Saturday, 3 April 2021
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.
Also, Star Car Central has some information. The customising work was done by Gene Winfield.
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?
Friday, 2 April 2021
King Crater - In the Court of the Cratered King
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
SPACE AGE PINK TOY FURNITURE
Even after 30 years rummaging around with old toys its always a thrill to come across something I've not seen before.
Amongst a pile of second hand dolls furniture the Missus bought at an outdoor sale last summer where bits of pink and beige plastic furniture.
Seeing them again recently I thought, hmmm, they look a bit space age.
A playmobil astronaut modelled the sofa for me.
Underneath the sofa its says Made Exclusively for Debenhams. So, a UK department store made them. In that sense they recall the Explorer 12 toys made by British Home Stores, another UK department store from the 80's. It always amazes me when general store chains like these enter the world of exclusive toys.
Alas both BHS and Debenhams are now gone or almost gone.
Here are the two space age chairs we have from the set.
A little googling and I found a boxed set online.
What we have is the Lounge Furniture from a range called Sarah Louise!
Result!
It looks like the 70's to me.
Digging a bit more I found this description of the garden furniture set on Worthpoint.
Sarah Louise was a 6 1/2" tall doll made by Pedigree in the 1960's and 70's exclusively for Debenhams. She was in fact a miniature Sindy.
So, a mini Sindy. You can see Sarah reclining on her lounger on this lovely boxed set I found pictured on Worthpoint too.
So, Sara Louise furniture ID'd.
FURTHER PHOTONICS
I fell in love with the Spacex II Photonic Space Station years ago.
I've whittled a few home-made efforts since then.
Here's a couple more from this year.
The tall one is a fishing rod that Junior doesn't use any more so I took the handle off and upturned the reel. Photonic fishing!
The little one is a netsuke of finds from grounds of where I work, odds and sods I see and put in my winter coat pocket. I added some plastic ties and a pin. Photonic finds!
Do you find stuff and think, hmmm, what could I do with that?
PS. the oil painting behind is the corner of the Nuclear Ferry by our very own Wotan.
RECOVERY BASE
To celebrate the Missus' recovery from Covid a close friend sent some flowers in the post yesterday, which was so nice.
I've installed the Missus and me in front.
Sick Bay is now shut.
Just the finger oxygen mete still in use. Reminds me of Bones's little Tri-corder.
Amazingly our whole family will be meeting up again in the garden on Easter Sunday. Six of us out of 10 days isolation.
Stay safe everyone and take care of each other.
Thanks for all your words of support.
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Paul Vreede's New Spacex Toys Website
A beautiful and comprehensive site dedicated to the world of Tri-ang SpaceX and Golden Astronaut Toys
Ed Berg's Toy Blog: Toys and Stuff
