Going Spare

I had a deja vú moment this weekend. Something that took me back to the early 90's, when I first started collecting. 

Back then I attempted to restore a few Dinky and Corgi cars and you got repro parts via mail order. My preferred supplier was Steve Flowers. Payment was via Postal Order or cheque! 

Some thirty years on Ive just bought another repro part from Steve. Now he sells on eBay but it's the same high standard, reliability and quality he had back in the 1990's. 

Also, Steve still sends out handwritten sales lists of restored cars and cars for restoration. Handwritten lists were THE way to buy, sell and trade with other collectors when I first Started. It was a real joy to see one again. The human touch. 

As regards Steve's repro part I got I will post pictures when I'm on with the project.

Have you bought repro parts from a preferred supplier in your neck of the woods readers? 

CRATE EXPECTATIONS!

 I rescued these from the bin at Aldi.

Plastic toothbrush packet stands for display in the store.

Too good to just bin, I thought these little orange crates might do as something in one of my future models or toys. A Jungle Land Rover top? An Action Man storage rack? 

Any ideas welcomed!

One Good Turn

 Inspired by kind Timmy Toad's comprehensive photos, and playing to my strengths, I scratch-built the missing parts to the C21 Tank last night.

I left the motor/ wiring for another day when I get more (any) powers! 

The missing parts where all connected to the bridge winder and supports; a steering wheel and three rods. These allow the bridge to be 'steered' off the tank's turret and onto the ground. Timmy's photos made that clear to me for the very first time so thanks TT!

I raided the bits boxes and found these bits.

A few snips later and a steering wheel of sorts.

This old drumstick made for a perfect brace rod.

Some glue and paint and I ended up with this passable turning wheel.

The tank was ready to build bridges anywhere. 

Any good?

Next stop, Madison County!

UFOs- Unidentified Flotsam and Oddments

I bought a box of old tat this morning at a German car boot for two squid before the regen showers drove us away.

I've ID'd some of the toys over Frühstuck. Excitingly I think the silver knight parts are the Aurora Red Knight and they look battered enough to be original.

The Star Wars parts appear to bodies and limbs from the 1995 Power of the Force Boba, Darth Vader and Tie Fighter pilot along with a 1996 Shadow of the Empire Prince Xizor, a new one on me.

TTherte are some Elastolin viking torsos and bases, together with a mixed lot of old German plastic and metal bits like Crucifixes and a snowman.

The motley crew centre front is a mystery. Toy pistols, a raygun, a lizardskin arm, a solid metal cape, a red seat and so on. Any help with these readers and would be very dankbar!

DIG FOR VICTORY!

I'm always on the lookout for replacement Action Man equipment!

Made in Hong Kong for Hallmark of Kansas City, here's a bag of nifty plastic party picks that would sit well in Palitoy's Fighting Man's footlocker! A spade with a bayonet!

Can you think of any 'replacements' like this?

TELSALDA SWING WING

 

We've seen this before. Here's another Swing Wing Strike Fighter, this time released by Telsalda.

I've chosen to keep the landing gear pic from anold auction because its the same one as the Century 21 Project SWORD Scouts I seem to remember and a good replacement.

Its the same box art we've featured before too.

The one I have is by SL.

Have you got one?

DID YOU SEND OFF FOR SPARE PARTS?

Back in the day when we had toys did you or your parents ever send off for spare parts for them? 

Most toy firms had a parts department and mail order section. I imagine even Century 21 Toys had one. I can't recall that far back but you may do. Yes?

I have though recently had call to look up a spare Playmobil part for Moonbase Junior's mars  space station. The part, a leg, was available but sadly the UK online parts section wasn't in operation for some reason. 

Come back dial phones and postal orders, all is forgiven!

ERSATZ SPACEX MOONBASE FURNITURE

I bought this back of old computer parts at the local scrap-store.

The bits make great replacements for .....

the SpaceX Moon Base!

What do you think?

Here are the SpaceX originals.

There are also these old computer scart tapes in the bag

They recall the early days of computing!

Tapes like these remind me of an old and memorable sci-fi flick called Brainstorm, which features lots of 'em!

DIY SPACE TOY SPARE PARTS?

After an enquiry for SWORD antenna spare parts I had a look round for possible DIY replacements. On my Googling I found some interesting objects that would do for general space toying.

Here's some cool plastic disks, domes and tyres at EMA Model Supplies. I haven't bought any or used them so this isn't a recommendation, just a glimpse of what's out there.

What do you think?

