NEW PROJECT SWORD DISCOVERY: TARHEEL SPECTRUM PATROL CAR: DETAILED PICTURES

First introduced late last year, here are new detailed photographs of the unique and newly discovered Project SWORD Spectrum Patrol Car by Tarheel Industries of the USA. 

These pictures have been kindly taken for Moonbase Central by the toy's owner, John Hunter of the Hamilton Toy Collection, a toy museum open to the public in Callander, Perthshire, Scotland. Enjoy now, study later.

Hi 

I have attached several images please feel free to use them. From what I can see this is just a re-branding of the Rosenthal SPC, as I placed both together to check.

Regards

John H.

T.A.G - I'm it!

Well, colour me happy. This months Thunderbirds are Go magazine arrived on time and as its the fourth issue, it sports Tb4 on the cover. This in itself is unsurprising, but what really made me smile was the standard of the free gift toy.

Firstly, it was much bigger than previous models, dwarfing TB2 in physical size and a completely different scale to the first three toys. But what was especially impressive is the build quality - TB1 suffered from a slight lack of detail and some distortion of the soft vinyl wings, TB2 was good, but small, as was TB3, but 4 is a good, solid well detailed model.

At 10cm, it comes very close to the Vivid Supersize TB4, which rolls in at 11.5 cm, but it actually beats it out of the water by a considerable margin both in terms of quality and detail.

The 'official' Vivid release, which comes packaged with the huge TB2 does have an opening rear hatch and removable 'surfboards' under the side panniers, but the Tag Mag version includes clean molded detail of the folded grab arms underneath. It also benefits from a much richer, buttery yellow and doesn't need the fiddly decals applying!

In terms of overall proportion, its much closer to the original craft, with a squarer nose and deeper pannier tanks. Whether it accords with its on screen version is more difficult to tell, but it certainly looks good.

Thunderbird 5 awaits next month and it will be interesting to see how it compares with Tomy Takara's new line of toys, the only appearance of five so far.

SCRATCHBIULT SERVICE STRUCTURE FOR SPACEX: GOLDEN ASTRONAUT TOYS BY KEVIN

Hi, and Happy New Year. I have made a Service Structure that would be used to service and repair Spacex vehicles before sending them off on another mission.

Take care,

Kevin D

MAJOR MATHS MASON AND FERMAT'S LAST EXAM

As a kid in the Sixties and early Seventies I was master of many things: my Major Matt Mason toys, my Action Man stuff, my Project SWORD fleet, how to fix a bike puncture and how to wear platform shoes.  I could do all these things and like Mattel's Man in Space I was in my element doing them.

But when I was at "Skool" I always struggled greatly with Maths. I was OK but I only just scraped through my final exam when I was 16.

Unlike English I just didn't feel confident thinking mathematically. For some people its just like another language, which they learn really easily. For me Maths often felt counter-intuitive.

The most counter-intuitive and abstract of all the ideas in my Secondary School Maths was that a double minus makes a positive. 

How can this be?

How can 7- - 7 = +14?

It really doesn't make any sense. Its like saying that two wrongs make a right or that two fails make a pass! See, I'm resorting to English to explain it to myself again because I understand words; I can grapple with them and make them work. I even understand tricky double negatives in long sentences. But numbers! Yikes! and, even worse, negative numbers! God help us!

When I do try to equate the above sum with everyday experience it just makes it worse and even less graspable. For instance, if I said I had seven pounds and I wanted give away minus seven pounds, whereupon I would magically end up with plus fourteen pounds and bid for something on Ebay I would say its madness! How on earth could I have minus seven pounds? Perhaps its a debt that I owe a mate for an 8 inch Meat Feast Pizza or something? Alas, using the idea of debt just makes it even foggier.

Maths doesn't translate into normal language. Its somehow other-worldy, intangible, unimaginable and yes, maybe even scary in a runic sort of way. Symbols beyond speech, glyphs without words, ciphers to an unseen dimension where double negatives really do make pluses.

I am, however, in awe of Mathematicians and their uncanny ability to calibrate the world in numbers. That theorems such as Fermat's Last could take hundreds of years to solve is to me a form of arcane mystery and the fact that some bright spark can do it is positively Lovecraftian.

No, I shall stick to words - where I feel warm, safe and cozy - but, on the off chance you can explain how a double negative makes a plus in words of a single syllable that I used all week then please do get in touch!

What was your bete-noir at "Skool" readers?

SPACE FRONTIER ROCKET PILOT

pic: vectis

Before Christmas I looked at the pilots inside the tinplate Alps Lunar Explorer [here]. Today I'm looking at the similarity of the tinplate Yoshino Space Frontier pilot.

Here he is in close-up brandishing his huge camera or blaster.

pic: tintoycar

And here without the camera blaster

minus camera [pic: pinterest]

Comparing it with the pilots in the Lunar Explorer - below - I would now say that the two are the same. The Space Frontier pilot has been cut off at the waist. What do you think?

pic: kijiji

Invasion of the Moon Men

 It's been too long since I featured my favourite aliens on the blog, so thanks to a recent comment on another post, I thought it was high time I featured them once more. Although its been a while since I received any new variants of the little bell shaped critter, I still haven't been able to categorically pin down who made them originally.

 Thanks to fellow collector Rob, I was able to see a vintage countertop box for the english release of the toys recently, which features what may be a makers name hidden under a label!

 In the states, these and many similar rubber toys were dime store toys, sold as Moon Men and Moon Platoon.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

pic courtesy of ebay

Multiple Toymakers and Imperial toys often include a full set of six differnt aliens in their wonderful Apollo Exploration box set - a toy I really need to add to my own collection! - but the little chrome 2cm versions were also copied by Dekkertoys in the 1980's, with a matt silver finish.

Woodsys Ap Ex set

Dekkertoys 1980's release

Recent chrome variant (thanks Kev!)

My first encounter with the aliens was the rubber Moon Men and I was immediately smitten with the bell shaped guy, who I decided was the warlike leader! For my very first blog post back in September 2008, I painted a rendition of him, on canvas. Oddly enough, I actually sold this at an art fair in Liverpool some years ago, so if you bought it, let me know!

Bulloch original with an early line up

There are many different variation of these figures, in hard plastic, transparent resin, rubber and even versions mounted on springs!

Late addition blue/green

three variations of Moon Men

But far and away my favourite is the very first rubber version, now missing the top of his pointy head, from having been swung on a thread out of the window! This lucky chap came from Woolworths in Dingle, Liverpool in about 1970 and is still with me today!

Original rubber and Moon Exploring versions

UPDATE: Just to clarify, the smaller and hard plastic versions are indeed made by the ubiquitous company LP, in Hong Kong - its the rubber sucker figures that im unsure about. Heres a close up of the logo on the base.

Original 'Moon Man' with mystery logo

Small Apollo Moon Exploring version with 'LP' logo, with thanks to Paul Vreede.

TAKING OUR TOYS TO LITTLE SCHOOL

In the Sixties we went back to Primary School in early January with our favourite toys we'd got at Christmas.

I remember taking in my tinplate Army Jeep and my Mod Monster [Pants fall down]. I'd have been about 8.

The Jeep whizzed around the classroom underneath everyone's wooden chairs. It had the best bump'n'go action ever! 

The Mod Monster naturally was a big hit too and as Frankie Stein blushed we all howled with laughter.

Alas I don't recall what anyone else brought in.

Is this a tradition you had at School readers?

[pics: vectis]

Very Best New Year Wishes From Paul V

From Paul Vreede