Ed's SpaceX Moon Base

Woodsy,

Here's a practice shot of the Moon Base taking shape on the moonscape.

From Vegas Base

Ed

Kevin's SpaceX and JR21 Toy group Shots

Hi,

I've got these shots to hand.

Kevin

UK

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Tri-ang SpaceX and SpaceX II toys

JR21 toys

Kevin's Evertime Space Watch

Hi,

I have been searching for one of these for years and finally ebay came good. I had one of these watches when I was about 12.

I also think that the watch that came with the Spacex 2 LEM was the same as this, I know that was a Newmark watch but the graphic is identical.

On the LEM gift set box, it refers to a sweep module. That is what this watch has, the second hand is in the form of a clear disc with an Apollo csm on it that goes round once a minute!

Mine works too!

Kevin

UK

: Search

A SPACEX/ GOLDEN ASTRONAUT COLOURING BOOK?

Recalling Scoop's ace collection of colouring books last month, I was lamenting the fact that that Triang SpaceX/ Golden Astronaut never did one, a colouring book. I'd have loved it as a kid.

Thinking about it, there are quite a few SpaceX-style line drawings in other colouring books to probably create one!

The Man on the Moon colouring books contain quite a few - which Wotan Bill found - and I think there are more finds on the blog of SpaceX-style line drawings.

There's also new-fangled online trickery which allows you to convert pictures to line drawings. Here's a sketchy backing card one I did this morning.

If such a Triang SpaceX/ Golden Astronaut colouring book existed then it would need a cover. 

Any ideas? 

Your Concept drawings, lay-outs, mock-ups and photos and sketches welcomed readers!

We Land on the SpaceX

These line drawings in the vintage We Land on the Moon colouring books are always a thrill, as so many are vehicles we know and love, especially from Triang SpaceX/ Golden Astronaut toys.

See what you think. Links to the fabulous and long-running Dreams of Space blog.

http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2017/07/we-land-on-moon-coloring-book-based-on_7.html

http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2017/07/we-land-on-moon-coloring-book-based-on_4.html

WILL O'S TV21 MOON TOWN TOY

Will Osborne's boxed SpaceX Moon Base HQ shown with a moon base concept illustration in TV21 comic October 1965.

Do you have this toy set?

ECHOES OF SPACEX

This artist's brilliant renditions of household spacecraft remind me of the small vehicle portraits on the backs on Tri-ang SpaceX toys.

Do you like them too?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46372042

A Little Ingenuity

"A helicopter in space ?!!" Thats what crossed my young mind when I saw the Spacex card with the Helicopter P3 on it, decades ago. The fact that it seemed to be sailing blithely across the vacuum of interstellar space appalled my notions of physical logic, even at that early age and it wasn't til many years later that it dawned on me that as it was part of the Earth Base section, it wouldn't actually be flying in space, just supporting the ground vehicles. 
 

Even so, the idea still bemused me as to why we might need a helicopter in space. It was further compounded when I came across the Marx Moon Scout Copter, which was clearly intended for use on the moon!

Still, all my pre-teenage angst over these technical faux pas in the toy industry have long since dissipated and I am now firmly embracing the exciting idea of copters in space. On 18 April, the NASA JPL Perseverance rover will assist its 'moving buddy' Ingenuity in a brief flight on the Martian surface. Ingenuity is a tiny, drone sized copter that has hitched a lift under the rover and will make its maiden flight in the thin atmosphere for the first time. Carbon fibre twin rotors, designed to offer maximum lift will hopefully allow the fragile craft to lift off on the first of a series of brief forays on Mars. 

Ingenuity doesn't look even remotely like Triang or Marx ideas of full on space copters, but does mark a huge leap forward in the exploration of other worlds 

if all goes to plan on Mars, a further helicopter will be dispatched to Titan on the Dragonfly mission sometime in the near future: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-dragonfly-will-fly-around-titan-looking-for-origins-signs-of-life

Its amazing to see how far technological developments have leapt forward since the first tentative steps into space and all in a human lifetime. What might our children see occurring in the next century ?

ALIEN ATTACK: SPACEX CLONE WARS

 I'm always chuffed when I see the HG Toys copies of the Tri-ang SpaceX cruisers.

They came in brown and silver hard plastic.

I saw these on Ebay where they sometimes turn up. I saved the pics.

The card scenery which formed the basis of the HG Alien Attack set looks great. Golden age styling!

The set came with figures too. These sets were still available in 1980, a good 10 years after the SpaceX Cruiser came and went I think.

Are there any SpaceX copies anywhere later than 1980?

Is this a set you had or have?

BLACKBIRDS AND FLYING SAUCERS

 I love these Blackbirds on the cover of this Flying Saucers comic by Dell I saw in an old sale.

The Blackbird has always found itself in science fiction and fantasy like this. Just think of its equivalent in the Tri-ang SpaceX range.

Do you have a Blackbird toy, model or comic?

KEV'S BOXED SPACEX SETS

Hi,

I recently had a lot of luck on ebay. Firstly, I was able to get the Spacex moonbase set with extra Spacex II toys in it and then, just a few weeks later, the other two sets crop up at the same time and I managed to get both of them too!

All 3 were in excellent condition for their age, the moonbase just needed a few small bits which Bill generously provided and the MLP was missing its walkways, which I scratchbuilt. 

Amazingly, all three still had their paper play surfaces. 

Very pleased with these indeed!

It's still out there,

Kevin 

PENN PLAX SEALAB EXPLORER UNBOXED

Found this unboxed example of a Penn Plax Sealab Explorer aquarium toy.

It went under my radar because it was called a moon lander in the description. An easy mistake for sure, it should be a LEM after all and not a sea lander!

I saved the pictures and here they are.

We can see the differences between it and the Tri-ang SpaceX LEM too, which is pictured below the Sealab.

.... and the Tri-ang SpaceX LEM

Judging by the small number of either of these LEMs online I'd say they are equally as uncommon.

Which do you like the most?

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.

BLISTER PACK

I bought this bubble frame at a car boot sale. It screamed Space base as soon as I saw it!