I'm Seeing Things!

 I think a lack of old toys in South Devon's charity shops is making me see things on holiday. 

Yesterday I saw this modern Paw Patrol armoured car on a shelf and could have sworn ...

.. it was this B.A.T from Manta Force! If only! ( I did find some free Manta Force in a Totnes street though. They give stuff away there. Not the B.A.T alas!)

Reading about Kenner's Super Powers I also started seeing things.

Lex Luthor's 7 ship looks a lot like....

The vehicle in the Mattel Secret Wars Doom Roller. Not sure which is older?

And this crazy Kenner Super Powers yellow spacecraft has the same swept back look as ...

..... This mad blue MOON Car with its magic eyeball. No idea who made this nutty toy or when!

Do you like any of these toys?

Do you know of any similar designs?

Do you see things that aren't there?

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?

OH BRUDER, ITS ROSITA!

 I love this so I saved the listing pics.

Seen on the Spanish Todocolleccion site, its a sort mini space vehicles gift set by Rosita:

Batatlha no Espaco.

Those who maybe collect small space toys might be familiar with Bruder toys from West Germany. Well, you can probably see that this set contains what look like Bruder space vehicles.

Interestingly there's a vehicle on the box that I don't associate at all with Bruder. Its the Wasser Spinne, a sort of flying boat and can be seen roughly in the middle of the picture just on the left edge of the planet ring. I bought a largish plastic Wasser Spinne about ten years ago and wonder if there is a mini version here.

The alien figures are fun in red and green.

You can see the Bruder-type toys close-up here. Have you got any?

There are also some Manta Force-type smaller figures too in yellow.

Regrading that Wasser Spinne again, I'm wondering if its the mini toy far left that's obscured by the wrapping?

Have you got a set like this?

MANTA FORCE AND THE MOON BUGGY

I've been enjoying reading this French blog about old toys, Toys Against the Machine, especially the Manta Force section:

https://toysagainstthemachine.wordpress.com/jouets-oublies/manta-force/m-a-n-t-a-force/

I'm much too old to have enjoyed the range first time round but I've had the pleasure of picking up a few bits over the years. I still have two large boxed vehicles in the attic!

I'm impressed with the Starblaster rocket on the blog. It has a look of Fireball XL5 would you say? Well designed too.

There's also a small blue land crawler that reminds me of the SpaceX Moon Buggy, the Turbo Drill. What do you think? Could it be remodelled into a form of Buggy?

MANTA FORCE OR ZERO HOUR?

I bought this old military plastic base mountain for a squid at a sale last  Sunday.

I sort of recognised it.

Is it Manta Force? Zero Hour?

Any ideas readers?

There are sound effects too, mostly ak-ak and sirens.

Manta Force Battle Fortress TV Ad: Are You a Fan?

I was way too old for Manta Force.

I did get some as a toy dealer in the early 00's. 

I still have some I think.

Anyways, here's a reminder of what Manta Force was like in an original TV ad on You Tube.

Those of you that really know this stiff would you say its better than other contemporary toy ranges like Starcom, MASK or Multimac?

Force Field

I'm getting ready for a having car boot stall on Wednesday at the local sale in a field. I can't decide whether to take some Manta Force toys to sell like this Fortress in a French box. What do you think?