Glimpses of Machinery

Discussing droids among us earlier in the month I recalled some songs about futuristic machines.

The earliest I remember is the fabulous Memory of a Free Festival by David Bowie. I was enthralled as a 12 year old with it vision of young people communing with Venusians and a Sun Machine:

We scanned the skies with rainbow eyes

And saw machines of every shape and size

We talked with tall Venusians passing through

And Peter tried to climb aboard

But the Captain shook his head and away they soared

Climbing through the ivory vibrant cloud

Someone passed some bliss among the crowd

And We walked back to the road, unchained

The Sun Machine is coming down, and we're gonna have a party.

Similar but darker is Bowie's Saviour Machine and it's terrifying mantra of My logic Says Burn! 

President Joe once had a dream

The world held his hand, gave their pledge

So he told them his scheme for a Saviour Machine

They called it the Prayer, its answer was law

Its logic stopped war, gave them food

How they adored till it cried in its boredom

Please don't believe in me, please disagree with me

Life is too easy, a plague seems quite feasible now

Or maybe a war, or I may kill you all

Don't let me stay, don't let me stay

My logic says burn so send me away

Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen

You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine

I need you flying, and I'll show that dying

Is living beyond reason, sacred dimension of time

I perceive every sign, I can steal every mind

Don't let me stay, don't let me stay

My logic says burn so send me away

Your minds are too green, I despise all I've seen

You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine

More recently those guitaring geeksters Radiohead described in stark terms modern mans' banal future sung-spoken in a robot's spooky voice:

Fitter happier

More productive

Comfortable

Not drinking too much

Regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week)

Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries

At ease

Eating well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats)

A patient, better driver

A safer car (baby smiling in back seat)

Sleeping well (no bad dreams)

No paranoia

Careful to all animals (never washing spiders down the plughole)

Keep in contact with old friends (enjoy a drink now and then)

Will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in the wall)

Favours for favours

Fond but not in love

Charity standing orders

On Sundays ring road supermarket

(No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants)

Car wash (also on Sundays)

No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows

Nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate

Nothing so childish

At a better pace

Slower and more calculated

No chance of escape

Now self-employed

Concerned (but powerless)

An empowered and informed member of society (pragmatism not idealism)

Will not cry in public

Less chance of illness

Tyres that grip in the wet (shot of baby strapped in back seat)

A good memory

Still cries at a good film

Still kisses with saliva

No longer empty and frantic

Like a cat

Tied to a stick

That's driven into

Frozen winter shit (the ability to laugh at weakness)

Calm

Fitter, healthier and more productive

A pig

In a cage

On antibiotics

On my CD player this month I've been enjoying the cyborg imagery of Turin Brakes' Underdog:

Two black lines streaming out like a guidance line.

Put one foot on the road now where the cyborgs are driving,

With the WD-40 in their veins the screeching little brakes complain.

And their starkly evocative Future boy with lines like:

Why are you pushing info into me,

I have no need for it, I'm from the stars.

Perhaps the earliest futuristic passage that appeared on MC back at the beginning was this brilliant but dark imagery by Damon Knight in his short story Masks. It even references a Moon Prospector! 

The prospector was climbing a crater slope with its handling members retracted and its head tilted up. Behind it the distant ringwall and the horizon, the black sky, the pin-point stars. And he was there, and it was not far enough, not yet, for the Earth hung overhead like a rotten fruit, blue with mold, crawling, wrinkling, purulent and alive.

What's your favourite lyric, line, verse or passage about machines,bots, droids and spaceships readers? 

MY MYSTERY MONSTER MASK

 One of the many mystery items I've bought this last twelve months was this small plastic horror mask. It remain unidentified, if you have any ideas readers.

Its a sort of blue, squidgy, gooey monster face

The mouth is open and drooling.

Inside the mask is a small plastic brace or fastener of some kind. Did it fasten onto something?

Any clue?

ARTO'S MYSTERY BAT SUIT

 

Arto kindly sent me this snap of his late December find, a fabulous vintage vinyl Bat Suit.

Can anyone shed any light on the make of this old costume?

Do you recognise it?

Or the catalogue shown open in this old Catawiki sale picture?

Mask Me Another

I saw this costume on auction and thought, hmmm, is that mask a Lady Penelope? What do you think?

No idea about the blue costume. 

I had thought it was Ben Cooper brand but looks like Collegeville is the make.

AFRICAN TRIBAL MASK KITS

In the 1950s kit makers were trying to find new subjects for models, beyond the usual aircraft, cars, and ships. Eventually military vehicles, large scale figures, and space models would become well established, mainstream subjects.

