IT'S READERS' DAY!

 

IT'S READERS' DAY!

MODELS, TOYS AND MORE FROM READERS!

ROB'S MATE'S GIVE-A-SHOW PROJECTOR

I visited a friend’s house recently, and we played “Show and Tell” with some of his vintage toys, all saved from childhood. I thought MBC readers would like to see pix. Here's the first.

Did you have one?

Rob Craig

USA

LA CONQUISTA DELLO SPAZIO 1977

 

I liked this Mattel Giochi board game when I saw it on an old sale. I kept the pic 'cos I liked the futuristic box art. Does anyone recognise the style?

is that a small Booster Rocket top left? 

I wonder if this game was available outside Italy too?

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS IS ALIVE AND KICKING

I had the pleasure of observing a Dungeons and Dragons Club this afternoon. It was a revelation really to see teenagers doing what nerdy teenagers have been doing since the late 70's! 

Both boys and girls, all very geeky, were sat around a table with a board in the middle. I couldn't hear everything but what I heard included discussions about elves and spears and citadels.

It reminded me of the opening scene of Stranger Things, that nostalgic postcard to all things Eighties.

Were you ever part of a Dungeons and Dragons group or school club readers?

Rememberance

 Lest we forget, a brief departure from the worlds of fun and hobbyist pursuits to remember the fallen and the lost.

Footfall

Step lightly mid these resting blades,

Green shoots among the dappled shades.

To earth dyed crimson in the fall

Our most selfless souls gave their all

A barricade to fear to build.

So many, in this way were killed.

Full knowing that their lots were cast,

They fell in waves to bleed their last.

Unstoppable in heart and mind

They braved the trenches lip to find

A land of shells and gas and wire

Churned into liquid, bleeding mire.

Each footfall that you make will sow

Into the poppied ground an echo.

As with sodden thuds and falling fast

A memory of valour from the past

Brave soldiers threw away their lives

In tattered, torn and faceless piles.

To apprehend the twists of fate

Drawing humanity to the gate

Of living hell on earth that day

As neither force could gain headway.

Attrition built on shoulders of the dead

In no-man’s-land they blindly led.

Years of struggle, months of pain

For no apparent, worthwhile gain.

Falling helpless into the maw

Of mans’ most deadly ever war.

The mighty, selfless, helpless dead

Heroes all, for none had fled.

Step lightly now, let sunlight fall

Across the blanket covering all.

For this is more than just a field

Our bravest hands did never yield.

Blood and bone and flesh and sweat

Lie here so we will not forget.

The hills and paths beneath our feet

Are shaped with victory and defeat,

As opposing forces gave their all

In the deadliest war of all.

Now our soldiers’ blood has drained away

They cannot fight another day.

Step lightly, as you heed their cry,

The millions brought here to die.

But we must know they gave their best,

To pit their essence to the test,

To end all wars for years to come

At Flanders Field, at Ypres and Somme.

Toy Slide and Movie Projectors

Hi

         Here is an item from You Tube, and 60s Child, on the Chad Valley Give-A-Show slide projector. The projector came in different colours, and was boxed with a selection of slide strips - seven pictures to each story, in full colour. 

Different sets had different box top artwork. Several of these were devoted to Gerry Anderson, Batman, or Doctor Who. In fact, a complete Doctor Who story is featured in this clip. Additional slide strips could also be purchased. I never had any of these toys, but would have loved such a set. I did have a Viewmaster stereoscopic slide viewer.

     I should point out that at 0:08 there is a 'naughty' slide, I assume intended as an adult joke. Apart from this intrusion, this is a most interesting item.

"60s Kids could Give A show " The Iconic toy slide projector - YouTube

Then, from Vintage Toy Review, an item on the Kenner Cassette Movie Projector, which had its own screen. The films could also be projected to a larger size if required. This was an actual motion picture, not a series of still slides. Three films: Fat Albert, Scooby Doo, and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, all shown in full. Hand cranked.

Vintage Toy Review: 1973 Kenner Cassette Movie Projector - YouTube

The Fisher-Price Movie Viewer and Theater. The Viewer is another hand held item, a bit like a small movie camera, into which cassettes are placed. The Movie Theater uses the same cassettes, and is again hand cranked, but has an illuminated screen. This actually resembles a small TV set, and it too can be used as a projector.

Fisher-Price Movie Viewer & Theater - YouTube

Another item on the Fisher-Price Viewers, this is a bit more basic, but does give some further information. Shows the side projection feature.

Throw Back Thursday: Fisher Price Movie Viewer Theater - YouTube

Now the Kenner Easy-Show Movie Projector. This used real 8mm film, and the Projectors came with three reels, each of which contained two short films. No threading required, as the film was in a continuous loop. Battery powered light, but the film is still hand cranked. Again, the films are shown. All very short, and the quality is poor, but great to see them at all.

Kenner Easy-Show Projector - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

MY MACHINE HEAD

I'm pretty sure I had a plastic toy guitar in the Sixties when I was kid. I've been racking my brains as to its likely shape but its not collating!

I think it was like a plastic acoustic guitar. There were lots of them around connected to bands like the Beatles and to TV stars like Mickey Mouse. There's some amazing galleries online like this one https://www.polarityrecords.com/vintage-toy-guitars.html

In the Seventies I progressed onto a proper acoustic and eventually a Telecaster copy bought from Kay's catalogue by my understanding parents. This gave way to a cheapo Strat copy from another catalogue my folks had in the mid-Seventies and last but least a decent Hondo Iceman copy, which my Dad paid for in a proper guitar shop.

Writing this I realised that the only guitar I actually paid for myself was a big EKO 12-String, which I adored. This was circa 1979 and cost me £60 and somewhere I have lots of tapes of me jamming with this beautiful thing. Frustratingly I left it behind when I moved abroad in late 1980 and years passed and you know what happens.

I did by some amps and some fuzz boxes for a band I was in. One old Burns amp melted my friend's metal strings and burnt his fingers!

I still have my basic Strat copy and copy Hondo Iceman. The Telecaster copy went to a young guy in Preston. The only thing I remember about him was that he lost a leg in a motorbike accident.

I always wanted a Gibson SG as a teenager or a Rickenbacker. I would sit staring at them in NME or shop windows, but alas these axes of masters were beyond my pocket, as I didn't have much dosh after I left home in 1978. Insurance Clerks earned  around £70 a week,

My guitar playing fizzled out in the late 1980's but I keep them around for old time's sake. Some of my best days were playing these guitars in bands in the late Seventies going into the Eighties, although I was never very good. My thing was writing songs and tunes. Happy hippy Days.

But it all started with a plastic toy guitar my folks got me one Christmas.

Did you have one readers?

CIDCO LP SPACEMEN

 

Saw these online [Pamclay Ebay] and thought yes, they're new to me, Cidco LP style astronauts. I've not heard of Cidco before. Have you?

A nice stocking filler!