THE MONSTER CRAZE

When I was a kid I loved monsters.

As soon as I was able I filled my bedroom with them.

Posters, models, toys, comics, key rings, books: if it was monstrous it went in.

What I can't remember is when it all started and when it ended. I don't have a single photograph of my creature-featured sleeping quarters so it's hard to date the period.

You can get an idea of what it looked like in the film Salem's Lot. Mark, the young hero, is also a horror hound. 

Here he is in that oft-assumed defensive pose of the monster nut as he's regaled by his Father for being an oddball with "Why do you waste your time with monsters son!" or something similar, a tirade I'm pleased to say I only had once from my Dad until he gave in and accepted the grue.

Salem's Lot is set in the Seventies. Stephen King published the novel in 1975. the film was made in 1979. My own monster craze began years before this though, in the late Sixties I would guess. I would have been 9 or 10 years old. Maybe earlier. Its hard to say.

The Seventies scene above feels quite late in the horror craze. At least from my own experience. Certainly my beastly bedroom was done and dusted by 1977 when my Dad sold up and I got a flat. Only the Aurora Witch survived the move.

The longevity of the monster fad on film is even starker in the flick Super 8. Set in the summer of 1979 the Spielberg/ Abrams movie is basically an homage to monster-filled childhoods everywhere and a nostalgic epitaph to one of the greatest crazes ever. 

The film's hero Joe, like Mark in Salem's Lot, is chastised by his straitlaced Dad for messing with plastic fiends like the Hunchback he so lovingly cares for.

So this is 1979 in America. At least on film. I was 18 by this point and have no idea what 10 year olds where into back then. My monsters were gone and my life was filled with the more banal gremlins of early adulthood.

Just how long did the monster craze last and when was yours readers?

Farewell R2. Kenny Baker dies at 83

A giant among actors, the diminutive Kenny Baker, driving force behind Star Wars iconic R2 D2, has died aged 83. May the Force be with him, always.

KEVIN'S SCRATCHBUILT SATURN V

Hi,

Recently acquired a cloth sky backdrop. 

It isn't very good (way too many creases) but it is the only thing I've got big enough to photograph my scratchbuilt Saturn V against (it is 3 foot tall!). 

So, thought I'd do my own version of 'Rollout'.

Take care,

Kevin

BIG WEDNESDAY

The local car boot sale was not bad last Wednesday.

Its a big 'un and a few tables were choc-ful of vintage toys. I bagged a couple of things but my biggest purchase of the morning, and of the year when it comes to boot sales, was for a tenner. That's ten of my best pounds!

For this royal sum I walked off with a toy that I've been aware of for decades, ever since I started reading about old battery toys. Its a Rosko Charlie Weaver Bartender along with its box no less!

Now this Charlie has seen better days and tending that bar for 50 years has taken the fizz out of his cocktail shaker and sadly he has shed a few parts. But still he's a quaint fella and I think there's a few more rounds in him yet. I will tell you more about my Charlie and his box some other time. Him and me have a lot of catching up to do!

The items I walked away from are probably as interesting so here they are, the loose toys I left behind!

1. Dressed Thunderbirds Hood doll from the 1990's

2. Dressed Captain Scarlet doll from the 1990's

3. Mister Men circular bagatelle 1970's

4. Dial Away BT Telephone Board Game 1980's?

5. Sky at Night Patrick Moore Board Game 1980's?

6. Lady Penelope annual 1960's

7. Sindy Pedigree beach buggy 1960's

8. Loads of loose action figures like Chuck Norris and Action Force

9. Loads of loose vintage Dinky planes and tanks.

10. Carded Air Raiders sets 1980's?

11. M.A.S.K figures

12. A set of Stingray story books by Boxtree 1990's

13. A few unknown multi-wheel white vehicles [the one bottom right here]

14. A cuddly toy

I've no idea how much these were going for. I just noticed them and handled some. One item I did enquire about was an Aurora boxed model kit. It was a smaller square box with the later Aurora logo. I think the model was a Fokker. It was in with stacks of other boxed military models by Frog and Revell. 

I loved Aurora as a kid and I did feel the glued-up hands of the sprue-filled past reaching into my pocket for the fiver the chap wanted. But I resisted all as I was due at Charlie Weaver's bar several tables along!

So there you have it. Two hours of rummaging.

Would you have bought any of it readers?

What have you walked away from?

A CONVOCATION OF EAGLES

More Dinky die-cast photos, and this time its the turn of the mega popular Eagle.

The Dinky Eagle came out in 1975, and continued production until 1980.

Although there were subtle changes in tooling, struts and coloured plastic variants in the passenger pod windows, these are generally considered to be five variations,

Of the five there are two types of Transporter. Both have green bodies, the first releases had chrome engine bells and landing rockets, red rear chemical tanks and yellow reaction control thrusters.

The second Transporter variation had red engine bells and landing rockets, self coloured chemical tanks and red reaction control thrusters. Both of mine have chrome thrusters beneath the passenger pod, although I believe later versions might have had just red plastic.

There are three freighter variations . Two have white bodies while the later one is blue. The first version has chrome engine bells and landing rockets, red chemical tanks and red reaction control thrusters. The freighter pod is red.

The second freighter version has  red engine bells and landing rockets, self -coloured rear chemical tanks and red reaction control thrusters. Again, the freighter pod is red.

The third Eagle Freighter is blue. The engine bells and landing rockets are red, the rear chemical tanks are self-coloured, and the reaction control thrusters are red. The freighter pod is white.

The transporter came with red striped decals to convert your passenger pod to a rescue/medical Eagle and the freighter came with stickers for the radiation barrels, the lower set replacing the more authentic top version, apparently  because of a safety issue, however that could be just an urban myth, and it could just turn out to be another cost cutting exercise.

Although these are the versions that came out of the Dinky factory, there's nothing stopping anyone from mixing and matching, and getting the colour right for once.

HAWKS COMPARED

As a postscript to Kevin's amazing scratchbiult Hawk model I thought I'd dig out this old shot of my two toy Hawks and compare them with Kev's.

The smaller Hawk in both shots is the Tri-ang SpaceX toy. The green Hawk is the larger Nova III. The larger orange Hawk is Kev's recent scratchbiuld.

Needless to say Kevin's is my favourite of the two big ones.

LP BRAND CIRCUS CAR TOY

Saw this Circus Car online whilst searching for my mystery snail and lo and behold this toy's by our friends LP no less!

You can clearly see the 'red devil hugging the LP' logo bottom left. It looks a strange toy for LP to do, quite complicated. Anyone got any better pictures?

Silhouette of the Brute

Its a given that I am a massive fan of classic Hot Wheels. The Silhouette was my second purchase as a kid and one of the original 'sweet sixteen' which Mattel rolled out as their flagship line in the sixties. The gorgeous spectraflame paintwork, red stripe wheels and radical styling were streets ahead of the competition and an immediate hit. As is usual with a successful design, copies would be made and Zylemex, the die cast toy maker, seems to have led the way. Its small hot rod range released a near identical moulding called simply 'Bubble', differing from its Mattel progenitor by the simple addition of some chrome plastic pipes on the bonnet. Not content to stop there, Zylemex produced a much larger scale model called The Brute. This is a Dinky size car, which although handicapped by Zylemex low production values, is a lovely vehicle. I have managed to find two examples so far, one with a damaged bubble that supplied missing chrome detailing for a second, much better condition version, allowing me to complete a good example from the two.