MAGNETIC CHARMS

 

I saw this on auction, a magnetic Lady in a bath and knew I'd had something similar as a kid, a sort of plastic toy charm from Ellisdons the mail-order firm in Liverpool.

Mine wasn't a lady. Mine was a skeleton. i think it was called the restless skeleton and that boney fellow just wouldn't lie down in his coffin.

There was also a magnetic Pharaoh called King Tut.

Did you have a restless toy?

DID SCHOOL MAKE YOU HAPPY?

Our school days are meant to be the happiest times of our lives. 

But I'm not so sure. They were and still are simply public institutions where kids have to go, sit still, be quiet and learn by rote. 

I often think the adage that school is the happiest of times is really about childhood in general, those tender years up to age 18 when our life was spent in the warmth of the family nest, when summers were endless and toys, books, TV, music and our beautiful obsessions filled our carefree days. School was just happened to be a part of it.

Looking back I can find little evidence in my own memories that school made me happy. I have a feeling I was quite stressed with the whole thing, especially secondary school.  I enjoyed meeting girls and dating them but I feel that was more to do with age rather than school.

No, my own happiness in childhood began when I got home from school and again I probably mean Secondary. I just can't recall enough about my Primary days to comment. My 'world' was at home and largely in my bedroom, where all my stuff was: toys and books and later on albums and posters and friends. I adored my childhood world of space and monsters and I think it made me the person I became rather than anything I did at school.

What do feel readers? Did you enjoy school? Were you happy there?

RUSSIAN SPACE TROOPER

Hi Woodsy, Just picked up an Airfix Russian soldier converted to a Russian space trooper. It was done very well and got it from a seller in Germany.....check out the knife attached to his boot. A lot of extra's were added.. Clayton USA

OSBORNE'S TOY SHOP: CELEBRATING 65 YEARS

I gratefully received the attached image from reader and contributor Terry of an article in the local free paper regarding Osborne’s Toy Shop celebrating 65 Years of trading.

You'll remember that Will Osborne has contributed many interesting posts to the blog about his own amazing collection this year.

We wish Will and his family all the best for the future at the shop.

More Old Aircraft Kits

Hi all,

               Here is another item from You Tube, on old US model aircraft kits from the 1950s and 1960s. It includes some information on the factory-assembled display models that were sent out to retailers to help promote the kits. 

At 7:42 there is a shot of a cardboard shop sign, featuring actor and USAF officer James Stewart, with the Revell kit of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber. It mentions Stewart being in the film Strategic Air Command (1955), which would date this item to about the same period. 

Plenty of box art views. The mention of S kits and pre-S kits is slightly out. S kits were made of Styrene, more correctly Polystyrene, and used Type S cement. 

The earlier kits were made of Acetate, and required a different glue that could not be used on Polystyrene kits.

REVELL MODEL BUILD-UPS - The Story of Hobby Shop Window Displays - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

RETRO ED'S BIG GREEN ASHTRAY

Got this in Good 'Ol Deutschland back in the '80s but I'm pretty certain it's a '70 design holdover.

Cheers

Ed B
Vegas Base

Bill's Spare Parts

Hi Woodsy

Your piece about replacement spare parts for various types of toys reminded me of a recent project I've completed.

Just over a month ago, I came across my old 1960s James Bond Aston Martin. Other than being toybox chipped, it was virtually intact other than a missing ejector roof and baddie. Plus the tyres were long gone.

So I decided to renovate it, the closest shade of gold I could find to the original Maize Gold colour was a Nissan Gold from Halfords. Which is almost identical. The missing bits were purchased on ebay, and the rest was just patience and a fair wind.

It did occur to me to spray it to the actual colour of the real bond car but this is how I remember the car so I decided to get it as close to the original as I could.

I was surprised that everything still worked, most of it, including James Bond, was present and correct. All the plastic needed was a clean with soapy water. And the 'perspex' simply required some polishing with an extremely fine grade emery cloth called "micromesh".

The attached is the end result. The box/plinth art is a printout from my laser printer.

I've got a second db5 which I've not done anything to. It's a slightly later purchase which was given to me. Interestingly its colour gold is a different shade from the original and also has some very subtle detailing differences.

Have other readers done anything like this?

Bill Ev

UK

SKELETOR WALKING

I've been watching old episodes of Masters of the Universe with Moonbase Junior. he's nearly 5 and totally hooked!

Watching this 80's cartoon it struck me how similar some of the movements were to much older cartoons I was watching when I was a kid in the 60's and early 70's. Or am I seeing things?

Here's Skeletor walking.

and here's Rocket Robin and his merry men walking

and I'm pretty sure the cartoon Spider-Man walked like that back in 1967.

Boy how I enjoyed looking back at these old cartoons.

What was your favourite?