Paul's UNCLE Badge - Found!

Hi Woodsy,

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68) was a very popular TV series, and there was a lot of merchandise tied-in with the show at the time. While I missed out on most of this, I did have a pair of Man From U.N.C.L.E. pyjamas.

These came with a plastic glow-in-the-dark badge, which clipped to the pocket. I had Number 11 (Napoleon Solo); there was also a Number 2 (Illya Kuryakin).

The badges were the same as those worn by the agents inside U.N.C.L.E. HQ. They were 80 mm wide, and 86 mm tall.

The glow-in-the-dark plastic was greenish, with the U.N.C.L.E. title and the number picked out in black. The lettering and number being slightly raised.

The back clip on mine, which slipped over the breast pocket, broke off decades ago. There is writing on the back, in two groups.

Two diamond shapes on the left have MODEL and LITTLE MODEL inside them. On the right is C 1965 MGM. INC. SAVADA BROS. INC. N.Y.C.

Savada Bros. Inc. was the name of the manufacturer of the pyjamas (my pair was probably made in NZ under licence by another company entirely). Model and Little Model were names used by the company.

Here is the earlier Moonbase Central post showing the Illya Kuryakin badge, and the fabric used to make the pyjamas – I had the blue version. Mine wore out many years ago, as I just about lived in them.

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2023/10/pauls-man-from-uncle-pyjamas.html

I was really delighted to find my old badge recently. It is well over 50 years old, but still glows in the dark!

Paul Adams from New Zealand

ARTO'S TELSALDA TOY CAMERA GUN

Last week reader and blog friend Arto visited Forssa toy fair and got this interesting plastic Telsalda 35mm camera. It says "Made in Hong Kong No. 201", on the inner rim.

Googling it, myself and Arto agreed it was the same as the more common Rayline toy camera gun.

The Rayline version was released on a blister card as Secret Camera Gun 7.

It was also available in the 1965 Rayline Secret Agent 707 Counter Spy Set, an unlicensed Man from Uncle knockoff.

This Rayline Counter Spy set appears to have been 'inspired' by the licensed Marx UNCLE Counterspy Outfit. This is its display as featured on Worthpoint.

In the mid-Noughties I set about putting together this set in its official card box, which I blogged about on MC previously in 2013, when I got everything I had out on the garden table.

Despite further googling, neither Arto nor myself could find any further info or images of his new TELSALDA version of the camera gun.

Can you?

Don't Spy for me Argentina

This is an unusual Man from Uncle car by Carlos V I saw on auction. It's Argentinian and clearly influenced by the die-cast many of us had as kids. A rather fragile looking thing. What do you think?

LOOEY'S FENDER SHOP 3: MAN FROM UNCLE PIRAHNA: MISSION COMPLETED!

Well, believe it or not, two half days of concerted effort have seen the Uncle Piranha fully roadworthy once more.

1) My blob of putty on a stick is finally finished and sorry modelmakers, but it took a bit of hard yakka to do it! It was all suck it and see, as I sanded and fitted it again and again until it fitted inside the roof properly. You can see how I tinted the top coat of putty with red spray paint to give me a sanding guide. After a sanding block and coarse wet and dry paper, I polished it to a decent shine on my jeans clad leg!

2) I then traced the putty block over a piece of 3mm MDF (Aw man, I just threw all my scraps away!) And cut and filed a hole that it would just slide through.

I found some clear 1mm scrap plastic and glued it over the hole with superglue. I then heated it up with a hot air gun and pressed the putty block firmly into the hole (use something like a jam jar to provide a good support beneath it). I didn't get a deep enough draw on the first try, so I reheated it and went again. This was only meant to be a test but the result was good enough to use. -Doh! I slipped while I was trimming it from the frame, but luckily the gouge didn't show when the transparency was glued into the roof with a spot of superglue.

3) Woodsie is a renovation wonder with his Chrome pens, but for my money (about fifteen Quid in your cash) this Green Stuff World Chrome is the cat's whiskers and you can get into the tiniest places with a suitable paintbrush! Look at those before and after hubcaps!

4) After I clipped the completed pieces back together, I found a dab of superglue in the rivet hole was quite enough to keep everything together. Of course this wouldn't be a proper Company car without the Company logo -just like the Thrush Buster Oldsmobile!

5) Ilya is back, still clasping his pump action shotgun. I wondered if it might be a stolen Thrush rifle, but there's no big Infra Red searchlight on it...

6) "Thank you, Mr. Waverley, it looks as good as new!"

"Indeed it does, Mr. Solo. Please remember if you roll it again, it'll be coming out of YOUR salary!"

