I'VE GOT MY EYE ON THIS ION

I recognised this old Greek board game straight away. You?

A Christmas classic!

MERRY MONSTERS

Hi Woodsy.

Hope your holiday was a joyous one. Here at Monster Base, the fun is only beginning. The week leading up 'til New Year's day will be full of creepy Christmas cheer!-

Brian F 

NJ USA

CHRISTMAS PRESENCE

 

A parting shot of Christmas proper at Moonbase with my Xmas and Birthday prezzies under the tree. I was really thrilled to receive my gifts, every one of them: 

a fab tray from my Grandson, lovely Superfast books and sherry from the Missus, fascinating Matchbox Car books, neat paint pens and writing pad [thanks W], cool vintage Shang Shi comics [thanks T], a superb Finnish vintage Star Trek comic [thanks A], a wonderfully restored SpaceX Surveyor [thanks P] and Chairman's Rum, nice soap, Corpse Grinders DVD, star socks and an amazing Shinsei Jeek Tunneln die-cast from my daughter and son-in-law.

More to come on many of these.

At my age I'm just happy to have a peaceful family birthday and Christmas so gifts like these just make it all extra special and I'm very grateful.

What did Santa bring you readers or were you on the naughty list?

GLIMPSES OF A WHITBY CHRISTMAS

As the glitter settles for another year on the shadows of Christmas here are a few snaps of our festive break this year in the harbour town of Whitby on Yorkshire's east coast.

Its a place I can truly recommend for its salty air, chewy whelks, seagulls mewing, narrow alleyways like Loggerheads Yard, whale bones, fog-bound streets, small shops, charity shops, the best fish and chips and general all-round misty period nautical charm. Imagine a place by the sea concocted by both Dickens and Bram Stoker and you have it.

The view from our attic bedroom: the Abby and St. Hilda's on top of the hundred steps.

Whitby Abbey ruins in shadow, the inspiration for Stoker's Carfax in Dracula.

The Builder-Joiner-Undertaker business opposite our house. I thought it said Butchers! Yikes!

Copies of Dracula in the Old Town.

Boxing Day night when the toys come alive.

My small haul of Superfast cars from Whitby and a Jeek Tunneln die-cast by Shinsei given to me by my daughter for Christmas.

More to come on the toys.

Time for another advocat!

What did you get for Christmas readers?

THE LAST BBC GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS IN THE 1970's.

Our first night home after getting back from our Christmas break in Whitby was spent in front of the telly with Blue the old dog, back from his holiday at Mutlins. It's still very festive with the tree lights casting their magic so a few glasses of sherry and some cheese and crackers came out too.

The Missus caught up with an omnibus of Call The Midwife on TV and laptop-earphones at the ready I re-discovered an old Xmas gift, a boxed DVD set of BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas I got a few years ago and a real slice of vintage nostalgia from when I were a mere lad.

I decided to watch two stories I'd not seen before, both appearing at the end of the series at Christmas in the late 1970's. They were also unusual in that a new director was brought in, they were written especially for the BBC and they were not period pieces. You could also say that they were folk horror rather than ghost stories, a sign of the times back then perhaps. Don't read any further if you don't want to know what happens.

The first, Stigma, is about a menhir being moved from a garden adjacent to Avebury Stone Circle. Not something I would do. As soon as the stone is lifted by workmen the woman of the house is afflicted with bleeding from the skin. As the workmen discover an ancient skeleton riven with long daggers beneath the stone the woman's bleeding becomes fatal. Her daughter tells the workmen how witches were once killed and buried this way. The end.

Stigma reminded me of the themes found in more horror-based TV series like Beasts and folk-horror TV plays like Muren and The Photograph. Having camped in Avebury Ring in the late Seventies, when this was first shown on the telly, the film struck a real chord with me and took me right back to my new age days.

The second, the Ice House, is less straightforward I thought. It concerns a guest house run by an odd young brother and sister. A man checks in for a period of saunas, massage and general relaxation. The owners give him all their attention and show him their beloved tropical and intoxicating vine and strange ice house. He sees a face in the ice. The guest becomes obsessed with both the vine and ice and the siblings guide him steadily towards the open door of the ice house, which he willingly enters. The end.

All is not what it seems in the Ice House and I'm not sure exactly what was going on. The brother and sister appear to be extending people's lives by freezing them in the ice, from which they re-emerge somewhat colder. The vine appears to be other-worldly - alien? - and the siblings kiss beneath it. Everyone in the film talks strangely. You could say posh but that doesn't describe it. The pronoun 'one' is used constantly and does create an aura of eeriness and manipulation. I'm really not sure at all what the siblings were: witches? ancient beings? aliens?

Both TV films are available on BBC iPlayer for a while.

Have you seen either of these readers? What did you think?

THE ASTRONAUT LUNAR EXPLORER BOX ART

 I saw this toy box art and thought wow!

It reminded me of the cover of the Project SWORD Annual!

