SEAVIEW SCRATCHBUILD BY ANDY B

Hi Woodsy

 

 

Pictured are some of my more recent small scratchbuilt models, mostly milliput, pieces of plastic and the occasional scrap of wood.

 

 

To give some idea of scale, the Lost in Space Robot is 5 and a half centimetres high. The Seaview is a complete rebuild, based on an older scratchbuild (seen on the blog once before) - with more information found on the internet, everything had to be reshaped, I even had to saw it in half and shorten the hull.

 

 

The other figure you may recognise - it has a retro sweet theme. Thought you might approve!

 

 

all the best,

Andy B.

Under Pressure

Back in the seventies, when Airfix branched out to produce a variety of toys as well as kits, a favourite of mine was the good old Water Rocket. Essentially, a Saturn V shaped syringe, it was great fun during the summer months, shooting streams of water all over the garden. But, due to the nature of water, it was really hard to press the plunger in and invariably slipped out of my hands too!

They were produced in red and blue and amazingly, I managed to find a complete and unscathed blue on recently. 40+ years on, I was surprised to see how small it actually is, about 14" long as opposed to the idea I had that it was almost 2' long when I was 7!

Its emblazoned with the Words Water rocket in the classic seventies 'Countdown' font, that was synonymous with anything spacey back in the day!

BEING ILL AND GETTING TOYS

I've been full of cold this week and feeling ill reminded me of being ill as a kid back in the Sixties. I can remember drinking gallons and gallons of fizzy golden Lucozade, which even came wrapped in orange cellophane to make it even more medicinal! Did it really make us better?

Whether I was on the settee under blankets or in bed under more blankets, Mum always fussed round me like a matron. Fluffing my pillow, tucking in my sheet, checking my temperature! I loved it really and my personal level of nursing care has never quite been the same!

Being ill also meant toys. I can remember getting a Hot Wheels redline Silhouette during one particularly nasty bout of childitus, probably the Plague' Like most kids I seemed to get everything and anything. I loved that car and drew it and its redline pals in a graph paper pad, which I can still feel now. They were great drawings for a plague victim but Alas, long gone.

The best prezzie I got was for having appendicitis. In fact, said organ nearly burst I was that ill. Almost a gonner! After the pesky thing was safely removed and I was laid up in hospital, there was only one thing my worried folks could do. Yes, buy me a toy! Not just any toy mind, but a Zeroid! The brown one with the cool blue case cum trailer. I was made up and that Zeroid aided my recovery better than any doctor ever could!

 

 

What are your memories of illness and toys readers?

GREEN HORNET BLACK BEAUTY TOY CARS

Some American crime fighters were a mixture of cop and super hero. The Green Hornet was such a one and a show I always enjoyed because Bruce Lee was Kato.  Here is Bruce auditioning for the part way back in the mid-Sixties courtesy of You Tube. The show was a hit and the Hornet produced a whole nest of cool toys on the States.
 

 

 

In the UK and the US the most popular Hornet toy of its day was the 1967 Corgi Green Hornet Black Beauty, a sleek and gorgeous die-cast car with great accessories. The Hornet learnt out of the window with his pistol poised, whilst Kato drove. The boot contained a nifty red spinner and the front grille opened to reveal a formidable red missile. It all came in Corgi's beautiful packaging and was topped with a fabulous Green Hornet roof transfer. I was always surprised it was never miniaturised for the Juniors range but nevertheless, the Corgi Black Beauty was and is for me quintessentially the Sixties. It was re-released and re-packaged for modern fans in the Naughties.

 

Fans in the States got the equally cool Aurora Black Beauty slot car in 1967 too, although the packaging wasn't in the same league as Corgi's. Polar Lights re-issued it in a new box for modern fans years later.

 

 

ASC of Japan came up with their own unlicensed tinplate Black Beauty, the Secret Service Action Car. The front grille is completely different and it would appear that only the car itself had any reference to the Green Hornet in the form of two transfers.

 

I had thought that countries like Argentina and Mexico would have had their own versions of the car but I've been unable to find any. I will have to consult my old Toy Collector Green Hornet magazine when I dig it out of the loft. There maybe some more info in the Model and Toy Collector Green Hornet issue. Maybe you have that one readers?

 

What are your Green Hornet toy and TV memories readers? 

 

 

[pictures: Vectis, various]



EAGLEMOSS BATBOAT

The year was 1966 and Batmania was at its height.  A new Batman film, based on the phenomenally successful TV series was released. This time the dynamic duo  would face not one but four Bat Villains – this meant Batman and Robin needed even more crime fighting vehicles – Enter the  Batcycle, Batcopter and the great looking high speed, Batboat.

This is the model of the Batboat from the Eaglemoss line, and I have to say I think it’s a superb rendition.

Full of tiny detail, I’d say it was almost as good as their TV Batmobile from issue 2. 

The only thing that's missing is a couple of Batman and Robin figures.

The aft of the boat, showing the gas turbine exhaust.

The bow of the boat. The model is around 4" long so focusing is a bit of a problem from this angle but you can make out the intakes and the fittings.

The lenticular backdrop shows the decoy buoy and the Penguin's submarine.

Finally, a couple of  photos showing the Corgi model and the Eaglemoss versions.

Holy Thatsgottobeworthatenner, Batman! 

TIM MEE GALAXY LASER TEAM AND FRIENDS

I'm forever stumbling across these Tim Mee plastic figures  online, the Galaxy Laser Team. I didn't have any as a kid and have never seen them in the flesh.

They seem to have been endlessly recycled and repackaged although the distinctive designs stay the same. 

They get renamed too and these STAR PATROL set mention an X-Wing, perhaps giving away their origins in the vast world of Star Wars knockoffs.

 They got bigger too as in these giant sized STAR BATTLE figures.

 and appeared all over the world.

The designs do remind me of certain characters. The green martian with his rifle recalls this proto-Chewbacca drawn by John Schoenherr.

and the lady stood next to the console recalls all those comms officers in space shows like Uhura in Star Trek. 

The guy with the helmet has got to be Magneto!

and the warrior turtle is a deadringer for Gamera!

 

What do I know! Do you know anything about these Tim Mee figures readers?

 

 

PS. see the cool SECRET FUN BLOG for more info on these figures.

 

 

PSPS. there's some really beautiful pictures of Tim Mee's space figures on this flickr gallery

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/galaxy_laser_team/pool/interesting/

SEVENTIES AMERICAN COP SHOWS

I'm currently enjoying re-runs of old American cop shows like Kojak and Cagney and Lacey. I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy them back in Seventies and I had definitely forgotten how well they were made.

The sets are excellent, the characterisation is interesting, the plots are exciting and the acting is great. And the cars, sheer class. I can't decide though if this is pure nostalgia on my part? They really do seem so much better than anything modern.

 

 

I didn't really have any toys relating to them apart from the odd board game and annual. There were so many cool cop shows back then - Harry O, Ironside, Hawii Five-O, but if I had to name my top five, then they would be:

 

1. Kojak

2. The Streets of San Francisco

2. Cannon

4. Cagney and Lacey

5. Starsky and Hutch

 

 

What do think readers? What are your faves? Were they really any good? Did you have any toys relating to the shows?

PROBE FORCE 2 INSPIRATION?

I've always like the one man rocket ship Probe Force 2 design.

I'm not sure what inspired that design. The only thing I can find that has one or two characteristics found on PF 2 is this spacecraft seen briefly in the Fireball XL5 story featured in the 1966 TV21 International Extra, which as we know  also carried other articles featuring Sword (and Spacex) designs.

Coincidence? I guess we'll never know.