualad [i'm sure I've seen the whales before. Hanna Barbera's Moby Dick?]

Cyborg and the wonderful Kenner figure beneath.

Wonderwoman, Lex Luthor and the super cool Kenner Lex figure below.

The Martian Manhunter.

The whole line.

and all the books.

How cool is that readers?