KNOCK OFFS ACTION FIGURES BOOK

My good friend Arto gave me the heads-up on this brand new book, Knock Off Toys by Brian Heiler.

Just my cup of tea, I'll be writing to Santa to put a copy in his 2022 sack!

Is it a book you would enjoy readers? Have you got it?

WRAPPERS' DELIGHT!

Hi Woodsie, 

enjoying your posts as ever.

I recently bought the art book "Wrappers Delight" full of 60s and 70s gold!

http://fuel-design.com/publishing/wrappers-delight/

It had an entry for Somporex gum cards and I suddenly remembered some You Only Live Twice film slides I had as a kid.

I Googled it and found this lovely website -boy did it bring back some memories!

http://u1146p104.web0078.web0078.zxcs-klant.nl/07-YouOnlyLiveTwice.htm

I dimly remembered the Somporex slides from my childhood. It was the Wrappers Delight book that put me on to the right name to track down.

What kind of maniac sells movie transparencies with bubble gum? I remember having some of my father's photo slide frames to seal them properly, rather than the printed ones supplied with the cels.

My comfort fix for the day is complete! 

Keep on Bloggin' 

Looey

Oz

BY SPACE SHIP TO THE MOON THIS ANNIVERSARY BY TONY K

By Space Ship To The Moon

It's a busy car boot. 

I'm trying to avoid standing on a small dog whose owner is preoccupied with an electric kettle.

Glancing down, I notice an old suitcase littered with yesterdays annuals. 

Most have broken spines and missing pages. 

''By Space Ship To The Moon'' is amongst the 20p derelicts which catch my eye.

It's in a sorry state, but then it's been around since the early 1950s.

I'm drawn to the illustrations. I like them in an odd way.

They're looking forward at a time when manned moon missions are still in the future. 

The illustrations of space exploration are curious. 

They've a dystopian sub-text of sorts; at least that's what I see. 

They're at odds with the colourful and optimistic Space Race pics I remember from my 1960s-70s childhood

These 1950s illustrations have a nuts-and-bolts industrialised bleakness about them.

There's a foreboding greyness to the depictions of space rockets and the space station. 

They're Spartan, devoid of interior cabin lights, porthole illuminations and bright neon signal beacons. 

There are no familiar symbols, insignia or international flags. 

Strange looking back now, when we think that insignia and flag-planting would play a big part in the real Space Race, some years ahead of the book. 

There's mention of human conflict, even in space.

Fletcher Pratt writes,''Therefore we only really want a station in space as a station, while we are getting ready to set up base on the moon. That is what we really need for defence purposes. The station on the moon would be pretty safe from any kind of attack from earth'. 

Jack Coggins' striking illustrations consolidate the narrative, painting a menacing and somewhat militarised moon mission.

The black lunar lander has a dark presence and the ominous look of a gigantic robotic spider.

It's appearance is unfamiliar, unfriendly, alien even!

Inside, the control room a grim astronaut prepares to suit-up. 

He's surrounded by pressure gauges, a valve radio and a periscope...

the classic retro technology of a 1940s submarine... and B-movie spaceship.

In this future vision, astronauts wear oppressive metallic grey spacesuits.

The suits function to visually dehumanise and transform astronauts into robots. 

Raised helmet-visors are the only indication that humans exist inside. 

The front cover illustration shows an astronaut with a large knife incorporated into the design of his suit. 

Maybe they haven't come in peace? 

The book was published in the aftermath of a world war and the beginning of a cold war.

A time when fear of the atom bomb and invasion were hot topics.

Whatever we love or hate about the book, it's narrative and illustrations reflect the uncertain era it came from.

For me, this 20p car boot find is a disquieting piece of space nostalgia, with a darker message. 

Tony K

A PAGEANT OF HISTORY BOOK

This advert in TV21 from March 1968 jogged my memory. I had the book A Pageant of History! I had a few like that I think, part of the Collins Pageant of Knowledge series. They could still be in my attic! they weren't from TV 21 though. My Folks will have bought them at Sweeten's bookshop in Preston town centre back then I reckon. Maybe other stores like BHS and Owen and Owen too.

Here's the book in colour!

Did you have one readers?

TOYS OF THE SIXTIES BY BILL BREUGMAN: MOONBASE BOOK REVIEW PART 3

Third and final part of my look at Bill Breugman's book

Toys of the Sixties.

Anyone else got this book?

TOYS OF THE SIXTIES BY BILL BREUGMAN: MOONBASE BOOK REVIEW PART 2

Part 2 of 3.

Enjoy.

TOYS OF THE SIXTIES: MOONBASE BOOK REVIEW PART 1

My review of Bill Breugman's seminal book Toys of the Sixties published in 1991.

This is part 1 of 3.

MOONBASE BOOK REVIEW: SPACE ADVENTURE COLLECTIBLES: FINAL BIT

Concluding part of my book review.

What do you think of this book readers?

MOONBASE BOOK REVIEW: FANTASTIC ANNUAL 1968

This is my latest video and my first book "review". Playing it safe I've gone for a comics annual I had as a nipper in 1968 called FANTASTIC based on the UK Marvel comic of the same name. Its more of a basic homage to an annual I loved than a review to be fair!

As I already knew, I know more about old toys than I do about comic artists so I get a couple wrong in this piece! Ah well, its a bit of fun after all. Steve Ditko does indeed illustrate 'I Used to Be Human' but nothing else in this annual. You can get the real dope on the artists from other sites online like Now Read This!

What I can be certain of are the toys. I mention two, Johnny Seven and goofy teeth. To compliment the video here's what they look like:

Stuff We Love