RANDY RAYDER IN OUTER SPACE

Check out this old LP recorded on You Tube, Randy Rayder in Outer Space 1969, a birthday treat!

Featured many times before on Moonbase like here, for the eagle-eyed among you that space rocket is Probe Force One from Project SWORD!

Enjoy.... if you can stand it! 

Let me know what you thought!

YES, 13 YEARS ON IT'S LOOKING GOOD ON MOONBASE!

 

HOVER SPACE BIRD 3 AND CO: NEW TO THE BLOG THIS ANNIVERSARY

Its rare that new plastic space toys pop up that haven't featured on the blog yet.

So I was surprised when I saw this grouping on Twitter Bangkok, a grouping of really smart plastic toys made by Hover.

 

This is the best shot to see the group of three Hover toys.

The first new toy is a new variation of something we've seen before, the Rocket XL9 Spaceship by Hoover. This is a grey bodied version by Hover new to the blog and the colour is much more like its successor the Project SWORD Probe Force 3.

The second newbie is this Swallow Rocket colour variant in red by Hover as opposed to one we've already seen, a white Swallow by Hoover.

The F-111 lettering and the plastic guns are also new.

Last but not least is this wonderful plastic Space Bird 3 by Hover, wholly new to Moonbase. Its a cracker!

Have you got any Hover or Hoover toys readers?

Six in One: Even More Mortoys! A Birthday Special

Maximum Security Vehicle

One of the more elusive toys we have seen on the blog has been the Mortoys Six in One Space Set. Essentially a motorised base with clip on sections allowing kids to make a series of vehicles on the same chassis, the idea was originally used by Child Guidance Toys in Britain in the sixties.

I found a partial set in the states around ten years ago and was delighted to see the Spacex models represented in the set - the Tractor T5, Nuclear Freighter and Cricket, alongside some Gerry Anderson inspired toys, the Thunderbirds Firefly (closely modelled on the Bandai toy version) and the captain Scarlet MSV. 

My original set was missing the MSV and the UFO Vehicle, plus a few small parts.

UFO Vehicle

A few months ago, another set surfaced on Ebay.US, with a seemingly US only shipping mandate. As I already had the bulk of the set, I flagged it up to my good friend and Captain Scarlet enthusiast, Terry, who immediately went mad for the super rare MSV model. 

Terry contacted the seller, but received no response to his queries, so I tried my hand and almost immediately got the ok for an international sale. A few back and to emails and messages between myself, Terry and the seller and Terry bought the set and arranged delivery. 

I sat back, satisfied that my part was completed and looked forward to some photographs of the missing parts from my set.

MSV

Less than a week later, Terry let me know that the set was languishing in Heathrow and I asked about getting some photos for the blog of the MSV and the UFO Vehicle. Terry, being the fantastically generous man that he is, went one better and distributed the rest of the set between myself and Woodsy - keeping the prized MSV for his amazing Scarlet collection and gifting me with the UFO car and Woodsy with a set of Spacex parts. 

As the Mortoys set only comes with a single chassis, Woodsy's set would not have the motor unit, rendering the Spacex parts a little useless on their own, but luckily, I had a spare motor from the Child Guidance set, which is identical apart from the wheels!

Tractor T5

Cricket

Nuclear Freighter

Firefly

So when the parcel arrived at Mars Base from Terry, I picked out m parts and packed up the rest for Woodsy with the alternate motor. Now, I have all the wonderful space models and Woodsy has a full set of the three Spacex models. Terry kindly provided some shots of the cool MSV for our delectation as well.

The UFO vehicle, was originally misidentified from the box art as a SWORD Moonbus, due to the dome and the rear fins, but in actuality, it is a small flying saucer sat on the front of a finned rear unit. The blue dome is empty, so for the photographs, I included a chrome radar dish. In the front cockpit is a silver astronaut, every inch like the Apollo Moon Exploring pilots.

The Nuclear Freighter is almost an exact lift from its Triang cousin, apart from slightly different wings.

Tractor T5 differs greatly from its Spacex stablemate as it lacks the third axle, but almost every other detail of the cab is the same.

The Firefly model is copied from the Bandai Remote Control version, but without the dozer blade and caterpillar tracks, however it could be set on the Child Guidance body, which does include a bulldozer base.

Bandai, Imai and Mortoys Firefly models

Last but not least and probably my favourite, is the Cricket model, a chunky version of the oft copied 'jeep', essentially identical, but with a non-firing weapon.

and here are Woodsy's new models on the red Child Guidance Chassis.

As a final note here's the the Child Guidance set, as featured in the 1969 Hamley's Catalogue

One of the two different Child Guidance Toymobile sets.

Have you got anything like this?

ZERO-X THROUGH THE FAB1 CANOPY: IS IT THE COOLEST SCENE IN THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO?

 Its our birthday and one of my favourite Thunderbirds scenes is from the fantastic 1966 movie Thunderbirds are Go. 

Its where a flying Zero-X can be seen through the canopy of FAB1. How damn cool is that!

I love this whole bit of action in general, the sea-faring FAB1, the Hood's amazing machine-gun firing heli-plane [anyone ever made a model of that], Hood's boat and the wonderful Zero-X. What's not to like!

Its around 8.21 minutes in the You Tube clip below.

Do you like this scene readers? 

How did they make the Zero-X visible in the sky through the FAB1's canopy? 

Can it be recreated at home with toys?

WOTAN STOLE MY JOHNNY SEVEN!

 When he was 8 Wotan stole my Johnny Seven.

He still has it now aged 89!

Give it back Wotan or else its war!

Now where's my Sekiden?

Doh!

Birthday Bounce: Space Hopper History

Hi

         Here is another odd item for your collection of oddities. A short You Tube history of the Space Hopper. This first appeared in the 1960s in Italy, and spread around the world under a number of different names. I never had one, but I do remember seeing ads for them on TV, I suppose in the 1970s. What was the casualty rate among riders ?

The Space Hopper Story - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand