Morale Booster

With the help of a friend the Moonbase fleet has recently been boosted by the addition of a new SWORD Booster Rocket. This excellent example originated in Japan and being in tip top shape is ready for space duty immediately. Needless to say Moonbase personnel are suitably chuffed as the long struggle with the Casuals is taking its toll!

Besides the toy's overall mintiness there are two features on the box which caught my eye. First and foremost is the inner packaging, which I haven't seen before. It is a folded end with a key-hole type slot for the neck of the rocket to fit in. Very neat.

The second is an actual Japanese price tag, in Yen, stuck onto the end of the box lid. I've not seen either of these features before, both pictured above.

Creepy and Eerie

When I was a wee lad in the Sixties playing with my Project SWORD, Major Mat, Bright Lite, Action Man and Glow Globs, my older brothers were fully immersed in the monster craze and used to read Creepy and Eerie Comics by Warren publishing. This came into its own during the dark season starting at Halloween and peaking at Christmas, when new comics arrived as if by magic! When I was older I too was monsterized and continued where they had left off, buying new and back issues from a fabulous comic stall on Preston market. But it was my Brothers' earlier copies that stuck in my mind to this day as the stories were so genuinely scary and the illustration out of this world.

One such dastardly tale was Hop Frog. It was originally penned by Edgar Alan Poe and adapted for Creepy. Like the similar Cask of Amontilado it scared me to death! You can find it in full online either as Poe's grim original from 1850 or the Creepy illustrated version from Issue 11. Better still, get hold of an old book of Poe's works, settle in your favourite armchair and read the 'old fashioned' way in front of a roaring fire!

But be warned [and that includes Toad], Hop Frog, a salutory tale of tyranny and revenge, is not for the squeamish or easilly offended. However, if like me you like of the darker matter of Sixties monster comics, it is dripping with gothic grue and ideal for a dark night''s reading this ghostly season.

What were your favourite comics?

Pushing the Envelope

Just had the latest newsletter from Fantastic Plastic with a number of new kit releases. Most notable among them is the FDL-5 Hypersonic Research Vehicle, which I suggested might be an influence on the design of the Sword Scout toys, 2 and 3.

Some wonderful models available on the site, which are custom made and designed, but geared predominantly towards the more experienced modeller as they are largely resin based parts and quite expensive. So that lets me out for a start! Ha, ha

JR Smartly

Continuing my search for early JR [21] toys, here's a beauty that appeared on fleabay last month. It's a US Mail Man in a cool little Vespa - style scooter. It has the typical JR treaded plastic front tyre and is similar to their Hitch Hiking Bunny in style and bright colours [pictures: Ebay US].

You can see on the base the familiar JR diamond monogram and although I can't see the number embossed into the plastic I think we can be safe in assuming that it's 307 as written in pen there. This would place it after their Cyclist and the XL9 Rocket [forerunner of Probe Force 3]. I do not know what toy 306 is though at this point.

I'd love to see a box for this toy or at least know it's proper name as a toy. Anyone?

400,000 Hits

Halloween saw the 400,000'th hit on the blog! Can't quite get my head around such a big number. It's an awful lot of Swordin' and I thank all the blog's contributors and readers, past and present, for thier support and enthusiasm. It's what has made it all worthwhile!

Blog Monsters

The night was dark as pitch as Toad lit the rank candelabra in Mars House. The skull of old Sam Hain, who had drowned in the steaming blog, grinned knowingly. Toad roused the FrankenWote Monster from it's fetid slumber. They had a visitor this Hallowe'en - Count VampenWoodsy en route to his hideous repose on the Yorkshire moors. As they turned to meet in the gibbous glow of the ancient candles, Toad heard a familiar annual rant to which the fiends began to twitch in a hellish mimicry of human dance. And so through the rooms of the old Mars House there began to grow the necrotic rasp of ..Oh No! The Monster Mash!

Hexy Girls

Hex Girls version of

What's New Scooby Doo

For the Toadster on Halloween

Halloween Howler 2: Creepy Comp

OK Ghouls and Boyz, more Hallowe'en japes now.

Can you name these four Sixties monster toys and playthings?

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!