HOTWHEELS 1:18 SCALE '66 BATMOBILE

 A few photos of the Hot Wheels 1966 Batmobile complete with the Caped Crusader & the Boy Wonder.

16/12 EARTHBOUND IN THE HANGAR

 A few more shots of the new Sixteen 12 'Earthbound'  Episode set in the Hangar.

 

AIMI 1:18 SCALE FAB 1

A few old photos of the rather nice large  1:18 scale FAB 1. 

DINKY 'GABRIEL'

 A few photos of the Dinky Secret Service ‘Gabriel’ Model T Ford (109)

 This version of the Dinky model was produced between 1969 and 1971 and was just a repainted version of their existing Model T Ford die-cast   (475) which was produced between 1964 and 1966.

It features a Father Unwin figure at the wheel and a ‘Gabriel sticker either side.

The only variation I can find is the ‘brass’ radiator, lamps and windscreen surround are replaced at some point during its production with plain silver  metal.

I admit I do have a soft spot for the series which has an uneasy mix of live action and puppets.  Stanley Unwin was the star, although apart from the opening titles he only appeared in long shot.  

He plays a country vicar who leads a double life as a secret government agent working for  B.I.S.H.O.P. (British Intelligence Service Headquarters Operation Priest).  He possesses a fantastical device called The Minimiser which is capable of shrinking anything to 1/3 size, conveniently the same size as a supermarionation puppet.

A photo of the original puppet size model made by Space Models Limited.

The actual 'Gabriel' Model T Ford on display at Andercon.

Only 13 episodes were made, and was the last supermarionation series produced by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson.

THE BLACK HOLE COMICS

 There were plenty of comic book adaptations of The Black Hole. Some I don’t have but here’s a few I do. 

The Gold Key Walt Disney Showcase 54: This is dated January 1980, and is a complete adapted story.  In this Durant is killed by Hans Reinhardt with a laser, rather than being violently impaled by Maximilian, and the hell scenes aren’t there.

The I.P.C.  version released in the U.K. The strip is black & white, but it came with pull-out poster and features.

These split the movie adaptation into two parts, dated March and May, 1980. The final page announces that the next issue is ‘Beyond the Black Hole’.

The third comic ‘Beyond The Black Hole’ is dated July 1980, and as the title suggests it opens with surviving crew of the Palomino, now aboard the Cygnus Probe Ship find themselves in another universe. In this Universe the Cygnus still exists, along with Hans Reinhardt and Maximilian.

These three comics came in a multi pack.

The fourth comic is apparently quite rare. This is simply dated 1980   The film’s poor performance at the box office meant the comic run was cancelled. Two more comics were actually issued but only in Spanish for the Mexican market.

The ‘Beyond the Black Hole’ stories are reprinted in The U.K. Black Hole annual 1981.

A page from the campaign pamphlet.

When it comes to Black Hole comic strips I should mention Walt Disney’s Treasury of Classic Tales.

Walt Disney’s Treasury of Classic Tales was a weekly Sunday newspaper strip that ran from July 1952 until February 1987 which featured adaptations of classic Disney films.

Between 2^nd September 1979 and 24^th February 1980 legendary comic artist Jack ‘King’ Kirby drew a 26 part adaptation of the film, The Black Hole, written by Carl Fallberg, and inked by Mike Royer.

Here’s an example, and the full set has been uploaded at this website here: https://taint-the-meat.com/2018/09/03/black-hole-jack-kirby/

THE BLACK HOLE BAGATELLE

 A few photos of the Black Hole Bagatelle by Marx Toys. I love the painted back drop showing the Cygnus and Palomino spacecraft.

It has paintings of  Old B.O.B. and V.I.N.Cent but oddly no sign of Maximilian.

It shows the crew of the Palomino; Captain Dan Holland, Lieutenant Charlie Pizer, Kate McCrea and Alex Durant. Journalist Harry Booth is absent.

Dr Hans Reinhardt is in the background.