EQUIPMENT ID PARADE: THE LAST PUZZLERS

Right, I've ID'd quite a lot of my new bundle of plastic soldier equipment [thanks folks!] and this is what's left, that stubborn bunion, all still non-ID'd.

Does anyone know if any of these bits and bobs belong to small GI Joe-type figures from Lanard, Hasbro or Chap Mei at all?

Any help gratefully received! 

BOBA FIRST

 

9 minutes of pure animated Star Wars nostalgia and the first official appearance of one B. Fett!

A cartoon clip on YT from the oft-panned Star Wars Holiday Special 1978.

Do you remember watching it?

Was it shown outside of the USA?

I like this cartoon!

You?

WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON ....... AGAIN!

Some beautiful optimistic online space art chosen by reader Rob C for our Moonbase Junior as he contemplates the Artemis Moon Rocket launch tomorrow.

Godspeed Artemis!

Will you be watching? Your kids? Grandkids?

Anyone actually going to the launch?

A MOOCH ROUND HEBDEN

 Bringing our summer days out to a September close the Missus and me visited the lovely Pennine canal town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.

Among the many fine eateries and wholefood shops the charity shops and antique emporiums held some interesting items for collectors.

How about this Action Man Mould and Paint set?

or a gear robot and Mickey?

Lots of Pelhams and a Lindberg Blue J Racer kit, a new one on me.

The antiques emporium had lots of die-casts

and this interesting warrior marionette with his hungry friend.

There were lots of old comics like Marvel's Frankenstein's Monster. Is that one you read?

This old wooden fort caught my eye too. £28.

More assorted old toys in another cabinet.

and a whole stack of Beano comics! Did you read Beano as a kid?

Back in the Charity shop this old board game jumped out, All the King's Men. Is it one you know?

and there were lots of old LP's as always

and this looked interesting, a boxed Hornby Zero1 control unit. Not sure what that is but you may know. It looks oldish.

Old annuals are always great to see and this bundle a Laramie annual.

and this fab Impossibles annual. I adored the Sixties cartoon and loved this annual as a kid. I have one already otherwise I would have bought this one. Do you remember the Impossibles?

Old novels are always fun especially if I read it as a teenager like The Plague Dogs.

One I've never read or seen the film of is Picnic at Hanging Rock, a famous Australian mystery.

Chim Chim Cheree! Remember that! A Mary Poppins classic and here a 45rpm single. I wonder if anyone collects Mary Poppins stuff?

I spotted these old train carriages in an empty shop.

This pub sign made me chuckle with its missing letters. Now its RONIN! Those masterless Samurai get everywhere!

Some Charity shop items have dearer price tags. This 1974 boxed Palitoy Sheena. I think it was £50. I don't know Sheena. Her hair grew.

and finally this old stack of Scalextric will find a good home with someone I'm sure. Are you a Scalextric fan?

Have you had any trips out mooching round flea markets and second hand shops this summer readers?

Spacex Rocketship Hawk - Origin ?

 

To date, most of the Triang Spacex models have been successfully traced back to an inspirational drawing, design or pre-existing vehicle. Not so with the Hawk spaceship, a streamlined interceptor with swing wings.

The closest match so far is suggested as the Northop Freedom Fighter aircraft, as shown on Paul Vreede's encyclopaedic Spacex site:

http://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAtoys/Hawk/SpLTHawk.html

Whilst perusing some books on early German secret aircraft, I was browsing through the designs of Alexander Lippisch, who had planned some radical ramjet powered delta winged fighters.

https://fantastic-plastic.com/lippisch-dm-1-1945.html

https://fantastic-plastic.com/LippischP14CatalogPage.htm

https://fantastic-plastic.com/lippisch_p15-01.html

Following the second World War, Lippisch was tracked down and moved to America, under Operation Paperclip and put to work at Convair on super and hypersonic aircraft designs. Lippisch was responsible for the design of the Convair XF-92A, an early transonic X-plane. 

In 1950, he moved to Collins Radio Company, designing ground effect vehicles. Amongst other radical designs, he also devised patents for various ducted fan and annular wing aircraft.

Among them was a design which looked startlingly familiar:

Patent No: US2918229A from 1957 shows a ducted fan aircraft, with canard front ailerons, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Hawk, as shown in Kevins scratchbuilt model and the original toy. Its conceivable that Triang designers may have come across this patent and made certain necessary changes to avoid copyright issues, such as adding swing wings and come up a new design.

ARE KIDS' TV SHOWS DEAD?

 For nearly 15 years this blog has been largely fired by the TV of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. From the off its been TV from those decades and its spin-off toy lines that has been its inspiration. 

Gerry Anderson's fabulous TV output - Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet et al - completely captured our imaginations, as did most of the children's television shows back then. 

Kids' TV influenced what we saw, what we heard. what we wore, who we were. It was that important to us.

So I'm always amazed when I visit my Grandchildren and all they seem to watch is You Tube. Things like Diana, Blippi, Ryan's World and strange repetitive content about numbers and colours.

I'm struggling to call them TV programmes even though the Junior's do watch them on the box. They could watch them on anything, but that doesn't bother me.

It's the production of these You Tube 'programmes' that concerns me. They appear to be home-grown DIY affairs involving children and or young people. The Russian Diana involves her and her brother sliding down foamy slides and jumping round the garden. There's no dialogue really but is peppered with Ooohs and Aahs and hand gestures, guaranteeing it a global reach I suppose.

Ryan's World and Mr. Blippi have gone from home-made videos to world-wide domination, complete with marchandising and toys. I'm sure Diana is on her way too.

My Grandson Junior does watch real TV shows - made by a professional team in a studio: Octonauts is a favourite and he's also got into Thunderbirds Are Go.

But the news that CBBC is being taking off the box completely in three years to appear online only. When I saw the programme name Blue Peter on their roster it hammered it home.

Things are a changing!

Virtually all the toys on this blog were generated by TV shows or comics connected to TV. It forms the basis of our collective memories and drives our nostalgia. 

Will You Tube do this for future generations or has the link between TV and toys begun to decay as well?

I suppose I just need to get with the programme and start watching Ryan's World!

A concerned TV watcher/ dinosaur.

FIREBALL XL5 MODEL

A few old shots of my scratch built 2' Fireball XL5 model I built way back in the 1980's. 

It's made of wood and plastic. 

Way Out Hot Rods

Hi

           I am not usually interested in cars, and Hot Rods are not my thing, but this video from You Tube contains some amazing vehicles. Major Payne is a fully-tracked Hot Rod, followed by the very weird Dead Redneck. After that, things settle down a little, but only a little. Wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rUAKfEXO4E

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Adams from New Zealand