Automan Anyone?

 

Now obscure TV shows came and went. For instance I remember Street Hawk and Manimal but this Automan passed me completely by.

He did get his own action figure though. Maybe there's more!

Made by Acamas Toys, it's new to me.

How about you readers? 

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?

Eye Full Power!

 I love how this effect has been created using red plastic for Cyclops' eye blast. So cool! 

What do you think?

HORSESH*T BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS ACTION BED AND DOLL

Seen last year on MC, One of the more unusual items I've found in my action figure reference books is the Horsh*tMan Self-Propelled Bedknobs and Broomsticks Action Bed.

Its an unusual choice for a toy.

It came with a 'Angela Lansbury' doll. Does it look like her?

Amazingly the doll stands up, makes the bed and then pushes it around the floor, before opening the covers, getting in and closing her eyes. 

The bed had mystery and non-fall action, but the doll often walked to the edge of of a table and fell off shouting 'Oh, Broomsticks!'

What a bed!

Has anyone got one?

Mystery Lady Kung Fu

 I saw this lady action figure in a cabinet.

Anyone know who she is?

She's got Kung Fu slippers on.

Lips Manlis and the Sunny Smile

A recent car booting trip proved fun. I bagged this trio of vintage toys that came back to Moonbase with me.

The two carded figures are the only two carded figures I own and at £15 for the pair I couldn't resist. 

I've been aware of Playmates' Dick Tracy figures for decades, including the fabled Blank and this Lips Manlis is a trip down memory lane.

Captain Power is not a line I know at all really but this carded Chase figure was in such fab condition I got it as well.

The huge green Action Man tank is not the Cherilea original but the later Sunny Smile release, which I think is the same as Strike Force. It just needs a dusting and some of the decals re-glueing before going on maneuvers. A snip at £4 I thought.

Are these toys you know readers?

Random Rummage Roadtrip

 Some recent snaps of random stuff I've seen on our travels.

In Barnsley, I just wasn't sure at all who this guy was. You?

These new dinosaur cutlery sets caught my eye in Buxton. I know I've seen this T. Rex artwork before. Something in my childhood? Ring any bells?

I love LP records. This Music in the Green shop window in Bakewell was heaven. Nick Drake, Neil Young, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell. Wow!

Which LP sleeves would you want to see there?

and I would have been so disappointed as a kid with this, a WOODEN detective briefcase set clocked in Glossop. OK, its clever and PC, but come on! Give me Secret Sam's plastic attaché any day! What about you readers?

SUPER7 TOYS: A BLISTERING RANGE!

 I'm in awe of just how prolific this modern nostalgia action figure company is. 

I've seen a few ReAction carded action figures in shops but had no idea there were so many Super 7 figure lines - there's hundreds!

Shogun, Mars Attacks, Thundercats, Universal Monsters to name just a few.

I can really relate to the urge to recreate figures and Super 7 have caught the retro zeitgeist. A really fantastic job for a modern toy company.

Clearly there's a vein of meme humour running through some of the lines that I don't get - The Worst and Wing Kong for instance - its an age thing I bet, but all in all I'm astonished by the fabulous range and vision of Super 7 toys.

Have a look and see what you like.

https://super7.com/

AURORA, MEGO AND CO: ARTO'S FANTASTIC JUTHBACKA FINDS

Arto has been kind enough to share pictures of his recent and amazing haul of vintage goodies at the Juthbacka vintage fair on the western coast of Finland.  The Juthbacka fair attracts sellers from Sweden too. 

A super post to end the summer, Feast your eyes!

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Aurora long box monster kits and Mego monsters, Super Heroes, Star Trek/ Space 1999

Assorted Super Heroes: Batcopter, Secret Wars, Super Powers and an Italian Diabolik figure, a candy box top!

Micronauts, Choc Rockets and Car [I have cropped this image and removed an amazing item that, with Arto's permission, will feature on the blog's anniversary  - our 16th bloggiversary - on September 15th. Watch this space!]

BUYS 'N' DOLLS

Slim Pickens down the local boot sale last week but as always highly enjoyable.

Largely an old doll haul - three for a pound, who can resist! -  see what you think, from L to R:

Vietnamese [I think] 18 inch doll, 

Top row: cute tiny Sixties dolly [ID?], cheap Barbie clone, Spanish Flamenco dancer [My Mum loved these!]

Next: Ammonite, Britains Deetail Horse

Next row: plastic bazooka [for a future project]

Bottom: rubbery plastic Action Man pouches [from what?], cast Indian Chief, cast School sign, old 1935 penny, small weight, pendant, metal ball on a rod [glued onto my diver now!] and a VR Trooper.

Re. the tall doll, its a long time since I've found an 18 inch figure. The last time was Farah Fawcett Majors, who was married to Bionic Man Lee Majors, and who I always get mixed up with Jamie Summers, the actual Bionic Woman [played by Lindsey Wagner], the TV wife of the Bionic Man Steve Austin [played by Lee Majors]. See what I mean! My confusion isn't unique. If you read my original post Don't Fawcett about finding the 18 incher you'll see the seller was mixed up too!

Did you get confused between Farah and Lindsey?

Perfect Fishbowls

 I saw this recently, a modern Mysterio.

His perfect fishbowl helmet impressed me.

I can only think of one I had as a kid.

