Brainstorm

Watched an old sci-fi flick today, Brainstorm from 1983, starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood. Quite an eerie movie really delving into the shady world of experimental brainwave recording and the inevitable misuse by the baddies, in this case, the Military. It was clearly a reaction to the new technology of Video and it's possibilities as VHS and Betamax battled it out for our disposable mental space and income at the start of the Eighties. The subject of brainwave manipulation isn't original. I can think of The Sorcerers late on Karloff's career in the Sixties for starters with Ian Ogilvy trashing London on his behalf. The central idea of a lethal tape recording also has a long film history, with the ultra-creepy Stone Tape from the 70's [possibley one of the scariest things to ever feature on UK TV], Cronenberg's Videodrome from the same year as Brainstorm and bringing us right up to date we had the Japanese death-tape shocker Ring. I'm sure you can think of more? The advent of Computers had a similarly paranoic effect on society and therefore film too - Tron, Terminator, Lawnmower Man, War Games, Demon Seed, The Forbin Project and latterly The Matrix. Wonder if newer technologies like Mobiles have influenced sci-fi and horror films or literature?

I couldn't help noticing in Brainstorm there appears an US Estate Agent sign for Century 21 real estate. Do they really exist?

PS. Wote informed me that Brainstorm was in fact Natalie Wood's last film. Wikepedia describes the film as being posthumously released as she died whilst on leave from it's production in 1983. One thousand people attended her funeral.

Marx Army

The MARX military vehicles series really do remind me of Century /JR21 toys. We know that the C21 Mobile Bridge carrier is probably the same body as the Marx Tank (above top). I've also noticed a similarity, albeit less clear, between the Marx Amphibious Vehicle  (second from bottom) and the JR21 Missile launcher (bottom). I wonder if there is a JR21 version of the Marx Armoured Personnel Carrier (second from top) out their in the Anderverse? [sorry about the mouse!]

Cool Running

Telsalda Cresta Bobsleigh: Pictures courtesy of Ferryman

Ps. Wotan says - i used to have one of these and was mightily disturbed as a kid as to why the drivers had no legs! the little silver ams used to move back and to and the friction drive was cool - i'd rev it up and send it zooming down the hall!

Bank Holiday Weekend Caption Comp

So Swordies, what's the Sea Glider pilot thinking?

Moon Buggy Dreamin'

If, like me, you dream of owning the wondrous Spacex Moon Buggy [card art below] you will have also noticed it's physical scarcity.

Well here's a little morsel that might just suffice for a while, the Esco Montre Planet watch. Just check out the Moon Buggy illustration in the right hand corner! Luvverly! I think the date says 1968 to the left. A whole $1.09 back then from YDC [?]. It's still going for a song over on Fleabay US.



For bigger pockets how about this vintage Bandai Apollo 12 DLRV moon buggy model kit. I flagged this up in 2008 and it's still around - maybe its the price - $1,200! Go to Go Boy of Japan.

Finally for the more technically-minded Swordies, whilst browsing for moon buggy I came across this old NASA paper about the mechanics of the DLRV [Dual Mode Lunar Roving Vehicle], which may be of some interest.

To Apollo and Beyond

A long while ago I collected a series of space stickers made by Top Sellers. called the Conquest of Space, they covered the very beginnings of flight right through to space travel. Besides some cool photos and illustrations of spaceships and planes, there was a subset of airline insignia stickers. In the end, I got fed up with shelling out 5p for a pack of five stickers every day and getting a handful of swaps and bought in all the stickers i needed direct from the manufacturers. Among them in the futuristic section was an odd painting of a 'Space Towing Vehicle'.

As this rather rubbish photo shows (sorry scanner is broke!) the vehicle itself was a sort of space glider affair and although the craft wasnt clearly visible, I counted it as one of my favourites in the book.
Not so long ago I discovered an awesome website, Altair IV which later developed into 'Beyond Apollo'. This site covered all kinds of projects that never made it into development by the various space agencies and was a wealth of informed detail on all aspects of the space programme. I contacted the owner, Dave Portree with a view to looking over some of the extant Project SWORD toys to see if there was any correlation between real world designs. Almost immediately, Dave came back with the origin of probably the single most exciting vehicle in the SWORD range, the Nuclear Ferry

Consequently, I have been a devotee of Dave site ever since and check in daily for more fabulous insights into the world of what if ? I'd highly recommend it as required reading for anyone interested in space vehicle design. Just recently, I came across that same image of the Space Towing Vehicle under its real name and function, revealing further surprises. Apparently, the vehicle was a design for a dyna-soar like glider vehicle for a manned mission to Mars.

Looking at the craft in full, I was immediately struck by another feeling of familiarity in the shape of the glider and a quick look back at the toy archives revealed that the design was clearly lifted by Marx in the 1963 release of the Operation Moon Base set as shown here in the Sears catalogue advert.

The resemblance is quite clear and the close up below shows further evidence that Marx designers were looking at speculative designs for environment suits as well.

Postcard from the Island: Penelope, Frogmen and Alum Bay

We've just got back from a holiday spent touring the beautiful and sunny Isle of Wight, in the South of England, in an old VW Camper. Much fun was had with a few Spacey adventures thrown in too. This is the first in a series of postcards about them. Our VW Camper, Seaside, was hired from the superb Isle of Wight Campervan Holidays. Thunderbirds fans can even hire a pink van called Penelope modelled by yours truly below! [excuse the lame excuse for a Thunderbirds Parker stance!]

Our own trusty Seaside got us smoothly round the whole island and I can easilly say that, like a box of cornflakes, we'd forgotten how much fun camping is! The retro feel of the VW vans clearly tap into a wave of nostalgia for the 1950's and 60's. In fact just going to the seaside feels nostalgic as it was so much part of our childhood don't you think? One of our first trips was to the Needles Park next to Alum Bay, where you could fill a glass bottle with the different coloured sands from the cliffs in special shops, a nik-nak straight from a Sixties or Seventies mantlepeice!

The Needles Emporium sold nautical toys, which included this fab Ocean Adventure playset for £3.50, which includes cool cheap plastic copies of the Britains 2-man sub, Lone Star 007 - style frogmen and a rather spiffing classic speedboat rather like a T one! Even the header card is surprisingly attractive for a modern rack toy.

A quick browse online revealed this variation of the set with an orange trimmed- boat. There's also a a rather nifty second set that appears to contain a small landing craft and a shark cage! Yikes! - both pictured below.

The Needles Park also held a real and hidden treasure from the British space race, complete with an am actual connection to Project SWORD! More to follow in my next postcard from the Island.

Modern Classics

The original Hot Wheels Redlines series can never be bettered for me, but the recent releases of the Hot Wheels ranges occasionally still hold the odd surprise. What I always loved about the Mattel designs were the radical shapes and unusual elements added tot he cars. Some of the designs were futuristic, which always caught my eye, but others were asymetrical or just downright weird. The models above show this thinking still persists, with the large solar panel, internal fan and completely lop sided design of the Mid-Evil race car.

Perhaps taking a cue from the defunct Hot Birds line, the new ranges sometimes include planes and copters which are always a big draw for me too.