Mattel's Fembot: Spectra

Spectra!

I don't think I've ever seen a robot doll like this before.

Lacy, spacy, out of this world, it reads on the box.

She's like a female Micronaut or Cyborg.

There's five of them too. 

It's Mattel branded but I have a feeling Spectra was more common in mainland Europe. Is that right? 

Will's Hot Birds.

Hi Woodsy

You recently mentioned Mattel’s Hot Birds.

 Here’s my Air Race Set. 

A bit like an early version of Airfix’s Flight Deck! 

Will O

Anyone else got any Hot Birds?

Mattel's Hot Shots Anyone?

I've not been able to find a TV ad for Mattel's vintage Hot Shots online. I saw one recently, Heat Wave, a dragster, in an antique shop and thought it looked really well-designed and not a range I know at all.

Here's a short introductory gallery to the toys by a collector I found  on You Tube. The backing music is noisy so maybe turn it off. The toy vehicles look great tho. I love that long motorbike!

Did you have Hot Shots? Do you like them? Would you class them as Redlines?

https://youtube.com/shorts/7iZBKSLJWbs?si=z-noonnQ2pACtbDt 

I've gone Bats!

 We picked up a jiggler sucker bat tother day 

Perfect for Halloween!

It reminded me of a 1979 toy I would have loved as a kud in the Sixties,

Mattel's Gre-gory!

The big bad vampire bat.

Here's a comic and. I couldn't find a TV spot.

Besides it's rubbery action, Greg's unique selling point was a blood pump in its chest!

 I wonder if it sold well?

Operated by a pump button on its back, this feature has dried up now in most Greg-gories by the sounds of it ( as attested by You Tube videos on the toy).

Is this haunted tree mouse a toy you had or remember Gruesome readers?

Roto Jet that Cyclops!

I adored the little silver accessories like these from the Major Matt Mason range.

I especially liked the rifle at the top.

It was only as an adult that I found out it was a miniature copy of the mighty life-sized Lost in Space Roto Jet Gun. What a toy! I would have loved it.

Turns out too there were more like this, especially in Japan, who seemed to really go for the style of rifle.

 Did or do you have anything like this? 

Sunshine Family's Alien Friend

 I've always like toy recycling. Both my own and especially by toy companies.

One obscure bit of recycling you can see online in places like Plaid Stallions is the Sunshine/ Zython body.

Zython is this little-known and even less-seen green alien plastic figure, which Mattel released as part of their Space: 1999 range.

The Sunshine Family was an early generic wholesome doll line, also by Mattel, in the early to late Seventies.

It was a whole new world of sunshine! 

When Mattel came to garnish their TV line-up of Space: 1999 action dolls with another alien they thought, hmmm, what about the Sunshine Family! 

Here's the basic body they had.

And from behind.

Nothing alien about that, unless of course, we colour it green! Bob a strange head on and voila! Sunshine super being!

I give you Zython!

Have you any good recycling examples readers? 

Matlock Morsels

 Mooching round Matlock's vintage shops I saw this die-cast shelf. Pink Panther and the blue wheely thing, are they Kenner Revrods?

Two SPVs. Looks like one's been painted dark blue.

The bagged balloon car bottom left is interesting. Anyone know it?

Bong Moonbuggy here. Can you name the red game part used at the rear of it? (Quiz question). The Interceptor has been repainted too. The bagged car hung up top left is another one of those unusual balloon powered vehicles.

This would have been my take-away if I'd been spending, this amazing Mattel Wizzer Gift Set. I absolutely adore the boomer box art! I had a Wizzer as a kid, a fabulous weighted spinning top. Did you?

Spectrum is Back!

Hello Moonbasers, I'm back in Australia and putting my shattered life back together!

I've begun carefully sorting the lovely items I managed to find and am becoming ever more amazed I was able to pick them up at all!

Japan is known for always going for the latest, so anything vintage

(in Moonbase Central's interest range)

is pretty difficult to find. As I know from personal experience, if you see something you like

( say some Konami Anderson vehicles) and don't buy it at that instant, it may not be there for a second look!

