Nodding Holder

 

I recently saw this nodding bird in its holder in a junk shop and I immediately thought of its iconic use in the beginning of ALIEN as the data flashes over it.

An inspired prop!

I never had one as a kid. You?

Dave Barnacle, Palitoy Box Artist

I know there are many Action Man fans among Moonbasers, so I thought this You Tube video would be of interest.

A look at the work of Palitoy box artist Dave Barnacle, who sadly passed away this month, April 2025.

He did many of the Action Man boxes in the 1970s, as well as other lines, such as Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars.

There is even a look at some concept art for figures that never made it in to production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdkC7yN-fJc

Paul Adams from New Zealand

The Frankenstein Artist who Inspired the Pre-Raphaelites

I thought this was interesting.

https://www.mutualart.com/Article/The-Frankenstein-Artist-Who-Inspired-Dan/1D1229A93023C59D?utm_source=MutualArt+Subscribers&utm_campaign=135fb72ade-MAGAZINE_NEWSLETTER_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c79256f9a5-454060965 

Games without Frontiers

This old snap is of my spare board games stash. I had them all out for a collector to peruse just before the global pandemic hit.

He bought most of the pile and the few toys too, before the world was locked down!

See anything you like?

Hoppy Easter Everyone!

Have a Eggstraterrestrial time Readers! 

 

Did you get Easter Presents?

Our Grandkids are enjoying the spoils of their Easter Sunday egg hunt around the caravan. 

It's not only eggs though, there are toys!

Minecraft Lego, magic tricks, joke books and small sleeping bags called happy nappers! 

I remember getting a lot of Easter eggs at Easter back in the Sixties.

some did come in fantastic cardboard clocks, big cups and a plastic truck all with a big foil-wrapped egg packaged in cellophane. 

I don't remember getting any other prezzies though like at Christmas: how cool it would have been to get space toys or action men at Easter!.

Did you get Easter presents or anything more than chocolate readers?

Happy Easter Readers

From Woodsy 🐣

Ed's Comic Book Ad Civil War Toy Soldiers

Here's a sample of what a child would get if they sent in for a set of toy soldiers.

 Kids no doubt expected fully fleshed out figures, but often times ended up with 'flats' similar to these. I know now of course that 'flats' are a time-honored tradition in the toy soldier world (and new production military figures can still be bought), but when I was kid, these would have been disappointing. 

Personally, I remember having a set of Little Green Army men as a youngster. All that said, I had bought these American Civil War flats many years ago but ended up selling them a year or so ago.

Did you get any of these?

From Vegas Base

Ed

FAIRYLITE LADY PENELOPE AND TIN TIN DOLLS

Having established a profitable connection to the earlier Supermarionation shows with toys based on them the Merton based company Fairylite immediately bought into the Andersons most lavish production, THUNDERBIRDS. 

1966 saw the first true Anderson ‘Action Figures’ as we know the concept today. All of the main characters in the programme were represented with removable cloth outfits and fully articulated bodies. 

Despite Fairylite’s use of cheap ‘blown plastic’ bodies the overall impression is a good one and children were excited to be able to own the characters from THUNDERBIRDS in miniature form.

However 1966 was perhaps too soon for boys to feel comfortable embracing a doll. 

Palitoy’s ACTION MAN had only very recently appeared on the market in England and the concept was yet to be truly established. With this in mind a far more impressive campaign was launched to bring the female THUNDERBIRDS dolls to the attention of girls across the country. 

Adverts and competitions appeared in LADY PENELOPE comic one of which shows the variety in which the Tin-Tin doll was produced in terms of attire. 

The dolls heads are in fact one and the same. With a clever facial paint job, and hair colour/ style differences, Fairylite offered two very acceptable representations of the leading female operatives of International Rescue. 

Unlike the male dolls the female characters only enjoy movement at the shoulder, hip and neck much like many ‘fashion’ dolls of the period.

Lady Penelope’s packaging is of a far more feminine design than that which housed the male characters in the series but Tin-Tin is boxed in very much a hybrid of both styles. 

With Mattel’s BARBIE and Pedigree’s SINDY both doing well in toy shops Fairylite promoted their two characters in a similar manner. 

‘Dressing up’ and fashion changes were very much the order of the day as opposed to the ‘smash and crash’ stuff they were hoping boys would go for with the male dolls.

A variety of costumes were sold separately and encouraged girls to ultimately buy the entire range so both Penelope and Tin-Tin would have a wardrobe to fit any occasion or adventure. 

Some were pure flights of fancy on the part of Fairylite mimicking ‘Mod’ fashions of the day but others were close approximations of costumes seen in the show itself or the pages of LADY PENELOPE comic perhaps with some small differences to colour or design.

Now almost fifty years on from these dolls first appearing collectors will struggle to find a complete set of them and especially the accompanying accessory sets.

 The Lady Penelope doll seems to appear most regularly but not Tin-Tin and there are few who can claim to own all three variants of her.

Often overlooked by THUNDERBIRDS and Anderson collectors in general and regarded as ‘just for girls’ the Fairylite dolls are not to be dismissed by the serious enthusiast as they are rarely seen in decent boxed condition and represent well the characters who inspired their creation.

Anyone got any?

Jim Lewis.

first published on Moonbase Central 2010

Hot Wheels Easter Bunny - Fast Delivery

The Hot Wheels Racer Verse line began in 2023. It is a line of small, cartoon-style racing cars, all driven by well-known characters, mostly from films and television, or Super Heroes.

