I'm pretty sure my Missus was a secret agent in a previous life. She has field craft. She just knows stuff.
Last year she left matches in a caravan loo we were sharing with friends. Apparently lighting one rids the smallest room of unwelcome nasty niffs! Who knew!
This year I am looking at wet paper balls.
What are they? Well, turns out that soaking sensitive documents in water and rolling them shredded into balls renders them impossible to read. Once dry they can bec Chucked in the recycling bin!
Obviously if you have a shredder or incinerator then the above wet work is unnecessary.
I am planning on issuing my Missus with a Secret Sam Attache Case before SCMURSCH blows her cover!
This was the kind of cheap spy rack toy I loved as a budding agent. The Bullet Firing and Puff Pipe by Woolbro. I think I saw this on Etsy so saved a pic. The grey plastic ammo looks a lot like the stuff you got in Redbox spy toys too.
And look at that header art! I'm shaken and stirred!
I can see it now, a large black plastic case jam packed with spy gold like a fully compartmentalised rifle with detachable pistol and orange secret message missiles. The case even fired plastic toy bullets from the side! How damn cool was that!
Nothing really brings back the Sixties for me like Secret Sam!
Did you have a Secret Sam case?
As a collector and toy trader I've loved getting back various Secret Sam cases. I've completed a couple of incomplete sets and sold one or two cases on my old toy stall, which was fun, discussing classic spy toys with customers - in hushed tones of course!
I think only my Topper Johnny Seven One Man Army rifle topped my Topper Secret Sam case!
Here's a vintage Secret Sam TV ad from America when kids met other kids in trench coats and handed over attaches! How fab!
One of the neatest features of the Topper case was the secret camera. Real pictures of dodgy bad guys could be taken by clicking the button on the side of the case ...... and it really WORKED!
The detailed instruction sheet explained everything about the working camera and how to insert the film, standard 127 roll. No film was included in the case but it was widely available back then I imagine.
Alas I don't recall ever getting the film or taking any photographs, despite clicking that camera till it hurt.
Fortunately the Secret Sam camera is still popular among camera buffs and you can still see what sort of snaps it took online! I could only find black and white results but I understand the camera also took colour snaps too.
Here's a fabulous example of a modern Secret Sam camera enthusiast on Flickr, Tony Kemplen and his gallery of superb monochrome Secret Sam photos:
Out of curiosity I tried to find some 127 film available to buy now but found it hard to locate. One rare stockist, Analogue Wonderland, had this bundle for £14.
I wonder of any of you ever took any Secret Sam photographs?
Do you still own one of the 127 film cameras?
The Secret Sam camera also appeared in another Topper set, the Secret Sam Camera Book, a toy I have only ever seen in pictures online.
I'm fond of the old Merit Special Agent set. I didn't have it as a kid but later as a collector I found an incomplete one at a car boot sale. I spent a good few years trying to complete it but with only a little success, replacing the retractable knife only.
So it's always a thrill to see complete sets still around and here's one I clocked on eBay so I kept the pics. Doesn't look like there's anything missing!
I discovered that Merit released the toy sprung knife separately on an Army header card. I never found anything else released separately.
The last picture shoes this set appearing in the Argos catalogue in 1974. It was for sale at £2.25. Wow! Did you have one?
Following on from my recent Secret Sam post about the camera, Bill's comment about the actual film format got me thinking about the inside of the toy camera. I don't have one any more so I can't post a picture. I seem to recall a metal spool inside.
Anyways, here's a picture of the camera spool dial courtesy of one for sale on Etsy:
Bill's thinking is that the film spool was a 127 film like this - courtesy of Wiki [Smial]. The 127 roll film with empty reel is in the centre, a miniature cartridge 135 (left) and a 120 roll to the right for comparison:
Looking for answers I went to the funny papers paperwork that came with the Secret Sam toy from Topper Toys [my own collection]:
With the camera prominent on these toy papers, especially the case sleeve above, which even shows an example of a photograph, the camera film IS mentioned and it is indeed a 127 roll! Way to go Bill our resident camera expert!
I absolutely adored my Secret Sam Attache Case by Topper as a kid in the Sixties. It was the number one spy toy that year and a must-have for a budding agent.
I've bought several cases over the years and repaired a few of the items. I even acquired a decent photocopy of the paper sleeve, which came round it in the shops.
One thing I can't recall is whether I actually took pictures with the camera. It was a real camera and did take photographs., as this old advert clip proves [You Tube]. A roll of film wasn't included with the set, which I thought was an error by Topper.
What sort of film would it have taken readers and did any of you take any Secret Sam camera snaps?