Have you seen any artwork like these two?

VISITING WHITBY'S OLD TOY SHOPS

Me and the Missus joined family in Whitby on th Yorkshire coast over Christmas. It was good to get back to this coastal jewel and stay in the town again after a few years' absence.

Besides the aura of Stoker's Dracula [written there] and the ensuing gothic sub- culture infusing the old fog-bound streets it was also good to catch up on the die-cast cars always on offer in a couple of Whitby's many independent shops.

One of them is the famous vintage toy kiosk on the corner of the old town square. Its more of a lean-to than a full blown shop and at the best of times can only fit one or two people in. With Covid there's even less space so I stood outside, staring at the well-stocked window displays and chatted to the proprietor, who I have bought from for over 30 years. I didn't purchase this time round but we reminisced about older times when I'd bought for instance a Fairylite Stingray off him for a fiver. That was years ago and it was good to see the kiosk still going strong after all this time. Do you know it?

A more conventional shop and equally reduced in accessibility is Collectables Past and Present on Skinner Street. This store holds a huge stock of old and new die-cast, bric a brac and models. With entry reduced to the two people my Son-in-Law went in first with Moonbase Junior, who came out with a nice Corgi 007 Moonraker Space Shuttle for £12.95 that his Dad had bought him. Loose and minus the satellite the Grandson was suitably chuffed. 

Next the daughter went in and bought a Russian ceramic polar bear for £25, which she saw in the window and loved partly dow to the association Whitby has with these noble animals. 

Next in was yours truly along with Moonbase Junior again and all we wanted to see was the purveyor's Matchbox Superfast stock. I bought 8 lovely Matchbox for £15 including a felt-pennable scrap Mercedes Benz regular wheels for Junior to do up. 

I'll blog the ones I got soon, which included a gorgeous purple Dodge Charger. Lovely!

 Last but not least, the daughter took Missus Moonbase in and bought her Mum a post-Christmas gift for £20, a nice ceramic ornamental green hare. The Missus was touched. After they came out the shop promptly closed!

Have you been to either of these long-established die-cast shops readers? Did you get any die-cast for Christmas?

BRINGERS OF WONDER PRE-PRODUCTION MODELS FROM 16/12

 Some new photos from me of the pre-production ‘Bringers of Wonder’ Sixteen 12 prototype models.

Before we start, I think we’re all aware now that there’s no huge model of the Super Swift as part of the set. Shocking, I know, but I think it’s a fair bet that if Sixteen 12 has any future plans to produce a model of that, and I certainly wouldn’t put it past them, it’ll probably be a stand-alone release, like their Swift

Just as a reminder of the Super Swift, here's a beautiful replica model built by Chris Potter.

And now back to the Sixteen 12 set.

So, what does this set include? Well, there’s a small Pilot Ship, designed to be in-scale with the newer second season Sixteen 12 12” Eagle.

I’ve included a photo of it with one of the small 16/12 Alpha buggies in shot to give an impression of scale. I should mention I don’t know for sure whether a buggy is included in this set.

Although it’s an unsurprisingly small model, about 31/2” long, the Pilot Ship does have plenty of detailing, including tiny representations of kit parts from the Airfix Eagle, and the engine bells from the Airfix Saturn V, that was used as detailing on the original prop.

Here's a photo I took of the original prop, which was built for the story by Martin Bower, and is regularly displayed at various model events, thanks to its current owner.

As you can see, the set also features a large No. 5 Nuclear Waste Dome, which I found perfect for creating an instant diorama. I didn’t measure it but I reckon the dome was over a foot wide and about 9” tall. The base was a slightly larger egg-shape to accommodate the various surrounding installations.

The detailing and shading actually looks to be fairly accurate to the prop Dome 5. There’s also the site warning billboard, which on screen is shown some distance away from Dome 5. It’ll probably irk the casual nit-pickers, but I think it’s reasonable to put its closer positioning down to a little artistic licence.

Here's a photo of what's left of the original Dome 3 prop.

And yes, the set comes with the ubiquitous die-cast Eagle. The one that Sixteen 12 provided for the photos is the same one that comes with the Dragon’s Domain set, which has the removable Command Module, and the additional rear piping, added for the second season. (I know there’ll be a queue of fans keen to point out that Dragon’s Domain is a first season episode which actually didn’t have that additional piping, so I’ll just point out we all know!)

I have to admit I really do like this version of their Eagle, and I’d be happy if they eventually released it as part of this set, removable command module and all. One thing I’d like to see return is the black paint underneath the Eagle leg pods, which Sixteen 12 added to the leg pods on their Wargames set.

The 12" Eagle from the Wargames set.

While I had the prototype Dome No. 5 to photograph, I couldn’t resist doing a couple of shots featuring two Eagles, including an attempt to recreate the Eagle 10 crash!

“I’ve haven’t had this much fun since I set fire to Grandma’s wig!”