Tender and Transporter: Two Missing SpaceX Toys' Custom Images and Models

Hi Woodsy,

The very first thing I did with AI when it became available was try and have it generate realistic images of the Spacex Crash Tender and Rocket Transporter. With utterly useless results!

Seeing Bill Everatt's images (on MC) prompted me to have another go. Fed some images and info into chatGPT2 and here's what I got.

First a straight translation of the cardback images used as examples and then a higher-up view that shows some errors.

 

Though they look too large to be Spacex toys, they do look convincing (which is why I decided to put some stamps on).

What do you think?

Paul V

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To add to Paul's fab renditions of 'lost' SpaceX, here's my own efforts from 2019 at making a home-made model of each of these fabled SpaceX toy vehicles, two of the 'missing' four.

Hope you like them.

If only the real things would turn up! 

Deep Purple Piles

 My good friend Paul V has covered this in detail on his fab SpaceX toys site, but I thought it's interesting to see again the auction bundle a strange metallic purple Nova appeared in, as seen here deep in the middle.

Such a gorgeous little thing. It always amazes me the piles of stuff SpaceX and it's kin turns up in and often it's Apollo Space Exploring piles like this. 

There's a few extras here too, a silver missile, a grey Enola, a TB3 knockoff and even a sleeping Captain America!

Do you have piles like this?

American Knockoff: MEV2

 Checking old auctions I came across this neat SpaceX knockoff MEV2.

Like it's distant parent, it's a lovely little thing in a blister card.

I always loved the NEV2, the green and orange combo of skeletal parts, the dome and science arm finishing it off perfectly. And it rolled so well!

I like the backing art on this card too, the LEM on the lunar surface. Is that a Cricket at the lower left?

You can read much more about the S S Kresge SPACE series of knockoffs, including this very same example, on my friend Paul V's marvellous SpaceX website.

 https://share.google/YGpQFo9KXyD5FeE2e

Have you any SpaceX knockoffs or clones?

Paul's SpaceX Surveyors and ... one S.W.O.R.D Moon Crawler!

My good friend Paul V kindly sent me this fab picture of his fleet of fabulous SpaceX Surveyors.

 It also features a Surveyor that Paul customised into superb miniature Project SWORD Moon Crawler, which he very kindly gave me as a gift for my birthday in 2021.

PS. Paul has some spare parts for another mini Moon Crawler if anyone is interested. Email me.

Ed's Breakfast MOLAB

Woodsy,

Here's my MOLAB. 

I got this along with other toys in a job lot and it took me forever to figure out who made and that it was a cereal premium. My sample is missing its wheels and I haven't bothered to make it whole yet.

From Vegas Base

Ed

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And from blog friend Paul V ...

My website has two of my Molabs on it. 

(I do have a cereal version as well but kept Bill's pic on this page because that came first. :)

https://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAorig/MolabOrF/MolabOrP.html

Best -- Paul V

LINDA'S LONE RANGER

 

I like this unusual figure by Linda. Its all new to me and one of a number of Linda dolls I've seen, this, the first male one and certainly the first Lone Ranger.

Anyone got one?

Linda will be known to Thunderbirds collectors for their vintage snowglobe. SpaceX and Golden Astronaut fans may know their Apollo Spacers range of knockoffs, fabulously covered on Paul Vreede's website here https://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAderv/LNDA/LndaCpPg.html

Station to Station

 I've always liked the rare three-legged space station by LP or Lik Be seen here top right in Wotan Bill's old collection.

It's composition is described in detail by Bill n MC and our friend Paul V's Triang SpaceX site (link to site in the labels below)

Such a cool and simple thing, I love the two flat circular platforms the most.

Another structure with circles are these futuristic buildings with Saturn-like rings on the old cover of the US Tarheel Project SWORD catalogue.

Here it is in close up. Again, simple but effective.

The busy cover brings to mind a Worlds Fair like this artwork for Seattle in 1962 with it's iconic double-ringed needle.

Or Mike Trim's Car Vu, with those spiral ramps and the saucer tops, seen in the first episode of Captain Scarlet, where an SPV drives to the top!

Another rare toy is the card space-port tower found on the back of the Golden Astronaut gift pack described again on Paul's fabulous Triang SpaceX  site ( the only place I've ever seen it).

In close-up it's a central spike topped with another ring structure and a final smaller ring like the LP station.

Again it recalls the Seattle Century 21 Needle

Or even the Tracy Island roundhouse from Century 21's Thunderbirds, seen here being worked on by Mike Trim back in the day.

Another Century 21 building I like is this yellow Century 21 Toys, where Agent21 gets all his deadly gadgets in TV21.

That huge glass sweeping front could be straight off the pavillion at New Yorks World Fair in 1964.

My final sweeping structure is this excellent building and skyway on the box of Bichi's Carlos V Batmobile released in South America.

There is a black and white sweeping cityscape with FAB1 too but I can't find it.

Can you think of any circular space stations, ringed towers or sweeping future scapes you like readers?

THOSE PUPS JUST KEEP ROLLING THEIR EYES

 Years ago my friend Paul V discovered that LP Lik Be re-used their toy puppy eyes as space domes. You can read about this fascinating discovery on his fab SpaceX website.

https://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAderv/LPHK/LPhkSmTy/LPdomes/LPdomes.html

Those domes are a mindworm. I just cant help coming across rolling dog dome eyes. I've spoken about blow moulds before and here's another one in the US, a large ball visible underneath that propels the pooch along.

This is a big puppy at 12 inches long, much bigger than the LP Space Dog but the same principle.

Paul V has just found one of these doggies pictured in a French Sitap toy catalogue too!

Can you spot any dome eyes readers? Keep your eyes peeled.

Let me know.

BLOGGIVERSARY PARTY PIECE : ARTO'S FANTASTIC LP SPACE EXPLORING BOX SET #234

The otherwise dry summer of toy scouting saved the best for last. The Juthbacka mega fair which attracts more than 400 sellers from Finland and Sweden provided this rare Space Exploring set by LP, or Lik Be Plastic and Metal Factory of Hong Kong. A photo of its contents can be found in Hong Kong Toys '72 magazine (photo courtesy of Paul V's Triang Spacex Toys website).

With an item number 234, this beautiful space diorama includes a LP 104 Space Rocket with a chromed double-disc nose antenna and spaceman, white/orange moon base station, red Mercury capsule (missing hatch), two moon rocks and four golden astronauts. A bit odd an addition is the miniature army jeep (or "moon buggy") with a mounted gun. The box measures 23 x 10 x 10 cm.

What’s new about the box are the small promotional pictures of boxes of other LP space toys, namely LP 102 Moon-Explorer Car with a missile launcher (item number unknown for this variant), LP 103 Space Explorer, and LP 104 Space Rocket included in this very set.

Arto

Helsinki Base

ED'S NEW KNOCKOFF CRICKET

Woodsy and Fellow Moonbaser's,

I managed to score this nice little knock-off of the Spacex Cricket. 

After looking at Paul V.'s SpaceX toys website it appears to be from an unknown manufacturer. My sample is missing the grill, one hubcap, and the gun mechanism has been glued in place but it's still a nice little piece.

 The photo editing gave it a more yellowish hue than it has up close and personal. It's more of a cream color with yellow mixed.

From Vegas Base

Ed