LOOEY'S FENDER SHOP PART 1: THE PIRAHNA

So here I am, renovating a quartet of 1966 toys to celebrate my 66th year! 

So I'm intending to bring these cars back up showroom standard, but all with a few custom enhancements because these aren't museum pieces!

1) First up is getting rid of a half century of grime with some soapy water and a toothbrush. Make sure everything's dried up nicely.

2) These toys are riveted together, so I have to decide how to grind them down. I was torn between gouging them out with a sharp blade or using a moto-tool. I started with a 1.5mm twist drill, but decided to move up to a steel router. (Arnold Schwarzenegger impression "Bad Idea!..."

That skidding gouge across the back will need auto spot putty now!

3) This UNCLE car has rolled and has a badly dented roof. The glass is destroyed, so splitting it apart is the only way to fix it.

4) With only one rivet to worry about, the car pops apart easily. The wheels need to be removed. They are held in place with a spring steel torsion bar and are a little fiddly to get out. Luckily I've now learnt how to do it for the reassembly...

5) Interestingly, Napoleon and Ilya are actually siamese twins with an added steering wheel shoved between Mr Solo's knees. I've 3D scanned them just because I can, but they are in fine shape as is. I'm taking notes for Batman and Bond who will need some extra help to match the Men from DelFlorio's...

6) The roof metal is quite thin, so I'm using a piece of wooden dowel and a hammer to carefully knock it back into shape. The A pillars needed some additional attention to get the front-on look correct.

All this malarkey took as long as getting these photos and captions together and I'm afraid there's more to come!

Stay with me, Moonbasers!

Looey

Oz Base

Mort Kunstler - Aurora Kit Artist

Here is a bit more on the American artist Mort Kunstler. He did a number of box tops for Aurora, including the two Man From U.N.C.L.E. figure kits - no idea if he did any for other companies.

He is mentioned several times in Box Top Air Power, by Thomas Graham, which covers model aircraft box art. Born in 1927, it seems he is still with us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_K%C3%BCnstler

https://www.mortkunstler.com/

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Aurora Man From U.N.C.L.E. Kits Part 3 - Illya Kuryakin by Paul Adams

It is now time to wrap up our look at the Aurora Man From U.N.C.L.E. kits, with model number 412 Illya Kuryakin. Again, this kit was only listed in the 1966-68 Aurora catalogues, and has never been re-issued.

The late David McCallum (1933-2023) played Russian agent Illya Kuryakin. Actually David McCallum was British.

Inside U.N.C.L.E. headquarters Illya wore a badge with the number 2 on it. This number was incorporated in to the Aurora kit number, which was No.412.

The kit has Kuryakin crouching on a path, behind a stone pillar with a lamp on top, having just climbed the wall behind him. With a pistol in his hand, he is providing cover for Napoleon Solo, who is following him in to the enemy lair.

The bases of the two kits could interlock, making a single large scene. A shrub in the Napoleon Solo kit could be used to hide the join in the wall.

Aurora do not mention what scale these kits are, but the catalogues do give the dimensions of the finished model. Height 6 inches, depth 5 1/4 inches, and width 8 1/2 inches.

The catalogues can be found on the excellent Box Art Den site.

https://boxartden.com/collections/gallery/index.php/Vintage-Model-Kit-Catalogs-1950-1999/Aurora

There were 33 parts in the Illya Kuryakin kit - 13 for the figure itself, and 20 for the base, including a small nameplate. Most of the parts were for the various plants.

Once again, the head, body, arms, and legs were all in two pieces. This time the hands were part of the arms, as was the pistol, but there was a separate holster.

The back of the wall has copyright notices for both Aurora Plastics Corp., 1966, and M.G.M., Inc, MCMLXVI. The plastic was again a pinkish fawn colour, perhaps intended as a flesh tone.

The box was of the usual heavy cardboard construction, with a lift-off lid. The full-colour printed paper wrap was glued to the lid.

On both of the Aurora MFU kits, the name of the character is barely mentioned on the box top. Far more prominence is given to the series title: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Below this are three lines of small print 'All plastic assembly kit consists of Illya Kuryakin and Dimensional Background. This kit can interlock with Napoleon Solo assembly kit to form large action scene'. The edges of the box give the kit number and price - Kit No.412-98, copyright notices for Aurora and M.G.M., 1966 dates, and Made in U.S.A.

The instruction sheet was again kept simple, as there were so few parts, but the name of the figure was given far more prominence. Stage 1 covered assembly of the figure, and Stage 2 the base.

The front page of the instructions promoted the use of Aurora brand cement and enamel paints. The back page had a photograph showing both of the MFU kits joined together.

