Mattel's Fembot: Spectra

Spectra!

I don't think I've ever seen a robot doll like this before.

Lacy, spacy, out of this world, it reads on the box.

She's like a female Micronaut or Cyborg.

There's five of them too. 

It's Mattel branded but I have a feeling Spectra was more common in mainland Europe. Is that right? 

Will's Weekenders

Hi Woodsy,

My other weekend buys.

 Will O

*

 A Tressy doll …. late 60’s

and 4 hornby o gauge No. 2 LNER coaches …. Mid 30’s 

And being pulled by a 20 volt Hornby Yorkshire "on the layout".

Dollhouse Videos

Being obsessed with my current VHS project at the mo, I was fascinated by these miniaturized dolls-house horror videos available on Ebay via Small Side Miniatures. I haven't bought any but they look stunning! I've no idea how they do it!

Do you like them?

Here's a tiny ALIEN!

Ebay

The Witching Hours: Witch Doll Was It in The Witches?

 Watching the old 60's chiller The Witches with Joan Fontaine I saw the votive dolls again, the props being two 1960's and contemporary toy dolls.

Two schoolkids buy them from a table top sale.

Here, the young actress is holding both dolls, a dark suited boy and a chestnut haired girl. 

I think the young lad is holding the boxes but I cant be sure. You?

Probably not Barbie and Ken, Are they a Sindy and a Paul like these collectables on the left from Jenjoys All Dolled Up online?

Here's the girl doll on its own in an earlier shot.

and a bit closer

Ive no real idea what the femail doll is [or where the male doll went] and besides it reminding me of the deadly doll in TV21's Agent 21 I wondered if Fairylite's Wendy might be a contender?

She's got the big hair but not the right colour. neither are the wigs. 

Maybe Sindy and Paul after all?

Have you any ideas readers?

Thank you and happy Halloween!

Rock a Bye Baby Doll and Friends

Recently I saw a big doll on a stall. Clearly from the Sixties or Seventies, the unusual feature was the key at the back. It was musical and played a lullaby, whist gently rocking. 

Googling musical rocking dolls brought me to ... Baby Rock a Bye! And yep, I would say that's the doll I saw, 18 inches tall, like the Kenner ALIEN! 

Obviously a design that kept on rockin', Baby Rock a Bye morphed into or came from .... Jane and Jenny!

But then again, Lucy maybe the wellspring too.

I bet this doll in some form or other appeared in some Sixties or Seventies TV show like the Avengers.

Is it a doll you know readers?

Here it is in lullaby mode. Careful! You may fall asleep! 

https://youtu.be/0f8dqMrDsjw?feature=shared

Samurai Central

 I recently picked up these 12" action figures dressed as a Chinese male archer and a female Ninja. 

Finely detailed and high quality, I've no idea of the make. No makers mark visible anywhere.

Still, here's some shots of them guarding (or attacking) MoonBase Palace.

Enjoy.

And a short clip of the above.

Candy Lost?

We're back in gorgeous Hornsea by the sea and I was faced once again with Candy.

Candy is the name I've given to a large shop display doll in the window of a charity shop. I blogged about her last September and yep, she's still there in the same chair. This time I even asked if she was for sale but no chance.

I call her Candy because she looks a lot like the girl doll of the same name from the obscure Gerry Anderson comic and book line, Candy and Andy.

Here's the Anderson Candy stood next to a lake in one of the Sixties comics.

Spookily we're sat in a very similar spot, on Hornsea Mere,  as I write! All I need is the doll from the shop and I could recreate the scene!

The question still remains, what happened to the actual Candy and Andy dolls? Are they lost?

The answer is no. At least they weren't around 1994. The then owner Roger Perry, erstwhile Century 21 editor, had them sold as he explains on the Bear Alley website in 2016:

https://bearalley.blogspot.com/2016/05/perrys-picture-post-part-5.html?m=1

"Candy, Andy and the two Bearandas be sent off for auction. By now, the rubberised “flesh” had become noticeably perished (the soft wire that ran through the fingers thus allowing items to be held began poking through the rubber) and some of the welded joints on the skeletal armature – particularly on the two bears – were sadly in need of attention. I believe the dolls were eventually bought by someone for an absolute pittance somewhere around 1994."

So there we have it. Candy et al were sold. But to whom I wonder?

I can't find any reference to that auction in 1994.

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?

Will's Patty Painter

Hi Woodsy,

Another girlie thing!

Did I see in the blog a little while ago some posts about the Denys Fisher Spiromatic?

