MOONBASE CENTRAL

Wednesday, 29 December 2021

THE ASTRONAUT LUNAR EXPLORER BOX ART

I saw this toy box art and thought wow!

It reminded me of the cover of the Project SWORD Annual!

Have you seen any artwork like these two?

Tuesday, 28 December 2021

VISITING WHITBY'S OLD TOY SHOPS

Me and the Missus joined family in Whitby on th Yorkshire coast over Christmas. It was good to get back to this coastal jewel and stay in the town again after a few years' absence.

Besides the aura of Stoker's Dracula [written there] and the ensuing gothic sub- culture infusing the old fog-bound streets it was also good to catch up on the die-cast cars always on offer in a couple of Whitby's many independent shops.

One of them is the famous vintage toy kiosk on the corner of the old town square. Its more of a lean-to than a full blown shop and at the best of times can only fit one or two people in. With Covid there's even less space so I stood outside, staring at the well-stocked window displays and chatted to the proprietor, who I have bought from for over 30 years. I didn't purchase this time round but we reminisced about older times when I'd bought for instance a Fairylite Stingray off him for a fiver. That was years ago and it was good to see the kiosk still going strong after all this time. Do you know it?

A more conventional shop and equally reduced in accessibility is Collectables Past and Present on Skinner Street. This store holds a huge stock of old and new die-cast, bric a brac and models. With entry reduced to the two people my Son-in-Law went in first with Moonbase Junior, who came out with a nice Corgi 007 Moonraker Space Shuttle for £12.95 that his Dad had bought him. Loose and minus the satellite the Grandson was suitably chuffed.

Next the daughter went in and bought a Russian ceramic polar bear for £25, which she saw in the window and loved partly dow to the association Whitby has with these noble animals.

Next in was yours truly along with Moonbase Junior again and all we wanted to see was the purveyor's Matchbox Superfast stock. I bought 8 lovely Matchbox for £15 including a felt-pennable scrap Mercedes Benz regular wheels for Junior to do up.

I'll blog the ones I got soon, which included a gorgeous purple Dodge Charger. Lovely!

Last but not least, the daughter took Missus Moonbase in and bought her Mum a post-Christmas gift for £20, a nice ceramic ornamental green hare. The Missus was touched. After they came out the shop promptly closed!

Have you been to either of these long-established die-cast shops readers? Did you get any die-cast for Christmas?

BRINGERS OF WONDER PRE-PRODUCTION MODELS FROM 16/12

Some new photos from me of the pre-production ‘Bringers of Wonder’ Sixteen 12 prototype models.

Before we start, I think we’re all aware now that there’s no huge model of the Super Swift as part of the set. Shocking, I know, but I think it’s a fair bet that if Sixteen 12 has any future plans to produce a model of that, and I certainly wouldn’t put it past them, it’ll probably be a stand-alone release, like their Swift

Just as a reminder of the Super Swift, here's a beautiful replica model built by Chris Potter.

And now back to the Sixteen 12 set.

So, what does this set include? Well, there’s a small Pilot Ship, designed to be in-scale with the newer second season Sixteen 12 12” Eagle.

I’ve included a photo of it with one of the small 16/12 Alpha buggies in shot to give an impression of scale. I should mention I don’t know for sure whether a buggy is included in this set.

Although it’s an unsurprisingly small model, about 31/2” long, the Pilot Ship does have plenty of detailing, including tiny representations of kit parts from the Airfix Eagle, and the engine bells from the Airfix Saturn V, that was used as detailing on the original prop.

Here's a photo I took of the original prop, which was built for the story by Martin Bower, and is regularly displayed at various model events, thanks to its current owner.

As you can see, the set also features a large No. 5 Nuclear Waste Dome, which I found perfect for creating an instant diorama. I didn’t measure it but I reckon the dome was over a foot wide and about 9” tall. The base was a slightly larger egg-shape to accommodate the various surrounding installations.

The detailing and shading actually looks to be fairly accurate to the prop Dome 5. There’s also the site warning billboard, which on screen is shown some distance away from Dome 5. It’ll probably irk the casual nit-pickers, but I think it’s reasonable to put its closer positioning down to a little artistic licence.

Here's a photo of what's left of the original Dome 3 prop.

And yes, the set comes with the ubiquitous die-cast Eagle. The one that Sixteen 12 provided for the photos is the same one that comes with the Dragon’s Domain set, which has the removable Command Module, and the additional rear piping, added for the second season. (I know there’ll be a queue of fans keen to point out that Dragon’s Domain is a first season episode which actually didn’t have that additional piping, so I’ll just point out we all know!)

I have to admit I really do like this version of their Eagle, and I’d be happy if they eventually released it as part of this set, removable command module and all. One thing I’d like to see return is the black paint underneath the Eagle leg pods, which Sixteen 12 added to the leg pods on their Wargames set.

The 12" Eagle from the Wargames set.

While I had the prototype Dome No. 5 to photograph, I couldn’t resist doing a couple of shots featuring two Eagles, including an attempt to recreate the Eagle 10 crash!

“I’ve haven’t had this much fun since I set fire to Grandma’s wig!”

Our Generation Passenger Train Playset

Just found another You Tube video featuring one of the Our Generation doll playsets. This time the theme is rail travel. The OG Express features a 'train cabin' or railway carriage passenger compartment. That seems like an unusual subject, although I know very little of dolls. All sized to go with 18 inch OG dolls.

This unboxing video is by the same lady who did a Cinema playset. The outside of the set features the front of a diesel locomotive, with lights and sounds, while the interior is in two halves. A passenger sleeping compartment with fold-up bed, vanity, and lights.

The other side is a dining or restaurant car. This has seats, a table, working lights, serving trolley, and a range of food items. The windows open, and there is a sliding door. Again, a great looking set. Price is 'about $100' US.

One for you next year?

OG Train Cabin Unboxing and Review - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Monday, 27 December 2021

Creepy Christmas

Another stunning gift this year was the vinyl lp of the Quatermass and the Pit soundtrack by Tristram Cary. On a particularly lovely green vinyl, its a great mix of sound effect and original theme, so there are some great tracks including the thrumming, resonant sounds emanating from the alien ship and a crawling, spine chilling buzz as it begins to waken and draw psychic energy from the masses. Also visible is a Lego Castles book, which I got, along with some special lego parts to build microscale models!

Christmas Cowboys

One of the smaller gifts I received this year is a vintage 1972 Britains Mini Set. Britains introduced these odd sets in the mid seventies to a mixed response and closed production of them after about three years.

They are self contained dioramas, with figures, scenery and backdrop on the box. The flaw in the company plan was the scale, as all the figures were a good half inch smaller than the standard soldier at 1:42 instead of the standard 1:32.

The figures clip onto the base and can be separated into individual stands. This set of two beleaguered cowboys has an indian sneaking up on them from behind a mesa. The indian figure comes with a paper adhesive headress, which I have decided not to apply, as the set was completely mib.