ATOM SUB 7-11

This is a a great looking Atom Sub 7-11; it has a real Gerry Anderson vibe to it.

I think its Italian. It's titled a Sottomarino A Molla. This is the only image I could find, this one on an odd auction site called Catawiki [I thought Catawiki was an encyclopedia site].

Do you like this Atom Sub? Any more info?

SUB STANDARD

I had to chuckle when I saw this old carded frogman. I mean, the firm have just brazenly ripped off one of my favourite Action Man box illustrations! It was clearly the Wild West back then in Hong Kong when anything went!

The toy itself appears to not live up to the famous illustration, a super cheapo frogman and a one-man sub that looks like a soda siphon canister.

Still, back in the day I would have accepted this toy with open arms. I would today! ha ha

Did you have a one-man sub?

KEV's AGENT X20'S SUB SCRATCHBIULD

Just completed this build of Agent X20's submarine from Stingray. The model is made from a Revell kit of the Bell X5 aircraft, as was the original.

Off to see the Mighty Titan,

Kevin D

UK

SEEPY HOLLOW: THE BLOW MOULDED RACER USED BY DEREK MEDDINGS

I saw this picture on an auction recently. I immediately recognised it as a plastic racing car I'd posted before on MC.

Its such an interesting toy and what it got used for, the World Navy Sub 27, so I'm re-posting the 2019 post here. Anyone got one of these cars? Does it appear in any other episodes? Anyone know the toy's name and maker?

There is hardly anything about the World Navy Sub 27 online. Old contact Marc Frattasio described the sub's origins way back in 1995 and re-described it on the old TVCentury21 site years later, something I just hadn't read until now!

This is Captain Jordan's submarine, the WN27, as seen in 'The Man from the Navy'. The actual model was about 12 inches long and had a hull made from a toy or kit midget racing car. The car body is turned back-to-front and the front of the conning tower fits into what would be the back of the driver's cockpit. This model was dressed up with Airfix SRN1 hovercraft kit turbine parts and repainted bright orange for use in the Thunderbirds episode 'The Man from MI5'.

I wonder where the original Century 21 prop ended up?

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2019 Post:

Yorkie's ace observations in the comments about this mystery toy racing car and its possible use as a Century 21 prop were so good that I had to post them.

Yorkie said that in the Stingray episode 'Man from the Navy', the World Navy Sub 27 is a converted racing car toy or model. A conning tower has been added and the rear of the car becomes the front of the sub. It could be the toy pictured.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/stingray/images/4/47/Wn27.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20170721030724

Yorkie said it also appears in Thunderbirds painted red in the episode The Man from MI5.

https://securityhazard.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/themanfrommi500015.jpg

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Woodsy added in 2019:

Since posting the 'mystery' racing car post I've realised where I first saved the picture from. It belonged to modeller Mike Delamar and I asked to use it nearly 10 years ago on an online thread. You can see the thread on the Eagletransporter Forum [you may have to register after a while]. Mike's a master scratch builder and the old thread detailed his search for original parts to create the World Navy Sub 27 from the toy racing car. Sadly the thread peters out and the finished model is not shown.

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Woodsy adds in 2023

I've realised that I may have very nearly bought one of these toy racers way back in the Noughties. We visited an old toy shop at the top of Shipley Glen Railway and after spending £15 on vintage items like this stack of Bravestarr mugs I'd run out of cash. The racing car was in cellophane on a shelf above the counter. I didn't have any more cash! Darn it!

Anyone ever seen one for sale on Ebay? The racing car.

AN ISLAND CRAWLING WITH MYSTERIOUS TOYS

 I've just watched Jules Verne's Mysterious Island the movie from 1961.

I've seen it many times and despite crawling with the giant crabs and hungry rocs there are still a few toy related observations I can make.

One of the high points of the film is the appearance of Herbert Lom's Nemo and his futuristic submarine Nautilus. Nowadays they'd call it steampunk but back in the day when the first Nautilus appeared on the big screen in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in 1954, a Leeds-based company got in on the underwater action.

Sutcliffe Pressings created the Nautilus tinplate toy, an icon of vintage play and a glint in the eye of most collectors. A beautiful toy pressed in various bright colours, what I hadn't realised was just how close Sutcliffes was to Moonbase. Literally half an hour away in Horsforth, Leeds!

Now the site of a residential car park, the Sutcliffe glory days are sometimes celebrated at the local Horsforth Museum and this is one of their past displays of submarines. You can also read about Sutcliffe's here: Sutcliffe Boats of Horsforth [there's a picture of the toy sub being sprayed in the spray shop!]. Did you own a Sutcliffe?

Watching Mysterious Island again I was also struck by Nemo's wondrous electric rifle and how it completely captured the atomic age vibe of many space rifles. See what I mean ...

There were many toy space guns like it and here's one off the top of my helmet, the sensational Pyrotomic Disintegrator by Pyro. Did you have one of these bad boys?

Can you think of a better space rifle like Nemo's?

The last toy link to the film and one I've blogged before is Ray Harryhausen's giant octopus and its influential suckers.

This large cephalopod slipped into the mind of one Mel Birnkrant back in the Sixties and its tentacles re-appeared in his triumphant Outer Space Men with Colourforms, one of my all time favourite toy figures as a kid.

The octopod of the Men was one Astro-Nautilus, perhaps the only figure of the original series I didn't have. Sadly all my Men have have left the ship but pictures still abound on the net. Here is the Man from Neptune.

Did any one you ever see the Nemo and Nautilus movies at the flicks? Has anyone got any other toys from the two movies?

BRI'S CHAP MEI DIVERS

In response to Wotan,here's some nice Chap Mei/Animal Planet playsets.

DIVE!DIVE!DIVE!-

BrianF 

NJ USA

A Divers Selection

 

 Next to my love of deep space is the deep sea and as a result, submarines! As its difficult to keep myself entertained during these difficult times, I decided to get out some of my collection for another run on the blog. Probably one of the largest in my collection is the wonderful National Geographic Ocean Explorer, with a neat articulated figure, about the same scale as Matt Mason. The sub has a large pair of grabbing claws on the front, operated by means of a cleverly designed had grip in the shape of an air tank.

The diver figure is also available separately in a wetsuit with a sea scooter. There's lovely attention to detail and the accessories such as depth gauge, flippers and knife are all well made. The sub comes with some buried treasure to discover and the diver has a nasty looking shark to contend with.

Matchbox regularly make a submarine in their toy line and along with the pod from Jurassic World, there is a nice array of different submersibles.

Not to be outdone, Hot Wheels also included an unusual submarine in their range. As ever, they come in several colour variations.

Finally, we stick with Mattel for the Sea Devils Rick Riley figure. From the same stable as Matt Mason, the Sea Devils were a range of rubber divers with a wire armature like Matt, making them poseable.  Rick also share some of Matts equipment, such as the chemical tank which has been converted to an oxygen tank. Rick has lost his helmet along the way since 1970 and is also waiting on a new motor unit for his sea scooter, but looks well for his age!

RC 3D PRINTED FUTURISTIC SUB

I liked this R/C sub on 3DPrint. Com. Its 3D printed and reminds me of those cool Imai toy subs from the Sixties.  It would have sat well on the Thunderbirds set too! https://3dprint.com/72631/3d-printed-rc-submarine/ 

What do you think?

image; 3Dprint.com

Jets Away!

 Further to Woodsy's flagging up the Pippin Hydro Jet toy, here are my models from the series. Originally marketed in Japan on a card backer, by Gakken, the jet toys were repackaged by Lipkin for Pippin toys. There are three versions, each came with a battery on the card in the japanese packing. I've not been brave enough to try them in water, but an internal propeller draws water in through the front vents and ejects it through the rear around the red lighted nozzle.

Check out the gorgeous illustrations on the japanese release!

Model Ax-03 from the Pippin release, showing the trademark beneath the toy.