P A R A M O U N T A S T R O C A R by Rob C

The first "Space Tank" model I ever stumbled upon, and still a favorite, is the Paramount Astro Car. 

It was a fairly detailed kit and the climbing wheels actually worked (something that couldn't be said for some of the treaded tanks). 

I got this one in 1969 at a junky department store, along with other Paramount kits such as the Meteor, the Mercury, the Space Command Tank, and the elusive Barracuda Hydro Tank. The Astro Car is the only one I saved, unfortunately. 

I originally tried to paint it in camouflouge, as in the box art, but it looked so crummy I painted over it with black primer. My plan was to then paint on a nice metallic blue top coat, but as you can see I never got around to it, so it remains in basic black. 

I also replaced the deteriorated rubber treads with some Tamiya replacement treads. As most SF toy fans know by now, this is actually the Midori Super Beetle, a very popular kit which was reissued many times and was also the basis for several popular space toys. 

This beauty now resides at the Arima Toys & Automata Museum in Kobe, Japan.

Rob C,

USA

The Biggest Godzilla Ever On Screen!

Thanks to Brian F for the tip.

This is the trailer for Godzilla: Monster Planet, an epic new Japanese anime film featuring the tallest Godzilla ever, 1000 feet!

Can GZ get any bigger?

What do you think?

Pretend Choo-Choos

I just had a thought. 

Did you as a kid go round the house like a steam train?

What I mean is did you chug slowly round the place making a shunting noise and pistoning your arms like I did with the occasional choo-choo?

What I wanted was for friends and family to join me at the rear themselves chugging and pistoning in unison. The more chuggers the better the train and the better the fun!

I can imagine that this human train would work brilliantly in the school playground but I can't get past Cowboys and Indians in my memories of that feature of my schooldays.

Did you chug round the house?

Samson Presses Enter

I took this snap at my daughters a few years back. Her toy Samson was just surfing the net. Ernie [or is it Bert?] and his mate Duck were hanging out too.

I think Samson is from Sesame Steet. is that right?

SpaceX Major: The Flight of the Falcon Heavy

Have any of you seen the amazing launch sequence and flight of the US SpaceX Falcon Heavy from yesterday?

Did you see the returning side boosters?

I was stunned with amazement!

What did you think?

Small Paper Accessories That Came With Vintage Toys

Some of the coolest and most memorable nik-naks from my childhood were miniature paper items.

What I mean are those paper accessories that came with toys.

One that springs to mind was the map that Action Man had. I think it came on a small plastic clipboard that his gripping hands could hold onto in the thick of battle. I can't recall what was on that map but I imagine it was about advancing his position against his arch rival Tommy Gunn!

Palitoy's Fighting Man must have had more bits of paperwork but I've filed them away in the top secret drawer!

Major Matt Mason came with lots of paper and plasticy decals sheets which were just ace too. I adored taking off the stickers and gently placing them on the multitude of gizmos that the Major had. 

Some of the best stickers went on decorating his fab wedding-cake space station. As they're paper based I've seen many of these decals being reproduced for modern collectors. 

My love of petite paperwork didn't stop there. Another great juvenile collection I had on the go for years were key rings. I had loads of them and one favourite was a small metal book with a concertina style set of paper photos inside. I think they were from one of my Mum's trips to Spain in the Sixties. I can see it now and can almost feel the satisfaction I had closing the metal clasp to keep the two covers fastened!

There may have been a miniature Bible too but I could be getting mixed up with tiny plastic Bibles that you peered into. Remember them?

Talking of small books has totally jogged my noodle about a toy I had. It was a clockwork monkey and when wound up he would flick the pages of a book he was holding! Now the book wasn't paper I admit. It was metal but there were paper pictures stuck on each page. It was a gorgeous old toy and I had a version of the monkey banging cymbals too.

I can't finish without mentioning the wonderful feeling I got sticking down Action Man stars onto my free gift coupon that came with Palitoy's fighting doll. The only downside was having to cut the stars out of boxes but that won't have worried me in 1967!

Which miniature papers from toys can you recall readers?

F L I G H T

My new short folk dog flight NASA horror sketch.

Its the Flight of the Baskervilles.

Enjoy!

You'll Die Laughing Again: Terranova47's Black and White Photo Cards

Hello Woodsy

These should be right up your street. 

PS. I had forgotten that the UK bubble gum cards started to be produced a smaller size. 

Regards, 

Terranova47

NYC