Spanish Fly: The Congost Rescate Espacial Space Rescue Set

 This Christmas I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful toy from my daughter and her family with a little help from Santa too!

Its the Rescate Espacial - Space Rescue - toy set by Congost of Spain 1969.

Its a huge battery-operated toy in a big coffin box, graced with a great photo box lid.

The lovely base plate is made of tin and the artwork of a rocky island is gorgeous.

Like Mattel's Vertibird the helicopter flies round in a circle. Its controlled with three black dials and there's a neat landing pad next to them.

The play value of this set is in rescuing the three magnetic astronauts from the fabulous capsule and place them safely in the rescue boat.

It works really well and here's a short clip of the helicopter in action.

I've yet to master the dials and the movement but all in all I'm thrilled to bits with this vintage beauty from the year of the Moon landing!

Have you anything like this?

WILL OSBORNE'S MOONWALKERS

Hi. Here's something I put together for the 50th anniversary of the moon landings back in 2019. 

Will

SATURDAY MORNING SPECIAL: MISH IN SPACE

Hi Woodsy.

With reference to Wotan's 60's Spaceflight books, you may remember I said I'd done a School project about spaceflight in the early 70's in felt pen and that I'd dig it out.

Well here, here are some pages from it. 

Share them if you think they're worth looking at.

Regards,

Mish

UK

HAMMACHER SCHLEMMER MOON SUIT AND MODEL

Hello Woodsy

I live near a store caller Hammacher Schlemmer who are known for selling expensive and pointless items for the very (and I mean VERY ) rich. They have a mail order business mostly. 

Do you need a KILLER WHALE SUBMARINE as featured on Moonbase Central?

Here are two items in their window of late.

Regards,

Terranova47

NYC

THE MEGO HAS LANDED

I saw these pics on Worthpoint a while back and saved them.

This is the LEM by MEGO [Hong Kong]. I'm pretty sure this is not the same as the famous Mego Corp of super hero figures fame.

I like this LEM. The astronaut attached to the opening door is quite clever. Its quite a chunky toy overall by the looks of these snaps. I assume it lights up and has mystery action.

Yankee Clipper is from 2001 isn't it?

Anyone got one or any other MEGO HK toys?

MOON BOOTS

I snapped this pic in an antiques centre.

Its a pair of Moon Boots.

A footnote on the moon landings, they were part and parcel of the space craze that swept through everything including shoes in the Sixties and Seventies.

I never had a pair of these and don't recall any in the family.

More Eskimo than Armstrong I reckon these would have been great in winter never mind the moon.

Even the font screams space race. What is it?

Do you remember moon boots?

RAF MOON COMMAND IN THE 1950's: FURTHER EVIDENCE

Hello Woodsy

It seems the world (well perhaps not the Russians) was celebrating on July 20th's man's landing 50 years ago on the moon.

I offer photographic proof that the American's may have landed in 1969 but the RAF Space Command was there in the 1950's. 

This incident shows that Jet Ace Logan had a technical fault aboard his craft, the air being contaminated by a gas leak. 

Using the last of his reserve space suit oxygen he managed to crash land on the moon close to the RAF base where rescue workers set out to aid both Jet Ace and Plum-Duff Charteris.

Regards,

Terranova47

NYC

HAPPY MEAL MOON WALKING SNOOPY

Hi Woodsy 

Have you seen these amazing Peanuts McDonald's happy meal toys?? My daughter has already got doubles of the moonwalking snoopy and I'll send a pic of it when I have "sweetened" it

Good to have you back on track mate, 

Regards 

Mark J, 

Southcoast Base 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/McDonalds-Happy-Meal-Toy-Peanuts-Space-Snoopy-PRESALE-Full-Set-Toys-Books/312691715992?hash=item48cde0ef98:g:gtQAAOSw-9tdJFBw

ARE THE SPACEX AND PENN PLAX APOLLO LEMS THE SAME?

With the Moon Landing on my mind I'm Always on the look out for new LEMS.

