SELBY SATURDAY SAUNTER

 On Saturday the Missus and me went on our first urban mooch since getting back to Blighty last week.

We like Selby, the no-nonsense market down just over the border in North Yorkshire. Its got a a huge Abbey, a great Department store café and lots of charity shops. What's not to like!

The Missus was looking for more modern stuff for the Grandkids. I was looking for old stuff, none of which I got but it was all fun to see.

This Action Man bundle caught my eye. Later additions to the annals of action I think the jeep and trailer are Sunny Smile releases rather than anything older. The man in the basket had very chunky rigid hands. 1990's?

This UK Monkees Annual is always interesting to see. From 1967 it was released by our old pals at Century 21 Publications, the literary wing of Gerry A's C21 organisation. It reminds me of those must-have annuals from his TV shows and my beloved Project SWORD annual. I assume it was printed by Jarrolds in Norwich like most if not all their others that year like Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet. I have this book in the attic along with most of the C21/ Jarrold annuals so I must check.

A good example of how wide Century 21 cast their net for licensing and the Monkees really were massive in 1967 on both sides of the pond. I had their iconic die-cast GTO - did you? - and as an adult I saw them, now much older, in the 1990's. Do you like them?

I snapped this because its new to me. Touchitt, A peculiar name for a board game and one I've never seen before or seen listed in my three board games reference books. It appears to be some sort of indoor table bowls game from a company called Kane Signs of Bognor Regis. It says TV's fastest growing game. I can't find a single reference to it online. This is one rare board game!

This large play table was interesting, although I'm unsure how its used. I always think how I would have whizzed my Hot Wheels around it or set up a Matt Mason/ SWORD/ Outerspaceman scenerio back in the day.  Did you have a table of sorts?

More Action Man in the form of his miniature alter-ego, Action Force. Here's Ladybird's hardback kids book, Flint's Holiday. I was too old for Action Force toys, when they came along and have only got to know them since becoming a toy collector. I've quite a few Action Force figures now, along with its American cousins GI Joe. 

Ladybird were masters of this kind of kids hardback in the 1980's and issued books for all the other top TV cartoons too and are no doubt great to collect: Masters of the Universe, Transformers, GI Joe and Bravestarr. They may have even issued more obscure lines like VR Troopers and Voltron. I'd have to check.

 Have you got any?

A blast from the heavy past, this old friend gave me a thrill to see once again. Judas Priest's Sin After Sin LP. I adored this album and may still have my copy. I had assumed my old Mum bought it me at Brady's in Preston but it was only released in April 1977 and I think she was sadly gone by then.

My favourite track was always Last Rose of Summer and I adored the cover art, the giant Egyptian columns reminiscent of a Hammer horror set.

Back then and even now I always considered Priest to be new kids on the block but then again, Sin After Sin in 1977 was my first taste of them, having for some reason skipped their earlier LP Sad Wings of Destiny. By 1977 I was 16 and totally immersed in Budgie, Rush, Led Zep and Sabbath.

Did you like Judas Priest?

And as its already on the tinselled path towards Yuletide I thought I'd end with a large drumming Santa toy. How cool is that!

I have the bell ringer and he rings it every Christmas.

When will you be trimming up readers? Late November?