ALERT STATE RED - ALERT STATE RED - ALERT STATE RED

PROBE FORCE 2 CRUISER 'EXCALIBUR' HAS BEEN LOST WHILE TRACKING OBJECT - CODENAME: DAMOCLES

PF3 PILOTS RETURNED TO RENDEZVOUS POINT WITH EXCALIBUR AFTER LOSING CONTACT DURING SOLAR FLARE. EXCALIBUR FOUND TO BE DESTROYED AFTER PASSING THROUGH PRESUMABLY UNDETECTED DEBRIS CLOUD FROM DAMOCLES. PF2 REACTOR COMPROMISED - HIGH RADIATION RISK IN VACINITY. ALL HANDS LOST.

DAMOCLES TRACKED ON INBOUND COURSE TO TERRA SYSTEM - CORONAL DISCHARGE FROM SOL CONTINUING TO DISRUPT COMMS. MOONBASE CENTRAL ADVISES INCREASED VISUAL SCANNING DURING TELECOMMUNICATIONS WHITEOUT.

+++++ ALL OPERATIVES TO FULL RED ALERT STATUS - THIS IS NOT A DRILL - REPEAT - THIS IS NOT A DRILL. +++++++

MOONBASE OUT

GO KARTING STRAIGHT UP THE GARDEN PATH!

As mentioned yesterday in my Rader Love post, there's many a fascinating dead end to be explored before a collection is complete. Here's one such Cul-de-Sac entitled ' Go Karts, No T'. Described alluringly as either having T or T in a Circle makers' marks by the auctioneers, you can see that these two Go-Karts do indeed have T's on the undercarraige [and the green and red one does look good] but not our friend, T in a Circle. One is a sort of T-cum-Y and the other is a TT in a circle. Ah well, good T has to brew awhile before you get a decent cuppa, which leaves a proper Tea-ring!

SOARIN' SUMMER CAPTION COMP

Not a SWORD comic strip but it could be! This is a panel from 1962's Dell Drift Marlo #2, a good 5 years before SOLO's Summer of Sword in '67 [although I'm unsure if the Dyna Soar appeared in SOLO - something to check?]. I love this early strip and shows how much the Dyna Soar had entered US popular culture in the early 60's. It's been posted before on the blog courtesy of the wonderful Dreams of Space, where it's covered in more fabulous detail.

Tonight it's another Summer caption comp!

What are the two guys saying carrying the crate?

RED ALERT - RED ALERT - RED ALERT -RED ALERT

INCREASED SOLAR ACTIVITY FOR NEXT 12 HRS - CORONAL DISCHARGE IMMINENT

ANY CRAFT WITHIN VENUS ORBITAL RANGE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY

MARS BASE DISPATCHING NUCLEAR FERRY FLEET TO EVACUATE INNER SYSTEM

RED ALERT - RED ALERT- RED ALERT

MOONBASE OUT

JR21 VAN GATHERING AT SWORDFEST

Now there's only two other toy lines that come close to T in a Circle in my peculiar collecting firmament: US Tarheel and C21/JR21 from the UK. Whilst the former is genuinely difficult to find anything at all never mind different, the latter is at least occasionally within reach to mere mortals. So I was ticklirarified [just what did Ken Dodd used to say?] when I acquired this colour variation of the nifty plastic JR21 Bedford Van.

With the tell-tale JR [or M?] diamond monogram on its base, this 'new' green and yellow version sits well with it's all-red stablemate. It does have the rear back bed missing but the canopies are interchangable, which is fun! Now all I need is to see what the box looked like!

