Philip's Cake Topper Space Diorama via Paul V

Paul,

My name is Phillip Gore and I live in Trussville, AL (USA). I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed viewing the Triang Spacex website that you helped put together. I just found this site a few weeks ago when I started looking for information on the LP Hong Kong 1"(30mm) Spacemen figures and Mercury Capsule. Like probably a lot of middle aged male adults, I had these toys as a very young boy. I still recall the great times I had playing with them and the great memories they brought.

I recently was fortunate enough to purchase an old "Cake Topper Space Exploration" set on eBay for the very low price of $17.00 dollars (US). I was originally buying the set for the blue LP Mercury Capsule and had no interest in the other pieces that came with it. I was very surprised and extremely pleased when I saw the set also included three of the 1"(30mm) Spacemen! They were in white plastic with a good bit of flash on them so that is probably why I could not make them out from the eBay photos.

Anyway, I decided to rework the Spacemen and Mercury Capsule and put them in a lunar landscape diorama. I am a plastic model builder so it was easy to make the upgrade. I wanted to share what I have done with you. Attached are photos of the parts and final display. The modifications made are listed below:

Spacemen: trimmed off plastic flash and added a new paint job

Mercury Capsule: Added new wheels and axle, added hands and paint job to pilot, filled in and sanded/reshaped nose cone section, sanded away glue buildup on heat shield/retro rocket package, drilled rocket nozzle openings, repainted interior black and exterior blue

I hope you enjoy the photos. Thanks again and take care.

Phillip Gore

USA

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Kindly forwarded by Paul Vreede

Wheel Life

With Bill's comment in mind re the wheels of the Soviet vehicle in UFO.

 The Soviet surface rover shown above [bottom left and right] appears in the 1973 episode of UFO called The Responsibility Seat, which you can watch a clip of via You Tube.

As Bill points out, the wheels are similar if not the same as the SpaceX Moon Buggy.

Similarly, I couldn't help but notice a similarity between the UFO Russian moon rover's rear body shape and that of the red Apollo Moon Exploring fuel tanker from SpaceX's cousin range, pictured top. 

Or am I just seeing things as per usual?

Anyone got any more wheels like this? 

I command You to have Fun Mate!

 More old auction shots, this time that neat six wheeled trundler from the Imperial Toys Apollo Moon Exploring carded range.

Here's a Funmate carded Space Command clone in orange, along with some blue space rock, radar and more.

Here's the Imperial original, the six wheeler in its FAB1 pink and a mini Major Matt lounging around on his ... Now what is that fabulous space vehicle called?

Which do you prefer? Funmate or Imperial?

Kitbash Moon

I liked this bundle of Apollo Moon bits on Worthpoint. I reckon some have been been painted and kitbashed! 

Waddaya think? 

Won't Get Fuelled Again: 2!

With Looey's comment in mind re. The Soviet vehicle in UFO I remembered I posted this way back in 2011, 15 years ago! I was a mere 50 back then and just started a new job in a High School! 

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Over Easter I treated myself to Derek Medding's superb book, 21st Century Visions, which was going for a song on Amazon. I wasn't dissapointed and have been poring over it ever since. One of the vehicles mentioned is the Russian surface rover shown above [bottom left and right]. It appears in the 1973 episode of UFO called The Responsibility Seat, which you can watch via You Tube.

Around the same time I was also lucky enough to take possession of an Apollo Moon Exploration boxed set, [pictured top right along with a US catalogue ad], which I've been after for years. Inside is a nifty red fuel tanker [pictured top left], which also came carded as part of the 1970 Apollo Moon Exploring range [pictured top centre].

I couldn't help but notice a similarity between the UFO Russian moon rover and the Apollo fuel tanker. Or am I just seeing things as per usual?

*

PS. As it's 2026, some of the above 2011 info and ideas maybe obsolete now! 

Dekker Toys Journey Into Space: London's Apollo Moon Exploring

 Seen late last year, whoa!

New to me and maybe the blog, Dekker Toys of London Journey into Space play set! 

Holy Smoke! It's got the lot! 

Look at that playmat! 

There's LP and Apollo Moon Exploring!

And familiar space trucks!

Aliens!

All neatly boxed up.

