COLLECTING VINTAGE ADVERTS BY TONY K

I collect original vintage adverts removed from tatty or torn old comics and magazines found at car boots or bought up online.

Looking back, I'm very grateful to have enjoyed a childhood packed with some of the old familiar toys, fads and collectibles, which were so temptingly endorsed by these temporary printed ads.

But other desired treasures, like the iconic colour and chrome Chopper bike remained eternally conspicuous by its absence at each consecutive Christmas; despite the best efforts of Raleigh to peddle one to my rather pedestrianized parents. 

A lot of comic book adverts simply advertised, but others offered kids opportunities... opportunities to enter competitions to win all sorts of desirable goodies which were usually beyond pocket money prices.

Breakfast cereal adverts gave us breakfast table collectibles that spoon-fed our cravings for plastic premium space toys and simple card cut-outs and collectibles from the popular telly progs of the day.

These short-lived ephemeral ads offer a gentle reminder of the energetic trends that excited us as kids. They illustrate a bygone style of advertising, all to familiar to an aging generation of once wannabe spacemen.

Much like the products they proudly promoted, these obsolete paper and print transients have become consigned to the box file of dusty nostalgia. Perhaps they're becoming collectibles in their own right.

Whenever I browse through these vintage ads, I wonder if anyone was lucky enough to have had one of the 100 up-for-grabs gleaming Raleigh Chopper bikes delivered to the door... or anything else we so desperately desired as kids, back in the homeland of our childhood, the last century?

Tony K

DURHAM ROBOT 2500

I like the Robot 2500 by Durham Toys I saw on You Tube.

Durham were closely linked to Tarheel of Tarboro, who released Project SWORD in the US and Canada.

I wondered if Tarheel also did a version of this toy robot but no luck yet.

SPAMMED

Due to a substantial and irritating increase in the amount of spam comments the blog is getting over the last 2 weeks I'm turning on comment moderation as of today.

This will be a temporary measure and hopefully the wastrels leaving the pointless spam will disappear asap.

I apologise to regular readers for any hassle this may cause and ask you not to be put off commenting.

I'll keep you posted.

Woodsy

THE FIREWORK CODE

I agree with Trumpton Fire Brigade, with Bonfire night coming up tomorrow, make sure all you kiddies follow the firework code.

A lot of bonfire parties were held over the weekend where I live resulting in an eerie glow in the air from firework smoke, and that nostalgic smell of burnt wood.

Here's the view at midnight by my local pub, very atmospheric and quite nostalgic as I remember well when I was a youngster, along with all the other local kids, building a huge bonfire on some waste ground, which was fiercely protected in case some other kids set fire to it before November 5th.

Here's a few adverts from the time. Sadly, I think most of these companies are long gone, or if they're not they probably import their stock from China now. Gone are the days of lighting the blue touch paper and hoping for the best.

Have a happy and safe Guy Fawkes Night tomorrow, folks.

The Trumpton Fire Brigade On Standby

The Trumpton Fire Brigade would like to remind everyone to keep safe on Bonfire night.

I made the lamp and the houses. Because the vehicles I'm using are the actual toys that were used originally, the figures I'm making are studio sized which means I need set-sized backgrounds for dioramas!

All good fun!

Kevin

CLEAR-OUT SATURDAY: DO YOU THROW STUFF OUT?

Yesterday we had a bit of a clear-out at Moonbase. We'd taken in a display cabinet from our Daughter's house for safe keeping as they need more room for a growing family.

The new cabinet is now housed in my room, which required some sorting before it could come in.

One of my aims during the sort-out was to ditch a few things. 

I always find this really really hard as I sort of like everything I have.

When I'd done I was surprised just how big the ditching pile had got. Books, LP's, toys, games and models. 

When I say ditching I mean some of the following: giving to Moonbase Junior, listing on Ebay, selling on social media and taking to a charity shop.

I refuse to take my old stuff to the tip. I don't mind taking old timber, duff electrics and worn furniture but draw the line with old games like Frustration and Ker-Plunk. Never mind anything else, it took effort and cash to get them in the first place after I trudged around car boots all year round every year in all weathers in the 90's. I'm not chucking them in a skip and that's final!

A stack of LP records is going to a charity shop. Its is a classic pile of unwanted opera, jazz, schmaltz and early stereo pop. Notables include Des O'Connor, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri, K-tel 24 Greatest Hits, Harry Secombe and Pinky and Perky.

There's also a big bulging bag of paperbacks, which are all Gothic Romances, a niche type of novel I began to collect years ago. The sub-genre had its finest hour with Dark Shadows in the 60's in my opinion with a series of novels by Marilyn Ross, a fascinating author I've blogged about before. 

My love affair with Gothic Romance has faded enough now for me to pass the pile on, although I'll always be interested in the book style.

I'll be sad to see all of this assorted flotsam go to pastures new and leave Moonbase. 

Finding this stuff is much more fun than letting it go but I have to admit I'm a bit of a hoarder! If we ever decide to downsize in our dotage then I'd better get some practice now!

Do you find it hard having a clear-out readers?

SPACE TRUCKS AND LOTS OF HIS VINTAGE MINT ON CARD SPACE TOYS

More fun filming from fellow blogger and You Tuber and all-round space toy fan Steve Nyland aka Space Trucks! 

Enjoy!

ECHOES OF HALLOWEEN

Some footage I took of trick or treating with Moonbase Junior.

From the top of his hill with Grandma and Mum ....

... to the bottom where we found the spookiest of the houses!

How cool is that! An animated hologram show in the front window!

And to top it all, a real person was buried under hay near the front door and leapt out as you approached!

Boo!