Doll, Card and Blister: My Home-Made Star Maiden's Final Look

 Armed with my baguette blister box I've finally finished my home-made Star Maiden Guard doll on card.

Here's she is complete with new glued-down blister cover.

This decent 12 inch blister does real justice to Wotan Bill's fab repro card art and my home-made doll and clothes.

Its been fun!

Hope you like the final article.

Guards! My Moonbase Star Maidens Home-Made Doll and Backing Card completed

My Star Maidens project is complete.

At the start of November I had a crack at making my version of this rare Guard doll from the Star Maidens range.

Using a Sindy clone, a small American football helmet* and a pair of cheap Supergirl boots I got on Ebay, here's what I came up with, which I blogged at the time.

Next up was to recreate the backing card and blister.

Our friend Arto over in Helsinki Base kindly sent a fabulous scan of his own original and well-loved card; the blister was already off the card so no harm was done to it.

Wotan Bill was able to do his magic and tidy it up - and sent a lovely new copy over to me.

Here it is glued to some card. Its still drying!

 

Made to measure, my doll sat snug on her new backing.

Next up was the blister. This proved much harder than I thought. Scouring the shelves of cheapo toy aisles, toiletries shelves and food aisles in shops I searched for a 12 inch blister. Nada!

The best I could come up with was this bauble box made of two sides glued together. The seam runs along the left side down the shoulder and leg line. Its not perfect at all - I'll keep looking for a cheap doll box in a discounter - but as a temporary measure it'll do.

So here's my take on the Star Maidens Moonbase Guard doll on its backing card.

Hope you approve.

From the front 

and side

I'd like to thank Arto and Wotan Bill for all their kind help with this fun project.

*

* Years ago I blogged the exact American Football helmet online which the original toy company used. One day I'll get one of these, which is a proper colour match for the original. 

Does anyone recognise the team badge?

En Guard! My Home-Made Star Maidens Guard Doll

 Ever since I first saw this figure, Arto's rare Star Maidens Guard doll, I've been smitten.

So, recently seeing a toy mini American football helmet and some red Supergirl boots going cheap on eBay, I thought nows a good time to have a go at making my own Star Maidens doll.

As always, not a perfect replica, more of an impression.

See what you think. 

Here she is, the Moonbase Maiden Guard

SHAZAM! CAR BOOT BOUNTY!

 I was quite chuffed with this morning's catch down the boot sale.

We burst through the early fog into decent weather in Wetherby.

Here's what I picked up. See anything you would have got?

There was a whole jar full of about 50 small plastic American football helmets. I bought one, 50p. Not sure which team that is. The small digger is by Tomica but the toy line is unknown to me.

I was pleased to find this Shazam Corgi car from 1979. Don't think I've seen one before. I'll try to spruce it up.

These packs of model decals and papers were going for a song at 50p each. I got two. No idea what's in them yet!

This big modern Batmobile was a snip at £1. It so reminded me of the Kenner Super Powers version that it had to come home to Gotham.

The red Barbie MG? is dated 1998 and the silver spaceship is for Junior. I think its Roblox maybe.

Last but not least, my biggest purchase at £8, this old case full of various bits and pieces from 1980's toys like M.A.S.K and Manta Force, plus a couple of Ghostbusters ghosts and more bits to keep me amused for a good while. The case itself is likely to be 1980's, as its covered in Transformers puffy stickers.

See anything you like?

American Football Helmet Collectables

MC recently mentioned miniature American Football helmets. Well, I just found a series of videos by Georgia HEX (he is from Georgia), some of which cover this very subject.

We start off with a look at a Bank (money box). The box says Football Helmet Bank, with a small sticker saying Atlanta Falcons. Clearly all the other NFL teams would have their own banks. Pro Sports Marketing, Concord, California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Y0RQYW4ds

This one is an electric alarm clock, built in to a Falcons helmet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqSaOSQl2JI

This is a table lamp version, with a replacement shade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9tkicQvECE

There is also a radio, which is not shown.

