It's the Wheel Thing

A staple on MC, this multi-wheeled Space Defender would sit well in any Explorer12 collection.

Looking like a millipede or a stretched armadillo, the box art is great. Very Thunderbirdsesque! 

Seen online, do you have anything like this? 

SPACE CRAWLER: LET'S ROLL!

 

Multiple wheeled vehicles are a staple on the Base.

This Space Crawler, seen on auction a while back, fits the bill.

It looks great and very flexible.

Looking at the cable it must be remote-controlled.

Have you ant multiple wheeled vehicles? Pictures welcomed!

THE MORE WHEELS THE BETTER!

 

Have you any multi-wheeled toys readers?

JOINT MONSTER? YIKES! IT'S OK, IT'S EXPLORER 12!

Love this toy with it's obvious Explorer 12 chops: two multi-wheeled vehicles ready for extreme terrain.

But the name! Joint Monster! That's such a rubbish name! What were they thinking?

Have you got anything like this?

JOINT MONSTER: EXPLORER 12'S GROWING BROTHER

 

This ace toy has all the chops of the Explorer 12 space toy line. I can't make out the branding. I saw it on auction ages ago.

A double vehicle multi wheeled snow plough maybe.

There appear to be colour variations with different stuff like a radar?

The name's clumsy, Joint Monster, but I think that vehicles can be slotted together on the sides judging by the artwork. It just gets wider and wider!

Is that right?

Are Supertoys BHS?

I'm a bit confused. We've covered Explorer 12 toys many times but here's three I saw on eBay, which are branded Supertoys 1986.

I know about the Supertoys connection but these three look like BHS toys.

Are all Explorer 12 toys branded as Supertoys?

AXLE ROWS

I saw this yellow land-train style truck on an old auction site and thought immediately of the Explorer 12 range of toys we've seen many times on MC. The boxy looks, multiple axles, ribbed tyres and articulation are just rock 'n' roll.

The auction listed it as a Platis Boley from 1986. I have no idea what a Platis Boley is, a brand of toy?

Six years ago I post some You Tubery of someone's very similar multi-wheel truck. Is it the same range I wonder. It says FAUN on the front. Is that a toy brand?

Anyone shed any light on these yellow land trains?

SUPERTOYS LAST ALL SUMMER LONG

 I saw these Supertoys [of New York] EXPLORER III toy vehicles on auction a while back so I saved the images.

Being a sort of 80's type of SpaceX, the BHS Explorer 12 toy line has always found a warm welcome on Moonbase and these Woolworth specials have too.

Looking at the price stickers, they were clearly in a sale way back when and half price!

Mike Noble did the original BHS books artwork that went with the line. These Woolworth jobs look to be too simple to be Mike's work.

Did you have anything like this? Do you still? Does anyone collect them?

First Among Equals: Explorer 12: The Holy Grail

Check out Mr. Jay's amazing new find on his Explorer 12 website. It's the motherlode!

https://explorer12.co.uk/2022-haul/

What do you think?

EXPLORER III

Ever since finding an Explorer 12 book in the early 90's I've admired this range of small plastic space toys.

Here's an Explorer III Super Land Vehicle in a window box I saw on auction. Wotan would know better but I think this is a precursor to Explorer 12.

Have you anything like this readers?

I bet some lucky kids got it one Christmas in the mid 80's.

ALPHA EXPLORERS

Here's another Explorer 12 relative, the Alpha Explorers.

Unusually its coloured black.

Looks it was released by Supertoys.

I've also seen Manley Toys involved.

Do you know either of these companies?

SOMA 12x12 CLIMBER

 

This Soma vehicle looks ace and really recalls the design of the Explorer 12 fleet we have covered many times.

Did you have anything like this?

SUPERTOYS LAST ALL SUMMER LONG

 

I had to look twice at this.

Its a black Explorer 12 vehicle called Alpha Explorers.

Its got the features of the classic BHS Explorer 12.

Its by Supertoys.

I saw it online ages ago and saved the pics for Moonbase.

Have you got anything like this?

TODAY'S CATCH AT THE CAR BOOT SALE

To distract our minds from current woes we went to a car boot sale this morning. This is the toy part of what we got, the rest being baby clothes for the Granddaughter and books for the Grandson.

The toys we found were a lovely Fisher Price house from 1980, a clutch of plastic doll's furniture, a carded glasses repair kit, which will work for small toys too, a super cool Green Lantern ting, a Batphone, a Reverse Flash, an Andy Wildlife figure, a group of unknown Dr. Who mini-figs, a large plastic sausage, which talks, a small plastic FAB1 from the mid-90's and the catch of the day, a BHS Explorer 12 polar book with cover art and illustrations by Mike Noble.

What do you think?

LIONEL EXPLORER 12

I like this Lionel Yellow Explorer 12 Submarine Transport Flat Car I saw online. It may even be new. 

Anything with Explorer 12 on it always gets my attention.

Do you have a sub like this?

EXPLORER 12 FROM BRITISH HOME STORES

Its always interesting reading other toy fan's lists of fave toys. I stumbled across flatuswalrus' list this week and was pleased to see BHS's Explorer 12 range at number 28.

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/flatuswalrus/my-top-35-favorite-childhood-toys/

We've covered it many times on Moonbase like here on Wotan's excellent https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-evolution-of-explorer-12-toys.html

Joe Lang also has a brilliant blog devoted to the BHS range. Its now sadly dormant I think. http://explorer12s.blogspot.com/

There's a great Mike Noble connection too.

Do you remember Explorer 12 toys?

ROAD CHAMPS: THE CLIMB FOR EIGHTIES POWER

Yet another mid-1980's power range I don't know, here we have the 12x12 Power Climbers by Road Champs I saw on an old auction.

I reckon these bad boys, all auctioned,  are cousins of the BHS Explorer 12 line we've covered a lot.

They appear to have been offered in blue, green and red.  There are several different rear vehicles. The front snow-plough attachment seems to have been standard. I think they are articulated but I'm not sure how much.

Here's the red Power Climber with a few Schaper Stompers, which you may have had as well.

I can't find any film footage of this line on You Tube, although there is lots of Road Champs.

Do you Road Champ?

EXPLORER 12 TOYS: POLE POSITION

This lovely BHS Explorer 12 Polar Set appeared on Worthpoint years ago so I'm borrowing the picture.

I was too old for Explorer 12. It was a UK toy range for a later generation in the early 80's.

But Explorer 12 has enough Supermarionation chops to excite a Sixties kid like me and I suspect many of the Gerry Anderson generation.

It seems to combine elements of Thunderbirds, SpaceX and everything we like.

The magazine advertising and tie-in book art was also done by none other than Mike Noble!

Has anyone got the polar set?

What are the four silver balls for?

HIGH SOMA

We've seen a lot of climbing vehicles but this is new to MC.

It's the 12 x 12 Vertical Climber by SOMA released in 1987.

This was auctioned in 2019.

Do you like it?

Masudaya Floatster 12: Japanese style Explorer 12?

I love this Japanese Masudaya Floatster 12 toy from 1987. I assume it can float as well as crawl over stuff. Those tyres look like foan rubber.

Is it a type of Explorer 12 toy inspired by the BHS range of the 80's?

Check out this retail box with two colour variations.

What do you think?