Terranova47's Frank Collins Space Pirates Strip

In the OKAY ADVENTURE ANNUAL, this space story is illustrated by Dan Dare artist Harold Johns:

SPACE PIRATES by Frank Collins.

Terranova47

USA

Terranova47's OKAY Adventure Annual

Hello Woodsy

Further to the Boardman published books from 1954 I also have the OKAY ADVENTURE ANNUAL with works gathered from a number of sources, one story in particular is space related and illustrated by Dan Dare artist Harold Johns; SPACE PIRATES by Frank Collins (watch this Space).

It also contains an Iron Man story that predates the Marvel creation.

Here also is my reissued Pyro x-200 from the late 90's.

Terranova47

USA

Ed's Adventure Annual Pyro and Archer Toys

Woodsy,

The recent posts by Arto and Scoop regarding the Adventure Annual (and others) were fun.

 I too have a copy of the Adventure Annual and some of the toy-inspired characters and spaceships I have in my collection. Pictured.

 However, now it looks as if I need to track down the Cheriliea figures!

From Vegas Base

Ed

Arto's Cherilea Monsters

Arto recently picked up the 1950's Spaceways and Adventure Annuals. 

Arto says:

 I'm thrilled to see those toys, X-300 and the X-400 and Cherilea monsters like the Lizard and the Ant-Man (which I have as metal figures) featured in the Annuals' stories. 

(Pictures below.)

 I was unaware of this kind of connection until recently, and it adds a whole new dimension to the Pyro / Cherilea lore. 

It would be nice to know which came first, the annuals or the toys.

 The Pyro toys may have been already around in the U.S. at that time (ca. 1954), but how does the publication of the annuals relate to the launch of their Kleeware / Tudor Rose counterparts? 

Was there some kind of planned synchronicity?  

Arto

Helsinki Base

Will's Plastic Rockets

Hi Woodsy,

I've been really enjoying Arto's posts of the plastic rockets. Here's a couple of strange ones. The first one has a metal tab , I think to mount it on a bike handle. The second is a whistle.

Will O

Arto's Wittrock X-300 Mystery

In the case of Wittrock (and the X-300) there has been a development.

Re. the eBay auction of 2012,  I found my old photo files. Unfortunately, I had saved the whole internet page, which is why the photos were reduced to tiny 2 kb micro thumbnails. Except for those box ends, which I had saved separately!

What's more, Alphadrome has stored a photo of that boxed X-300 that was auctioned.

Which enabled me to compile these six photos, the first three featuring the Telex Wittrock box version which was auctioned in 2012, and the last three the Finnish Telex version.

As you may see, the Wittrock box ends state the toy as "Rumskib X-300" in Danish, with item number 123. The visible text on the side panel, "Rymdraket", is in Swedish. And there should be an additional Finnish name "Avaruusraketti" on the other side of the box, since the Space Cruiser itself is marked Telex on the underside (visible when enlarged). So the box says "Space Rocket" in three different Scandinavian languages!

The question remains how that three-language Wittrock box came to exist, and for which market it was aimed?

 Furthermore, it is still unclear whether Wittrock issued the "Rumskib X-300" for the Danish market with an all-Dane box.

For comparison, the same three photos of the standard Telex box version, with Finnish and Swedish box ends.

Arto

Helsinki Base

Wittrock

Telex

Ed's Space Rangers

Woodsy,

Further to Arto's post about Pyro's remarkable space fleet, over the years I've managed to pick up a few X-200 Space Rangers.

Bill Hanlon's Dimestore Dreams version was released in 2000 and is a bit odd in a couple of respects.

 First, they labeled it as the "Spaceship X-100" not the "X-200 Space Ranger".

 Secondly, it's considerably smaller than the original as seen in the comparison photo. It was released in silver HP only.

I've also managed to acquire a few color variations, although I'm still partial to silver spaceships.

From Vegas Base

Ed