AND THE TOYTOWN WINNER IS.......

Yep, age before beauty!

Its the 1971 Baja Buggy by Matchbox! 

Yay!

It zoomed out the tunnel like Big Daddy Roth!

Not bad after 47 years!

Were Matchbox Cars built to last?

ON THE DIE-CAST STARTING LINE!

Moonbase Junior's toy cars are all ready for the road race.

Which do you think will travel the furthest as it shoots out of the green sloped tunnel readers?

Schnorkel and Mister Green Hat are today's marshals.

DIE-CAST ROAD RACE! YEAH!

Moonbase Junior and I are currently setting up a die-cast car race.

Junior pushes them into his big plastic cave road and we'll see which comes out the fastest and goes the furthest.

There's Matchbox, Welly, Majorette, Made in China and Corgi.

The race is on!

WHY IS BIG TRAK SO POPULAR?

For some reason I thought I had a BIG TRAK as a kid in the Sixties.

This can't be right, It was only released in 1979. I must be thinking of the Scramble Bug or the Moon Mobile.

BIG TRAK has become a classic toy. Dare I even say cool? It has its own Wikipedia page and was even re-issued in 2010. You can still get a brand new one on Amazon! There's even a miniature version! Now that's longevity!

Why is that? Is it the fact that its programmable or have the Late Seventies/ Eighties generation grown up, got jobs and want some of their old toys?

What do you think?

Trakking across the world Big Trak even made it to Russia and here's one I clocked on Ebay  released in 1991.

Did you have a Big Trak?

VLIX ONCARD: A DROID AT ALL COSTS

Its true, I am a bit of an action figure fan. I've been coveting the plastic guys and dolls for years.

Probably more than most toy lines, rarity is a facet of action figures. And when it comes to figures I am fascinated by rarity,  far more than say, space toys.

Its probably because there are just so many action figures around, so many people collect them, many serious collectors know everything and there are so many action figures at car boot sales and in charity shops. The chance of finding a real gem is a possibility every Sunday. At least it was when I went. I never really found any gems myself but I loved the search. Secret Wars were the figures I was digging for.

So having an interest in rare action figures I am always fascinated by what gets onto rarity lists online. These often differ from each other and change over time as figures wax and wane.

Here's one on You Tube, which you may find interesting. What do you think?

and here's Robot Voice's different list with Vlix top dog. Do you agree with this one?

https://www.therobotsvoice.com/2011/04/10_ridiculously_rare_international_exclusive_actio.php

I've been aware of the Droids Vlix seen above in the video pic for years. It would have been Tomarts Action Figure Digest that brought the Vlixster to my attention. I adored Tomart's publications and regularly got the digest magazine and several of their books. 

I must have consulted their books at least weekly for the past twenty years!

Robot Voice's list above features a Brazilian Vlix on card by Glasslite. Is there an American version?

The net is full of his general biography so I won't labour it here. Are you vlixed readers? 

What do you think of rare action figures lists?

Do you collect figures or action dolls?

UNIFORMED DOLLS OF THE WORLD ANYONE?

I saw dozens and dozens of old uniformed dolls of the world at Whitley Bridge boot sale near Doncaster.

They were literally in piles.

I can feel the beginnings of the collecting bug when I see them!

I haven't succumbed yet but resistance maybe futile. I already have the Grenadier Guard on the left and I'm fascinated that there are further Guard uniforms available like the Scottish bandleader and the sworded Guard 

[this picture was borrowed from Etsy].

I think its the Action Man still in me that triggers the appeal of these uniformed dolls.

Does anyone collect them?

NAVAJO MOON

My Missus read out a interesting anecdote in her book Sapiens the other night.

I'd not heard it before.

It concerns a Navajo talking to NASA.

It may well be an urban or indeed lunar legend.

There are many instances of it on the interweb.

Here's one.

https://www.gaia.com/lp/content/native-message-apollo-astronauts/

What do you think readers?

GAMES AND TOYS WITH VIDEO CASSETTES INCLUDED

The Dragon Strike board game reminded me of how many games there were with videos with them. I suppose it was a short-lived thing before video games proper.

In the loft Ive got one called Atmosfear I think. Someone gave it me back in my toy stall days.

The standard board game was driven along by a creepy guy who appeared on the TV screen courtesy of a video. Here's the intro on You Tube. Not for the faint-hearted!

Yep, it was played on the floor in front of the telly. Did you play? 

There will have been more games like this I'm certain. 

Cassette tapes were also included sometimes. Dracula, the game based on the Coppola movie, had a tape of eerie music to be played during the game, along with fake blood and sets of plastic fangs. 

Another cassette featured in Teddy Ruxpin. He was an animatronic talking teddy. Quite a sophisticated toy really. I recall the tape slotting into his back. I got hold of a mint boxed example for my old toy stand. It was being thrown out of a toy library at my Missus' work!

Here's the US TV ad on You Tube.

Mentioning it reminds me that I narrowly missed out on a mint complete Paddington Bear with red wellies. It was snaffled by the Missus' boss! 

Can you think of more games and toys involving videos or cassetes readers?