MOONBASE CENTRAL

Tuesday, 22 December 2020

WHERE ANGELS DARE

After a day's charity shopping in Wetherby on Saturday we snapped this shot of the town's tall Angel as night-time set in.

It struck me as a sort of sentinel, a proud herald, its brave fanfare sounding loudly in the face of the approaching gloom.

JUNIOR'S WHEELS

Modern Hot Wheels lined up on Junior's bedside cabinet. I love that Dodge at the front!

Did you get die-casts for Christmas readers?

PROJECT SWORD AND HATCHETTS: ANOTHER SLICE FOR CHRISTMAS

I've been looking at the Hatchett's Playground Club Project S.W.O.R.D display again.

I looked again in particular at an article in the New Musical Express about Hatchett's Playground featured on the amazing archive of Jonathan Marks.

Its dated Friday week ending May 11th 1968 [Friday was actually the 10th May].

If you look closer at the photograph at the bottom left next to Tina Turner you will see ... a Project SWORD display!

Its fairly certain in my mind that its the same display as the one we've seen photographed below in the foyer of Hatchett's.

Placing the two displays together we can see clearly that they are indeed the same one. We can now see more lettering as well in the NME picture, "Century 21" Blast off with Project Sword.

We know from previous research here that the display was created to tie-in with the premier of 2001 A Space Odyssey on Sunday the 19th May 1968. The date of this issue of the NME, 11th May 1968, fits in well with this.

Incidentally on the night of the film premier on the 19th May Status Quo were playing at the club.

A new mystery is the object at the far left of the display seen in the NME picture above, top. Is it a box? A poster? Can anyone enhance/ negativise it at all?

Wotan Wades In:

Well given that is a halftoned newsprint, scanned in (roughly) to low resolution for the web, theres not much chance of revealing much at all. Ive put it into Photoshop and tweaked it as much as I dare, but it doesn't really show much more. I suspect its just some of Hatchetts advertising behind the main display.

DC9 AIRLINER COMING INTO LAND FOR CHRISTMAS

Hi,

Came across this recently and just had to have it.

It is the TN Toys DC9 airliner. I have my original toy from when I was a child and it still works. This one was in the TWA livery. My original bears the livery of the makers, McDonnell Douglas. I believe they also did a KLM one.

The seller listed it as not working but I'd got mine reworking so thought I'd give it a go! WD40 did the trick and it runs brilliantly!

A 3V DC DC9!

Kevin