Planet Toad

My lil contribution to the Forbidden Planet pictures ... some metal figures I bought a couple of years ago. Toad

Hey, that's Leslie Nielsen in the middle! Woodsy

A Rosenthal Santa?

Here's a seasonal tale! Whilst researching the JR21 Checklist for early Rosenthal friction toys I came across three different plastic Santas. All of them were made by Merehall and our old friends, Hsi [see previously posted "model no.315"], whose logo's you can see below on the toys' bases: MM and )$( along with model numbers. The quaint colourful box art of the top toy is certainly similar to early JR friction-drive toys, so I began searching for a possible Rosenthal Santa.

And I'm pretty sure here he is! No box but the look of the scooter is very Rosenthal when compared to their Hitch Hiking Bunny. Found on Ebay, the seller kindly confirmed the look of the logo - "Yes, an M is inside a diamond shape, but I looked it over and could not find a model number anywhere . . .thanks for your interest. Roadshowfinds". The listing description was "This charming hard plastic friction toy is marked on the bottom Made in Hong Kong with a very fancy letter M. It is about 4" tall, 4" long, appears to be in good condition, only some minor surface wear, if any. Friction movement is not real strong, and I think the reindeer head is supposed to move up and down as it goes, but stays still".

To be 100% about Santa's Rosenthal roots we could do with seeing a box! Can anyone oblige?

Picture credit: roadshowfinds

Airfix Toys 1970

I do love a good toy catalogue. Its like a little time capsule from back in the day which can evoke such pleasant memories from my childhood and at the same time, real pangs of regret for all the goodies which slipped out of Santas sleigh as he landed on the neighbours roof..

Here is a leaflet from Airfix - probably 1969 or 70, with a high proportion of Cragstan products, including one of my favourite and most unusual toys, the Americus Moon Buggy. Another oddity is the Water Rocket - essentially a giant plastic syringe in the shape of a Saturn 5, which squirted water. I had one of these as a kid and although it looked great, hydrodynamics weren't taken into account during the design process and it was almost impossible to push the plunger and shoot the water when you're a seven year old kid as the hole in the end of the rocket was tiny!

Water Rocket ? Pfft. Arrowcopter - AWESOME!

Moon Race anyone ?

Diving Sub - Baking Powder a-go-go

Betta Bilda Rocket again

These werent the droids i was looking for

SPIN OUT! Groovy Packaging

A Cold Day in Hell

Sword operatives are finding it tough going as the temperature drops severely. Task Force Flights 1 through 3 are being kept busy on search and rescue missions as frozen chaos reigns supreme once more.

Beautifully atmospheric artwork courtesy of Andy B.

In Memory of Leslie Nielsen

Sword Base Personnel Marooned by Titanic Snow Drifts

Here's my absolutely duff attempt at a Moon Ranger Rescue of a snowbound SWORD Base!

I'm sure you can do so much better and even make use of the Snow Train!

Moon Rangers Needed to Clear the Snow!

It's a freezing  Monday morning in the UK and as usual, after the first real snowfalls of the Winter, society is on the brink of collapse! Sounds like a job for a fleet of S.W.O.R.D Moon Rangers to me! To cheer us up here are a few snaps from my archive. I took these in 2007 for a small DIY A4 book on toys I made for myself via one of those online photoshops, where you can create your own book! Great fun! I'm sure that technology will have advanced since '07 and some really great home-made books are possible. I saw a fabulous A3 sized one at the TV21 con comprised of  behind the scenes shots of Anderson's shows, created by super Oz collector and author Dennis Nicholson. It was auctioned for charity in the closing ceremony and one lucky bidder got something truly unique and a fan original.

Pictured top to bottom: C21 assortment, stack of Tarheel's boxed NOVA rockets, Imai die-cast Scramble Bug and Tri-ang Rovex Spacex LEM Apollo with guest LP astronaut.

Leslie Nielsen RIP

Canadian screen legend Leslie Nielsen passed away this weekend aged 84. Star of more than 100 movies, it is perhaps his comic genius in Naked Gun and Airplane he'll be most fondly remembered for. But it's his portrayal of the fresh-faced Commander Adams in the groundbreaking sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet that I'll remember him for, a film which basically kicked-off Sci Fi colour cinema and the familiar iconography we have come to love:  flying saucers, robots, mad scientists, rescue missions and scary alien creatures, in this case, the fabulous one-toed Monster from the Id. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time in the early 1970's and I shall watch it again in memory of the wonderful Leslie Nielsen. RIP.