Taking a closer look at my carded Hot Wheels SPV, I was surprised to see it's dated 2001, so it's already almost 25 years old!

Researching the page at

https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Charawheels

I discovered a lot of products I'd never known before.

There were a number of Anderson related vehicles, released in a joint Mattel/Bandai project, over just two years.

I'll let the HW website categorise them, but the first year saw a number of individual vehicles and the second year, three amazing boxed sets of multiple TB2 Pod vehicles.

Just look at these photos! All new to me and copied from the HW website.

See anything that tickles your fancy here?

Cheers, 

Looey

Back in Oz Base

LOCAL CUSTOMS: THE NEW MOONBASE DIY FIGURES: ZYTHON, MR. ROCK AND CO.

I've been having fun finishing off some "Moonbase International" custom figures.

With the arrival of my new baguette plastic blisters and Bill's fabulous backing graphics I was able to complete my custom Zython.

With the card art glued down and trimmed and the figure placed behind its blister, Zython has come out looking great I if I say so myself.

Like the Star Maiden Guard last Autumn, Zython is one of the larger figures we've had a crack at. Its 12 inches tall so need a big blister and a large backing card.

Bill also worked up this superb backing card rear, the first one that we've needed. Interestingly Mattel added Zython to the Space 1999 illustration. Its a shame it only ever saw the light of day in very limited numbers, through a West German comic competition

A smaller figure, at about 9 inches, our version of Lincoln International's Mr. Rock has proven difficult to find a nice blister for. Impatient to mount him on Bill's fantastic backing art, I glued down the graphics on card and deployed an oversize blister for the time being. A WIP. You get the idea. Fascinating!

With those two figures sorted and with more small dolls at the ready, I moved onto a new custom project, inspired once more by odd rare figures I've seen online.

I finagled a headpiece from Fimo and some old PC ribbon cable.

Recognise it? 

Its one of three aliens from the obscure Martian Chronicles figurer range released by Larami. Mine's smaller than an original, at just 6 inches.

Here's my custom Martian placed next to a picture of the original Larami toy as seen in the wonderful Rack Toys book by Brian Heiler.

To get an idea of how it might look on a backing card here's mine on top of the original in the above picture [ original picture credit: Brian Heiler].

So here's this weekend's work together in a huddle showing my latest custom dolls and Bill's really terrific backing cards. A toy tag team effort.

Hope you like them.

Zython Sunshine

I love a good recycled toy story and the Zython's another one.

Mattel used an existing line of dolls they had to make Zython, the Space 1999 alien. At least the body.

It was the Sunshine Family pictured above, the adults. Mattel just made it green.

If your'e considering recreating Zython why not try and get hold of an original Sunshine Family doll! I cheated and bought a green Monster High.

What do you think?

MY CUSTOM MATTEL SPACE 1999 ZYTHON FIGURE

 Continuing my project making my own custom versions of rare sci-fi toy figures, here's another one I've finished.

Zython.

To make Mattel's elusive Space 1999 alien I bought a cheap loose and green Monster High doll.

I then shrank her head but I'm unsure it worked. All her hair was removed and her tippy-toes clipped. I adjusted the head a little with some hot pinching and fimo, added long ears and a beard and painted it a similar lime. Finally the eyes and brows were drawn on.

The costume is from the Missus's felt stash with gold braid, all glued together. The cap is a plastic spoon. Shoes are trimmed Barbies. The trident is a marshmallow stick with Cootie legs on top.

Here it is complete.

Hope you like it.

Here's Mattel's original doll for comparison

Not perfect, by a long chalk, more of an impression really, my Zython - Mython! ha ha - will look even better once mounted on a recreation of the original Mattel backing blister card.

That particular piece of graphics wizardry is in the hands of Billy the Boxer!

Watch this Space .... 1999!

[you can read more about the original figure on the ever-informative Plaid Stallions https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/toy-ventures-zython-from-mattels/]