VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX: JAPANESE SEAVIEWS

Cruising the Japanese web is like a trip into the retro-future! There's so much I recognise from my own childhood, beautifully designed and packaged and in such numbers/

Take for instance this gorgeous box of Seaviews. Its so slender and stylish and the rubber band technology looks ace. Why didn't we have boxes of stuff like this in the shop in the West?

For more cool boat toys check out the rest of the Morozumid's page.

JAPANESE DISPLAY CARD OF PROJECT SWORD POP ROCKETS

I've blogged this before but I like it so much here it is again - a Japanese display card of toys. Its a horn of plenty, there's tons on there including our friend the pop rocket with the Project SWORD Probe Force 2 illustration on the header card. There's one top right and a half hidden one on the lower middle.

Stuffed with goodies like Christmas Calenders in the West, this is how these toys were displayed in Japanese shops and since we've not yet seen a proper Project SWORD toy shop display this will do!

If you want to see more carded sets like this then try searching google images yourself with this text 駄菓子屋 台紙玩具

ROCKET GUN AND THUNDERBIRDS CARD ART

Here's some new 2015 ideas about the illustrations on the Rocket Gun and Thunderbirds backing card. I assume they've all been lifted and nothing is original. Basically it would appear that the Lone Star Dalek Rocket Gun backing card has been used wholesale. See what you think. Question marks mean I'm really not sure about those images. Ideas welcomed.

[images borrowed from Vectis and the Dr. Who Toy Box]

ANTI-DALEK WEAPONS FROM LINCOLN INTERNATIONAL

As we seem to be having a Dalek toy gun blog post regurgitation,, here's a few previously seen here showing the Lincoln International range of previously released toy guns, repackaged with added Dalekmania!

WE WERE EXCITED ABOUT THE DALEK THUNDERBIRDS ROCKET GUN WAY BACK IN 2009

Originally blogged in 2009: This highly unusual THUNDERBIRDS dart pistol - above - appeared on Ebay in the last week, being sold in Belgium. It's clearly a knock-off of the officially licensed 1960's Lone Star Rocket Firing Space Gun (below, courtesy of http://www.vintagethunderbirdstoys/).

The flagrant copying of the TB2, both at the top and bottom of the card, are clearly visible and you can almost see how they have simply slapped a Dalek over the TB3 picture! But, do you know, I love this knock-off. The dark space background is wonderful for TB2 (and unlikely as I'm sure that TB2 was earth-bound) but what really makes it for me is the juxtaposition of a Dalek and the TB2 in one place!

This is very unusual and reminds me of a DC/Marvel Superhero crossover where Batman meets Spiderman! Both contemporaries in the swinging Sixties and regular neighbours in TV21, I'm sure they never actually came together on TV or moreover on any other toy? It's strange how the toy is simply called ROCKET GUN AND THUNDERBIRDS, opting to miss out on the selling power of Dr. Who in the title.

The black and white drawing of the space boy in the bottom left corner is also odd - sort of reminds me of the motif in the Dr. Who Disintegrator Gun comic advert. I must admit I had a bid on this but it was a reserve item and remains tantalisingly unsold!

There is another knockoff of the Lone Star gun, the PILEN PISTOLA ESPECIAL from Spain. I can only find one image of this similarly wondrous derivative, on the marvellous METROPOLIS TOYS site. The image is copyrighted so please view it on their site.

Pilen avoid any mention of Thunderbirds but have slapped one of the Tracy brothers over a space-scape patrolled by a more plausible TB3. However, it is still the Dalek version, which does it for me!

PS. Steve from www.vintagethunderbirdtoys says "Interesting. The Pilen dart gun is significantly smaller than the Lone Star version. I wouldn't give the Pilen one house room. I assume the Dalek/Thunderbirds one is a re-card of the Pilen".

2009.

LONE STAR GUN IN CRATER 101

To continue the thread about the Thunderbirds/ Dan Dare Lone Star pistol, five years ago Jcamts told us that "The gun looks like the Spectrum Space gun they use in Captain Scarlet's Crator 101." [pictured above]

STRATO GUN

Following on from Woodsy's post on the Dalek knockoff gun, I believe this is the original toy it was based on.

Made in 1953 by U.S. company Futuristic Products, this is the Strato Gun, a die cast cap-gun.

As I mentioned in the comments on Woodsy's post, it was remoulded in the U.K. as a Dan Dare water pistol in 1954.

This example from the Alphadrome web site.

DALEKS AND THUNDERBIRDS GUN

Knockoffs usually mix things up and the Rocket Gun and Thunderbirds is a great example! Scoop will be happy with the Dalek action on the card and all Thunderbirds fans love Thunderbird 2. There's even a second one underneath the grip not to mention the pistol itself with 2 Dalek sucker darts! What's not to like!