THE WORLD'S MOST MASSIVE MAGNET

I was reading about the world's biggest magnet. Its humungous and weighs many hundreds of tonnes. Once in position in France it will assist in the proposed production of fusion energy at ITER, which has proved nigh on impossible to make effectively anywhere up to press.

What amazed me was the magnetic power of the magnet. It will produce a magnetic field 280 times larger than our own Earth!

Its the stuff of 1950's B-Movies and I can't help feeling a little terrified by such massive science just like I did when I saw those sci-fi movies back in the Sixties. There's something very DOOMWATCH and Gerry Anderson about it all.

What do you think of huge technological sites like the Hadron Collider and this colossal magnet reader? 

THE ORIGIN OF THUNDERBIRD 5: THE TOY AND THE TV MODEL

I've long pondered how Century 21 Toys/ JR21 Toys made the Thunderbird 5 toy in the Sixties and often perused the web and books for hints as to what the parts were from.

I say parts because its been long conjectured by collectors that the C21/ JR21 TB5 toy was made up of other existing toys. In other words the main brown body and the engine were from existing toys.

Ten years ago I posed this same question and I established a link between the toy's clone by Soma and an obscure ice crusher! Whether this assisted in the search for the origin of the JR21 toy I don't know, but you can read it here https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-saucer-full-of-secrets-soma.html

Have you any idea what the original toy was readers? is it a toy you own? Do you like it?

What is a bit clearer is the way Derek Medding's team made the actual Thunderbird 5 model for the TV show as some research has already been done by long-time Andersonist Marc J .Frattasio back in 1996! Published on the SuperM site, Thunderbird 5's origin can be found at the end of the Thunderbirds vehicles page http://lester.demon.nl/superm/tech/sfx/tbirds/models0.html

Do you like Thunderbird 5 readers? Is it an effective model and design for the show?

2036 ORIGIN UNKNOWN

I saw this flick on Netflix last night. A low budget sci-fi movie, I must say I rather enjoyed it. There are very few actors and largely one location. Essentially its about AI and how AI can go AWOL. Think HAL and you're in the right ballpark.

Its given me an appetite for other AI movies I haven't seen like Her. 

Have you seen any AI flicks? 

Here's one top 20 list I saw, although some of them I wouldn't say are AI, I'd say they were robotic.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2015/jan/08/the-top-20-artificial-intelligence-films-in-pictures

SPACE CRAFT LATEST DESIGN MADE IN CHINA: A MINI THUNDERBIRD 5?

 

There is something very Thunderbird 5 about this Chinese spaceship, the "Latest Design".

the box art shows a silver rear engine, which I must say looks a lot better than the yellow one on this example of the toy I saw on vintagespacetoys.com

I like the pipes coming out of the engines too, which look like a stethoscope attached to the cockpit dome!

Do you like this toy?

ROB C's MOLE

Woodsy,

Here is my build of a 1992 model kit of The Mole, by Bandai. It’s a small, toy-like kit, with few details, so I decided to paint it as if it were a Dinky Toys die-cast.

Although this is likely a reissue of a past model, the 1992 box is adorned with a beautiful illustration by our old pal, Shigeru Komatsuzaki - which is also dated 1992. Best part of the box: “For Eternal Preservation!”

Rob C
USA

DOME BIRD

Hello Woodsy

In answer to KOSTER MODULO 2000: DOME ROVER I took this picture in a cousin's bathroom recently, it's part of a rubber duck collection.

Terranova47

USA

GREEN'S GUIDE TO COLLECTING TV, MUSIC AND COMIC ANNUALS

Hi

 As Annuals make a regular appearance on Moonbase, I thought you might be interested in this reference book from a few years ago. Green's Guide to Collecting TV, Music & Comic Book Annuals 1950-2001, by Paul Green & Laura Taylor, GT Publications, 2000. 

There are various sections on defining an Annual, grading, collecting, and shows that did not have their own Annual but had stories, comic strips, or features in other Annuals. Then the main listings, in alphabetical order, the Annuals themselves. Title, Publisher, Dates, some give a guide to the contents, and Values (in 2000, so a bit out of date now). 

Only a few of the Annual covers are illustrated in black and white, with eight pages in colour. Finally a cross-reference list - there was a Harry Secombe  'pin-up' in TV Mirror 1956. The amount of information on each title varies, but you get the basics - the photos should give you some idea of the contents. 159 pages.

I also recall borrowing one or two books on the history of Annuals from the library many years ago, but I can not recall their titles. So there is some reference material out there.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

KOSTER MODULO 2000: DOME ROVER

I see this toy now and then on Todocolleccion in Spain.

The Koster Mudulo 2000.

It sort of reminds me of the old Isetta bubble car I used to see in the Sixties [anyone ever driven an Isetta?]

The simple clear ball/ bell jar concept for this Koster space rover, with its simple wheels, is really appealing to me. Its remote control too. There's a sort of SpaceX vibe to it.

The box art is pretty wonderful too.

What do you think?