WOTAN Base Instinct 1: First of an occasional look at another of my favourite childhood toys - the Rocket Base! Every Gerry Anderson show worth its salt had a scene with a major missile installation or rocket base in it. The Cuban Missile Crisis had brought ICBMs to the front of public attention and the space race to put a man on the moon meant rockets were everywhere in all shapes and forms. There were (and still are) few things more exciting than seeing a rocket blast off on a trail of flame and every boy wanted to be a part of this. Toy companies quickly churned out loads of different toys to try and catch the zeitgeist of the period and put the drama of the countdown and blastoff into the living rooms of kids everywhere. 6
I remember distinctly getting up one bleary xmas morning around '69 to find a massive (to me anyway) cardboard box sat beneath the tree, the Cape Canveral Missile Base! Made by Topper toys of Johnny Seven OMA fame (something which Santa somehow forgot to deliver - and I'm still waiting fat boy!) this was a fabulous toy, with everything you needed to stage a rocket launch. Three main sections comprised of a Rocket Transporter lorry with three ICBMs, a Nike Hercules Missile Bank with three cruise missiles and the huge 'Silo' Base Launcher. On top of all this came a small army of figures - each about 6cm high, well detailed in every pose from high altitude flight suits to heat resistant rescue suits to commanders and mechanics. Water slide decals with eagles, stars and fine grecian mythic names for the rockets like 'Thor', 'Atlas' and 'Jupiter' were ready to be applied to complete the authentic look.
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My original set gradually perished over the following years, but due to the generosity of our host, Woodster and a canny win on ebay last year, I have managed to almost complete a set of this fantastic set. One of my fondest memories of that xmas morning was blasting off a Thor rocket from the silo in front of the xmas tree and it crashing into the branches - fusing all the lights! I recreated this memorable moment last night during the photo shoot and due to the massive power still present in the spring loaded launcher, almost smashed a rocket through the glass roof of the conservatory! Given the caution inherent in every modern toy and the health and safety freaks instilling a 'nanny culture' on every child (and adults too!) in case of accidents - it was great to remember the reckless abandon that was present in sixties toys when atomic rockets, huge cannons and One Man Army guns were the order of the day!
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Happy to help WOTAN, my pleasure. The set looks stunning! Topper the Morning to ya!
7
Happy to help WOTAN, my pleasure. The set looks stunning! Topper the Morning to ya!