Here's one from the archives of the blog along with a new sighting.

Its the Penn Plax Sealab Explorer from 1971 seen in red and white below.

Yes, the Sealab Explorer is an underwater LEM! 

Penn Plax were and are the kings of plastic fish tank ornamentation.

Here's another more recent sighting of a red and metallic green one on the Minipetsupplies site.

 Despite it saying it was made exclusively fpr Penn Plax in Hong Kong the Penn Plax LEM reminds me a lot of the Tri-ang Spacex LEM.

Here's a picture of the SpaceX LEM courtesy of Bill B.

Has anyone got the Penn Plax LEM for some more close-up photo's?

Are they the same?

......... THE EAGLE HAD LANDED!

50 years ago today!

Well done Apollo 11!

MICHAEL COLLINS HOLDS HIS BREATH BECAUSE .........

KEVIN'S MODEL MOON MISSION

Hi,

Just in case, here are some pictures of my models and toys to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

Kevin

APOLLO 11: PENULTIMATE DAY

Apollo 11 mission log 19th July: 

US Astronauts Collins, Aldrin and Armstrong 

orbit the lunar surface in preparation for LEM release 

and moon landing tomorrow, 

20th July 1969.

NEARLY LANDED: PROJECT MOON TOYS, JOE 90 COMIC, 19th JULY 1969

APOLLO 11 MOON MISSION LIVE

Check out this cool website for the 50th Anniversary. Like a NASA console, it takes you moment by moment through the 9 day moon landing mission. Amazing!

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/

WHAT I GOT FOR THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOON LANDING

In the 1990's I started putting away cereal packets that I liked. I dug them out today - below - to see if I had any space-related ones. There were certainly lots of Spider-man and Godzilla!

But lo and behold, here we have a WEETOS Moon landing packet below. I couldn't believe that it was for the 25th Moonlanding Anniversary and its the 50th one now! I put it away 15 years ago!

On the back are all the great little free gifts that came in the boxes. I didn't get any more boxes for some reason. Probably because I ate the cereals as per normal and then stored the box! Come to think of it I really don't remember the 25th being that much of a big deal.

But I did get the little bagged-up blue plastic Saturn V in the box I got. It fell straight in my bowl like a milky splashdown! 

Anyone got any more of this set?

Its the 50th anniversary now! How time flies!

FIRST MOON

There are so many TV programmes and movies about the Moon Landing I'm getting dizzy.

There was First Man at the cinema, then there's ARMSTRONG in the cinemas for one night only tomorrow on the 9th and then there's 8 Days to the Moon and Back this Wednesday 10th on BBC 2.

Did you see First Man?

One Small Step

 The fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing fast approaches. Its hard to believe its been so long since man first walked on the moon, I still recall those heady days of excitement like they were only yesterday. Moon fever was everywhere, tv, film, advertising, books, sweets - you couldn't move without finding something connected with the space race or the moon landing, it was such an exciting time. And then within a few short years, it was over. The last Apollo missions were cancelled due to budgetary constraints and what seemed like a lack of public interest. The Vietnam war had taken its toll on the US and as the flights to the moon had not delivered anything as remotely as exciting as media had portrayed, no aliens, no space cities and nothing but unremarkable dust and rock - the public eye turned away from the moon and space and looked elsewhere for entertainment.

 The recent plan to reach the moon once more by 2020 has generated a little resurgence of interest and the multitude of probes delivering photographs and information from the far reaches of the solar system has been hugely popular, but so far its only been a pale imitation of 1969.

Perhaps as man reaches out once more to step on the surface of our nearest neighbour, it may gather momentum, but for now I content myself with reverie and fond memories of those heady days when newsagents bulged with comics and papers chock full of rockets and sweet counters burst with candy filled spaceships and little toys.

So for now, here is a small gallery of some of my toy LEM's and moon landers, maybe as the decade rolls on modern takes on these little gems will drop out of cereal packets in the morning, or sail gracefully over carpetted moonscapes to settle silently on imagined mares.