Matchbox National Parks Police Car

This is the Matchbox '59 Dodge Coronet Police Car. I know this is a long way from space toys, or anything else you normally cover, but I thought the finish might be of interest to you, given your interest in parks and the outdoors.

Initially released in 2019 (copyright date on the base is 2018), this is a 2021 version. The model is a four-door sedan, with a single roof light. Being part of the main window moulding this is in clear plastic. The interesting thing about this version is the light green colour scheme.

It depicts a National Parks vehicle, with Superintendent Park Operations just ahead of the doors. The base and bumpers are black plastic, with a light grey interior.

Matchbox models are not as widely available in NZ as Hot Wheels models, so it is harder to get all the models you want. They are also a little more expensive, usually $4 each, rather than $3, which is the usual price for a Hot Wheels.

The latest card design includes the Dodge badge in the upper left corner. The artwork is rather odd, as it has the Parks vehicle driving through a brightly lit city, rather than a forest track.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DEVIL

I caught How to Train Your Dragon with Moonbase Junior a few weeks back. 

The dragon has a peculiar flat face.

I knew I'd seen it before!

THE MEG

OK. I've seen the Meg again. Being a big monster nut I'll give any old mega beast a whirl and the Meg is mega.

Like Rampage the lead actor, in this case Jason Stathan, tries to out-muscle the monster for screen presence but its not possible is it really when the monster is a Megalodon.

The story is as schmalzy as a melting sweet but that aside I loved the giant shark footage. Meg really is a gigantic fish and because of its size the camera can perform those wonderfully long pass-by's as the creature glides past.

The stand-out scenes for me are where the shark is pitted against frogman Stathan as they face-off underwater. It reminds me of those beautiful illustrations of skin divers encountering sharks in old comics like Look and Learn and those fabulous encyclopedias we all used to have.

The scene where the Meg stares at the kid through the marine base window is pretty cool too and hints at older flicks like Jaws 3 and The Abyss. I have to say there's a lot of Jaws in the Meg generally including lots of chum.

I couldn't see any specific Meg toys online but there are schoals of big plastic Megalodons out there. 

The sheer size of the Meg recalled the vast presence in an old TV series I caught one year called Surface. It too had a giant undersea beast and I thought it was great. Sadly the show was cut for some reason. Do you remember Surface?

T.H.E CAT: A GALLERY OF TOYS

 Some of the toys I've seen online for the US TV show T.H.E Cat.

I'm pretty sure I never saw it here in the UK.

Have you seen it?

BOB McCALL'S MASTER STROKES

Here's a great and lush gallery of Bob McCall's terrific space paintings and sketches. What's your favourite?

https://www.flickriver.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/sets/72157622015473454/

SURF'S UP

Hi all

Here is the Hot Wheels Ghost Olympics model number 1 of 10, called Surf's Up. Naturally, the sport depicted is surfing. Only the baseplate is metal, the rest is plastic. 

Sitting on top of the baseplate is a white surfboard, with a band comprising three shades of blue. This is surrounded by translucent blue waves. The rider is gunmetal grey, with the Games insignia on his back in white. 

The wheels are also translucent blue, with silver spokes. The lower sides have TOKYO 2020 and the Hot Wheels logo in white, and the surfboard has the surfing symbol in silver. 

The cards show the differences between the long and short versions. Due to a lack of space the artwork is almost hidden behind the model on the short card, and the Hot Wheels ribbon is much smaller.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

OG ON THE BOG!

A sort of update on the old plastic Hong Kong Out house peeing novelty toys, here's the modern version, Og on the Bog! I bought this from a charity shop and it is hilarious to play. Think of Shrek's privvy and you've got it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKXWjVidvf4

THE SNOW CRUISER

I always enjoy watching old reels showing fabulous vehicles. There were more amazing vehicles produced than I ever imagined and sometimes bring the visions of the TV21 artists to life.

I watched this clip on You Tube of the 1939 Snow Cruiser and immediately thought of the Snow Train, which featured prominently in the Project SWORD Annual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUXq8NWh5vg&feature=emb_logo

I'm sure it will remind you of other fictional vehicles. I wonder what happened to the Snow Cruiser?

Did you have any snow toy vehicles?