Snowed-In in Shipley

I'm currently snowed in at the Grandkids' gaff. Schools closed. The hill's undrivable. The car's Snowbound. Cars attempting the hill road are skidding and burning rubber. Yep, it's winter in West Yorkshire. 

What's it like near you readers? 

THE SNOW TRAIN

We have lots of the white stuff here at Winter Moonbase!

Probably my favourite snow pics ever sent to MB are these from 2013.

In 2013 reader Joe Murray has sent in these brilliant shots of his recently constructed card Snow Train. Joe made it from scans of the Century 21 Make A Model book and its the first time I've ever seen it made up.

Joe says "in the polar regions of this planet, the Snow Train has been trudging along. From the center of the blizzard in Connecticut, U.S.A".

FROST ON MARS!

Just watching the news that morning frost has been seen on the mountains of Mars!

Polar ice was known about but equatorial frost wasn't. 

How incredibly cool is that!

One hundred and fifty thousand tons of ice every sunrise at the top of the highest peaks in the solar system!

mars express/ news bank

If you had all of Gerry Anderson's vehicles, including Project SWORD and chuck in SpaceX/ Golden Astronaut too, which ones would you use to a. get to Mars and b. mine that ice at the top of giant mountains?

Is there a better toy space fleet you could send? Explorer12? Starcom! Multimac?

Current spacecraft will take 8 months to get there. How fast could you be?

Thoughts, plans, drawings and photos welcomed!

SLEIGH TIME

This mystery sled in my scrap box brought back a flood of memories.

As a kid I had the Action Man Explorer sled along with a pack of Huskies. Watch out the Polar regions, he we come!

Here's the 40th Anniversary release of the set I saw online.

There's some wonderful photographs of the original 1969 set on Action Man HQ.

https://www.actionmanhq.co.uk/action-man-vehicles/sledge-and-dog-team/index.php

Is it a set you had readers?

IVY AND BANE WALKING IN THE RAIN

This year's resolution is doctor's orders. Get fitter! So with that in mind the Missus and me headed to picturesque Hebden Bridge in the Pennines for a country walk.

Here are a few snaps of beautiful Hebden Valley; light rain, sleet and ice came too.

 

I loved this glass bottle fence!

At the end of the walk we went into the ever-welcoming Hebden.

In one charity shop I saw this interesting plastic space plane. It had a pull-bag landing gear, which pumped a friction motor. I've seen toy Galaxy Warrior motorbikes that do this as well. Have you got anything like this?

This Lanard 12 incher from 2003 caught my eye too.

I did pick up an old friend, Flairck's Variations on a Lady. I loved this Dutch LP as a teenager and played it to destruction. I've a second copy now! Is this one you know?

I've put it next to Gryphon's Red Queen to Gryphon Three. This was an LP that I wanted as a teenager but never got. My Son-in-Law, Daughter and Grandkids got it me as a late Chrissie present and I'm glad they did. Its great! Do you like Gryphon?

The Missus spotted these in a bargain bin in another Charity too. Ivy and Bane. From one of the worst superhero films ever made, Batman and Robin, 1996. George Clooney, Arnie Schwarzenegger et al. No wonder they look glum!

So, clutching these bad guys, Flairck, Gryphon and an old Mandolin, we left lovely Hebden having racked up ten thousand steps for the Doctor.

Man, Its Cold Outside!

 

Lots of the white stuff here this morning around Moonbase. Reminds me of when I'd get my Polar Explorer Action Man out as a kid and have him skiiing down the sloped snow-covered drive!

What's the weather like where you are in the world readers?

Did you enjoy your Action Men or GI Joe outdoors?

Matchbox Amundsen-Scott Station!

Sometimes manufacturers get things wrong. Here is a howling example from Matchbox.

The Amundsen-Scott Station is a US scientific base at the South Pole, in Antarctica. Not to be confused with New Zealand's Scott Base. The South Pole base was first established in 1956, and a new building complex was built in the 1970s.

This Matchbox set, 38160, is one of a series of Famous Places Around the World devoted to major construction projects that used CAT vehicles. The set includes a tracked Challenger tractor, a trailer, and a plastic hut which even has a coating of snow.

