This one is Dr. Who [courtesy of Jon Knutsen]
Do you remember Chad Valley projectors?
Friday, 28 February 2025
Did You Have a Flashy Flickers?
Did you have a flashy flickers readers, the Marx movie rifle?
I had one and loved pointing the projector onto a pale wall to see those flickering stories that came on little spools in separate boxes.
I can't recall what the stories were. Can you readers?
Kevin's Mr. Carraway Scratchbuilt Figure
Hi,
Done another one! The Camberwick Green fishmonger, Mr. Carraway.
Cheers,
Kevin
UK
Golden Astronaut: Peering into Oblivion
Woodsy,
I was out in The Cave yesterday and took a few snaps of some of my small toys.
Here an LP astronaut stands next to his Space Explorer Car to view the terrain.
From Vegas Base
Ed
ARTO'S RECENT FUN FINDS
The best find was the no feet "regular" Pez from the 1960's. In regulars, there is no head other than a simple mechanism to eject the candy. These are very desirable in good condition.
Have you anything like this?
I also found a stack of unused colouring books from the U.S. Wondering how they ended up here, the answer was simple: they were all printed in Finland! Must be samples preserved by some printing house.
I picked up this Fun Time Coloring Book for its marvellous cover illustration, which reminds me of Maurice Sendak's wonderful children's book Where the Wild Things Are.
Arto
Helsinki Base
Thursday, 27 February 2025
Looey has a Robocop in his Garden!
Hello,
In response to a recent query about Robocop figures, we do have one!
He's driving a ruined car on our entryway with a lot of plants - courtesy of my good wife.
You can also see our Home Cinema in the background!
The car is a set dressing model I made for an Alex Proyas Adidas Claw TVC backing the late 90s.
I've included some on set snaps of the set up and the car, along with a suitably distressed Barbie's Jaguar!
The Claw commercial actually contained a lot of visual elements that would see full fruition soon afterwards in Dark City. A film that would prove to be the highlight on my film miniatures career.
How is my puppet film going you asked?
I'm working on a pre-viz film which is allowing me to get a good feel for the finished product.
On the screen are some of the 200 plus hand-drawn elements needed to make an animated version of the final story. You can also see some rough pencilled storyboards and a toy version of my puppet heroine in her Ancient Egyptian phase!
The work is hugely satisfying, but very time consuming. I worked all yesterday afternoon and produced just 60 seconds of finished screen time!
Keep on bloggin'
Looey
ONE GOOD STEED DESERVES ANOTHER!
My next planned toy project will be to recreate two vintage and rare 1960's Lone Star swords. Bill has kindly agreed to recreate the cards too, so we should be good to go.
The two are:
The Avengers Steed Sword Stick
[with secret Aqua moisturiser!]
image: murdersville
and the Zorro sword
image; worthpoint
I first saw these old Lone Stars in old vintage toy dealer catalogues in the 1990's and have hankered after them ever since.
There was a 3rd Lone Star TV sword, the Adam Adamant one, but currently I have no plans to make one of these, as I never saw this TV show as a kid and can't recall seeing it my old dealer catalogues. The card art portrait of him isn't great either; the proportions seem out. That signet ring looks great though with its double A stamp!
I may change my mind about not making one, I'm not adamant! ha ha
image; murdersville
You can see more about Steed's and Adam's sticks on the fabulous Murdersville cult TV site, from which I've borrowed two of the images.
Are these toys that you recall readers or indeed did you watch either Zorro, the Avengers or Adam Adamant on TV?
IT WAS A CASE OF DRAGGING DOWN A BLUEBIRD BOX WITH COMBAT MAN FROM THE ATTIC!
I've been rummaging in the attic and dragged out a few bits.
This is a nice 1983 Buebird Toys plastic carry case. I remember buying it at Thorpe Arch car boot sale a couple of years ago, full of MASK figures and toys [since sold on].
Very dirty but since cleaned up, the case is a sort of large lunch box. It must have been for storing Bluebird toys at the time. I've read that it was part of a Masters of the Universe competition prize as well but 1983 and its toys passed me by I'm afraid, as I was trudging round the mountains of Snowdonia most of that year just prior to becoming a Dad!
Is this case something you remember?
This is a large talking Thunderbird 2 from 1999. It could be Vivid Imaginations. It says Carlton on it. I got it for Junior last year in a charity shop but he's sort of moved away from Thunderbirds onto Pokemon and Nintendo Switch.
I added a home-made roller to the pod so it would roll and made sure all the talking and sound effects worked, as well as the spring-loaded legs. Not sure what went inside the pod. Its a big TB2, around 18 inches long. Its best features besides the pod are the opening cockpit and the descending grapple hook. Is this one you had readers?
This one was put away for a future sale, a gorgeous child-size plastic toy hoover from Zodiac Toys, which I bought on Doncaster second hand market a few years back.
I fixed the battery unit and once working it roared like a hoover, filled the bag with air and the front lit up just like the proper big one we had when I was a nipper!
Its great to see a Zodiac Toys price tag again. It was one of my favourite toy shops in Preston in the 1960's and early 1970's. That red ZODIAC lettering is so memorable!
Do you recall Zodiac Toys readers?
The last toy I dusted off was this Combat Man military Train Set, which I bagged a few years back at a boot sale, whilst on holiday.
It was the box art that drew me in first, very reminiscent of Action Man or Airfix toy soldier boxes.
Maybe Combat Man was a brand?
I had to replace two train wheels and an axle with home-made ones so it could run and also gave it a new cellophane box lining.
It looks great chugging round its circular track, the Special Forces livery flashing by.
I've just noticed the loco has a front light too!
Have you anything like this readers, a military train?
ZERO DAY AND NIGHT AGENT
Thinking it was sci-fi I began watching a US series called Zero Day on Netflix.
It wasn't sci-fi but apocalyptic enough for me to carry on and finish the whole series in two nights!
Basically a cyber 9/11, the so-called Zero Day, with a massive slab of US Washington politicking thrown in.
I kinda like all that DC, POTUS, Speaker of the House, Congress and Senate shenanigans!
I never knew that past US Presidents are still referred to as Mr. President when addressing them! I also didn't know that the CIA cannot operate on US soil itself! Every day's a school day!
Not one for the Missus, despite an aging Bob di Niro starring, I was quite taken aback by the ending, which I won't spoil for you.
Zero Day did fit right into another Netflix series we both saw last week called Night Agent, or was it Action?
This one was about the FBI and the CIA and a batphone called Night Action. In fact we watched two whole series over two weeks. POTUS was the word of the show, being used virtually every five minutes. I reminds me of MOTU [Masters of the Universe!]
We both enjoyed Night Agent and look forward to Season 3 next year.
Have you seen Zero Day or Night Agent readers?
What are you watching?
LINDA'S LONE RANGER
I like this unusual figure by Linda. Its all new to me and one of a number of Linda dolls I've seen, this, the first male one and certainly the first Lone Ranger.
Anyone got one?
Linda will be known to Thunderbirds collectors for their vintage snowglobe. SpaceX and Golden Astronaut fans may know their Apollo Spacers range of knockoffs, fabulously covered on Paul Vreede's website here https://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAderv/LNDA/LndaCpPg.html
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
GOOD CITATIONS
Somewhat bored waiting for toy parts to arrive I've been googling SpaceX patents.
I first saw Jack Rosenthal's fabulous US Golden Astronaut patents on my friend's Paul Vreede's lovely SpaceX website, on which they're all there.
https://triangspacextoys.info/SpGApapr/rUSptnts/rUSptnts.html
You can follow up on Google US patents too [there's more than one Jack Rosenthal here!]
https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Jack+Rosenthal
I thought it would be fun to look up the 'Other References' cited on the Cruiser 1 patent [image: Google USPO]
Here are the 'Other References' close up.
I couldn't find an image for Playthings April 1958 but I found the March edition showing the "Knickerbocker Moon Car", seen here top right.
I found Modern Plastics July 1953 and the so called 'space car', pictured at the top.
I couldn't find Technology Week and the 'lifting body' image.
I thought it would be interesting to compare the actual toys.
Golden Astronaut
Knickerbocker
Irwin
Has anyone else looked at any toy patents at all?
Kevin's Dinky Harrier Jet
I Picked this up recently, in remarkably good condition. What a great little toy.
Kevin
UK
The Bandai Sears Supersonic Jetliner
I've never seen this Bandai tinplate beauty in the flesh. I think it was a Sears Christmas exclusive.
Online auction pictures like these have to suffice but boy oh boy does it look grand!
Has anyone been lucky enough to have one?
 |
The double teardrop cockpit blisters really make it for me. The flattened engines too. It's so Gerry Anderson! What a toy, almost too good to play with!
Do you like it readers?
oh, and here's its US patent diagram online:
Sugar Puffs Famous Puffers
MC recently mentioned the You Tube channel Cerealmad, which looks at various lines of cereal packet toys. Here is another one, featuring a series of Lenticular cards.
Quaker Sugar Puffs Famous Puffers from 1973, was a series of four cards, which showed a famous steam locomotive moving across the card as you tilted it. The locos moving in three stages.
The Rocket (1829), The Jenny Lind (1849), Central Pacific Locomotive 1867, and The Coronation Scot (1937). A great looking series.
Have you got anything like this?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Nazgul at the Gates
A few snaps of my home-made Ringwraith and his dark charger ( borrowed from Sindy!).
It was fun being with them but mordor getting away!
Enjoy!
