LOOKING FOR LANARD!

 It was a great week for fantastic plastic last week.

My Lanard Corps! collection trebled in size and a fab new GI Joe enlisted.

Two things happened to bring me sunshine.

A car boot sale generated three old Lanards.

Much more significant, fellow blogger and friend Wotan swapped me a load of Lanards, old and new, for some old space books he collects. A fine trade I must say!

The old Lanards were given a bath before the official parade.

Those Star Force fellows weren't keen on getting washed at all! In space no-one can hear you clean!

But here they are on parade along with my new old Corps!, the best of which is the grey Star Force Invader at the far right, along with his wings unit.

However, Wotan also supplied me with an amazing GI Joe, my first complete figure, the gorgeous and purple Technoviper, front left on his own Hasbro stand. How cool is that!

Two more recent Corps! have joined the ranks too on account of their great looks: a car boot lady Puma on the far left next to my beloved Baroness and the Sea Squad's blue Carlos Gills Perez complete with his flippers and rifle donated by the Wotan.

A whole brigade of Wotan's newish Lanard Corps! have yet to be hosed down before going public as they were billeted in his garage until recently. I'm going to need a bigger bucket!

One final note, I now reckon that finding old Lanard Corps! figures is easier than finding old Hasbro GI Joe figures round here in Yorkshire. I say this because I have found 7 old Corps! myself in antigue shops and car boot sales in the last two weeks. Any Joes I have I got on Ebay. It seems that the Corps! will be easier to collect.

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Eagle-eyed readers may have clocked some old Kenner Star Wars figs in the top picture next to the toast rack. More on these bad boys to come.

8.8 MILLION POUNDS

That's the amount of thrust needed to lift NASA's new Artemis from the grasp of the Earth's atmosphere. Despite the flight scrub being a a disappointment yesterday a few more days wait for the biggest rocket ever made is no great shakes. After all, it is rocket science.

Godspeed Artemis.

Will you be watching again?

I HAD MY EYE ON IT

 

I have this in my picture archive but |I'm unsure why apart from it being fantastic artwork. I've labelled it Hakes so at some point it was auctioned in America.

What, with the cyclops and the dinosaur, is it Aurora box art?

THE MOVING BUFFOON

This old Moving Buffoon seen on Ebay rings a a lot of bells.

I'm certain we had some as kids in the Sixties, although what I'm thinking of got hung up. Not sure what this Buffoon actually does.

Do you know readers?

WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL

 These two 2001 Space Glider boxes showcase the two types of controls they had.

Here's the Radio Control decal on the box front in yellow. The control itself was a plastic rectangular unit with an aerial.

Here's the Sound Control decal in red. You can see the egg-shaped controller.

Have you anything like this readers?

TAMIYA LOTUS SUPER 7 SII KIT

 Here's a few photos of my Tamiya  Lotus Super 7 Series II 1:25 scale kit which I've painted in similar colours as seen in The Prisoner TV series.

Although some elements of the kit are slightly different to the cars that were driven by Patrick McGoohan (and Nigel Stock) during the series, in particular the rear lights, generally speaking it's close enough for me.

Three Lotus Super 7 Series II cars were used for filming, the first we see in the opening titles, speeding towards the camera at Poddington Raceway in Northampton, a quick film cut to see it driving across Westminster Bridge, and passing The Houses of Parliament, before turning right into Abington Street underground car park. The soon-to-be- prisoner slams a resignation letter on the desk of presumably his boss (in actuality Prisoner script editor George Markstein)

The car then speeds off across London, and pulls up at No 1 Buckingham Place; Following short distance behind is a mysterious Princess 4-litre hearse.

We see the same Lotus Super 7 SII, now apparently owned by Mrs Butterworth in the episode, Many Happy Returns.

The car, the original KAR 120C was actually a demonstrator, and powered by a Ford  1.5 litre Cosworth-tuned engine. 

The second Lotus Super 7 SII appeared in the episode, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.

As the original KAR 120C had been sold to a customer in Australia, another Lotus Super 7 SII, reg. LCK 88D belonging to Borehamwood resident, Frank Rycroft,  was used in the episode, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, and driven in the episode by actor, Nigel Stock. The car was slightly altered to look like KAR 120C.

A third Lotus Super 7 appears in the final episode, Fall Out, and again is altered to look like the original KAR 120C.

I think it's fairly obvious that the Lotus Super 7 SII is very much an individuals car, perfect for someone like No. 6. But although it looks a pretty cool motor, I'm not sure I'd want to own one, myself.

The original Lotus Super 7's  had no indicators, as is apparent when Patrick McGoohan uses a right hand signal when turning into Abington Street car park.

Early cars had no speedometer, although later versions had one added in front of the passenger seat!

There was no petrol gauge, and the petrol cap is hidden beneath the rear luggage rack. (The Lotus Super 7 series III added indicators and an external petrol cap)

The kit itself is fiddly, but nonetheless an enjoyable build. I'd recommend painting most of the components prior to assembly.

As the engine compartment is a feature of the kit, I added  some extra cabling and wiring detail. 

I used Tamiya Racing Green and Chrome Yellow for the body colours , and finished it off with a couple of coats of gloss sealer.

Orange alert!

THE COLOUR OF SPACE

 I remember space being everywhere when I was a kid. It was the go-to feature for all our stuff.

Here's the type of paint box I would have had.

This is one on the Spanish auction site and has beautiful graphics, which capture the hope and dreams of space travel we all shared back then.

Did you have a paint box like this?

STOP OR I'LL TALK

I handled a loose talking policeman the other week.

It was one of the Voice Squad/ Patrol toys from Toy Island 1991.

After handling I put it back on the car boot tarp.

I bought a couple of mint carded examples in the early Nineties for my old toy stall but wish I'd kept a couple for myself now, 'cos I like them!

Looking at the range two questions spring to mind. Are these toys inspired by Hasbro's GI Joe small figure line and are the Voice Squad actually action figures?

Do you recall the Voice Squad?

pic: Dallas Vintage Toys