My Christmas Presents

My Birthday and Christmas presents this year were both very welcome and really brill.

Here they are grouped on an armchair as they would have been back when I was a kid.

A fleece, a handful of great books, fine modelling brushes and plastic glue, vintage toy stun gun (thanks Bill), toy rings including the Flash and an older Superman Kryptonite ring, a bundle of small vintage toys, a beautiful Ugly card (thanks Arto), a gorgeous wooden picture, spiced soap, Reece's peanut chocolates, a special home-made Hot Wheels box from my Grandson and a big uber-cool box of Micronauts parts from my daughter [I cant say Son-in-Law too as this year we did Secret Santa for adults for the first time with a budget of £50 each. My daughter got me as it turned out!]

Whilst mooching in Malton, I also treated myself a bottle of Southern Comfort on offer at Morrisons and to a Christmas Radio Times, a sort of tradition I have and the only time I buy one, At £5.99 its a gift in itself but its not the beautiful tome of woodcut illustrations it once was. Still, there's lots of Xmas ghosties, ghoulies and some sci-fi in the TV and radio listings., which I'll ring and watch/ listen to sometime. They're about the only things worth a festive hoot in there too IMHO!

Do you still get a Radio or TV Times UK readers or a TV magazine where you live in the world?

My friend Paul Vreede kindly sent me a fantastic box of Hot Wheels Rrrrumblers and a gaggle of original Star Wars toy figures customised by Paul in the 1980's. More on these later! 

Pics of your prezzies welcomed readers! 

Hot Selection Box

 At Christmas I received a fabulous gift of Hot Wheels from my good friend Paul V in Belgium.

A complete surprise here are some of the old die-casts kindly Paul sent me including some Redlines no less!

And so, as the last candles of Christmas finally fade into the New Year my thoughts are turning towards cleaning up these old beauties as best I can, with a cup of tea and a forgotten mince pie.

The Gift-Bringer's Kindliness

 A few of the fab gifts I was given this Christmas. They'll certainly keep me occupied this winter!

Books, The Art of Horror and Horror Tales, a collection of the famous horror comics of the same name.

Eighties horror paperbacks. Here's Locusts by the brilliant Guy N. Smith

And Carrion by Gary Brandner, author of the Howling.

A superb model-making set of tools 

And my daughter astounded me with this huge vintage Spanish toy, Rescate Especial, which I've yet to properly delve into. 

More to follow.

Santa was kind this year!

CHRISTMAS PRESENCE

 

A parting shot of Christmas proper at Moonbase with my Xmas and Birthday prezzies under the tree. I was really thrilled to receive my gifts, every one of them: 

a fab tray from my Grandson, lovely Superfast books and sherry from the Missus, fascinating Matchbox Car books, neat paint pens and writing pad [thanks W], cool vintage Shang Shi comics [thanks T], a superb Finnish vintage Star Trek comic [thanks A], a wonderfully restored SpaceX Surveyor [thanks P] and Chairman's Rum, nice soap, Corpse Grinders DVD, star socks and an amazing Shinsei Jeek Tunneln die-cast from my daughter and son-in-law.

More to come on many of these.

At my age I'm just happy to have a peaceful family birthday and Christmas so gifts like these just make it all extra special and I'm very grateful.

What did Santa bring you readers or were you on the naughty list?

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Well, its 2020.

Happy New Year.

Christmas is now just a trail of old pie crumbs.

Looking back over those warm festive days last week I recall fondly the gifts I received on my Birthday and Christmas Day.

So big thanks go to my Missus, my daughter and her family, my neighbour, Bill, Arto and Tony. All very kind.

The large plastic Spaceship in the centre is a Delta Bird 7 from my daughter and family. A lovely looking toy from Japan. I need to check the crossed TN makers mark.

Alas the Delta Bird 7 doesn't work so it'll need some tender care to coax it back to life.

I'll blog about the other stuff after I've had a good look at them.

What did you get?

LEAVING GIFTS

I've waxed lyrically about Christmas, Birthday, Holiday and Sickness gifts many times on Moonbase.

These events injected important new stock into our toy cupboards when we were kids. Many still do.

But there is another day when we usually receive presents.

When we leave a job.

I have left many jobs over the years. Some have been short jobs and some long. My longest, part of an environmental career that I left behind in 2005, was for 19 years. After so long in the same office I was showered with stuff: a photo album of the past two decades at work, a Marvel Heroes framed print and a stack of DVDs including Ghost in the Shell.

But it's three particular gifts that I got that emotional September day 14 years ago that I clearly remember: a ceramic Tardis, which had been on a colleague's desk for years and after much coveting by yours truly, it was presented to me on my final day! I

I also got a golden lion statue for good luck from a conservation volunteer and most typical of all I suppose, a Company pen in its own presentation box.

I still have all three of these things. I suppose they have that indefinable quality imbued into inanimate objects at emotional times, sentimental value.

Most of my past leaving gifts have vanished in the mists of time and space but I have managed to keep hold of the leaving cards I got, which go back to my very first job in 1977 with General Accident. It was a typical Seventies card, large and of a green fuzzy creature holding a horse shoe. I was a mass of hair and beard in those days, all patchouli and cheesecloth and one colleague called me Inri [no offence to anyone]. I wouldn't have remembered but its in the card as is another odd name I picked up there in my late teens, Chavvers, for which I have no explanation!

I left my first job in 1980 in a controlled fit of hippydom and escaped the rat race to live on a bird reserve in the deepest Fens. I still have the presents the wardens got me when I left there after an incredible 12 months on the land, a huge tin of colouring pencils and a gorgeous drawing of a reed warbler.

Leaving gifts are a strange thing. Momentos of work done and in some cases of a lifetime of work when we retire.

They are seldom vintage toys though. Not in my case anyway!

Have you had many leaving presents and do you remember them?