Brian H's Tudor Rose Rarity

Hello Woodsy

I've been quiet online for some time but have been busy collecting. I visit Moonbase Central regularly and it's just about the only place I can find new information about some of my Interests. 

I've been concentrating on early English space toys: Kleeware, Selcol, Tudor Rose and, especially, Dan Dare. 

I thought you might like to see an interesting acquisition I made recently.

It's a battery powered Tudor Rose shop display featuring two of those spectacular Atomic Space Ships along with a batch of motorbikes and sidecars. 

One ship has a motor connected to a battery pack. The other has a lead counterweight. 

The whole thing spins around in an alarming manner. 

If you can use it on your site please feel free. If you'd like more Tudor Rose, Dan Dare or similar stuff, I have plenty of novelties! 

Here's a Youtube video of it in action:

 

https://youtu.be/GnwtVm5FjRg?si=nXJiFNCr_N4JeiL-

All the best

Brian H.

UK

Eastern Premise

Slim pickins down the boot sale today but I enjoyed spending a fiver on one great stall of cool tackle.

My small haul is: an Action Man rubbery cap - yet to ID (anyone?)

..... an Action Man medic blood drip 

and two amazing 12 inch eastern action dolls with accessories. There are no visible markings ( although I haven't undressed them) so if you can ID them I'd be chuffed.

Needless to say they're just fabulous and so well made. The seller had about ten figures. I got what I thought were the most interesting two.

 I wish I'd have got them all now!

What do you think?

Lady Trouble

 The trouble with the internet is it's full of interesting coincidences! 

This auctioned Air Stewardess caught my eye.

A souvenir from Monarch Airlines ( hope it's not Monarch from the Godzilla movies!)

She's a monochrome dead ringer for the similarly but pinky dressed Fairylite Lady Penelope doll from the Sixties (did Century 21 do one as well?).

 Both logos even have crowns! 

Image from the superb Bold Doll 

https://thebolddoll.com/f-a-b/

Have you any Lady Penelope toys or Air Stewardess dolls readers?

SPACE KINGLEY: FORGOTTEN SPACE ACE?

A  last post on my look  at some of the classic British space heroes that appeared in comics back in the fifties and sixties. 

I did plan to do a piece on Ron Tuner and Rick Random, but I think I'll  leave that for now, call it a day, and concentrate on something different.

Anyway, for those who've retained some interest, my grateful thanks for looking in and here's  some pages from the three Captain 'Space' Kingley annuals that were published in the early fifties.

'Space' Kingley was another Dan Dare clone of course, but as he never appeared in a regular comic at the time,  I'd suspect he's largely unknown

The three annuals which  were published were mainly filled with text stories, a few strip stories and a fair few features on fictional future technology and the Inter-Planetary Rangers, the space force that Kingley and his comrades  worked for.

The first annual, published circa 1952, was written by Ray Sonin. It's been a while since I read them, but  from what I remember the over- arcing stories hinted at a future utopian world  leaning towards a kind of socialism. The book was illustrated in sepia tone by R.W. Jobson, who's depictions appeared to take inspiration from the 1936 film , Things to Come., and the 1950 film, Destination: Moon

The second annual, published circa 1953  is a bit lighter in tone, and includes a colourful wrap round cover painted by. R.W. Jobson. It also includes 4 additional colour plates, as well as two strip stories.

The story arc is written by Ernest A. Player.

The third book,  'Space' Kingley and The Secret Squadron, was published circa 1954, is similar fare to the second annual. Written by David White, and again, illustrated by R.W. Jobson.

Unlike Dan Dare,  I don't think there was much in the way of any spin off merchandise featuring Captain Kingley, apart from maybe a jigsaw.

Several years ago, I did scratch-build a model of 'Space' Kingley's spacecraft, The Comet.

Bill's Ford Consul - The Final Restoration

So here we are, the final update on the Corgi Ford Consul restoration.

To recap, I bought the car in 1965/1966 from a small toyshop in Bridgend Town.

As a child, I didn't like the original colour scheme, [a cream body with a red roof, which I still don't like] It had got significantly toy-box chipped, so in 1967, I decided to remove the remainder of the paint by literally scraping the rest off down to the bare metal! Unfortunately, I didn't like the end result either, it then languished in with a box of old toys for 58 years until I rediscovered my Dinky Interceptor which was restored in 2023.

As per the earlier photos, there was some further detailing, together with a replacement window unit needed to complete the project, the original has some very bad cracks in it. I also ordered a reproduction box to display it on, because the car is quite small in comparison to the other die-cast's in the cabinet.

Two things I did decide to leave as they were, was the base. You can see how bad the original condition of the paintwork was before 1967. And, as a small reminder of how the car looked prior to the restoration, I left the inside of the Bonnet unpainted.

The chrome areas of the car were carefully masked around and gently dusted with the spray can of 151 Chrome. Some areas were touched up with a brush. The red tail lights were painted on and then it was left to sit on its box in the display cabinet. Lastly, a quick wash of my precious supply of Johnsons Klear to seal the silver sections and the jobs done.

So here we are, the final result... I'm generally happy with it. Although the position in the cabinet where it currently is displayed means you can't see too much of the car, as it's a few inches above eye level. So as everything will require a re-arranging when the Dinky FAB1 is restored it'll be moved to a lower shelf.

The next restoration will be the Corgi 437 Superior Ambulance on a Cadillac Chassis.

Bill Everatt

UK

DUCK and DIVE

 A recent purchase at the boot sale, this plastic duck car by Nacoral was quackin' fun to fix up.

The seller had bought a huge cardboard crate of them somewhere - presumably Spain - and hoped for big things at the sale, but I bet I was one of the few brave souls who rummaged enough to find an almost complete toy and box amongst the wrecks.

In the end, after a darn good dive, I found all the parts except the bill, which I'm convinced wasn't in the crate. They were all bill-less! 

The box and separate box lid were crumpled and weak so I ironed them with a steam iron and both look a lot better for it. I think the two boxes, one being just a lid, represent two ways this toy was packaged in Spain.

For convenience I've slipped the colour lid over the much plainer but complete box. 

The instruction leaflet got a quick ironing too.

The toy itself needed a little glue on the windscreen, the hands re-wheeling and a good clean. 

Oh, and that missing bill I replaced with a party whistle. 

Googley eyes were added too.

The toy itself is pull-along, the duck going up and down as it's pulled. Very cute.

See what you think.

Have you any ducks?

CAPTAIN CONDOR ARTISTS

 Some examples of the various artists who contributed to the Captain Condor comic strip in Lion.

Beginning with Ron Forbes,  who had what I best describe as a unique style, and certainly not in the same league as the Dan Dare artists, but he got the job done, and remember the Lion was the cheaper option, so no shiny quality paper here.

N.B. Lion  did eventually outlive and swallow up the original Eagle in the late sixties. The new Eagle would have the opportunity to return the favour some time later!

Ron's spaceships definitely had a Buck Rogers look about them.

Neville Wilson took over from Ron, and there is an improvement in  the art in my opinion. 

Geoff Campion did a stint on the Condor strip. One of his Condor stories would be reprinted a few years later in Ranger magazine, although it's retitled, Rip Solar.

Arguably, the best artist to work on Captain Condor, Keith Watson. You could be forgiven for thinking it was a Dan Dare strip.

Reg Bunn did some lovely detailed work. He was better known as the artist on Lion's, The Spider strip.

Captain Condor had a spell as a text story. I think the accompanying art is Reg Bunn.

Finally, excellent art provided by Brian Lewis.