YIKES! IT'S DROP MY PANTSENSTEIN!

Here's one for EvilEd, the Nomura MOD MONSTER from the 1960's in all his blushing glory! Wait for the surprise ending!

and I saw this and couldn't resist posting it, it's a howl!

Both courtesy of YouTube!

LOOK OUT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES PUNY EARTHLINGS! MARS ATTACKS!

Continuing raids into my 'loft in space' ( yeah, sorry!) have produced further booty. Here's my set of MARS ATTACKS gum cards for your delectation. Alas they are but professional copies made by Renato Gelasso, which I bought at the NEC years ago to replace my real set. Yes, I had a proper real set but only as an adult. I was too young to have collected them in the late 50's and they were pulled from shops after parents complained about the gore. Amazing that a set of cards can inspire an entire film. I think about my proper set probably once a day. You see I found them wrapped in a rubber band amongst a pile of old toys and stuff at a car boot sale in Barnsley (this was Carlsberg's WOTE!) back in the early 1990's. I couldn't believe my eyes and with bulging irises I asked how much they were. I heard the 'F' of the word 'Fifty' and I had paid and run off before the old chap had finished saying 'pence'! For at least 2 years they were the number one item in my growing space/sci fi collection. Alas my family hit hard times and I was forced to sell them for £50 in 1993 to a gum card dealer whom I knew. We were both happy at the time but I have regretted it ever since. The Renato Gelasso copies are really nice replicas but can never replace the real thing. Anyone else had or still have MARS ATTACKS or got similar tales of heartbreaking selling woe?

KRAZY KREATURES FROM OUTER SPACE 1970

Here's one for the Toad - KRAZY KREATURES FROM OUTER SPACE. I knew I had a set in the loft somewhere, I got these at a car boot sale about 10 years ago for £3 - still says so on the placcy bag along with a date of 1970! I know them as CHIX but these say PRIMROSE CONFECTIONARY? In fact having handled them again I'm inclined to think that they are colour photocopies as the 'card' is so thin as to be paper really and the margins seem erratic! So much for Carlsberg Car Boots! Anybody else got a set? Are they stiff cards? Were they just in the UK?

PS. The Philosophic Toad has found this cool KRAZY KREATURE album of close-ups online here.

BOXING CLEVER: DURHAM JOHNNY TARHEEL TOY HELICOPTER BOX IMAGE RESTORATION

Earlier on in the year a very kind reader donated a Durham 'Johnny Tarheel' Helicopter to the Moonbase collection. The embattled toy and box were sent by ambulance to WOTAN'S HOSPITAL FOR TOYS, where after lengthy surgery they have been recovering in Intensive Care. More on them later. Prior to hospitalisation, I took scans of the flattened box, complete with missing sections, ragged edges and water stains, as can be seen in the top picture. One long winter's night I had a go at restoring the box shape and imagery, which was a lot of fun I must say, even though I was limited by the 'Paint' programme. See what you think - bottom picture. All I need now is access to a printer capable of printing A3. Anyone else restored box art like this?

UGLY STICKERS AND NUTTY INITIALS: CRAZY MAN!

Welcome to the world of Topps/ ABC UGLY STICKERS! I absolutely loved these grotesque beauties back in the Sixties. I'd stick 'em everywhere: exercise books, bikes, cupboards, my brothers' stuff! They're a fantastic example of how, like the Space craze, the Monster craze popped up in everything, especially for kids! I was lucky enough to get these at the NEC in the 90's. There was a rival to Ugly Stickers, the wonderfully crazy NUTTY INITIALS. I had them all too back in the day but my modern collection consists of just one J, below!

 Anybody else remember these Uglies and Nutties?

There's more stuff online about UGLY STICKERS here and NUTTY INITIALS here!

Use NUTTY INITIALS to write your name here!

ALIENS AMONG US FROM JIM LEWIS

Hi Paul , above is a [ Kenner Alien and Apollos and a ] closer shot of Jane Apollo. This is the re-issue Jane. The original had a blue suit. The Johnny Apollo is an original 1960s one but not complete but with enough to display nice. The UK version of Johnny was Mark Apollo and he came in a couple of different colour suits.

Jim

Cheers Mart! Great collectables! brrrrr, the alien still makes my flesh crawl!

TEDEROS 2 FROM ROCKET PUNCH

Greetings Paul,

I'm sending you these photos of the Tederos 2 toy that I recently bought from Ebay. TEDEROS stands for Terrestrial Defense Robot Sqaudron. Tederos 2 is their heavy equipment carrying craft. The craft is produced by Marusan and is part of a line of toys that pays homage to Japanese SF stories of the 60s. The box art certainly conveys this idea very clearly. I knew I had to have it the moment I saw it. I looks like the designers drew inspiration from TB2 and Starbug. Enjoy.

Best,
Rocket Punch
USA

Thanks for sharing RP. Lovely stuff. Woodsy

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU