POPPING INTO PONTEFRACT

 A recent visit to the 'Etsy' shop in Pontefract with a mate was interesting. Despite not purchasing anything I always enjoy checking out the various cabinets and shelves there.

This was a great selection of old TV die-casts. The battered FAB1 was £24, too dear for me. The Black Beauty was £12. I wuz tempted but the Bank Manager clamped my wallet!

High up in the Gods lurked this boxed Hood figure. I assume its from the 1990's revival.

Over the road in the old courts this big thingy on the yellow table caught my eye. New to me, its a plastic Fisher Price muscle car that opens up revealing a sort of Adventure People driver. Neat. Anyone know it?

All in all I found the prices too high today. I need car boot prices!

ALPHA MAIL

 Junior's room is full of spacecraft.

The old Fisher Price Alpha Probe is a great addition from earlier in the year but brand new Lego is the new kid on the blocks.

Looking at the Fisher Price astronaut I realised that the appendages on the helmet were binoculars.

Thunderbird 1 is on standby by the Junior's rock collection

Two icons finally came together to keep the staircase safe.

Have you got spaceships in the stairwell?

TUGGY TOOTER AND THE AIR CUSHION

I love this Fisher Price Tuggy Tooter. FP were just genius at creating cute transport toys like this. It toots when you press the bellow.

Have you got a Tuggy Tooter?

I also like this Air Cushion Craft, which I saved the picture of from an auction.  Very Thunderbirds I reckon!

It sort of reminds me of my beloved Project SWORD Scout 1 in a way, with its white body and oblong radar. What do you think?

FISHING FOR A BARGAIN: THE ADVENTURE PEOPLE ALPHA PROBE

 

On our recent visit to the vintage toy shop 4eveRetro Junior bought this 1979 Fisher Price Alpha Probe for a tenner. Bargain! It is just missing the escape pod and EVA pipe.

Working fine and with a Fisher Price orange astronaut, the three sound and light effects are great even after 44 years!

Junior's now 7 and can do his own repairs. Here's his home-made battery cover. Job done!

Do you like the Alpha Probe?

I couldn't find a 1979 TV ad on YT but there is a 1977 ad for the earlier Fisher Price Adventure People range. Have you got any? Did you have?

BATCAVE UPGRADE

The home-made cardboard batcave proved a little flimsy in the hands of Moonbase Junior so we got an upgrade courtesy of the local gumtree.

Its an Fisher price Imaginext Batcave with accessories. £20 all in. We got bane too!

Junior loved it and withstood a full 4 year old flurry of kapows!

Have you got a batcave?

FISHER PRICE ACTIVITY CENTRE: COT LAPTOP

A blast from the past for us at Moonbase, the Fisher Price Activity Centre!

Our daughter had one of these fun labs in her cot as a nipper. A stroke of genius, FP were ahead of the curve in the 70's in many ways and this nursery figi-cube foretold of more modern distractions like the laptop and the X-box!

It had everything a kid could want: balls, dials, bells, spinners and squeaks! Those boffins at FP even thought of a cot strut clamp that tightened to suit!

Did your kids have one of these?

HELP ME OBI WAN, ITS OUR ONLY CAKE!

Browsing through some old Kids Parties books I came across an old friend,

Yes, gracing the Rocket Cake picture was an old Kenner C3P0, no doubt waiting for an oil bath by Luke!

Like the golden C3P0, I suppose Kenner figures were and are ideal for cake decorating. Have you ever used them on cakes or even received a space-themed cake ?

Also in the same Eighties party book was this chocolate train cake staffed by Fisher Price Little People no less! How I'd like to have those figures as I'm trying to track down some for my Grandson's old Fisher Price aeroplane, which is grounded as it hasn't got a Captain or enough crew!

Have you got any old Fisher Price toys?

What's the best cake you ever got or made?

FISHER PRICE ADVENTURE PEOPLE: THEY'RE FLIPPIN' ADVENTUROUS

I do like Fisher Price Adventure People.

I bought these loose toys at an evening toy fair years ago.

There is something very appealing about the designs.

I wish I'd have been a kid when they first came out. What a Christmas treat they must have been.

My own fave is the Sea Explorer.

I read in my Tomarts Action Figure Guide that it doubled up as a Flipper play set.

I'll have to research this a bit more as I can't find it online but I think it looks like this set I saw on Etsy despite Flipper not being mentioned.

Do you like the Adventure People?

HAVE YOU PASSED ON ANY HAND-ME-DOWN TOYS TO RELATIVES?

I never thought my old toy stall toys would be played with again.

But thats whats happening.

Our Grandson, Moonbase Junior, is enjoying vintage stuff from the attic I never sold on!

In fact he's my best customer nowadays!

His latest fave oldie is this loose vintage Fisher Price set-up called Market Street or Main Street from 1986.

He loves pushing his die-cast cars up and down and mixing in some old Playmobil figures.

There was a time when I wouldn't have let anyone near my vintage toy stall stash but Moonbase Junior is welcome to what's left.

I suppose they're hand-me-downs now.

Funny how things change.

Have you passed on any toys to a new generation?

MYSTERY THREE INCH PLASTIC MAN: SOLVED!

A while ago I mentioned a mystery figure I saw at Huddersfield Market.

Here he is again on Ebay listed by en equally puzzled seller, cheral_1955.

Mystery man is 3 inches and tall, plastic and from 1985.

Anyone know who this fella is?

*

ADDENDUM:

MYSTERY SOLVED

Its from Fisher-Price CONSTRUX!

Thanks Brother Midnight!

Other figures in the system included a soldier and a purple alien.

Anyone got any Construx toys or sets?

FISHER PRICE STAR WARS ADVENTURE PEOPLE: THERE IS ANOTHER

I used to enjoy collecting Fisher Price Adventure people. I've blogged about the range before. At one time they were common fair at UK Car Boot Sales.

However, in all my booting I never came across anything like these Adventure People - Star Wars crossovers! Given the global success of Star Wars it was inevitable that virtually every other minor space line would be unscrupulously  morphed with it like this at some point!

Called HOMBRE ESPACIAL they hail from Argentina and were made by PPL. Sought after in their own region, you can read about the whole range here in this fascinating online article by John J. Alvarez.

Do you collect anything like this readers?

Happy Star Wars Day!

FISHER PRICE ALPHA PROBE: IT'S BIG!

The Alpha Probe by Fisher Price 1977. Yes! As featured on tonight's Celtica Radio SWORDcast.

Anyone else got one?

Check out this fabulous online FP Club checklist of Adventure People figures too!