DID YOU SEND OFF FOR SPARE PARTS?

Back in the day when we had toys did you or your parents ever send off for spare parts for them? 

Most toy firms had a parts department and mail order section. I imagine even Century 21 Toys had one. I can't recall that far back but you may do. Yes?

I have though recently had call to look up a spare Playmobil part for Moonbase Junior's mars  space station. The part, a leg, was available but sadly the UK online parts section wasn't in operation for some reason. 

Come back dial phones and postal orders, all is forgiven!

Airfix Model Paints

Hi

Yorkie mentioned Airfix model paints in glass jars - so here is a photo.

Like a number of other model companies Airfix marketed their own line of enamel paints. There was the usual mix of Matt, Gloss, and Metallic colours. I am not sure exactly when these were available, but around the 1960s and 1970s. 

The painting instructions in Airfix kits listed these paints, until the line was retired. After that, Humbrol paints were recommended. The paints initially came in tall, tapered glass jars with metal screw lids. Later tinlets were used. These were taller and narrower than Humbrol paint tinlets. I began modelling in 1974, and do not recall these paints being widely available in New Zealand. 

I did have several of the jars - perhaps a shop was selling off old stock ? Then the tins, but I did not have many of these, probably only a couple. Most of my model paints were Humbrol. The photo shows an Airfix jar and tinlet next to a normal Humbrol tin - now a piece of modelling history.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

ITS TRANSPARENTLY OBVIOUS!

We're considering one of these see-through body toys for Junior for this year's birthday. See-through AND squishy!

I loved stuff like this as a kid. I did a post on a Renwal plastic body kit where I work a while back.

Adding to the innards of this subject Paul from NZ has sent in his own thoughts made visible for everyone!

          To go with those Visible Man and Visible Woman kits by Renwal and others, how about a Transparent Roswell Alien ? 

The kit is by Lindberg, and stands some 19 or 20 inches tall, and was originally released in 2007. The outer body is moulded in clear plastic, allowing the skeleton and internal organs to be seen.

 The organs are made from soft plastic. It is a companion kit to the Roswell UFO, but in a larger scale. This You Tube clip shows the model parts, while the box photo is from Amazon.

Lindberg Transparent Roswell Alien Figure Model Kit Review - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

MORE OBSCURE KIDS ANNUALS

Two more obscure annuals new to me are these seen in the retro floor of a York charidee shop today.

First up we have the Esmerelda Annual from 1973. I would have been 12 and have never seen this in my life. You?

The second is this Mighty Warriors Annual from 1979. Who are they? Is that cyclops in red? And an R2D2 ball in the right corner? Again, never ever seen this before. You readers?

KIDS' SUPPLIES: SWEETS, CAPS AND HUMBROL?

Besides sweets did you have any other regular supplies as a kid? Did your toys and models need stuff to keep them going?

Batteries spring to mind and I can see Pifco and especially Everready batteries everywhere at our old parents' home. I'm not sure who bought these but i think my Dad might have stocked them in his cash 'n' carry.

Cap gun caps were another provision needed every now and then. Rolls of them for those toy guns we all had, particularly cowboy repeaters. Did they sell caps in Newsagents?

Model paint like Humbrol is another thing Kids will have needed to keep modelling. I was never a big modeller so I'm not sure where you got it. Toy shops? Model shops?

What kept you going as a Kid readers?

OBSCURE TV ANNUALS

In our local antiques emporium there's a stack of old kids' TV annuals [all £3 each]. Two caught my eye because I'd never heard of them before. Here they are as they appear on the web.

First up is Danger UXB. At first glance I thought this was an Action Man annual but it appears to be about a real bomb squad?

Second is The Quest, which looks like a Western. is that Kurt Russell on the cover?

Are these annuals and TV shows that you know readers?

Do you collect annuals?

KEVIN'S PLANET OF THE APES WALL ART

Hi,

This is a bit different, an attempt to make what looks like a piece of old masonry bearing the symbols of the Gorillas, Chimps and Orangutans but, mysteriously, also the Human astronauts in equal prominence.

Made from plasticard, milliput and a bathroom tile!

Ape shall never kill Ape,

Kevin
UK

SPACE HELICOPTER

I liked this copter when I saw it on an old auction site so I kept a piccy. Its got that optimism of the space race all over it, basic yet somehow futuristic. I love the box art. Is that rocket earlier than Apollo?

Dunno who the maker is sorry. Do you like it?