STANLEY KUBRICK AT THE PREMIERE OF 2001 IN 1967

In Dutch and English.

You Tube.

1967 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY TEASER TRAILER

1967 test footage.

You Tube.

THE ENDING OF 2001

Stanley Kubrick explains the ending of 2001 Space Odyssey. Its an interesting article and clip on Boing Boing.

https://boingboing.net/2018/07/11/kubrick-explains-the-ending-of.html

MORBIUS THE LIVING VAMPIRE GETS A DRESSING ROOM

I caught the trailer to the new Marvel flick MORBIUS on You Toob. 

I'm always fascinated when a lesser comic hero gets airtime or merchandising. Some of my toy reference books mention this very phenomenon and in some cases certain heroes and villains only ever attained wider publicity through vintage DC and Marvel Slurpee cups in the US during the Seventies.

Whether Morbius got a Slurpee I will have to check but I don't think so. Dracula did so maybe he was out-fanged!

Like Dracula, Morbius is a Marvel character and now has a movie too.

I remember seeing Morbius on comic covers when I was a nipper. Morbius the Living Vampire. Being a horror nut it did, like Werewolf by Night, attract my interest, but for the life of me I can't recall if I had any of the comics at home or remember any of the strips. I can, however, still see his startlingly white face and sharp fangs on those brilliant Marvel covers.

Watching the trailor I see that his origin, certainly in the film, is bat-ridden. I assume that they're vampire bats that get him hence his Nosferatu-like looks and behaviour. 

I didn't know this and if I did I've forgotten but I can't help thinking its a lot like Batman. OK, Bats doesn't get bitten but he is also harried by colonies of the flying mice as is, it would seem, Morbius. To add weight to this flappy thesis is the fact that Michael Keaton is also in the Morbius movie.

Many of you will be far more comic-savvy than I am and no doubt I'm way off the mark.

I thought I had a Morbius toy in the 1990's but it turns out to have been Mr. Sinister in the ccol X-Men Projectors range. I had one loose and boxed on my toy stall in the late 90's. Projectors reminded me of my beloved Flashy Flickers movie 'rifle' by Marx in the 60's, which also projected cartoon strips onto a wall.

Morbius and Mr.Sinister do look slightly similar so I think I can be excused. Here's the Projectors TV ad from 1994, which includes Mr. Sinister and the X-Men Blackbird jet, a big blue plane which I still have boxed!

Do you like the Living Vampire Morbius?

Sea Stomper

I recently found a Stomper Aqua Fighter to add to my Megastar Stomper collection, the Aqua Fighter being one of two submersible models from the range. Its missing its tracks from the motorised body, but the motor and propeller work fine. Its designed to travel over land with the tracks an in water with the prop, but testing it in the water butt, I found out it was prone to sinking, quickly!

Here are the 1985 Megastar range from Schaper. Stomper toys were released in the UK by Action GT.

The Megastar range are unusual in that they include a small pilot figure, just about an inch high in flexible vinyl. There are two different pilot figures available.

The Megastar toys were included in the 'first contact' set of toy photographs I sent to Woodsy, way back in the 1990's after I found his contact details on the internet!

The green Explorer has two Popy chrome cannons added for a bit of glitz by myself.

More wilful tampering added some red tiles to the top of this battering ram car.

Not content with the look of the laser wagon, I popped a small red LED on the end of the cannon.

A much later acquisition is the droid transporter, which needed no modifications! 

   

 Two amphibious Water Demon vehicles.

Jets Away!

 Further to Woodsy's flagging up the Pippin Hydro Jet toy, here are my models from the series. Originally marketed in Japan on a card backer, by Gakken, the jet toys were repackaged by Lipkin for Pippin toys. There are three versions, each came with a battery on the card in the japanese packing. I've not been brave enough to try them in water, but an internal propeller draws water in through the front vents and ejects it through the rear around the red lighted nozzle.

Check out the gorgeous illustrations on the japanese release!

Model Ax-03 from the Pippin release, showing the trademark beneath the toy.

SELFRIDGES TOY DEPARTMENT 1970'S

This is fun. 

Selfridges toy store in the 1970's. 

Lots of things you'll recognise courtesy of You Tube.

A L I E N C O V E N A N T AND M Y M A N Y Q U E S T I O N S

This A L I E N prequel is on the box again tonight. I watched it the other day and caught it when it first came out at the flicks.

I am a big fan of the A L I E N universe and enjoy watching each new incarnation. Maybe you are too?

C O V E N A N T is an unusual installment in the franchise. Not as important as P R O M E T H E U S but its a direct follow-on.

The story of D A V I D will not be to everyone's taste I imagine as its the goriest of all the films I would say. More like a David Cronenberg horror in part, the tale of android insanity still has a lot going on.

As with all films we'll all have our own opinions and theories about what's on screen, so here's a few questions that C O V E N A N T raises. Its not a quiz. I'm just interested what you think:

1. Why did D A V I D kill everyone on the Engineers' planet?

2. Why did D A V I D kill Dr. Elizabeth Shaw?

3. Why is D A V I D obsessed with the A L I  E N ?

4. Why does D A V I D hate humanity?

5. What is the end-game for D A V I D?

6. Where is D A V I D going in the spacecraft at the end of the film and how does this relate to A L I E N?

7. What do you think is Scott's reason for having an Android in every A L I E N film?