ALERT STATE AMBER * ALERT STATE AMBER * ALERT STATE AMBER

ASTROGATION UPDATE: INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM REMOTE BLACKSTAR PROBE STATIONED NEAR TITAN. SIGNAL DELAY OF 48 HRS MEANS THAT IMAGE WAS CAPTURED PRIOR TO ANOMALY REGISTERING ON MOONBASE SCANNERS. BLACKSTAR PROBE CAPTURED A SINGLE CLEAR IMAGE OF OBJECT AS IT PASSED THROUGH TITANS ORBITAL PATH AND INTO RANGE OF BLACKSTAR INSTRUMENTATION. PRIMARY IMAGE SHOWS NOW INOPERATIVE PROBE ORBITING TITAN - IMAGE CAPTURED BY GEOSTATIONARY ATS SATELLITE.

IMAGE TRANSMITTED BY BLACKSTAR APPEARS TO SHOW A SOLID BODY ASTEROIDAL MASS WITH ATTENDANT DEBRIS CLOUD AS IT PASSES CLOSE TO TITAN. DEBRIS CLOUD COMPRISED OF MICROSCOPIC AND MACROSCOPIC PARTICLES. IMMEDIATELY AFTER IMAGE WAS TRANSMITTED OBJECTS DUST TAIL ENVELOPED PROBE, RENDERING IT INOPERATIVE - PRESUMED TERMINAL DAMAGE.

BLACKSTARS SINGLE IMAGE CAPTURE OF OBJECT: CODENAME DAMOCLES

FURTHER UPDATES TO FOLLOW - ASTROGATION OUT

SUMMER QUIZLET

What's this then?

WE'VE GOT A THING THAT'S CALLED RADAR LOVE

It's strange how a collection can lead you astray. What appear to be rich seams of possibility sometimes turn out to be damp squibs. This is one such interesting misadventure. I spotted this Lunar Rover earlier in the Spring on Ebay. What caught my eye was the tantalising description "Radar Car Space Vehicle T.218 Hong Kong. The model is 4.1/2" long, and 2" wide. The base is metal, with plastic seats and figures". Well, the mere mention of "T" has my T-buds tingling so the little rover was purchased and it roved the long journey from  California to Pontefract. Full of anticipation I unwrapped the little buggy and checked the makers' mark underneath hoping for a lost T in a Circle picasso! Sadly it was not to be. A beautiful little toy and T.218 is an interesting mark but not T in a Circle. However the toy's name was embossed on the undercarraige, 'Radar Car' as pictured below. So where was the radar?

As luck would have it the fully radar'd version appeared on Ebay in Eureka a short while later as you can see below. The two astronauts look pretty bewildered by the sheer size of it! I reckon the silvering has come off the front leaving that odd mottled green plastic visible [is it a plastic mix?]. The description appeared as follows:

"THIS IS A VINTAGE RADAR CAR MARKED T.218 MADE IN HONG KONG ON THE BOTTOM. THE CHASSIS IS WHITE DIE CAST METAL AND THE RADAR SUPPORT IS METAL, THE REST IS PLASTIC WITH A WONDERFUL SWIRLY GREEN/ YELLOW RADAR. THIS VEHICLE IS IN GREAT CONDITION FOR ITS' AGE. COMPLETE WITH CAMERAS, RADAR, RADAR ADJUSTMENT LEVER, AND CONTROL STICK FOR DRIVER. I BELIEVE THIS IS COMPLETE.IT IS ABOUT 4 1/2 INCHES LONG AND 2 1/4 INCHES WIDE ".

And just when I thought my radar love was requited a further twist appeared in the form of a carded version [currently available] in Pasadena. You can just see the radar tucked in beneath the rover! The card looks like the 1970's to me rather than the vintage years of early T and confirmed by the description, which runs thus "You are bidding on a unique vintage 1970s era diecast with plastic trim toy in the original package. It's called the NASA Lunar Rover from the Kennedy Space Center, Educational Model. A really cool, hard to find diecast vehcial that has never been reed. Package has some wear around the edges. The vehicle is about 1 3/4 inches tall and 4 1/2 long. Really unique." This put paid to any remaining notion I had that this was a T toy as it's clearly a Kennedy Space Centre special [no idea what the T means in the model number though?]. I roved. I radared. I ruminate.

Pictures: Woodsy and Ebay