Collecta-Stroll

There are junk shops and there are junk shops. Some we love and some we don't. As collectors around the world we'll have our favourite shops or fairs we visit the most. But what do you do around your visit? Go to your favourite cafe or maybe your top record shop? My 'perfect' Saturday route usually takes in a stop at Doncaster Fish Market for a saucer of tastey whelks and cockles with vineger, then a look over the old big box videos at the long established video and dvd market stall before mooching round the final stop, the vintage toy stall in the market overflowing with TV-related toys and games. When can I do it again!

What's your favourite collectables route?

Buggy Billy

The unseasonable warm spell has made me a bit sluggish of late, as summer finally realises its here. The next few weeks are the summer holidays I used to enjoy as a boy, now I can sit back and watch my own two kids kick back and relax. Its hard having to trek off to work everyday when theyre playing, I wish I could too! Still, distractions from the daily grind are available and a couple of last second ebay purchases greeted my arrival home yesterday. The Tonka Tote Beach Buzzer (above) winged its way across from the states and the seller kindly included a cd of all the available Tonka catalogues, scanned and ordered, in the package. Free. Now that is good service. The Totes are small steel chassis and plastic body cars, a little larger than a Matchbox motor. Heavy rubber tyres and nylon bearings on the axles mean they roll well and far.

The Indy race car Screamin Demon is a slick futuristic looking racer, just the way I like em. Uncomplicated, with clean lines. Totes were designed to bring a little speed and pocket sized play to the world of Tonka and each car came with a belt clip to carry the car around on.

Billy Buggy

I suppose Billy Blastoff was meant to be your little brother's Major Matt Mason but I played with them both no problem. I loved Billy B and have fond memories of his various sets. I'm always amazed when something completely leftfield turns up like this spanish Billy Blastoff Beach Buggy by Nacoral. Billy has his flippers on so I assume it's part of the wider Billy Scuba Diver range. I wonder if his backpack powered the buggy? The toy is available online from reader Castro. Anyone collect Billy Blastoff?

The First Ride

A short slideshow using my T Shuttle and C21 Cape Kennedy crawler and gantry. In memory of Dr. Sally Ride.

Sally Ride RIP

I was saddened to hear on this morning's News that Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut in the US, has died at the age of 61. Sally was part of the Challenger Shuttle's second flight in June 1983. She was 32. Godspeed Sally.

ALIEN ATTACK!

Playsets have always been a staple of toy marketing. All your favourites bundled together in a cool box. Swordies like me dream of the re-emergence of the Project SWORD Moonbase playset. In the meantime there are lots of fine space sets to keep us amused. Of particular interest to SpaceXers is this ALIEN ATTACK playset by those Seventies toymeisters HG TOYS, who also gave us the legendary Godzilla Playset and Alien Target Sets.

ALIEN ATTACK is a hotch-potch of Buck Rogers and other stuff packaged up to doubtless cash-in on the success of Star Wars. The SpaceX interest comes in the form of the silver/grey spaceship centre-right in the top picture, which is a simple clone of Tri-ang's SpaceX Pleasure Cruiser pictured on its card below. Looking at the HG box art I see that there's also a gold coloured cruiser too. It shows two cruisers. Were there two of them in a set? I keep looking out on feebay for a loose one as the shipping for a whole set is astronomical from the States to the UK.

The delta design is a popular one for space toys and here's another cruiser-like miniature from Japan. Probably a Glico or Morinaga candy premium.

Pictures: Ebay and Noppin

Force Field

I'm getting ready for a having car boot stall on Wednesday at the local sale in a field. I can't decide whether to take some Manta Force toys to sell like this Fortress in a French box. What do you think?

Cheap Space

Back in the 1990's I used to plunder discount shops for space toys. One set was a carded playset containing small cute white spacemen like 'little people', a spaceship and parts of a space city I think. Long gone I just can't recall the name of the set or find an image. I saw this boxed set on Ebay this week and for a second thought Star Commanders II may have been it but the astronauts aren't cute enough I don't think! Anyone else got any cheap carded space sets from the 1990's?