That's one lucky new owner who won this!

Is is a set you know?  

Wotan's Group Shot: Apollo Moon Exploring

Here's another group shot I archived, which appears on MC back in 2009. 

Its Wotan Bill's early collection of Apollo Moon Exploring toys, along with LP vehicles.

Interestingly the rare two tier space station can be seen at the rear, sadly missing a leg.

Any more group shots readers? 

Ed's Exploring Moon Bug

Woodsy and MC,

Here's another toy snap from the series of photos I took last week.

Hope you like it.

From Vegas Base

Ed

USA

ED'S NEW LP LUNAR EXLORATION BOXED SET

Woodsy and Fellow Moonbasers,

I am stoked to present this latest LP set I received last week (the second LP set in as many months): the LP #704 Lunar Exploration Set. 

It has three separate modules in one window display box and while most of the pieces are fairly easy to come by here, the OD vehicle and the yellow 'bus' are bears to acquire. 

The bus is my first one.

From Vegas Base

Ed

Ed's Red Dome

Woodsy and Fellow Moonbasers,

A couple of weeks back Woodsy featured this LP #205 set in a post. He mentioned it was on auction and I thought perhaps it was eBay UK.

 Wellll, I did a quick search on American fleaBay for LP sets in general and it showed up! It had a reasonable 'buy it now' price but the postage was a tad pricey coming from Argentina, but I've been down that road before and knew that if I didn't buy it the opportunity would be lost...

...it showed up at my door last week after only

 about eight days in transit - quite fast for an international shipment. 

The little dome is the same as what I have in the Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set, only in red.

From Vegas Base

Ed

Have you got one?

Saucery

We've seen this saucer before in different forms. 

This is a wind-up Sace Shuttle. The auction said it was Dump n Go! Ha ha!

I love the look of the white spaceship on the box rear. The big orange antenna is unusual. The basic design of this crops up as a small toy in Apollo Moon Exploring toy sets and we have seen the larger ones like this by Blue Box and even one for Blake's 7.

Is it a range you know?

STRANGE SPACEX OR APEX PAPERWORK

 I saw this SpaceX and Apollo Moon Exploring lot ages ago and kept the snap. Just looking again I cannot work out what the paperwork is. Can you? There's a curled paper next to the Zeroid and there's a small something below the Cruiser 1. An antenna?

Any idea?

ED'S INVADERS

Years ago I had latched on to a carded green Zee Toys 'Mysterious Invaders' version of Kevin's same spaceship. 

before that I already had the Blue Box version uncarded.

And then of course there were the smaller HG Toys and Apollo Moon Exploring versions.

Have you got anything like this?

Cheers

Ed

Las Vegas

USA

BLISTERS YOU WANT

 

This is just one picture of the huge array of different blisters found over the last few years containing varying assortments of LP and Apollo Moon Exploring toys.

This Toy House one even has the Billy Blastoff miniature space car or 'space sled'.

Paul Vreede's fab SpaceX website features many more of these sets as does the prolific Space Trucks You Tube channel of Steve Nyland. See the links below.

Have you blisters like these?

THE LAZER RANGING RETRO REFLECTOR TOY

 If you have some Apollo Moon Exploring toys you may have the rectangular silver double reflector gizmo seen here in this blister on Worthpoint.

Well, here's the story of the real thing, the Lazer Ranging Retro Reflector or LRRR. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knugI-LiAME

STOP PRESS!

Kevin has kindly pointed out that the toy is a miniature of the Apollo Seismometer and not the LRRR! Doh! Thanks Kev. I should have gone to Specsavers!

PAINT YOUR WAGON

 I saw this on auction earlier in the year and kept the pic. Some of the spacemen and space toys have been painted, possibly by a kid. I think the X's mean they've not been painted.

Did you ever paint your toys?

ARTO'S AMAZING VINTAGE MOON SPACE TOYS

Reader and space collector Arto has recently won three gorgeously vintage space toys: 

1. a 4-diorama boxed set Exploring on the Moon, 
2. Mini Space Toy Series set on card
3. Mini Wind-Up boxed Sparking Moon Probe.

They're quite wonderful and Arto has kindly shared pictures of this fabulous bundle. Enjoy!