KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

 My only purchases on Saturday in Harrogate were these.

The old necklace stand just spoke to me. It said Action Man in some way, I'm just not sure what! Rugby posts?

The wooden truck is for a friend's little son. It just needs some wooden poles to stack at the back, like Lincoln logs. 

The little American Football helmet on a keyring was just cool.

Harrogate Hike

 A mooch round the North Yorkshire Metropole Harrogate today has been grand.

Once famous for its waters and international toy fairs, we go for the charity ships, vintage emporia and many many cafes and eateries.

I took a few snaps. This is in a big retro shop called Space.

A Tretchkikoff mirror.

More vintage pics.

Laserdiscs galore! You don't often see them.

Bits n bobs like a Blake's 7 Liberator. Too dear for me! 

An unknown Barney Rubble fig.

The shop's own collection bots and space toys, not for sale.

Rocket lamps like the ones my folks had, £245 each! 

Auction house notice: Fairylite Thunderbirds dolls sold price!

More vintage tackle.

In the Charities. 

Steam LP's! Does anyone collect them?

In Books for All, an old second-hand

Bookshop on two floors. Amazing! 

Gunner Cade, a new one on me, he looks like a THX guard! And One.-Eye has a Patrick Woodroofe cover I think.

The Master of Mars, now that's old! 

In the Charities:

Who is Tree Fu Tom?

Cabinet life: so dear! 

Cafe Lago Di Como. My ancestors hail from Como.

These wooden okapi were everywhere in my parents home.

£5? Cor! Expensive charity stuff!

Never read Stig of the Dump. You?

See anything you like?

It's Not Just Cricket in Headingley

 The Missus and me went on our annual pilgrimage to Headingley last week. 

Not for the cricket but for the charity shops along the high street and the student eateries.

Originally it was on my birthday decades ago, a festive drive to the studenty Leeds suburb to browse and eat a cooked breakfast in Dare, a cafe I assumed was named after Dan, given their rocket logo outside.

Always great fun. I bet we've been going twenty years and I've bought vintage monster magazines, action man clothes, old baubles, horror story cassette tapes, gifts, books and much more over the last two decades.

Dare's gone now, replaced in the Pandemic by a Turkish restaurant, which we've eaten in too. Nowadays we've finished our shopping with a meal at the fab Zaap Thai.

This year it was very slim pickings in the charities. Very little vintage stuff and hardly any toys of any age at all. There were fewer charity shops too, two down since last year, leaving just five now, two of which are Oxfam.

Another thing is that we are buying less and less since our Autumn return from Germany with a carload of stuff. It has meant less Charity shopping in general and much less car booting. I have collected more than enough stock for ebaying next year and the same for the Missus and her craft materials.

So this time we came away with a single second hand paperback, which I bought in Oxfam books: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I seem to recall Viggo Mortenson starring in a film adaptation of The Road that I've yet to see, but I do get it mixed up in my head with a Denzel Washington flick called the Book of Eli for some reason, which I've seen.

Do you know The Road? 

The discussion driving home on our road was of this being our final trip to Headingley, a long Christmas tradition sadly drawing to a close.

It has been a year of  tying things off in general, but hopefully in some way leaving us new space for fresh beginnings in 2025.

Is anything old finishing for you readers or perhaps something new starting up? 

I will miss our festive mooches round Headingley though.

SELBY SATURDAY SAUNTER

 On Saturday the Missus and me went on our first urban mooch since getting back to Blighty last week.

We like Selby, the no-nonsense market down just over the border in North Yorkshire. Its got a a huge Abbey, a great Department store café and lots of charity shops. What's not to like!

The Missus was looking for more modern stuff for the Grandkids. I was looking for old stuff, none of which I got but it was all fun to see.

This Action Man bundle caught my eye. Later additions to the annals of action I think the jeep and trailer are Sunny Smile releases rather than anything older. The man in the basket had very chunky rigid hands. 1990's?

This UK Monkees Annual is always interesting to see. From 1967 it was released by our old pals at Century 21 Publications, the literary wing of Gerry A's C21 organisation. It reminds me of those must-have annuals from his TV shows and my beloved Project SWORD annual. I assume it was printed by Jarrolds in Norwich like most if not all their others that year like Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet. I have this book in the attic along with most of the C21/ Jarrold annuals so I must check.

A good example of how wide Century 21 cast their net for licensing and the Monkees really were massive in 1967 on both sides of the pond. I had their iconic die-cast GTO - did you? - and as an adult I saw them, now much older, in the 1990's. Do you like them?

I snapped this because its new to me. Touchitt, A peculiar name for a board game and one I've never seen before or seen listed in my three board games reference books. It appears to be some sort of indoor table bowls game from a company called Kane Signs of Bognor Regis. It says TV's fastest growing game. I can't find a single reference to it online. This is one rare board game!

This large play table was interesting, although I'm unsure how its used. I always think how I would have whizzed my Hot Wheels around it or set up a Matt Mason/ SWORD/ Outerspaceman scenerio back in the day.  Did you have a table of sorts?

More Action Man in the form of his miniature alter-ego, Action Force. Here's Ladybird's hardback kids book, Flint's Holiday. I was too old for Action Force toys, when they came along and have only got to know them since becoming a toy collector. I've quite a few Action Force figures now, along with its American cousins GI Joe. 

Ladybird were masters of this kind of kids hardback in the 1980's and issued books for all the other top TV cartoons too and are no doubt great to collect: Masters of the Universe, Transformers, GI Joe and Bravestarr. They may have even issued more obscure lines like VR Troopers and Voltron. I'd have to check.

 Have you got any?

A blast from the heavy past, this old friend gave me a thrill to see once again. Judas Priest's Sin After Sin LP. I adored this album and may still have my copy. I had assumed my old Mum bought it me at Brady's in Preston but it was only released in April 1977 and I think she was sadly gone by then.

My favourite track was always Last Rose of Summer and I adored the cover art, the giant Egyptian columns reminiscent of a Hammer horror set.

Back then and even now I always considered Priest to be new kids on the block but then again, Sin After Sin in 1977 was my first taste of them, having for some reason skipped their earlier LP Sad Wings of Destiny. By 1977 I was 16 and totally immersed in Budgie, Rush, Led Zep and Sabbath.

Did you like Judas Priest?

And as its already on the tinselled path towards Yuletide I thought I'd end with a large drumming Santa toy. How cool is that!

I have the bell ringer and he rings it every Christmas.

When will you be trimming up readers? Late November?

Dark Shadows and Dr.Who

 A further visit to an Emporium garnered these photogenic items.

See anything you like? 

SPV and Dinky missile carriers. I have the large one in plastic by JR21.

An amazing miniature typewriter.

A gorgeous DIY dolls kitchen, which I thought was fantastic modelling.

An great condition ambulance unfamiliar to me.

Those wonderful Mini Sets.

These Dr. Who paperbacks were in Oxfam in Wetherby.

I looked this annual up. It came out every year for years. Just Westerns! How cool is that!

This trinket box reminded me of a strange old toy I've seen in reference books, A Dark Shadows musical box. I just can't think of the woman's name. You?

This ace metal Knight on horseback was in the gift shop of English Heritage in Gainsborough. There's just something about knights.