OLD SPACE NUTS: ARGENTINIAN NAVE SPACE FIGHTER

Another old chestnut, an old space nut as I call them,  is what you might describe as the Argentinian Space Fighter, a ubiquitous two-winged spacecraft reminiscent of a Star Wars X-Wing although it could be older?

The toy has been on the Bay in one form or another ever since I started and is particularly popular in Latin America. It comes in many forms - plastic, die cast and combinations of the two, together with variants in style and shape but they all adhere to the same basic concept.

A great example of the toy is the INVASORES NAVES line by Citytoy/ Gulliver complete with Britain's spaceman knockoffs. Toy collector Cory Lechat recently emailed me about it: Hi Paul, here's some pics of one of the Naves City-Toy space series from Argentina. They did a set of 4 vehicles - I only have one. Details of back of package included which show all 4. I was surprised when I found this online a while back as it reminded me of the old Space-X series...these are much bigger though. Cheers, Cory LeChat, Pittsburgh, USA

Blog friend Ed Berg sent me an interesting picture of his AVION LASER about a year ago: Woodsy, Picked this up a while back.  An interesting craft from Argentina, it's tin-litho with additional plastic parts, has a friction motor for the wheels, and is equipped with wingtip rocket launchers but no figure is included. I have seen other tin-litho spaceships from Argentina on eBay but never paid enough attention to know whether they were made by the same company as part of a series.

Cheers, Ed

Other examples are:

and some cake decorations I found that appear similar too!

Can anyone tell us anything else about this two-winged space fighter toy?

BOOK COVER SUMMER: FORTUNE BOOSTER

Ehricke booster rocket

Fortune

1959

FISHER PRICE ALPHA PROBE: IT'S BIG!

The Alpha Probe by Fisher Price 1977. Yes! As featured on tonight's Celtica Radio SWORDcast.

Anyone else got one?

Check out this fabulous online FP Club checklist of Adventure People figures too!

Punch it, Bishop!

Tonight at 8pm, UK time, Celtica Radio hosts the latest SWORDCAST with myself and Woodsy dicussing all things Alien! Tune in by clicking the link on the right navbar, or catch us on the podcast download later!

"Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen!"

PLAYING OUT WHEN WE WERE KIDS

Ah, lazy summer Sundays. Ya can't beat 'em! When I was a kid in the Sixties my dad would water the garden with a round sprinkler, which was great fun to jump in out of. We'd maybe pitch a tent too and spend the night outside, whilst my older brothers made growling noises and shook the guide ropes!

All the summer gear came out of the shed: windbreaks, Lilo's, sun parasols, deckchairs and my favourite, the paddling pool. There was just something wonderful leaping into it and sliding along the wet plastic bottom, whilst removing half of the water at the same time! Still, a quick top up with the garden hose and we were away again!

I think most of my toys ventured out into the garden too at some point. There's probably some still buried there! I remember playing with my Action Man figures a lot outside and mates brought their own round and we'd dress our men and swap accessories like a German Stormtrooper stick grenade for a Jungle Fighter machete!

It's funny how as kids we just did stuff without much planning. The only plan in summer was to be outside as long as possible. Playing out we used to call it. Kids would come round and say to my Mum 'Is Woodsy playing out Mrs. Woods?', to which the replies varied from 'No, he's having his dinner' to 'He's in the garden digging up dinosaurs'. 

I was once playing on my own in the garden no doubt discovering a complete T. Rex skeleton in the flower border. My Mum had nipped next door for a cuppa with Mrs. Mortiblogs [not her real name!]. The resident tramp of Ashton, Old Tramp Joe, suddenly appeared at the garden gate. He hadn't seen me but I saw him. I was, I have to admit. terrified of Old Joe. He wore a thick old overcoat tied at the waist with string and a pair of reeking rubber wellies, all topped off with a a grizzly beard and a mucky flat cap. 

Old Joe hummed to high Heaven and he was now in our shed rummaging about. He walked out with a pair of shears and cleared off sharpish! I told my Mum when she got back 5 minutes later but Joe was long gone. My Mum had a soft spot for Joe and the silly old devil would have got away with it had he not come back the next week and tried to sell the shears back to us! ha ha! He'd forgotten where he'd nicked them from! Joe will be sleeping where all folks are equal now bless his soul.

As for me, anyone playing out?

ACKWORTH STEAM FAIR 2014

Me and Missus Moonbase recently visited the local summer Steam Fair in Ackworth. We're not huge fans of steam but love the overall spectacle, as the gleaming fleet of machines covers several beautiful fields set amidst gently rolling countryside.

A big attraction are the quirky vintage caravans which my Missus loves and gorgeous classic cars which I love. I also stumbled across an old Major Matt Mason backpack and a C21 TB3 engine in the autojumble stalls! 50p! A great afternoon out and here are a few snaps. Hope you enjoy.