A very interesting collection.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

ZYTHON AND HIS ROBED FRIENDS

I noticed that Arto's old and uber-cool Museum display of Star Maidens and the Zero-X also contained a Zython.

He's the green headed figure at far right stood in front of the two Star Maidens.

Zython was released by Mattel as part of their 1975 Space 1999 figure range.

Its a very uncommon action figure with a distinctive trident weapon and insignia. Did he appear in the TV show?

Catacombs.Space1999.Net

The figure was re-issued as Nocton by Cipsa of Mexico pictured below.

Zython would have sat well with my own childhood Mattel aliens ten years earlier in the mid-Sixties. Callisto and Scorpio would have welcomed him, although neither looked as noble with that regal cape.

There have been other caped toy aliens though.

The Keeper by Mego

and the similarly robed Martian Chronicles by Larami

But perhaps my favourite robed figure  and like all those pictured, something I don't have,

Coth from the Tomland Star Raiders range.

Have you any robed aliens?

STAR MAIDENS DOLL GUARD HELMET: TOUCHDOWN

I think I'm in love with the Star Maidens Guard doll.

Here's one I saw on Ebay.

In particular I'm transfixed by her headgear.

I'm pretty sure its a blue American football helmet!

Here's another angle of another doll where you can see the side hole.

Both the face guard and the side hole are typical of American football helmets.

So is this what was worn in the Actual TV show?

Looking at this still I found online it would appear not. The real helmet had a transparent red eye visor all the way round.

So why did the toy makers not go for this?

Maybe it was cost? Maybe there was a supply of cheap blue miniature American football helmets that would do in a hurry?

I hunkered down like a quarterback and set to work.

There have been a few American action figures that came with a football helmet. 

Probably the earliest was Johnny Hero in the 1960's, a favourite of toy guru John Marshall. Johnny was available with many different coloured kits and helmets like this one.

Gumball NFL helmets were also popular like these in the 70's but I assume these were tiny?

In the 80's loads of miniatures were available to collect too. Collector Joe Blitman lists 1:6 scale helmets on his site including this blue one, which looks a lot like the Star Maidens'.

But the 80's is too late. For the Star Maidens it would have to have been around in the early to mid 70's.

So how about Mattel's Big Jim from the early 70's?

We know its about the right size for a doll.

Its close but the Star Maidens' helmet was clearly shorter.

Maybe they did use a smaller Gumball NFL helmet?

Or maybe they just made their own from scratch?

What do you think readers?

WENCO'S WILD WEST, HARRY, SUSIE AND THE STAR MAIDENS

I bought this bunch of action man style stuff in Germany.

I had assumed that they were all either Action Man or Action Team. The blue life vest particularly and the orange life vest were striking.

The blue one remains a mystery but but I did come across another possible source for orange life vests.

Its this Harry figure by Germany's Wentoys.

Looking further into Wentoys and the related Wenco I wondered if these German wild west accessories I had might be theirs.

Bingo! Wenco released wild west outfits including brown stetsons and ..

and black ones.

I also came across this Wild West Cowgirl on Ebay Germany. She's wearing the above outfit in pink.

Her partner is Wild West Cowboy.

I can't see the brand name Wenco on these cards, although the sheriff office facade is the same as the carded outfit above. There is also a black star logo,  which I assume is Wenco.

Wentoy's Harry jogged a memory too.

The blister card reminded me immediately of this more modern Made in China Susie doll I bought in Hubbards, an old toy and fancy goods shop in Borth, mid-Wales a few years back.

When I got Susie home I made a connection.

The overall Barbie-clone/ box blister look recalled the three scarce Star Maidens dolls by Portman Productions from 1976 [is there a fourth figure?]

We'd seen these figures already on the blog when I got Susie.

Arto kindly shared this picture of his Star Maidens on display in a Finnish museum.

A few years later I converted Susie into a basic mock Maiden and donated her to Arto.

Connections, connections.

Have you any Wentoys, Wenco toys or even any of the elusive Star Maidens?