This doll by Pedigree has her own , albeit hand operated. 

Will O

Fitzi Finds

Today I bagged a decent haul of cheap and interesting tat down at Fitzwilliam's bid Wednesday boot sale. Lots of vintage toys to be had along with knick knacks galore.

The 2005 Darth Vader Imperial Motorbike cleaned up well and once he got a DIY lightsaber in his mitt he was off! 

FAIRYLITE LADY PENELOPE AND TIN TIN DOLLS

Having established a profitable connection to the earlier Supermarionation shows with toys based on them the Merton based company Fairylite immediately bought into the Andersons most lavish production, THUNDERBIRDS. 

1966 saw the first true Anderson ‘Action Figures’ as we know the concept today. All of the main characters in the programme were represented with removable cloth outfits and fully articulated bodies. 

Despite Fairylite’s use of cheap ‘blown plastic’ bodies the overall impression is a good one and children were excited to be able to own the characters from THUNDERBIRDS in miniature form.

However 1966 was perhaps too soon for boys to feel comfortable embracing a doll. 

Palitoy’s ACTION MAN had only very recently appeared on the market in England and the concept was yet to be truly established. With this in mind a far more impressive campaign was launched to bring the female THUNDERBIRDS dolls to the attention of girls across the country. 

Adverts and competitions appeared in LADY PENELOPE comic one of which shows the variety in which the Tin-Tin doll was produced in terms of attire. 

The dolls heads are in fact one and the same. With a clever facial paint job, and hair colour/ style differences, Fairylite offered two very acceptable representations of the leading female operatives of International Rescue. 

Unlike the male dolls the female characters only enjoy movement at the shoulder, hip and neck much like many ‘fashion’ dolls of the period.

Lady Penelope’s packaging is of a far more feminine design than that which housed the male characters in the series but Tin-Tin is boxed in very much a hybrid of both styles. 

With Mattel’s BARBIE and Pedigree’s SINDY both doing well in toy shops Fairylite promoted their two characters in a similar manner. 

‘Dressing up’ and fashion changes were very much the order of the day as opposed to the ‘smash and crash’ stuff they were hoping boys would go for with the male dolls.

A variety of costumes were sold separately and encouraged girls to ultimately buy the entire range so both Penelope and Tin-Tin would have a wardrobe to fit any occasion or adventure. 

Some were pure flights of fancy on the part of Fairylite mimicking ‘Mod’ fashions of the day but others were close approximations of costumes seen in the show itself or the pages of LADY PENELOPE comic perhaps with some small differences to colour or design.

Now almost fifty years on from these dolls first appearing collectors will struggle to find a complete set of them and especially the accompanying accessory sets.

 The Lady Penelope doll seems to appear most regularly but not Tin-Tin and there are few who can claim to own all three variants of her.

Often overlooked by THUNDERBIRDS and Anderson collectors in general and regarded as ‘just for girls’ the Fairylite dolls are not to be dismissed by the serious enthusiast as they are rarely seen in decent boxed condition and represent well the characters who inspired their creation.

Anyone got any?

Jim Lewis.

first published on Moonbase Central 2010

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?

THE SEARS SPACE COMMAND CENTER AND SOUND STUDIO

I love a good space toy mystery, especially one involving box art. This unusual Sears Space Command Centre and Sound Studio appeared on fleabay recently. It seems to be a plastic work station surrounded by card screens and was presumably generic enough for all 12inch figures at the time such as GI Joe and Barbie [Barbie did get her own Space Station].

It's the four card art screens that I like [pictured above right]. Depicting various spacecraft, I recognised the floating city as being from a beautiful Ken Fagg cover from a 1954 If magazine [below left]. I know I've seen the spaceship, which is flying below the floating city, before but just can't place it. As for the rest of the craft shown I would be amazed if they're not from similar Sci Fi pulp covers of the 1950's and 60's. 

Anyone recognise them?

A reader has struck gold identifying the Discovery panel, above right, as the cover of the paperback The Lost Worlds of 2001. The cover was painted by Bruce Pennington and he became famous overnight when it appeared on the first issue of Science Fiction Monthly in January 1974 [below].

BARBARA AND LILI'S SPACE AGE BEDROOM SET

 I love this Barbara and Lili bedroom Recamara set by Mexico's Lili Ledy.

There's something so 2001 about it. The cool orb chair, the small TV, the phone - all so late Sixties/ Early Seventies space mod!

It sort of reminds me of the cool TV dinner tray in Kubrick's film.

Do you like this Lili Ledy set readers?