When Did You Stop Playing?

Talking to modern High School kids reveals that the Christmas presents of choice this year will be laptops, Xboxes and computer games. There isn't much play value in these, not in the way me and my mates would have played with toys like Major Matt Mason and Crossfire. But I suppose High School kids aged 11-16 are too old for toys.


Being in my 50's now I am struggling to remember anything when I stopped playing with toys. I'm assuming it was around the age of 10. When did you stop playing?

Me in our old Preston garden circa 1967.

Playing with the washing line pole. Note the nobbley Knees and basin haircut!

JR21 Thunderbird 2

Thunderbird 2 - probably the most popular Thunderbird craft, and certainly my favourite.

 

 

JR21 released two distinctly different versions over time. The first was Empire Made and manufactured in Hong Kong. This version, in my opinion is the better made of the two. It is easily identified as having white mouldings on each of it’s four legs. It’s yellow bands are painted so are more likely to remain intact, and the ends of its red engine exhausts have a chrome foil at the end.

 

The second Made In England version was manufactured in Britain using a slightly different mould. The wings are slightly thinner than the Empire Made versions so are not interchangeable.

The pod in the first versions contained either a green or red land rover.

The pod in the Made in England  version, which again is not interchangeable with the earlier version contains a grey plastic vehicle claiming to be The Mole.

This second version is easily identified in that it has red moulding on the legs. The yellow bands are less durable transfers, and the engine exhuasts have grey plastic trellis at the end

There are some very slight differences on the boxes.

Each identifies on the side of the box where the toy originated - Empire Made, the lower in the picture, and Made in England, above. When both boxes are compared slightly different colours can be seen in the illustration and the JR21 logo.

 

 

 

Countdown To Christmas: Another Corgi Toy Ad

Another festive Corgi advert, this time from 1967.

 

No sign of Steed and Mrs Peel. Bond was still selling well, as was the UNCLE car, and now the Batmobile had a Batboat.

 

JR21 Thunderbird 3

Here’s the JR21 Thunderbird 3, and at 6/11 eventually reducing to 5/11 it was the cheapest of the Thunderbird toy vehicles.

The toy is a reasonable representation of International Rescue’s spaceship, and has some nice detail.

 

 

Mine is an Empire Made version rather than the less desirable Made in England one which appeared when production moved to Britain.

 

Very much a stocking filler.

 

 

 

Countdown To Christmas: Dinky Toys Advert

I found this festive Dinky Toys advert  on the back of  one of my old Valiant comics dated December 13th 1969.

Looks like Joe 90 was top of the Dinky Christmas tree that year.

Corgi Crime-Busters

To compliment the Corgi Christmas ad I posted earlier here's some photo's I took a while back showing some of Corgi's crime-buster models in action.

 

The fabulous Batmobile - Batteries to power, turbines to speed!

 

Corgi's best selling Bond toy - Scratched but not stirred!

 

The Avengers set - Mrs Peel you're needed (and Steed's umbrellas')!

 

The Saint's Volvo - The first Corgi crime - buster!

 

UNCLE Oldsmobile -Hang on a minute, didn't Mr Solo and Mr Kuryakin use a Piranha Coupe concept car!?

 

 

 

Seasonal Greetings

Not got chance to post much at the mo but I'd like to wish all our readers a warming and festive pre-Christmas week. Santa is getting ready. Have you been good this year?

JR21 THUNDERBIRD 4

The JR21 Thunderbird 4 is certainly a great looking and highly collectable toy.

Although Thunderbird 4 didn’t feature in too many episodes of the series that didn’t stop JR21 from producing a superb plastic toy of the craft.

Battery operated and capable of working in water, this remarkably accurate representation of International Rescue’s submarine was a big, expensive toy. But it’s got to be said, any child receiving this little beauty on Christmas day wouldn’t have been disappointed.

No cheaper friction drive version was released, presumably because JR21 determined it wouldn’t be as popular as TB 1 or TB 2, so they went upmarket and created a more exclusive and desirable toy.

The only major variation I’m aware of is that some toys had black plastic bases rather than yellow, and the rear rudder was dropped.

While the other JR21 Thunderbird toys had dedicated advertising, Thunderbird 4 seemed to miss out. Unless any of you folk know different, I don’t recall seeing any adverts for the toy.

Solo comic carried a competition in issue 27 in which 40 JR21 Thunderbird 4’s could be won. All the reader had to do was find the odd one out among photo’s of the four other Thunderbird craft and a SWORD Booster Rocket !