MYSTERY MODEL FROM JAPAN

Check out this amazing Japanese model vehicle with a huge scanning armature on top. I've no idea what its called. You?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEncKhi6WBU

Hot Donners

More charidee shop action on our German travels this week but only after a delicious Turkish dinner platter.

The games shelves were interesting. Some older games like Anglerspiel aka fishing game from 1970 and Schau Genau aka Look Closely from 1971. I bought the latter as it was near mint. A sort of spot the difference set. A complete snip at 1 Euro! I felt obliged to carry on looking after it.

This Playmobil crane impressed me. A huge thing that would have looked at home in Thunderbirds. 7.50 Euro but I passed.

This trio of motors came home with me.

A little attention and this Hot Wheels Ferrari looked the business.

So too this Superfast which I patched up with whitening. The rear plastic grille reminds me of the front grille on the Tri-ang SpaceX Cricket! You?

This oldish foursome joined me too. The yellow Bandit is an unknown HK brand. The plastic 347 is a Kidco key car. The white pick-up is an 1980's Hot Wheels as is the cool green dragon. The Hot Wheels Mini Cooper is from 2001.

This record shop caught my eye. Lovely to see old LP's revered here too for the artistry that went into them. Of note in the window were Blue Cheer, American proto-heavy rockers from the 60's. I don't think I've seen an album of thiers in the flesh before.

Do you like second hand shops like these readers?

IMAI MOONBASE ON TWITTER

 https://twitter.com/furuken4989/status/1281156561256079363

I don't twitter but I saw this during a Google search for the Imai Moonbase. Some nice painted UFO vehicles here and a few Project SWORD miniatures.

Do you like the finish?

A LOOK AT THE 16/12 DELUXE SPACE:1999 ACTION FIGURES

 Some photos I've recently taken of the Comr. John Koenig and Capt. Alan Carter astronaut action figures released by Sixteen 12. 

It was fun, and it made a pleasant change from my usual 16/12 Eagle pictures. Here's what I thought of the sets.  

Both figures feature :

'Full Articulation ; Removable Helmet ; Stun Gun & Comlock ; Display Stand ; and Scenic Back Drop.'

The 6" (150mm) 1:12 scale figures do have pretty good articulation, including allowing them to bend to a full sitting position to fit in the Moon Buggy. The adverse effect is when standing upright, from the front  it does spoil the look of the hip and groin area. Of course, I should remember these are 'action figures' , not figurines , so it's an understandable compromise.

Straight out of the box some of joints were a bit stiff.  Obviously, it's not a good idea to force them , and I find the problem is easily remedied by  dipping them in a little warm water which soon loosens them up. 

When it comes to the figures' likenesses compared  to the real characters, that's a tricky one.  Some people will want to see perfect representations; not easy on a moulded head slightly less than 20 mm long , although I can certainly see familiar features in a certain light, while others might not.  If I were being overly picky, I'd say the skin tone on each is probably a bit too light, but overall it's fairly obvious to any Space: 1999 fan who they are supposed to be.  

The figures are not designed to display without their chest and backpack, which are pushed neatly into place into the front and back recesses on the figures.  Both are tight fits, especially the chestpack, although as I mentioned previously a little warm water  makes it easier to push into place. 

Both figures have a Commlock, or Comlock if you prefer, which attaches to a small slot on the figure's belt. However, it looks like both have Comr. Koenig's I.D. photo. 

There's also a tiny stun gun. This does take a little careful persuasion to fit properly into the hand, but it's pliable enough to squeeze into place. 

I liked the look and shape of the helmet which has a tinted hinged visor, and is even painted black inside just like the actual props. 

One thing I did struggle with was the little airpipe which attaches between the back pack and the helmet. I  filed the tiny openings at each end of the plastic tube to open them up slightly, and used the warm water technique to gently bend it to the desired position. I did manage to attach it , but it still insisted on falling off when I occasionally altered the position of the figure for the photos.  I reckon a bit of Blu-Tack might solve that one! 

The Moon Buggy that comes with the Alan Carter astronaut is certainly a good looking toy, with plenty of detailing.  Like the figures it should be 1:12 scale, although I'm inclined to think it's slightly smaller, and will only fit the one astronaut.

Like the Sixteen 12  smaller 1:24 scale die-cast Moon Buggy it's presumably based on the full size Amphicat prop vehicle, rather than any of the miniatures.  It comes with a  detachable white aerial, which looks fine, but really should be a lot longer . 

But all that aside, I think it looks great and once it's finished traversing my lunar landscape diorama it makes for a nice display item.

The Alan Carter/Moonbuggy set also comes with a hexagonal Alpha storage box, but like the original full size prop, it doesn't open.

Both the sets come with their own photo backdrops as part of the inside of the box backing. 

The Koenig figure comes with a photo of the backwall of the Eagle cockpit, while the Alan Carter figure comes with a larger photo of the Alpha buildings. 

For my main photos I wanted  something a bit bigger, so taking some small inspiration from that familiar shot of Clavius base showing astronauts in the foreground as seen  in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and hoping a little forced perspective works out , I painted a basic rendition of Moonbase Alpha for the astronauts to look out on.  

Both figures also come with their own plastic display stands with a slot-in carded double sided  photo backdrop.

As usual from Sixteen 12, both sets come in some attractive packaging. 

Overall, I reckon both sets are a nice addition to any Space: 1999 collection.

A Glimpse of the Force

I bought a Project SWORD Probe Force One from Italy this Spring and my European chum kindly took it in this week. I've yet to check it over but for now it's safe on top of their bookcase waiting for me. 

HOOVER TOYS TRAIN

Here's a Hoover Toys [Thailand] toy I haven't seen before, a plastic train set. Here's one boxed on Worthpoint. Did you have one?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/hoover-toys-vintage-battery-operated-831866276

Cosmobile Face-Lift

One of the Superfast cars I picked up at the Diakonie was the cool space-age Cosmobile.

It required a full colour uplift using a blue sharpie and silver and yellow paint pens. 

What do you reckon?

Was the Cosmobile part of a wider space theme from Matchbox?

My New Camper

I'm chuffed with my new car boot camper. It's a beauty.  Matchbox Super Kings Camping Cruiser from 1970. In superb nick too. No restoration needed. See what you think.

BATMOBILE DOCUMENTARY

For those readers with an hour to spare and a passion for the Batmobile here's a high quality documentary about the most famous car in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqB96KNK9r8

German Jeans

I got this old plastic knight yesterday. He looks like a page boy. Is that an errant? It's made by Jean of West Germany. Anyone know Jean?