It maybe a while before our new PM has a cabinet reshuffle but mine was accelerated by the arrival of three men of action.
A few hours sorting, shifting and stacking later, here's my two cabinets now containing my pandemic scratchbuilt SpaceX and Thunderbirds models, my Transformers and now complete with the new Action Man arrivals.
My die-cast case is choc full. Only redlines are allowed space from now on and they're thankfully rare!
John Marshall's book Action Figures of the 1960's is special to me. I bought it at the massive Strand bookstore in New York City in January 2001. My Missus took me to the Big Apple as a surprise for my 40th. In September that year 9/11 happened and the Strand really isn't that far from Ground Zero I don't think. Leafing John's book always makes me feel grateful to be alive.
Have you had a cabinet reshuffle? Have you any John Marshall books? Have you been to the Strand book shop?
Five years ago my cave looked like this, a mess!
Toys, books, games, even a pair of crutches!
Some of the SpaceX scratch builds I made are visible in the cabinet, all stored away in the attic now.
I'd also brought board games down from the attic because a collector was visiting to see if there any he wanted to buy.
I regret selling the rare Dekker Horror Make-Up, but it was a cheap car boot find and you can't hold onto everything can you!
Sadly, my new smaller cave is just as untidy! Its seems impossible for it to be any other way!
Are you an untidy collector readers are a neat one?
Clearing our my Father in Laws apartment in Germany I came across this old photograph amongst hundreds of ancient prints.
Its one of his German Friend's son's collection of cars and tinplate on his book shelves. I think the son was called Manhard. The shot is from decades ago, circa 1991 and I remember visiting him with my Father in Law.
The strange thing was that he lived in the very same flat that the Missus and me rented a decade earlier in 1981!
Small world!
Have you ever been back to the house or flat where you once lived readers?
Do you recognise any of these toys?
My super neat toy cabinet in the loft in 2011.
Its not like that now! Its a complete tip!
Is your cabinet neat and tidy readers?
TERRANOVA47's fabulous collection filling the walls in his American home. There's a few of those buses too!
Enjoy!
(Pictures of your walls, shelves, caves and cabinets welcomed!)
Before Easter I had the bright idea of putting all my die-casts in a set of see-through drawers.
I knew Junior would love to do it. He'd already done it once in my cabinet.
Missus Moonbase obliged and on a trip to B&Q she bought me a tall stack of plastic drawers for £30. Fab! They'd fit hundreds of cars in!
Junior did a great job filling each drawer with a single layer of die-casts. Hot Wheels at the top and the rest Superfast, Juniors and Whizzwheels.
He was thrilled with his work, which took several hours off and on over Easter and I watched it all, egging him on and discussing the merits if each and every car. It was great fun.
Job done!
Or so I thought. Like Iron Man's icing-up, I'd never considered the weight problem.
The cabinet buckled! The wheels bent over at right angles!
I was horrified! All Junior's efforts down the drain!
Fortunately he never saw the drawers sag, he'd already left after Easter.
In the end I've decided to re-use the drawers with much lighter plastic collectables. I flattened the drawer stand, re-positioned the wheels and restocked the cabinet with all the cars again, this time gaining much more space by filling the drawers with action figures hitherto in the cabinet.
Hopefully the drawers will hold. I'll have to explain it all to Junior on Monday when I see him again.
Anyhoo, here's my Star Wars drawer now, featuring the two newbies, Hammerhead and Power Droid.
Laid down.
Sat up.
I've invested in a new cabinet from a community furniture store.
I'm looking forward to filling it!
A quick skeg in my toy cabinet is in order I thought.
Here are the middle levels with my fleet of old die-casts garnered from car boots and charity shops, with donations from Kevin and Bill too.
Its day one without Blue at Moonbase. It just feels hollow round here.
Thanks you for all your message of support. They mean a great deal to me. I know many of you will have been through the same thing.
Seeing his empty mat was heart-breaking but I don't want to move it yet. I forgot he was gone for a minute this morning and picked up his bowl to make him breakfast.
My own things I'm forgetting. I forgot to eat anything. I keep having flashbacks of our final moments at the vets. I nearly swerved the car. Its so damn hard losing a close friend like Blue after 16 years of his defining presence in our family.
In a vain attempt to move forward, well maybe just move, I visited the local outdoor car boot sale. It was unusually tiny on account of early morning rain, which we desperately need, so I motored to Pontefract to check out a big charity shop and pick up a prezzy for my Missus' 60th. I was struggled to focus doing any of it.
So, trying further to distract my brain from abject misery here's a run down of what I've picked up recently on Ebay, on holiday in the Peaks and also that local charity.
See what you think.