But along the way, some firms produced a number of truly bizarre items, with which they tried to tempt modellers. Many of these came from the smaller kit companies, looking to break in to the big time.

Palmer Plastics Inc, of Brooklyn, New York, was one of these smaller American kit companies. They mostly produced car kits, but also ventured out in to other subjects.

Among these were a pair of Authentic African Tribal Masks. Actually, it seems these were not kits, but single-piece mouldings.

Both were released as Paint by Number sets. Included were the moulded plastic mask; paints; brush; illustrated color guide; and mounting hook.

The colour guide was a sheet of paper, with a nearly full size drawing of the mask. Just like a normal paint-by-numbers painting this was divided in to numbered sections. Each number being a different colour. There were four glass jars of paint, held in a cardboard strip across the bottom of the box, and a brush. Once the mask had been painted to match the drawing, it could be hung on a wall.

The mounting hook mentioned on the box seems to be the thin plastic hoop between the horns. The box lid suggests suitable places for the finished mask 'Hang in your playroom - bedroom - den - living room'.

The catalogue number given on Scalemates is incorrect. It does indeed look like 7118, but the two sets are actually numbered 711A and 711B. The suffix to the number, -129, means that these sets sold for $1.29 in the US when they were released.

This old ad from a hobby industry magazine is dated September 1959, and describes the sets as 'New'. It shows both masks in full colour, giving a great deal of information on them. This includes the fact that they were shipped to retailers in cartons of 24 assorted sets, or 22 sets and two ready-painted display masks in a special, full-colour store display.

Palmer - Tribal Masks 1959 | Craft, Model & Hobby Industry S… | Flickr

Palmer Plastics Hobb-E-Kits Authentic African Tribal Mask

711B-129 Senufo (Ivory Coast) - Rigid Molded Plastic 10" x 5 1/2"

The mask was moulded in black, and this was used as one of the colours, along with yellow, blue, red, and white. In one corner of the painting guide it says 'Complete your tribal mask set by obtaining the "Ibo" mask kit'. That seems to indicate that there were only two different masks in the series.

This is the only mask listed on Scalemates, which gives a release date of 1958 rather than 1959.

Tribal Mask, Palmer Plastics 7118 (1958) (scalemates.com)

VINTAGE PALMER AFRICAN MASK MODEL KIT 1960S | #1984283984 (worthpoint.com)

African TRIBAL MASK. Plastic Molded. Palmer, Late 50s-Early 60s. | #1937836397 (worthpoint.com)

Palmer Paint by Number Authentic African Tribal Mask Senufo (Ivory Coast) Kit | #1945381099 (worthpoint.com)

711A-129 Ibo (Southern Nigeria) - Rigid Molded Plastic 9" x 5"

Again the mask is moulded in black plastic, and the paint colours are the same in both sets.

1960S IGBO AFRICAN TRIBAL MASK Paint By Number PALMER PLASTICS Model BOX TOP LID | #1867901666 (worthpoint.com)

African TRIBAL MASK, IBO, Plastic Kit. Palmer, Late 50s-Early 60s. | #1942456371 (worthpoint.com)

These sets are certainly not run of the mill. There are very few sales listings for them, and I doubt many were sold at the time. I could not find any sign that they have ever been re-issued.

Three photographs form Worthpoint

Paul Adams from New Zealand

HOLY SPECTACLES!

 I saw this recently on auction and I thought, Yes!

The memories of wearing some of these came bouncing back, such a classic design.

I wonder if these were licensed?

Did you have a bat mask?

Birthday Ball: Looey's Masque of the Red Robot

Hey there! We were talking recently about vacuum formed Sci Fi masks and how oddly hard they are to find. I don't have a big collection of them, but here are some of the best I've scraped together over the decades.

Pic 1 L to R two 80's era Optimus Primes and a Soundwave, Govarian (a Mazinger retread) red Dinosaur Squadron Cosiedon helmet and Gigantor

Pic 2 L to R Vehicle Team Voltron, Gold Lightan, Bioman, Lion Force Voltron (and yes, I do know their Japanese names, but that would just be confusing!)

Pic 3 L to R Red Power Ranger, Terminator 3 T-X and torn face T800 (apparently there was also a torn face T-X mask but I was never able to find one!)

BTW the license plate is a prop I made for the 90s Power Ranger film!

Pic 4 L to R Another Lion Force Voltron, Brave of Gold Goldran and two Astro Boys, including a side view face!