It is a very nice set. The problem lies with the artwork on the front of the backing card, which shows a couple of Polar Bears outside the hut.

There are no Polar Bears in Antarctica. In fact, there are no Polar Bears in the Southern Hemisphere at all, except for a few in various zoos. Polar Bears are confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and the northern Polar regions. Someone did not do their homework!

Two photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

The High Rev Snowmobile Race Set

Lincoln International released this amazing Snowmobile race slot set, which I saw on Worthpoint.

What a fabulous idea and very James Bond!

Snow and action just went together back in the 007 Sixties and this will have tapped right into that vibe.

I love the artwork!

I would have loved a slot set like this. You?

Blizzard Beasts in Jersey

Hi Woodsy. As you can see, Blizzards bring out the best in wildlife at Monster Base. This bipedal fellow was found nosing around my trash cans looking for a bite. Some yelling and a waving of arms sent him on his way.

 Now, how do I get rid of this Saber Tooth Tiger?- Brian F NJ USA

NEW JERSEY, NEW SNOW

Hi Woodsy.

Well last Sunday I put away all the Christmas decorations.

Monday morning I awoke to see six inches of snow outside!

What better time to read this new book - Ronnie James Dio's autobiography, a Christmas gift from my brother!

BrianF 

NJ USA

Is it snowing where you are in the world or is it bright sunshine?

THE DURHAM SNOW BOAT

This is a new one for me and Moonbase. 

The Snow Boat by that prolific plastic toy outfit Durham Industries. Its an unusual vehicle design and I've certainly not seen it before. This example is online on auction.

Durham, like Tarheel, released toys in bright coloured plastic and Durham issued a lime green Space Glider, which is on the blog.

The listing about the Snow Boat explains:

DURHAM INDUSTRIES INC., NY SUPER SNOW BOAT WITH POWER TREADS AND SPARKING EXHAUST. # 8324, MADE IN JAPAN. ABOUT 10 INCHES LONG. BOAT IS MISSING ITS WINDSHIELD.

I can't find a loose one anywhere online.

Do you like what you see?

LOST IN THE SNOW

 

A ghostbuster came knocking.

Not sure which one he is.

MY TOILET ROLL SNOWMAN AND ME

Among all the Christmas memories I half have, among the crinkled paper tinsel and the fat plastic snowmen on pedestals, among the silvikrin cocktail onions shoved into half a grapefruit, among the black and white sci-fi serials like Flash shown on TV, amidst the crib on the monk's seat and among the multi-coloured fairy lights plugged into a lamp I still see a toilet roll snowman.

The toilet roll snowman was a school classic when I was a kid at Sacred Heart Primary School in the Sixties. Much toilet activity went on in the school's parents' homes in order to supply every kid with a loo roll tube.

The creation of the snowman was ludicrously simple; the roll was glued to a circle of card to act as its base and then the roll was blathered with paper glue, onto which we stuck tons of cotton wool. The roll was then filled with the sweets of the day; maybe smarties, maybe dolly mixtures, maybe liquorice allsorts. The sweets probably should have had wrappers inside a loo roll tube but I don't think hygiene was at the top of the Christmas list back then.

Certain sweets had to be avoided like sherbert and kali as these would have been hard to to handle in a toilet roll and you would have needed a whole Ilb of them.

The whole cottony column was then topped off with yet more cotton wool to create a head. For that finishing touch eyes could be added and maybe a paper scarf and hat. And that was that!

Our names were scrawled underneath in crayon and we took them home at the end of the day usually for the first of advent.

I can still see that woolly pillar stood proudly next to the portable black and white telly in the breakfast room. 

Did you make a toilet roll snowman readers or something else for Christmas?

Are You Freezing or Roasting?

Whats the weather like were you are readers?

-3 here at Moonbase. Frosty but no snow. The stars are out and Orion's Belt is like a clear dot to dot of a vast airliner.

SNOW GO

Hiya Woody,

You asked about snowy action figures. Even Search and Rescue are struggling to take off in this weather :)

Stony K... out on ski patrol