TANKS A LOT: THE JAMES BOND JET PACK

Jet-packs come up on MC and someone mentioned Gilbert having made the James Bond version. A little digging turned up some photos, and it seems the Jet-pack used the same set of tanks as the Scuba diving set, but with different fittings.

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2023/08/it-is-rocket-science.html#comment-form

I do not know anything about Action Figures, so these notes are all based on photographs. There may well be other variations.

The Jet-pack seems to have been moulded in light blue, and have a silver bar across the top for the exhausts. 

The Scuba tanks were either light blue or yellow, and had a gauge on the back of the tanks, with an air-hose.

Four photographs from Worthpoint.

have you got anything like this readers?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Gilbert Bond Jet Pack

Jet-packs came up recently, and someone mentioned Gilbert having mae the James Bond version. A little digging turned up some photos, and it seems the Jet-pack used the same set of tanks as the Scuba diving set, but with different fittings.

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2023/08/it-is-rocket-science.html#comment-form

I do not know anything about Action Figures, so these notes are all based on photographs. There may well be other variations.

The Jet-pack seems to have been moulded in light blue, and have a silver bar across the top for the exhausts. The Scuba tanks were either light blue or yellow, and had a gauge on the back of the tanks, with an air-hose.

Here are the rest of the Gilbert photographs. This time, of the Scuba tanks, for comparison with the tanks of the Jet Pack.

Four photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Paul 

JAMES IN JAPAN

 

As mentioned before on MC the online toys Japanese ads section of the Skullbrain site is a regular wormhole for toy fabs like us.

This old Japanese ad for Gilbert's James Bond dolls and outfits caught my boomer's eye. I just love all those accessories like the spear gun!

The four outfits bottom left seem unfamiliar to me. Where they available outside Japan?

PS. if you see any Project SWORD ads on Skullbrain please do let me know!

WILL OSBORNE'S GILBERT 007 ROAD RACE SET

Will found his set!

A.C. Gilbert Company History

Hi all,
Here is a You Tube video on the history of the A.C. Gilbert company, which started out with magic sets, moved on to Erector sets (like Meccano), and expanded in to other areas of toy making. 

They bought the American Flyer range of model trains in 1938 - their working accessory sets were incredible. There are some shots of catalogue pages, including the famous James Bond slot-car set which Moonbase has covered before. Their war work is also covered.


Mr Gilbert (1884-1961) was an amazing man, in addition to putting himself through medical school with his magic sets, he was an Olympic champion - winning a Gold medal in pole vaulting at the 1908 London Games. At the end of the video is a great quote from a great man 'Never work at anything that isn't fun'.

(2) The Story of The A. C. Gilbert Company - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

MYFALL

It's been a very weird summer down here in Australia. Due to a La Nina, we've had rain, rain and more rain. Not that I'm complaining too much, as it's way preferable to raging bushfires!

Anyway, here's that cartoon I promised ya! I've actually had a few bingles making this model, earlier, I tripped up and landed, bending my left ring finger back at an interesting angle and yesterday I slashed the tip of the same finger with a scalpel -as you do...

I've always considered myself a reasonably bulletproof chappie, but falling off a ladder at age 63 is not quite the same as doing it at 23!

Now if I can just think of a suitably catchy title...

Hmmm.. Dr. Ow,     From Ladder with Rub,     Bentfinger,   Blunderfall,    You Only Dive Heights,   O.W.W.W.W.W, Onto Looey's Concrete Surface,   Balance Ain't Forever...

Awww, I'm never gonna figure one out! [what might you come up with?]

Hmmm, now I'm going to have think about something else to do! Cheers, L.

MARTIAN MAGIC TRICKS! MYSTIFY YOUR FRIENDS!

We've talked about Gilbert toys a few times this summer, largely to do with Honey West and their other agents.

Well here's another Sixties TV character that Gilbert got a licence for, My Favourite Martion.

I have yo admit it's not a show I recall here in the UK but it spawned a few neat toys and games.

I'm a fan of big boxed sets and here's The Martian Magic Tricks set I saw on Worthpoint.

Its choc-ful of tricks like the Rebellious Rocket, the Space Visitor and  the Penetrating Meteorite! I can't imagine what any of those are but it sounds like fun!

This set must be hard to find complete. All those trick parts will have got seperated and lost under the fridge the day after Christmas!

Anyone got this set or anything connected to My Favourite Martian?

THE NAME'S GILBERT. GILBERT ACTION DOLLS.

Woodsy

I enjoyed your Gilbert action figures piece and have attached pics of some of the 1/6 figures I've had come and go over the years. They're always good trade stock even if you don't collect them yourself. 

My fave is Moon McDare who has stayed with the collection.

You're welcome to post them on the blog and share them with the readers if you wish.

Tony K

UK

HONEY'S BOOKS

I dipped further into Honey West.

She originated in 1950's novels by one G.G. Fickling. Actually, it's two. G.G was an American man and wife team.

There are pots of Honey books on the net, many featuring her TV incarnation on the covers. Here's an eye-ful I saw on Worthpoint. I wonder how collectable they are?

I prefer the original gaudier covers, which place Honey firmly in pulp territory. Here are a few covers I found on Abebooks and similar with Miss. West wearing her trademark striped top.

These last cover reminds me of the narrow-faced doll Bild Lilli from Germany, from which Barbie would emerge. I wonder if Gilbert echoed Lilli in their doll's rendition of Honey?

Let's see ... Lilli's on the left.

Hmmm. Sort of. Maybe. What do you think?

Obviously the Gilbert Doll was meant to look like Honey's leading lady in the Sixties TV show, Anne Francis, with her trademark dark beauty spot below her mouth.

I mentioned Germany. For me the most salacious of all the pulp Honey book covers has to Bombshell, which I'll let you look up yourself. Its combination of nudity, machine guns and Hitler makes it almost Video Nasty cover material!

Honey spawned a neat US board game, which I'd love to see in detail and comics too. I wonder if she made it onto vinyl?

There was certainly enough interest in Miss. West around the world to cross-pollinate paperbacks in other countries, notably the Netherlands.

There's a full list of Dutch Honey here on vnster and I've taken the liberty of re-printing one of the typical photo covers. Honey with a speargun Thunderball style!

Apart from Bond girls I can't think of any other female spy-cum-private eye back in the Sixties except for Modesty Blaise. Modesty strikes me as a more adult femme-fatale compared to Honey. Have I got that right. Anyone like Modesty?

HONEY'S GUN

I've been researching a small metal toy cap gun I have.

I had thought it was this from the Gilbert Man from Uncle action doll range but that's a different shape as shown in this old sale picture.

Its actually from the Gilbert Honey West action doll range as featured in this carded accessories set. This one on this past auction example has a white grip cover. Mine's missing this although .....

..... this image on another old sale features two examples, one with and without the white grip cover.

I have the instructions of how to operate this small cap gun in a book I have called Spy Toys by Cramer Burks. For the life of me I just couldn't cock the thing, never mind slip a cap in! I nearly cut my thumb open!

Anyways, I enjoyed looking into this mini pistol.

One interesting aside I came across was mention of another female action doll by Gilbert, Domino Derval from the James Bond film Thunderball. 

Its listed as such on the Doll Reference website https://dollreference.com/gilbert_toy_company_dolls.html

As far as I know Gilbert only released Domino as this small 3.5 inch plastic figure [borrowed from Etsy] and not a doll. 

Emilio Largo appears to be similarly mistaken as an action doll rather than a small rigid figure.

Have you any Gilbert action dolls or figures?