Pic 5 L to R Possibly the crown jewel of my collection, an original first issue vacuum metallised C3PO mask from 1979 along with a later issue gold paint version

Pic 6 L to R Mirrorman, two bootleg Gundam RX 78 and a Mazinger face

Pic 7 L to R a rusty Darth Vader I sculpted up for an abortive Lucasfilm merchandising effort, together with the only two items in my " Alien creatures Point Of Sale sweet jar" collection! An Italian jar with blinking red eyes and the classic Alien Pops head.

Pic 8 L to R five Ultraman faces, one of which is genuine while all the others are bootlegs!

Of course, I don't have many other styles like the Space Battleship Yamato Kodai in space helmet, Gatchaman team of Red Baron designs!

- or that tasty UFO Robot Grendizer mask that inspired this post! Do you?

Anyway, thanks for visiting my studio and mind your step up the spiral staircase on your way out!

Cheers, 

Looey

Oz Base

IN THE VACUUM OF JAPAN'S PLASTIC

Hi Woodsie as warned, the Skullbrain Vintage Japanese Adverts blog is an irresistible force and I've quickly slipped over the Event Horizon!

As I hurtle towards the singularity of Japanese Popular culture I can still send messages back to you in the real world.

This page is interesting, vacuum formed masks of various Anime characters-but wait! I think I recognise that mouse!

Cheers, 

Looey!

Oz

earth hung overhead like a rotten fruit

The prospector was climbing a crater slope with its handling members retracted and its head tilted up. Behind it the distant ringwall and the horizon, the black sky, the pin-point stars. 

And he was there, and it was not far enough, not yet, for the Earth hung overhead like a rotten fruit, blue with mold, crawling, wrinkling, purulent and alive.

Extract from Damon Knight's sci-fi short story MASKS

What do you think?

brian meets don post junior

The leaves are changing color at last.The impending full moon inspired me to dig out this Don Post Wolfman mask I've had for 40 years.

A few years ago I brought it to Mask a Palooza con and showed it to Don Post Jr. He was nice enough to pose for a pic with me! 

Awooooo!

Brian, New Jersey

*

Post Mortem

Don Post, master monster mask maker, has been called the Godfather of Halloween.

You can catch an exclusive interview with Don Post Studios's on the iconic Famous Monsters website from 2016.

https://www.famousmonsters.com/exclusive-a-history-of-don-post-studios/

TONY'S BEN COOPER' BATMAN MASK

Hi Woodsy, 
Hope you're keeping well and making a good recovery from your hospital stay. I really enjoyed your Don Post masks posting. Those vintage movie monster masks are brilliant. So detailed and cool. I've attached a couple of pics of my 1974 Ben Cooper Batman mask. It's a simple design, but I love it.

So much so, I put it in a car boot picture frame for safe keeping and display. I took it out for Halloween and put it on a Batman bust, whose expression suggested he may not have shared the comic irony of his cunning Halloween Bat-disguise :D

Take care Woodsy and speedy recovery mate.
All the best, Tony K

McHales Navy, Don Post, Ben Cooper and Monster Masks

I found this old clip of McHales Navy on You Tube. It stars the great Ernest Borgnine.

Not one I know, what really grabbed me though where the old Don Post Monster Masks I oggled over as a kid at the back of Creepy and Eerie comics. All the classic Universals are here and wait for the last one a little later in the clip!

This is the colour advert that I remember on the 1960's.

Looking at these masks again and I realise that they are very similar to the cover art of Famous Monsters and Monster World, where they appeared as adverts. Here are a fearful few:

There was a TV movie made about Don Post masks in 2004 called Monsterama: History of Don Post Masks and presented by Elvira, the rather voluptuous Mistress of the Dark which I've yet to see. There's a few clips on You Tube like this:

I've never really collected masks. I had a few as a kid including a hard plastic wolfman and about 10 years ago I bought a hard plastic Dracula, which was rather neat. These plastic masks are more the type I had, which I assume Ben Cooper masks are like too - hard plastic with an elastic band for around the head. Does anyone know if Ben Cooper and Don Posts masks are equally as collectable now?

Don Post was known as the Godfather of Halloween and Ben Cooper the Halston of Halloween [I had to look up Halston] according to Wiki. Alas Ben Cooper filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and Don Post Studios sadly closed its doors in September 2012.

Do you have a favourite mask readers? Maybe one from Xmases past?

LADY PENELOPE MASK?

I was browsing Ben Cooper masks the other day and I came across this one:

I immediately thought...Lady Penelope! But I was as wrong as a Toilet Roll Tracy Island. Its the Barbie Princess!

In fact I have been unable to find any vintage toy masks for Lady Penelope. There were toy play suits and jewelry but no masks. 

Have I got this right readers?