LOOSE GAME AND TOY PARTS FILLED MY JUNK DRAWERS

Loose toy parts and game parts are the small change of most 

toy collectors.

There is usually tons of the stuff in any collection.

Here's some I acquired about 15 years ago.

Some stuff I recognise, some I don't.

The arm is from Mighty Mike the Dickie robot.

Even though log gone I am particularly interested in what the red-tipped space rifle is? Anyone?

Kev suggests that the above yellow part is maybe the sight off the Merit Sonic Ray Gun below [ picture: Amazon]

The rings are old plastic monster rings and belonged to Bill.

In here I can see Batman and a pig jigsaw pieces?

Alongside Worzel we have a figure identified not too long ago on MB, a Fisher Price Construx Man.

At the back is a yellow game part from the Jekyll and Hyde board game. Not sure why I blocked out some parts. I think the picture was used as a Buy It Now parts listing in my old Ebay shop in the mid Noughties.

No clues as to what these are from!

Brian F has spotted that the coloured game pieces might be from Parcheesi

Spot anything you recognise readers?

MY PEN CLIP FIND AND THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Whilst taking the Grandson, Moonbase Junior, on his first bus journey, to a local park last week I found a small plastic thingy on the playground.

I assumed it was a large pen clip but it didn't half cry out action figures!

I immediately thought of headgear or a crown - 

the X-Men's Cyclops or upturned, Magneto's helmet.

Maybe even Mego's Isis figure but on closer inspection her's is a jewelled headband. Here's a piccy from an old Ebay auction.

I also thought of the super nifty Martian Chronicles figures by Larami.

This one was getting there. The central shoot with the circle on top is similar. Even my pen top plastic is a similar grey.

This Martian is wearing my Mum's dressing gown! Anyone got Martians?

[Pic: MegoCentral]

Anyway's, short of finding the perfect action figure crown like my new pen clip I thought I'd bob it onto my recent mystery action figure cyclopean head.

What do you think?

Iron Man

Milk Man

Have you found odds and ends that you've used on your toys readers?

t in a circle amphibious car alive and leaking

You may recall the T in a Circle Amphibious Car.

This is a pristine example out of the box from the Ferryman collection.

My own example has seen better days and is basically roofless. Dry land only for my toy!

So I was amazed and frustrated in equal measure when I saw this on the Bay.

A spare roof for the toy!

Alas I was too late and have only just seen this old auction listing. Doh!

Are you looking for a spare part readers that just keeps slipping through your fingers?

birthday workshop: crafty salvage by kevin d.

Crafty Salvage

I have fairly specific collections of space toys, I'm not a generalist. I've got Spacex, Project Sword and Anderson stuff and that's about it. (Which wouldn't be a mile off a sentence in my biography!). I've managed to get most of what I'm after, partly by luck, partly by persistence but also because I'm not fussy (and there's another line).

Long ago, I realised that, despite what all the experts tell you on the 5,628 antiques shows that the BBC produce each week, condition is NOT everything! If you want something and it's rare, why wouldn't you buy a really battered example, rather than not have one at all?

Thus my gameplan was formed. I picked up all sorts of damaged goods, TB1 with no fins and a chewed nose, Apollo Saturn missing a fin, Fairylite Stingray missing the rear third and a Moon Ranger missing almost an entire Moon Ranger!

I didn't wish to display these as if they were from some far future scrapyard, so I needed to set about scratchbuilding replacement bits. Doubtless this detracted from their value but I didn't care, they looked good and they had been saved.

It was never really difficult. I have always kept boxes of random junk for building models, so I usually had something that would do the job.

When I picked up the C21 rocket transporter with a missing fin, I managed a replacement using an old chrome pen lid! 

TB 1 was fixed with some plasticard and letraset. 

The Apollo Saturn fin was really easy as the others were there to copy.

I was really aiming for cheap when U got an ebay Moon Ranger minus most of its bits. A plastic dome from a gift machine, some chrome tape and wire and the job was done! 

The same chrome tape saved my Bristol 188 that had broken the sound barrier once too often.

So, never underestimate what can be done when you love the toys of the Space Age and you're a cheapskate!

Kevin

aoshima mev escape pod needed!

This is the MEV from the Zero-X die-cast model by Aoshima from 2006 as displayed on Hobby Japan's site.

I have one of these but alas the small round insert is missing.

I think its an escape pod and it fits into the round hole in the white square on top of the MEV. The one pictures is slotted in with just the blue circular top showing. Its spring-loaded.

Does anyone have a spare escape pod or know where I might get one?

Thanks.