The kit was also made and sold in Canada by Aurora Plastics Canada Ltd. These kits had revised instruction sheets with both English and French instructions, and slightly changed wording on the boxes.

Photographs from Worthpoint.

Is this a kit you had?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Aurora Man From U.N.C.L.E. Kits Part 2 - Napoleon Solo by Paul Adams

I'll begin my more detailed look at the Aurora Man From U.N.C.L.E. kits, with model number 411 Napoleon Solo. It was only listed in the 1966-68 Aurora catalogues, and has never been re-issued.

Robert Vaughn (1932-2016) played U.N.C.L.E. agent Napoleon Solo. Inside U.N.C.L.E. headquarters he wore a badge with the number 11 on it.

I have just realised that the Aurora kit numbers incorporate these badge numbers. Nice touch, Aurora.

Aurora kit number 411 depicted Solo leaping over a wall, in to an enemy compound. The base interlocked with kit number 412 to form a large two-figure diorama.

According to the Aurora catalogues, which can be found on the Box Art Den site, the dimensions of the assembled Napoleon Solo model were: height 8 inches, depth 4 7/8 inches (I think - it was a little hard to read), and width 8 inches. No scale is given.

https://boxartden.com/collections/gallery/index.php/Vintage-Model-Kit-Catalogs-1950-1999/Aurora

There were 24 parts in the box: 15 for the figure itself, and 9 for the base. The head and body, along with each arm and leg, comprised front and rear halves. The hands were separate, as was the gun he was carrying.

MFU was famous for its strange guns, and the one Solo has in his right hand is a pistol that has been fitted with a shoulder stock, extended magazine, silencer, and telescopic sight. Standard issue for U.N.C.L.E. agents.

The base comprises a wall, and a section of lawn, with a piece of trellis, various plants, and a nameplate. The rear of the wall has copyright notices for both Aurora Plastics Corp., 1966, and M.G.M., Inc, MCMLXVI.

The kits were moulded in a light fawn/pinkish plastic (flesh tone ?), but this does vary in photos. This could be due to different colour plastics being used, or just the lighting.

The box was of heavy cardboard construction, with a lift-off lid. The printed paper wrap was glued to the lid.

Strangely, the subject of the kit is barely mentioned on the box top, but the series title is prominent on both U.N.C.L.E. kits. Below this is three lines of fine print 'All plastic assembly kit consists of Napoleon Solo and Dimensional Background. This kit can interlock with Illya Kuryakin assembly kit to form large action scene'.

There is more information around the edges of the box, such as Kit No.411-98 (the suffix being the retail price), copyright notices, and 1966 dates. Made in U.S.A.

The instruction sheets were fairly simple, with Stage 1 covering assembly of the figure, and Stage 2 the base. Builders were advised to 'use only...Aurora's fireproof styrene plastic cement' and Speed-Dry Enamel paints.

The last four photographs show a Canadian issue kit, from Aurora Plastics Canada Ltd. The box top states that French language instructions are included, and the sides say Made in Canada, while the -130 suffix is the Canadian retail price.

The instruction sheet is completely different, although the assembly drawings are the same. As promised, the instructions are in both English and French.

12 photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

PAUL'S MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E PYJAMAS

A few years ago, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV show came up, and I mentioned having a pair of MFU pyjamas. At the time I could not find any mention of them on-line at all.

While working on the Aurora kits articles, I decided to have another look, and this time I found a few crumbs of information.

Back in the 1960s I had a pair of children's MFU pyjamas. They were white, and covered with pale blue MFU globe logos; and other items related to the show - which were printed mainly in blue, yellow, and black as I recall.

They came with a greenish plastic U.N.C.L.E. badge, printed with black. The badge had a clip on the back to attach to your pyjama pocket, and glowed in the dark.

I can not remember if I had number 2 (Illya Kuryakin) or number 11 (Napoleon Solo). The clip broke off decades ago, but I should still have the badge somewhere, sitting in a box [pictured is from Worthpoint].

I could not find any photos of the pyjamas, but did locate a couple of photos of the fabric. I am not sure if these are exactly the same as the ones I had, but they are certainly similar.

According to the descriptions, the fabric was used by a company called Model to make pyjamas, and it appears there were at least two colour variations - blue (which I had), and red. Mine were normal, long-sleeve and long-leg winter pyjamas.

The badge was triangular, and matched the badges worn by U.N.C.L.E. personnel when they were inside U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. According to the description accompanying the only photos I could find, these were dated 1965 on the back, but I do not know the manufacturer.

Given the level of import restrictions in force in New Zealand in the 1960s, I doubt my pyjamas were imported. They are more likely to have been made locally under licence, but I have no way of confirming this.

Anyone else have them?

Four photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand