The Day of the Attic

Secret Sam took the call in his attic office.

The Moonbase toy collection had to be protected at all costs. Stop.

The mission is go! You're on your own Sam.

Over and out.

All My Ducks in a Row

 Imbued with an urge to spring clean the attic, I've stacked my old VHS tapes and sorted them alphabetically (yep, I've too much time on my hands!).

In a similar vein I've uncrated my old horror paperbacks and lined them up neatly in a bookcase.

When I get time (!) I'll sort these alphabetically too.

Always good to have a cold beer to hand when doing stuff like this!

Are you spring cleaning readers?

I've Got it Taped

 I've been in the attic this afternoon now it's warm up there.

It's been years since I looked at my old VHS video collection, so I got them out of their crates and had a look, cleaned them up and formed a plan to put them on shelving. I guess I have around a hundred. 

Mostly 1980's big box VHS, there are some clamshells too, along with a group of slipcases. Quite a few are pre-certification. There are a very small number of Betamax. I'm only half way through getting them out.

Do you have any old videos?

Remember these?

IT WAS A CASE OF DRAGGING DOWN A BLUEBIRD BOX WITH COMBAT MAN FROM THE ATTIC!

 I've been rummaging in the attic and dragged out a few bits.

This is a nice 1983 Buebird Toys plastic carry case. I remember buying it at Thorpe Arch car boot sale a couple of years ago, full of MASK figures and toys [since sold on].

Very dirty but since cleaned up, the case is a sort of large lunch box. It must have been for storing Bluebird toys at the time. I've read that it was part of a Masters of the Universe competition prize as well but 1983 and its toys passed me by I'm afraid, as I was trudging round the mountains of Snowdonia most of that year just prior to becoming a Dad!

Is this case something you remember?

This is a large talking Thunderbird 2 from 1999. It could be Vivid Imaginations. It says Carlton on it. I got it for Junior last year in a charity shop but he's sort of moved away from Thunderbirds onto Pokemon and Nintendo Switch.

I added a home-made roller to the pod so it would roll and made sure all the talking and sound effects worked, as well as the spring-loaded legs. Not sure what went inside the pod. Its a big TB2, around 18 inches long. Its best features besides the pod are the opening cockpit and the descending grapple hook. Is this one you had readers?

This one was put away for a future sale, a gorgeous child-size plastic toy hoover from Zodiac Toys, which I bought on Doncaster second hand market a few years back.

I fixed the battery unit and once working it roared like a hoover, filled the bag with air and the front lit up just like the proper big one we had when I was a nipper!

Its great to see a Zodiac Toys price tag again. It was one of my favourite toy shops in Preston in the 1960's and early 1970's. That red ZODIAC lettering is so memorable!

Do you recall Zodiac Toys readers?

The last toy I dusted off was this Combat Man military Train Set, which I bagged a few years back at a boot sale, whilst on holiday.

It was the box art that drew me in first, very reminiscent of Action Man or Airfix toy soldier boxes.

Maybe Combat Man was a brand?

I had to replace two train wheels and an axle with home-made ones so it could run and also gave it a new cellophane box lining.

It looks great chugging round its circular track, the Special Forces livery flashing by.

I've just noticed the loco has a front light too!

Have you anything like this readers, a military train?

TERRANOVA47'S GARAGE HEAVEN!

Ed is very tidy. Here is today's look in my garage!

Some mess is me looking for things this morning, but sadly the boxes continue to multiply regardless of what has been culled!

Terranova47

USA

ED'S CAVE

“If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.”

I used to be able to move freely in here.

From Vegas Hogwarts

Ed

MY FIRST PARCEL

I wrapped up my first sale in the re-opened attic this morning.

A 1980's Barbie Gym no less!

It'll go to the Post Office later today.

Wrapping it was a first small step in the latest chapter as an Ebay seller, which began all those years ago in the year 2000, when Ebay started up in the UK [five years after the USA I think?]

Back in 2000 we lived in a different house, where I had an even bigger room to play with, an entire cellar, which I'd turned into an 'old toy shop' in the early 1990's. It was definately a fun hobby.

All before Ebay existed, back then I supplied toy fans with stuff via mail order and also personal customers who visited on the weekend by appointment. All great fun after a boring week at work! I was called Moon Zero Toys. I even took it on the road and had a stall at toy fairs!

Maybe I sold to you!

Have you done much selling readers?

HARRY'S OPEN!

 I've opened up Harry [the attic] and retirement sorting/ perusing/ pondering/staring through the window/Ebaying has resumed.

The old Mad About Monsters desk is once more alive and kicking.

I have a friendly old wizard to add some magic!

Once you start rummaging its amazing what pops up!

These old Walls et al cards are gorgeous and I'm pretty sure I had some as a kid. Did you?

Pretty much everything I loved as a little 'un is pictured including deep sea frogmen!

Thunderbirds-like crabloggers!

Undersea bases and sleek jets!

What more could you want!

Maybe an old game from those golden years, Twister by MB. Now that was a crazy family pastime, stretching across a plastic mat in your socks! Phew! A classic and a symbol of the Sixties for me.

Did you have a favourite game as a kid?

I'VE OPENED UP HARRY!*

 Way back in the Autumn of 2005, after 20 years, I gladly ended my first office 'career' and took the plunge into selling old toys full time on Ebay.

I traded as Mad About Monsters. It was great fun and my office was in the attic, repleat with old dial telephone, colour TV and laptop. 

After 3 years of solid Ebaying on top of a part-time school job [ and clocking up thousands of sales, I finally closed the books and the attic door in the autumn of 2008. Mad About Monsters was sadly over.

Well, today, as part of my retirement from School, I once again opened up Harry*

I have been in the attic many times since 2008 but not with Ebay on my mind.

I have kept a gangway clear throughout though!

and tried to keep some sort of order.

Boxes are decently stacked ...

Part of my own collection has shelving up there too.

But there's too much other gear generally! leftovers from Ebaying and clutter from our house.

With a corner for our daughter's old stuff too!

And so, with a smile on my older face and sweeping aside a few dead wasps from my old Ebaying desk, I set up the 'office' once more!

The Velux view over the fields hasn't changed, which is really great.

.... but my old analogue miniature TV, as always, was just snow.

It was really exciting to get back up there and list on Ebay again, albeit no longer as Mad About Monsters and being far less serious about it than I was back then.

I'm really looking forward to listing all the old toys and games that are surplus to requirements in the attic and maybe even make room for more of my own collections stored in my bedroom!

Retirement has well and truly begun!

I'll keep you posted.

*

* I call the attic Harry after the tunnels in the movie The Great Escape: Tom, Dick and Harry. Tom was discovered and Harry was then opened up. Dick was never used.