National Park Souvenirs

I love old National Park souvenirs like this plastic plaque in a Selby charity shop here in the UK.

 They could be from anywhere with big wildernesses and landscapes. This is from Banff in Canada. No doubt a British family visited it in the Fifties or Sixties, when natural tourism was just beginning.

It hints at long drives in a car or on a bus. I always think of a family Woody station wagon heading into the hills, parents eager to find the next monument and the kids eager for a burger!  

There's something endearing about souvenir designs especially for National Monuments and Parks. Are there any rocket or space-related Monuments and souvenirs?  

Souvenirs are fascinating windows into the past. Not toys but somewhere nearby.

I wonder if anyone collects souvenirs like this?

Aye Jim Lad!

 I so remember this ciggy lighter we had at home in the Sixties. A pirate's flintlock on a wooden stand.

Yep, cigarettes were second only to the telly back then! Ash trays and fancy lighters everywhere!

Was that your experience? 

PALITOY'S BRUTUS AND OTHER PLASTIC DOGS

 I always liked my Brutus as a kid. You know, the hard plastic boxer dog that kept the Palitoy Action Man Canadian Mountie company.

(was there a Hasbro GI Joe Brutus?)

I've always wondered if it - and the later Husky - was an original Palitoy dog or something else, an ornament maybe, like fancy goods?

Well, I'm not sure I can answer that yet, as I don't actually own a Brutus anymore so I can't be sure of any makers mark on it. Your help would be welcomed.

But, I can confirm that there was indeed a range of hard plastic ornamental dogs made in the 1960's, made in Hong Kong and individually numbered.

Here's what I've found online so far. 

If you know of any more please let me know.

 The range did indeed include a boxer like Action Man's Brutus, numbered 102. It lacked any collar or chain.

#107

#106A

#101

#107A

#108

? - can't read it

#101A

#104-5B

This is the only ornamental Husky like Action Man's I could find online. I've no idea if it's numbered. Your views welcomed.

BRINGING BACK SOME TRIK-TRAK

 The Missus and me have been on our first post-Easter rummage ramble today.

There were some highs and some lows.

The lows were waiting an hour for our ordered lunch in a cafe, after which we cancelled and left; the cost of parking going up to 90p for two hours and some stuff in one antiques joint way overpriced, namely a Galaxy Warriors Lion figure at £40 loose and 2 loose Tonka Supernaturals with a pile of accessories at £30. No chance.

The highs: we got the last 60p car parking slot and picked up a few nice bits, namely some cute vintage matchboxes [still full of matches!] and a tin the Missus loved for £4 the lot.

Some cheapo Timpo-style Western figs and a couple of dinos for a Squid.

4 loose Hot wheels for £2 at a craft/ second hand market; pink Double Demon 1988, yellow Megadestroyer 1982, 2002 Super Chromes Dodge Van reissue and to make up the 4, Wild Thing 2002.

Catch of the day had to be this 1960's Triang/ Transogram Dare Devil Trik-Trak boxed set for £8. It looks complete and the box is huge. Maybe a few rips, scuffs and biffs to the box and parts but it looks great. To be road tested later this week. Is this a toy you had readers?

I did walk past life-size kids' 2003 Jakks WWF Wrestling belts in a charity shop, two of them for £4. Maybe I should have got them. Oh, and I passed a huge black RC Dodge Charger monster car from Fast and Furious [no remote] at £3.

All in all, a decent West Yorkshire stroll.

Have you picked up anything of late? Pictures welcomed!

Tut Tut

 I had to look twice at this toy sarcophagus on Ebay.

I thought it was my beloved King Tut. It was described as being for pet burials!

King Tut was a magnetic novelty in the Seventies. This one's on eBay too

As a kid I bought King Tut and Restless Skeleton from Ellisdons  Mail Order in Liverpool. Both long gone and no doubt restless as ever.

I did see a restless skeleton toy on the much missed Cobwebbed Room website 

You can it's full entry here:

https://cobwebbedroom.blogspot.com/2011/10/skeleton-in-coffin-novelty.html?m=1

Long time blog reader Andy B kind sent me a boxed King Tut years ago. A lovely surprise.

Did you have a King Tut or Restless Skeleton?

THE GREAT BRASS BATTLECAT MYSTERY

Like me, many of you will know that Mattel's Big Jim orange Tiger was recycled to create ...

... the green Masters of the Universe Battlecat.

but you may not know about its brass 'battlecat' relative.

