MAXIMILIAN - A CLASSIC BADDIE

A few photos of Maximilian, one of the several small action figures released by the Mego Corporation in 1979, and part of the massive ‘Black Hole’ merchandise campaign. 

The Black Hole, which had its world premiere in London on 18^th December, 1979 is a favourite sci-fi movie of mine, and Maximilian, the robot servant of Dr Hans Reinhardt is probably my favourite character in the film.

Max is a classic baddie, an evil robot who looks the part. It never speaks, which adds to its menacing presence, and during the film it’s implied that its creator Hans Reinhardt is actually afraid of the robot.

There is a point towards the climax of the film, where it’s unclear whether Max hasn’t heard Reinhardt’s cries for help, or has cruelly ignored them.

The ending of the film, which at the time of its release was kept a secret from all except the director and the producer, is still open to some interpretation, however, I do like the hellish imagery which shows Maximilian, with perhaps the soul of Reinhardt trapped in its body looking down on what appears to be the fires of Hades and the cursed crew of the USS Cygnus.   

One Mans Army

Fitting neatly in with my space toy collection is a sub-range of army toys. As my dad was a big fan of the Airfix and Britains military ranges, he always saw to it that I got a healthy supply of toys from both ranges. As a result, I grew up appreciating army toys as much as space.

Nowadays, Ebay allows me to plug little holes in my collections, including this rather fine model from the Britains Mini-Set range. Mini-Sets were a short lived attempt by Britains to offer a compact playset in a small scenic box. Usually including a base with detachable stands and few bits of scenery. The German Anti Tank gun is a loose copy of a PaK40 cannon, with a kneeling infantryman and a firing shell mechanism. unusually for the Min-Set range, the body of the gun is diecast, rather than the usual plastic. Mini-Set figures were 1:42 instead of the standard 1:32 scale, putting them at odds with all the other figures in the main range.

There were other military sets in the small range, but this is the only one I have. In light of this, heres some other army toys from other ranges.

Bluebird Zero Hour Q-Ship and Patrol Boat

Matchbox 'Rolamatic' Badger

 

Majorette Squad Forces Armoured Car and Rolamatics Weasel

Mega Bloks Halo Scorpion

Majorette Squad Forces APV

Zero Hour Airborne Support

Zero Hour Rhino and Field Gun

   

Matchbox Rolamatic SP Gun 

USS CYGNUS KIT

I  recently picked up a MPC kit of the USS Cygnus from the movie, The Black Hole, and I'm looking forward to get started on it.

Although it's not accurate, in that the model mould is missing a section of the hull for some reason, it still promises to look pretty good when completed.

So, to paraphrase Dr Reinhardt, it's time to open the box, I'm going in! 

Major in Minor

 Following Kevins Sindy: 1999 buggy, he has sent us shots of the diecast Majorette Amphibie custom he has made too.

 The little vehicle is ideally suited to conversion to a Space: 1999 buggy, as its clearly based on the original ATV.

 Here is a photo of the vehicle before customisation (with a coat of green paint by myself) and another possible contender for customisation, the Tonka buggy, which is about 8" long and scaled for GI Joe sized figures.

TAG ZERO X IMAGES RELEASED

These images of the TAG version of Zero X have been recently shared, and they look pretty cool.

I'm not sure about the look of the rear thruster, but once its detached the craft looks great. The wings look like they're attached, and the heat shield is part of the cockpit, so it doesn't look like there's an M.E.V., but what a great toy or model it would make!

Long Days Journey into Knight

The DC comic character has come a long way and seen many radical change, but Batman is as iconic and recognisable as ever. Terranova has kindly visited the Society of illustrator exhibition in New York to get us a brief peep into the current exhibition, which includes original artwork and sketches.

Despite a little glare from items under glass, its clear to see the delicate inking and brushwork on some of these vintage panels, as well as the pasted up lettering.

 Included in the exhibit are other ephemera such as this ice cream wrapper and full page spread of Batman on the moon! Holy Cow!

Brian Bolland: Legends of the Dark Knight 119 - 1999

In 1988, Brian Bolland and Alan Moore brought Batman and comics into the mainstream once more with 'The Killing Joke' - an origin tale for the Joker, which enticed non comics readers into the genre and put comics clearly into the region of cool and dropped a copy onto coffee tables all over the world. Bollands artwork was familiar to readers of 2000AD comic, where he regularly drew Judge Dredd, but the Batman strip brought him fully to the attention of DC, where he became a regular artist.

An interior shot of the expansive Batman exhibition. Check out Batman's online presence here:

https://www.societyillustrators.org/

ZERO OR BEERO

It's a lovely sunny day here at Glenn Field. Do I set up my favourite Century 21 toy in the Garden or do I go to the pub for a Guinness?

Mmm, decisions, decisions!

Several hours later...

I guess I was happy to opt for a compromise, Kevin and Arto….cheers folks

Czech this Out

 From modelling maestro Rob Craig comes this oddity from Czech company Andromeda of the spaceship 'Sirrah'.

 Its a bit of a weird shape and unfortunately Rob has lost the box, so info is a bit scarce! He says he loves the retro 'steampunk' kind of look to it, which it certainly does have!