T IN A CIRCLE NEW FLYING SAUCER AND THE TARHEEL ANIMATED CIRCUS TRAIN SET: NEW TO THE BLOG

Here is the first of two additions I can add to the checklists (in the side-bar) of known toys made by Tarheel and T in a Circle courtesy of Ebay.This is the T IN A CIRCLE NEW FLYING SAUCER with US flag. The T in a Circle logo is, for the first time for the blog, clearly visible on the box along with the model number, 356. You will be familiar with other makes of the same Saucer: JR21 (with Union Jack) and Brohm (German and flagless) and cross-boxing/moulding of probably all three.

The second addition is the TARHEEL ANIMATED CIRCUS TRAIN (sorry, I'm a completist WOTAN!) in all its plastic glory. It came in a long window box with the now familiar Tarheel 'red star' battery operated sticker. The toy had 3 cars and loco, with forward and reverse action, moving doors and animals. It was made in Hong Kong. No model number is visible in the pictures. I am beginning to see a pattern in the colour palette that Tarheel used for their toys as the same bright colours can be seen in virtually all thier range e.g. the NOVA rockets.

Pictures courtesy of Ebay.

MONSTERS FROM THE ID AND BAD ROBBIE

For years I've been a fan of MGM's film FORBIDDEN PLANET with Walter Pigeon, Altair IV, the lovely fembot Altaira, the alien Krel and the mighty Robby the Robot. But for me and true to my character, the highlight of the movie could only ever have been the creeping one-toed Monster from the ID (below), a raging screaming manifestation of Dr. Morbius's nightmares. It's menacing footprints and the accompanying sound-effect, a sort of metallic 'boing', was only ever equalled in the film fright-stakes by the boiling tracks of the fire-devil in the seminal NIGHT OF THE DEMON.

And thanks to the wonders of science you can see a clip of the Id Monster on You Tube

Back in the early 1970's when my big brother Steve lived in London he visited a sci-fi comic shop called Dark They Were and Golden Eyed (DTWAGE), which I believe is the name of a Ray Bradbury story. Reputed to be the first comic shop in the UK I can clearly remember our Steve giving me something (?) in the shop's distinctive paper bag emblazoned with a  fabulous black and white drawing of fantastic creatures, orcs and martians. As I was heavilly into the art of Brian Froud, the Brothers Hildebrandt and Roger Dean at the time, the picture was an immediate hit with me. I managed to keep hold of the bag for years but I've no idea where it is now ( but I did write a song with the same name!) And now to the point of this rather long-winded link to the famous movie above, DTWAGE eventually became the first store in the comic megalith that we know now as Forbidden Planet!

Drunk on the sensory feast that is the flim Forbidden Planet, I never got to see the other outing for Robby the Robot, MGM's THE INVISIBLE BOY. I came across an intriguing snippet about it in my new DK ULTIMATE ROBOT BOOK suggesting that in this second film Robby, the pinnacle of manners and generosity on Altair IV, is ultimately taken over by an alien entity hell-bent on world domination and that this is an early example of what we now refer to as a computer virus! Prophetic. The Invisible Boy is now on my Love Film wish list.

The mere mention of an evil alien virus automatically gets me musing about the menacing alter-ego of our friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, Venom below. There must be more monsters from the Id and viral martians out there. Anyone got any?

 

CHILDHOOD'S END

I've always wanted to read Arther C. Clarkes novel CHILDHOOD'S END. Has anyone else? Well now it's a definate as I've picked up the above edition in a local charity shop. I am immediately struck by the similarity of the cover art to the opening scenes of the US movie INDEPENDENCE DAY, below, with huge spaceships hanging over the world's cities. In fact, reading the book's WIKIPEADIA entry another similar opening is from the series V, but I don't remember it. The summary of the book is amazing and has fired my intent to read it soon even more with its decription of the devil-like Overlords! I can't help thinking that it's the sort of story Arther C. Clarke would have written for Project SWORD! It's amazing that no-one has actually made the story into a film in its own right. Or?

DYNA SOARS: A CLOSE SHAVE

MORE DOODLES

SWORD DOODLES

SEARS 3-STAGE ROCKET SPARE TAIL FINS

Here's something you don't often see on Ebay - spare tailfins for the glorious SEARS 3-STAGE ROCKET of the ROCKET BASE pictured below, an amazing 1960's American SWORD forerunner that combined the Apollo Saturn Rocket and a sort of Cape Kennedy Set. I have only ever seen it in pictures and specifically those that blog reader Darth kindly posted way back in the first few weeks of the blog in 2008. Testimony to how rare even the pictures are of the set online is the fact that the Ebay seller has used the very same pictures of the rocket and box posted here back then! Wonder what happened to the rest of the rocket?

Above picture courtesy of Darth

(first posted September 2008)

HP SAUCER

Recently saw this on Ebay a "VINTAGE HP TOYS FRICTION POWERED FLYING SAUCER IN GOOD PLAYWORN CONDITION - ITS MADE IN HONG KONG AND HAS HP AND NO 625 ON THE BOTTOM AND THE FRICTION MOTOR WORKS PERFECTLY - ITS 5 INCHES ACROSS - PILOT IS STRAPPED IN". HP isn't a brand I'm that familiar with. Is it related to LP? I thought it might be a clone of the Blue Box Flying Saucer, picture below, but not really.

Comparing the HP saucer base to the base of a T in a Circle New Flying Saucer (below) they aren't really related either.

The T in a Circle New Flying Saucer base is virtually the same , however, as its stablemate's, the T in a Circle Moon Prospector picture below.

Here's another plastic rotating toy base, below, in my photo archive but I can't identify it.