Molto Jeep Militar Dated 1968

This is interesting. I saw it on the Spanish marketplace site Todocoleccion.

On the left is the Jeep Militar made by Spanish toymakers MOLTO. We've seen it before but what's new is that the magazine appears to be dated 1968.

Jeep Militar is a relative of similar vehicles like the Hamilton Invaders Tiger Jeep and the date makes it a forerunner of the SpaceX Cricket.

Have you got a Jeep Militar?

Consorti Toys of Italy

Bill B sent me these fab images of Consorti toys adverts.

Consorti were a distributor for the Italian market.

Their logo can be seen below left, a beige circle with a walking red figure inside.

Here we have  two of the Yonezawa 21st Century range on offer in Italy presumably in the late Sixties.

Here is the Space Frontier tinplate rocket, one of my fave toys of all time and one I still have.

And below is a German ad for Yonezawa toys including the two 21st Century toys above.

Consorti is of note to Project SWORD collectors as they distributed the knockoffs of the Tarheel Moon Ranger and Hover's Booster Rocket and R/C Probe Force 3 in Italy.

The Hover Booster Rocket can be read about here.

Did You Grow Anything as Kids?

Did you grow anything as a kid?

I remember clearly growing beans in jam jars at school. The beans were inserted between the glass and what I think was blotting paper. In this way kids could watch their beans grow. Anyone called Jack watched a lot!

We also grew some grass in a tray and also on top of a wet cloth ball, which was like a Mr. Potato Head. It looked like he had a head full of grass hair!

I also tried to grow avocado seeds but without much success. The basic idea was to skewer the seed with three cocktail sticks so it looked like Sputnik. This was then placed on top of a glass full of water with the bottom of the seed paddling. I must have missed something out 'cos it never worked!

Did you grow anything when you were little?

Sears Apollo Saturn Rocket on British Pathe 1964

I've blogged this before many times. Browsing Ebay reader Tony K reminded me just how fabulous it looks recently and as I'm such a huge fan of the Project SWORD Apollo Saturn rocket here goes again. 

This footage from British Pathe depicts Christmas in London and around the World in 1964.

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/xmas-round-the-world

You should see if you watch closely what I assume is the US Sears version of the Apollo Saturn based on Tomy's Japanese original. There's no box, just the rocket as shown below but in black and white.

I know a few readers are lucky enough to own the Sears rocket. It was part of the Sears Turnpike range and actually emitted smoke.

There was also a mirror on the baseplate. Was that to reflect the smoke and give it even more dramatic umph?

By the way, If you are able to send me a clip of your toy rocket giving off smoke that would be so fab for me and blog readers to see!

SCIENCE FLIX: Talking about Altered Carbon and The Cloverfield Paradox

This wasn't easy.

I've recorded some thoughts about the new Netflix originals Altered Carbon and The Cloverfield Paradox. Recording them as audio on my phone was easy.

Getting audio onto here was impossible. I had to add video but at least Blue gets a look in. For this to work I had to split it in half due to size issues. The video that is. Not Blue!

So part 1 is above and Part 2 below.

Enjoy and tell me your thoughts.

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?