Commander Comet.

Here's one from an old auction.

Did you have a perfect fishbowl? 

Super Powers Rule!

On holiday I've been reading about Kenners DC Super Powers figure line from the 80's in an old Tomarts Action Figure Digest mag.

Despite not owning any of them It's one of my favourite action figure ranges ever, simply because they're so beautifully made and look incredible.

It's often cited as the best action figure series ever made.

I've only ever seen the figures at the NECs Memorabilia show when I used to go there in the Noughties, a brilliant sight to see when the entire range is lined up.

It's one of the few figure lines I've never found anything if at car boot sales over thirty plus years. They must be quite scarce in the UK.

Do you have Super Powers readers?

 

ARCO'S ACTION FIGURE VEHICLE

 

I like this toy I saw online but I've never seen one in the flesh. ARCO's Action Figure Vehicle, the idea being that it could be used with 3.75 inch action figures from any line. Not sure who's sat at the wheel but I imagine its an 80's character.

It looks a bit like a Fisher Price Adventure People design to me.

With behemoths like Kenners Star wars range, I can see the business sense of making general vehicles like this. Not knockoffs, something else!

This utilitarian idea reminds me of Cherilea's various armoured vehicles and tanks when I was a kid in the 60's, all able to be deployed with Action Man, Tommy Gunn and any other 12 inch figure. Maybe Barbie and Sindy ended up in them too in some households?

Do you like generic vehicles that can be used with figures like this readers? Did you have any?

Major Bat Mason by MJ

https://youtube.com/shorts/f7SfHCaFHbY?si=j1EnMO8jKSgZczX2 

Enjoy!

MJ

Southcoast Base

THE PENGUIN'S PARASOL: TOY BIZ UMBRELLA

Rain, rain, rain .....

Where's my umbrella?

One from the 80's was that fishy foe of Gotham, The Penguin, who had a brolly [is that the same as an umbrella?] I recall when cast in plastic for the DC Super Heroes range by Toy Biz.

Here's an image of one I saw on Ebay.

In fact around 2004 I once bought a whole bag full of around twenty loose ones to sell on my old vintage toy stall!

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Since writing this on MC in 2017 I was chuffed today to find this picture, below, in my archive of one of my old loose Toy Biz Penguin umbrellas that I bought a bag-full of! You can see the central hole, so they must have been the missile firing version.

According to DC in the 80's "Toy Biz released three different versions packaged with different variants of the umbrella weapon: an umbrella that shot a 3/4" missile, an umbrella that shot a 1 1/2" missile, and an umbrella that simply shot off it's umbrella top. Wizard Magazine reported that the 3/4" missile variant was the scarcer one in the early 90s, so at the time that was the one selling at the highest value."

Reading this I wonder if the above carded Penguin has been mis- carded? It says 'missile firing' but there's no hole in the umbrella. Strange! Anyone any the wiser?

F I G U R E N

 Picked up six of these nice West German plastic figures this morning for two Euro. Maybe a small Tarzan too, which the Missus is tracking down.

Not sure of the make.

WILMERRRRRRRR!

 

I recently saw this small plastic figure in my daughter's birthday party favours stash for her kids.

Initially I thought it was Wilmer Flintstone.

Turns out its Tinkerbell the fairy!

Either way, these cheapo party figures you can get seem fine as toys to me. Has anyone used anything like this in their modelling or toy repairing?

Piece of Cape

Picked up these incomplete but appealing figures yesterday with my last ten pence.

No idea what they are although the little chest light in the red caped fella looks familiar. I may have had one on MC before.

Any ideas?

 

IVY AND BANE WALKING IN THE RAIN

This year's resolution is doctor's orders. Get fitter! So with that in mind the Missus and me headed to picturesque Hebden Bridge in the Pennines for a country walk.

Here are a few snaps of beautiful Hebden Valley; light rain, sleet and ice came too.

 

I loved this glass bottle fence!

At the end of the walk we went into the ever-welcoming Hebden.

In one charity shop I saw this interesting plastic space plane. It had a pull-bag landing gear, which pumped a friction motor. I've seen toy Galaxy Warrior motorbikes that do this as well. Have you got anything like this?

This Lanard 12 incher from 2003 caught my eye too.

I did pick up an old friend, Flairck's Variations on a Lady. I loved this Dutch LP as a teenager and played it to destruction. I've a second copy now! Is this one you know?

I've put it next to Gryphon's Red Queen to Gryphon Three. This was an LP that I wanted as a teenager but never got. My Son-in-Law, Daughter and Grandkids got it me as a late Chrissie present and I'm glad they did. Its great! Do you like Gryphon?

The Missus spotted these in a bargain bin in another Charity too. Ivy and Bane. From one of the worst superhero films ever made, Batman and Robin, 1996. George Clooney, Arnie Schwarzenegger et al. No wonder they look glum!

So, clutching these bad guys, Flairck, Gryphon and an old Mandolin, we left lovely Hebden having racked up ten thousand steps for the Doctor.

US AGENT AT THE YORKSHIRE TRADING POST

 

I had to look twice in a local store, where I clocked US agent on a bubble card no less!

Released by Kenner, I think this maybe the first time the Agent gets a stint on the toy shelf since Toy Biz's 1994 release as part of the Marvel Super Heroes figure line.

Is the US Agent an Agent you know?