FIFTH BIRTHDAY NEWSFLASH

NEXT WEEK ITS OUR BLOG'S FIFTH BIRTHDAY!

 

TUNE IN FOR SPECIALS ON:

 

CENTURY 21 RECORDS

 

READERS' COLLECTIONS

 

COLOURFORMS OUTER SPACE MEN

 

AND MUCH MORE!

FIFTH BIRTHDAY NEWSFLASH

WIN THIS COOL LUNAR ORBITER MODEL!

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!

FIFTH BIRTHDAY NEWSFLASH!

MOON RANGER ATTACK!

 

NEW MOONBASE CENTRAL MOVIE

COMING NEXT WEEK!

SURVEYOR 2

The Surveyor 2 from the later SpaceX range. A  nice design which first appeared on the cover of an Analog magazine in 1961.

Thanks to some of Woodsy’s legendary research we also now know it was painted by the late John Schoenherr.

As us Swordies know, the Surveyor design had previously turned up in the Project Sword annual as The Moon Crawler.

Sadly, A Sword Moon Crawler never made it to the final range but at least it did see light of day amongst the SpaceX toys. 

BEAUTIFUL BOOSTER ROCKET FOR KIDS

This lovely Booster Rocket is featured in the 1970 Golden Book Rocket to the Moon. I saw it on Burgin Streetman's gorgeous blog about books her kid loves, where you can see the rest of it.

http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2010/06/rocket-trip-to-moon.html

SPACE THEMED RECORD COVERS

We're experiencing illness in the family at Moonbase at the mo so I'm staying with my daughter for the weekend. In need of non-taxing diversion we hit the charity shops of Shipley near Bradford, of which their are, fortunately for us, many.

Amongst the excellent selection of old and obscure VHS videos nestling on the shelves at 10p each, I also spotted what could be an interesting sub-genre of space collecting, space-themed LP records. In the space of two charity shops I saw two different ones: one I can't remember but it was children flying to the moon from the 1960's and the other was this Holst The Planets with a cool Apollo capsule cover.

Browsing cyberspace to check what other Holst covers there are I saw what has to be one of the kookiest! Check it out below, Flash Gordon meets Barbarella! I recognise the toy ray guns but can't put a name to them. Anyone?

So does anyone actually collect space themed records?

COOL CARABO

Following last weeks fanboy outing at the toyfair, heres the Corgi Rockets Bertone Carabo. Ive been a fan of this wedge shaped beauty since I got the pink Matchbox version in the early seventies. Corgi issued the same body in the Juniors Whizwheels series, but without the removable chassis. Its interesting to note the Rockets version opted for the green tone similar to the actual concept car itself.

He Ain't Heavy, he's my Bruder

West German toy maker Bruder have been making simple toy novelties for a long time, including farm machinery, planes, trucks and boats. Ive been lucky enough to pick up some of the smaller toys quite easily over the years, but just as easily lost them again. There are several nice space models, some of which I have retained!

But it I have recently made the aquaintance of a fellow Bruder collector in Brazil, who has an astonishing amount of different toys. Through his generosity, I was able to find a dealer in Germany who supplied me with four of the large Bruder Astro toys at a very reasonable price. Almost at the same time, I discovered the large space Whistle, pictured at top, on ebay. Although mising a spinning radar dish at the rear, the Whistle is a fine piece with spinning astronauts and moving cannons.

But my favourites must be my newly acquired Astro toys, four different in all.

Rare Green UFO variant

Original UFO

Space Dino-Robo

Robotic Probe Pod

Space Precinct-like Cruiser and Launch Pad