2 EXTREMES

I've watched a lot of Netflix of late as I'm starting to hibernate. Loads of films and a series called Midnight Mass... maybe more on this later.

What I want to mention are 2 films, which have both excelled and disappointed.

Thor Ragnorak was simply ace. I loved every minute of it. The fire demon was a stand-out and the first born daughter was equally impressive [was it Kate Blanchett?]. Jeff Goldblum was a hoot as the boss of the trash planet and Hemsworth Thor'd it up good and proper. The Hulk was the green icing with Loki specks. All very very good and a credit to Marvel Studios.

Do you agree?

Shazam was the opposite. I was so excited and so very disappointed by this DC mess that I could hardly contain myself. In fact I fell asleep half way through when the titular boy-man-hero tapdanced on a large keyboard in a toyshop. This was clearly a nod to Tom Hank's Big, where he does the same with Karl Marlden I think. Shazam is Big with muscles and a cape. I loved Big but Shazam is something else. Now I usually adore DC films, I like the longevity of their old roster of characters and I have always been attracted to Shazam after seeing one of those glorious Alex Ross paintings of the thunderbolted red-suited figure. The film so far is dire and I'm only half way through. To be honest I'm unsure if I can cope with any more Billy Batson and his annoying 'manager', not to mention the unconvincing Mark Strong [he looked daft in Green Lantern].

Am I being harsh or have I missed the Shazam bus?

HALLOWEEN BRIAN'S PREPARATIONS AT MONSTER BASE

Hi Woodsy.

Halloween is taking shape here at Monster Base, so here's some pics. The Mad Monster Castle display has returned, with some new monsters!

BrianF 

NJ USA

NANCY DREW BOARD GAME UPDATE

Hi

The recent post on the Nancy Drew board game was most interesting. One thing I noticed was that the locations on the gameboard are mainly based on various book titles.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm (1931)

The Message in the Hollow Oak (1935)

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell (1946)

The Mystery at the Moss Covered Mansion (1941)

The Haunted Bridge (1937) - see picture

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (1948)

The Sign of the Twisted Candles (1933)

The Secret in the Old Attic (1944)

The exceptions appear to be Moon Lake, the Spider Web, and the Drew Home.

The game was made by Parker Brothers Inc. The copyright date is 1957. This box has different artwork; and a later date, 1959, on the green star on the box top. The actual gameboard is the same as in the 1957 version. The rules are printed inside the box lid. Playing pieces include the usual round plastic counters, and four small plastic motor cars. For 2, 3, or 4 Players. Nancy is still carrying a torch.

VINTAGE NANCY DREW MYSTERY BOARD GAME ~ PARKER BROTHERS ~1957 | #2075452034 (worthpoint.com)

Much later, there were also Nancy Drew computer games.

Photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

SPEED AND POWER ANNUAL 1

 I picked up a nice hardback annual at the weekend second-hand.

Its called Speed and Power number 1 from 1975.

Its based on a magazine of the same name.

Lots of great artwork.

I think we looked at little at the mags years ago.

Did you get Speed and Power?

CONKER LORE

As its chestnut season I have been told a few conker tales.

First up, conkers that split a single opponent's specimen is called a oner. Splitting two is a two-er and so on. I had completely forgotten that until it was mentioned. Did you remember that readers?

Second, spiders dislike conkers. If you place conkers on bedposts it will repel spiders and equally if you rub the exposed nut along door frames it will keep them out. All news to me! You?

Finally, conkers can be used to rub out scratches on wood. Whether this is the inner nut or the complete conker I don't know. Have you tried this readers?

Have you any more chestnut lore?

THE ULTIMATE SPACE DOLL COUPLE

Lieutenant Uhuru and Dan Dare Space Pilot.

From the collection of Terranova47,

USA

CENTURY 21 PUBLISHING: THE GERMAN PERSUADERS

Collector Bernard Dunne has very kindly alerted me to these new entries for our ongoing 'list' of Gerry Anderson's Century 21 publications and he has kindly supplied me with these excellent cover scans.

 'The Persuaders!'  - two of these books, based on the popular the TV series, were published in Germany by German publisher Julius Breitschopf KG of Munich.

They were printed in Zagreb, Yugoslavia and dated 1972.

Bernard notes that they are (c) Century 21 Publishing, so he surmises that the Germans must have reprinted the British ones in a translated version under licence.

German 'The Persuaders!' Book One, HB,

Die 2.

[ Bernard looked at the French version too. There is no credit of C21 Publishing on that.]

*

German The Persuaders Book Two, HB.

Die 2.

Star Trek Plastic Kits

Hi all
Max, from maxsmodels has been busy again, this time on Star Trek. There is a lot of information in these videos on the kits, the show, and the models used on screen. It seems the AMT kit of the Klingon Battle Cruiser was in the shops about a month before the craft made its first appearance on screen in the series.

Raktajino with max's Models with Max's Models 2/16/21 - YouTube

There is a correction video, covering one of the points in the above.

Max's Models big OOPS! - YouTube

Here is a nice long history of the Star Trek kits, from the original series onwards. There have been a lot of these, ships, figures, an Enterprise bridge, and a set of Tricorder, Phaser, and Communicator. There were even a couple of rocket-powered flying models by the US firm Estes.

Star Trek kits - YouTube

Star Trek models have also been mentioned in some of his earlier videos.

Paul Adams from New Zealand