The drivers are plastic, and slightly over-sized. Which is common with such character cars, but all are recognizable, and really well detailed.

The 2024 range included this Easter Bunny (New for 2024), driving an Easter Basket, filled with eggs. Only the lower body, and the blue-spotted upper portion of the nose are metal – the rest is plastic.

The eggs sit behind the driver, under a clear plastic 'egg shell'. The Easter Bunny himself has a well printed face, and ears.

Made in Thailand, copyright date 2023. Being a premium line, the Racer Verse cars are around four times the price of a regular Hot Wheels car, but they are really fun.

Various multi-vehicle packs and track sets are available. Not too many shops seem to carry this line, at least in NZ, so you may have to search for them.

Happy Easter

Paul from NZ

Happy Eastertide Readers!

What are you up to this Easter readers? 

I know it's Good Friday but are you scoffing choccy eggs yet?

Ed Needs Help Identifying Rocket

Woodsy,

I got this rocket in a job lot some years ago and have yet to be able to identify its maker. Maybe one of Moonbase's knowledgeable readers can shed some light?

From Vegas Base

Ed

One Man Custom: My Home-Made Johnny Seven

Since childhood and my parents giving me a Johnny Seven one Christmas I've always loved this classic Topper toy rifle.

Like all my old toys I guess it went to Preston's landfill back in the mid-Seventies.

Remembering how much I loved it, in 2000 I bought myself a boxed Johnny Seven at the NEC's Memorabilia show. It was from an affable young dealer called Ian and cost £300, the most I've ever spent on a collectable.

It's tucked safely away in the attic.

 I do occasionally get it out on maneuvers!

I restored another Johnny Seven in 2007 for re-sale, replacing some missing parts with original and repro replacements.

I blogged about it some years back, the post comments becoming a sort of talking shop for J7 restorers! 

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/04/rebuilding-johnny-seven-one-man-army.html?m=1

And so to the present. Having finished my Secret Sam rifle recently I was looking for something else to make, when I came across a bunch of old Nerf guns at the Thorpe Arch boot sale. Bingo! £4 later I had my raw materials for making a ........

..... Johnny Seven! 

With a good dose of bits from my bits box and a pair of plastic shoe horns the toy began to take shape.

A couple of home-made missiles completed the look.

Dipping my toe into paint spraying for the first time, I took my mock-off in the garden ......

... And primed it red.

I made a whole armoury of missiles!

And here's Johnny! 

The One Man Army made in the kitchen! 

Hope you like it.

You can see it's a similar size to the original.

Phew! Boy, was it fiddly but lots of Topper fun! 

*

Next up, Redbox Secret Agent.

Rob's Tarheel Nova II Drawing

Woodsy,

I was going through some old papers, and found this odd drawing I made circa 1970.

It shows a side view of my Tarheel Nova II, along with some strange typewritten "specifications" which I do not recall at all! 

Anyways, there it is, and it gives you an idea of how obsessed I was with that toy at the time!

Rob C

Ct

USA

Ed's Tarheel Project Sword Probe Force 2 Prepping For Take-off

Woodsy,

I haven't figured out if my Tarheel PF2 is taking off from the Project SWORD field in Woomera or London .....

... But, here it is just outside the hangar on my new runway display board!

From Vegas Base

Ed

Ed's New Runway Diorama/Display/Photo Board

Woodsy,

Back in 2018 I built a runway project out in The Cave, a 20"D x 96" (8ft) L runway to display various space and aircraft toys on for photography.

 It was a good concept but ended up falling flat.

Why? Well, first and foremost it was a shelf - a long shelf - and I really needed that space to store toys on. Secondly, in order for me to take in all 8ft in one photo, I'd have to knock a hole in the opposite wall and make the shot from outside!

I've had a couple of 2'x4' framed pieces of particle board sitting out in The Cave waiting for me to come up with some kind of idea for their eventual use. I thought, heck, I have soooo many spaceships, aircraft, helicopters, hangars, launch pads, etc., it's nutz - and no decent way to photograph them. The project isn't finished yet, but just good enough to start taking photos on, which I will send in a follow-up e-mail. The project was worked on top of our washer and dryer out in The Cave as shown in these photos.

From Vegas Air Field

Ed

Ed's Banks

Woodsy,

Here's some of the banks in my collection. A couple you've already seen, a couple you haven't:

The Astro Mfg Guided Missile Bank (I had one of these as a kid - but in a matte finish)

Fosta Plastic Space Ship Bank

Ertl #F004 Diecast Hershey's 1932 Northrop Gamma Plane - Bank

Ertl No. GC-5041 Diecast Miller Genuine Draft Truck Bank

I think there's a couple more out in The Cave that I haven't gotten around to photographing yet.

From Vegas Base

Ed

Creature Feature

A big fan of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, I love this huge wall statue that's out.

I'm tempted to dip my toe in! 

Do you fancy the creature hanging over your door?

MORE STAR TRAVELLER: THE RV IN THE WOODS

Another random toy connection I thought I'd had was whilst watching the uber-brilliant Cabin in the Woods horror film from 2011.

The protagonists of the flick, a group of young friends, travel to the cabin in a large RV truck [do I need to say truck? Is RV enough?]

It reminded me immediately of the Barbie Star Traveller by Mattel released in 1976. Not sure it is the same though. Anyone know the RV make?

A huge toy, which I was thrilled to find at a car boot sale years ago. There were tons of parts inside and I had a superb Sunday afternoon in the garden putting it all together. It was fiddly though and TV commercials at the time recommended that Parents put it together! ha ha

Lets Go Barbie!