FIVE STAR FIVE PROP

 

I have to admit knowing very little about Five Star Five.

So when I saw this small prop that had been auctioned by Vectis at some point I was pleasantly surprised by its design, both huge-looking and very industrial. It recalls the stained rig-like sprawl of the Nostromo. I'm unsure of its name.

This made sense when I read that ALIEN designer Jon Sorenson had actually made the prop.

Five Star Five was a Gerry Anderson feature film project in the late Seventies, which was ultimately shelved.

You can read more about it and see some of Martin Bower's designs on the Catacombs site https://catacombs.space1999.net/plus/dt/5star5/vcp5star5.html

Gerry's son Jamie owns the rights to Five Star Five and has produced a novelisation in both hardback and CD formats.

https://shop.gerryanderson.com/collections/five-star-five

Are you aware of Five Star Five?

A View Master History

Here is a short, but very interesting, history of the View-Master from You Tube. From the very beginning of the idea in 1938, to its launch in 1939. It looks at the different models of viewer, their use as a training aid for US servicemen in WW2, and how the 3-D effect was achieved. Cartoons and other flat subjects were re-done using models in scenic settings. The behind-the-scenes photographs of these are very enlightening.

I had a Model G viewer, which was a Christmas present, I think in the early 1970s.

Collecting View-Master l COLLECTOR GUYS - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

TELLY WATCHING

Snatching some TV watching between home improvements, I've seen a few things of late.

John Carpenter's The Things always impresses. The pace is just superb. I also like the glimpses of the alien ship we get as its sat in the ancient ice sheet. I do9n't think we see all of it. Has anyone any idea what the whole ship looks like?

Me and the Missus have embarked on a Stranger Things journey together. Boarding at the start of Series 1 we have got to episode 5. Its unusual for the Missus to watch Sci Fi so I'm unsure how far we'll get watching together! Stranger fingers crossed! Are you watching?

The other Strange, the Doctor and his recent outing in the Multiverse, left me a bit bamboozled, what with all the swirls and curls of light. I got a third of the way and fell asleep. I'll catch up one day but I'm not champing at the multibit. Have you seen it?

Last but not least is Obi Wan Kenobi, the new series on Disney+. My mate Mark recommended it because I like the first 3 original Star Wars films. I gave the first episode a bash and yes, I liked it. Have you seen it readers? 

Have you seen anything of late readers?

KEV'S SCRATCHBIULT SPACE 1999 MEDICAL SCANNER

Hi,
A very quick scratchbuild indeed. This is a replica of the handheld medical scanners used by Moonbase Alpha medics. The originals were made from pocket magnifiers and you can still pick up the same or similar today, very cheaply!

Take two tablets and call me in the morning,
Kevin

MECCANO IN THE AIR

Further to the recent mention of Meccano, I never owned any but had a generic brand, the name escapes me, that my mother won several sets for me playing 'Housey, Housey' or Bingo as it's now referred to at the seaside during summer vacations.

I recently visited the Air Museum of New England who had on display along with toy aircraft some actual Meccano.

Terranova47

USA

Did you make Meccano aircraft readers?

THE HARDY BOYS

Hi 

Moonbase mentioned The Hardy Boys cartoon series, and a die-cast model of their car earlier in the year. I thought you might like a little more information on this series, which I dimly remember, but only just. I probably watched it well before discovering the Hardy Boys books.

     Frank and Joe Hardy were the teenage sons of Private Eye Fenton Hardy, a former New York Police detective. They too were detectives, and began their careers in a series of books in 1927. This was three years before the first Nancy Drew book appeared.

     There were some early television adaptions on The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s. Then came The Hardy Boys cartoon series in 1969, which ran for just 17 half-hour episodes. The boys were now part of a band, but still solved mysteries, and had a 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost for transport. There were two separate stories per episode, and some songs. The title song is performed by a live-action group at the beginning of each episode. According to some references, there were also live-action songs within the show, but these do not appear on the episodes I have seen on You Tube. Frank is the one with dark hair, Joe has brown hair.

The Hardy Boys (1969 TV series) - Wikipedia

The Hardy Boys Cartoon Show: What Happened At Midnight (1969) - YouTube

The Hardy Boys Cartoon Show: Hunting For The Hidden Gold (1969) - YouTube

 As a tie-in with the cartoon, Corgi released a die-cast version of their car (using an existing model from the Corgi range), with plastic figures of the main characters. These could be fitted to a stand that could be mounted on the roof rack. Frank was on guitar, Joe on Saxophone. The model came in a long window box.

The model had blue mudguards, a yellow bonnet, red body, and yellow roof rack, with gold trim. This does not exactly match the colour scheme in the cartoon, which is mainly yellow, with red mudguards. Corgi Chief Designer Marcel Van Cleemput does not speak kindly of this model. It went on sale in the USA in 1970, and later in Britain, but sold only 40,000 units. It was withdrawn in 1971. Model number 805.

The 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, had appeared in 1966, and sold 199,000 models, plus an unknown number in 1969 (a factory fire destroyed company records for that year). Model number 9041 was part of the small Corgi Classics line of veteran and vintage models. Corgi re-used a number of the Classics models for various TV tie-ins.

Photos from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams

New Zealand

ZEROID FAMILY ALBUM

As readers, Kevin D, Lewis Morley and myself touched on the subject of the 1954 film, Tobor the Great on my 'Zeroid Guest Star' post, yesterday, I thought the only robot toy I have with a connection to Tobor is my old 'Robert the Robot' toy, made by Ideal in the fifties. 

Here's Robert with Zeroid Commander Zogg, and a couple of publicity photos showing Robert and Tobor.

GHOST RIDER'S MORNING COFFEE

I love Little Plastic People's work. Have a look at this superb Ghost Rider story using action figures. Its wonderful!

http://cantinadan.com/?page_id=721

What do you think?