I certainly didn't when I first saw one in Bradford's 4everetro shop, priced £125.

 It was complete mystery to me!

The friendly proprietor explained that they were basically fancy goods, which had turned up on brass ornament market stalls years ago.

Looking further into this mysterious feline I found, well, a LOT of them!

There's a whole cattery of ornamental tigers and looking at the many online discussions/ videos and listings its clearly fascinating to many toy collectors and MOTU fans.

For example, below is a 'Siberian tiger' I found pictured on Etsy. Looks like the Battlecat to me!

Here's is a Chinese tiger ashtray.

Here's a Chinese panther.

and here's a plastic tiger.

This classic tiger pose seen on all the above appears to be everywhere when it comes to toys and fancy goods. The MOTU cat is just one of them.

So, is the brass tiger a copy of the Mattel Battlecat or simply a very moggy coincidence?

What do you think readers? Can you shed any light on this feline?

Do you have a brass cat on the mantlepiece?

SHARP SHOOTER

Woodsy,

RE: your latest posts about the English Civil War pencil sharpeners are quite interesting. The American Civil War (ACW) has seen its fair share of souvenirs as well. 

Here's pics of my pencil sharpener cannon (the second pic shows a Marx 54mm figure for comparison). As a kid, I bought them from the Natural History Museum in Milwaukee, and I used to have souvenir musket bullets and play Confederate money as well - also museum purchases - but they are all long since gone.

This particular cannon was purchased a few years ago for my ACW soldiers from fleaBay.

BTW I do have actual Confederate currency I bought when I was still into coin and currency collecting many moons ago.

Cheers

Ed

Las Vegas

UNDER A BARREL

Hi

The recent post on Oakwell Hall included a photograph of some cannon pencil sharpeners, with Made in China on the boxes. The cannon actually look too modern for the English Civil War, but they are still fun models.

Here is my example. It is the same as the ones in your photograph, except it came on a card which says Nostalgic Pencil Sharpener, not in a box. Mine also seems to be lacking the rear end of the gun barrel - I am not sure if this was a firing mechanism?

It is of heavy die-cast metal, with an antique bronze finish, and black plastic wheels. The barrel has a very limited degree of elevation. Length 100mm.

Mine also says Made in Hong Kong on the card and under the trail. The actual pencil sharpener is under the barrel.

Have you got one?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Swinging in the Rain

It's crackers what you see in charity shops. I had a double-take when I saw this strange object, a samurai sword handled umbrella!

Having enjoyed Scoops recent Steed Swordstick post I just had to check if there was a sword inside the canopy!

Nope but what an odd brolly it is.

Have you seen daft stuff like this?

OUTER PLATE MEN

 

I just liked this when I saw it on auction so I saved the pic.

The compartmented card art recalled my beloved Colurforms Outer Space Men.

The old graphics of muskets and drums takes me right back to the Sixties and Seventies.

I would have loved this as my light switch plate. You?

THE HANDI TELE-REST

 I had to chuckle when I saw this.

The height of technological advance in the Sixties or Seventies!

Its one of those so-called fancy goods that filled little shops at one time. Remember those shops stuffed with crucial rubbish?

Now you can get them on Ebay still boxed! Its as if you can reach across time!

Yes, the Handi Tele Rest allowed hands-free phone calls before you knew you wanted one.

Essentially a plastic coat hanger, it fitted all phones no problem and matched the colour.

I never saw one of these must-haves at home when I was a kid or even in the office I first worked at in 1978.

Did you readers?

The Las Vegas Dice Clock

Hi Woodsy

I just saw your post about the gondola music box. I do not recall my family having anything along these lines when I was little, but here is another souvenir item from a bit later.

My late Mother found a Las Vegas dice clock, similar to this example from Pinterest, at a flea market/car boot sale here in Auckland, back in the 1990s. The body was heavy orange plastic, which curved back to provide a stand.

The movement was a simple battery-powered type. The really great thing about it was that the numbers were all dice, glued to the clock face.

I do not recall ours having the radiating lines from the centre, but I can not find it to take a photo, hence this shot from the inter-net. Type in Las Vegas Dice Clock, and a huge number of different designs appear, in various colours.

Ours did need to have its movement replaced after a few years. But I just loved it - my favourite clock ever. Just so much fun, even if they were probably produced by the million for the Las Vegas souvenir market.

Anyone else got something like this?

Paul Adams from New Zealand