MOONBASE CENTRAL

Saturday, 3 April 2021

OUR LATEST ALBUMEN COVER BY THE YOLKS

CHOCOLATE EGG TIME

When I was young I got chocolate egg clocks for Easter in the 60's and early 70's.

Not sure exactly what they looked like but I think these I saw online were similar.

Do they ring a bell with you readers?

For more eggs strewn down memory land check out this online gallery. There'll be some you remember!

What did you get for Easter in your part of the world? Eggs, toys, sweets?

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18364421.101-retro-easter-eggs---many-remember/#gallery48

AN EASTER GRRR-EETING FROM NEW JERSEY BRIAN

T.H.E. Cat in Britain by Paul A.

I have been doing a bit of homework on T.H.E. Cat TV series, and it did screen in Britain (but not in NZ).

Here is what I found - information from the truly excellent site The Television & Radio Database. You can search specific dates, time periods, or programmes. There is a ton of information for both BBC and ITV. The Internet Movie Database for this series says it was also sold to Australia, Hong Kong, and some countries in Europe.

T.H.E. Cat is Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat. Played by Robert Loggia, the NBC series only ran for one season, September 1966 to March 1967. There were a total of 26 episodes. It first aired in the US on 16th September 1966. In Britain it screened on ITV. What programmes were on varied from Region to Region, each Region being run by a different company, and there were different companies for weekdays and weekends. That all sounds very complicated.

Rediffusion covered the London Region and surrounding areas. It screened T.H.E. Cat from 29th September 1966, so barely two weeks after the US. The show aired in two blocks, from September to December 1966, and July to August 1967. Mainly in order, but some episodes were screened in a different sequence to the US. The first episode, To Kill a Priest, was on at 11:07pm, while the next episode was on at 11:22pm. It does seem to have varied slightly throughout its run. That must have been annoying.

At first, the series screened on a Thursday night during September and October 1966, then it moved to Tuesday during November and December, except for the last episode in this block, which moved back to Thursday. The remaining episodes were screened on a Wednesday night in July and August 1967.

There is no mention of the last three episodes being screened in Britain, and I do not know if this is an omission, or if they really did not air for some reason. Like the much better Honey West, this late night time slot must have made it off limits to many children, which may be why no one seems to remember it screening in Britain. I do not know what other ITV regions may have carried the series.

In some episodes T.H.E. Cat drives a customised Chevrolet Corvette. This was kitted by AMT in 1967, as model number 915-170, in their usual 1/25th scale. It included a number of extra parts for the TV car. This site includes the instruction sheet for the model.

Finding an original T.H.E. Cat kit would be hard today, and I expect it would be expensive, so adapting a modern kit of the same basic car would be the way to go if you really want a model, but some parts would have to be made from scratch, or adapted from something in the spares box.

AMT T.H.E. CAT Corvette #915-170 album | DRASTIC PLASTICS MODEL CAR CLUB | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Also, Star Car Central has some information. The customising work was done by Gene Winfield.

T.H.E. Cat 1967 custom Corvette by Gene Winfield Lost? | Star Car Central - Famous Movie & TV car news! (wordpress.com)

Dell comics published a run of at least four issues of T.H.E. Cat in 1967, all with photo covers. These shots are from the My Comic Shop site. In more recent years there was a comic team-up with Honey West.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

THE RIPSAW: A GIANT TOY IN REAL LIFE?

Well, this Ripsaw seems to be a mixture of some fine old toys and then brought to life!

Maybe Big Trak?

a bit of the Project SWORD Moon Ranger?

and the Jetson's moon ranger?

See what you think.

Do you like the Ripsaw?

https://youtu.be/prmrok1PQno?t=311

Friday, 2 April 2021

BLAST OFF
FOR EASTER!

King Crater - In the Court of the Cratered King

After Kevin posted his wonderful custom Crater Critter 'Glubber', I contacted him immediately to request a version for myself. As ever, Kevin kindly came up with the goods and this week, King Crater arrived in all his royal splendour!

I struggled to collect all the figures back in the day, but the very first box I opened held an orange Glubber and a purple Gloob.

After that however, and my response to the sickly sweet cereal, I wasn't allowed to buy any more so had to resort to playground dealings with my schoolmates, which managed to procure me a Miss Venus, who tragically was lost in the open hearth at home and a purple King Crater (sans crown) who has been cosseted over the last few decades, lest he befall a similar fate. Then, in the mid 2000's, I found some repro figures and completed my set and got the King a new crown.

So KC has been very close to my heart ever since, as one of a favoured line of aliens. I wonder if he is so special as he reminded me of the Terrence Cuneo paintings of the Tripods in the serialised edition in 'Tell Me Why' around the same time.

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2010/04/scary-monsters-super-creeps.html