DO YOU STILL GET XMAS PRESENTS?

Now that we're all growed up, us baby boomers, do you still ask for Christmas presents from your nearest and dearest?

I don't mean those impromptu Xmas gifts that you never asked for but do you still issue a wants list or drop big hints?

Now I'm typing I suppose another questions is whether you actually still expect anything at Christmas?

The Missus and me have for the last few years just got each other a book to unwrap on the big day - to a maximum of £10.  This year with belts tightening it feels right.

As usual, any spare cash we have will go on gifts for our Grandchildren and Godchildren.

What do you do readers?

COOPER-JARRETT INTERSTATE DOUBLE FREIGHTER

 

Another familiar Lesney Matchbox toy; the Inter-State Double Freighter.

Produced from 1962 until 1967, and scaled at 1:100.

It comprises of a blue Hendrickson V-12 tractor with two silver trailers and a dolly joining the two.

The yellow & blue decals on the trailers read ‘Cooper-Jarrett, Inc’ (There are rarer versions in orange & black lettering that read , ‘Cooper-Jarrett International’, with a globe logo in the middle)

I can’t say I know a lot about the Cooper-Jarrett Inc. There’s plenty of images on the web showing Cooper-Jarrett trucks but not much info. I’m assuming it must have eventually been fairly well known internationally. All I’ve found so far is it was a small New Jersey trucking company that after turning it’s last profit in 1977, saw market forces take a down turn which led to the company going bankrupt, and eventually closing in 1981.

For us fans of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s TV series, this is another toy that was used as set dressing in Thunderbirds, usually seen trundling across London Airport’s apron in front of Fireflash!

THE ASTRO-LAUNCH FIGHTERSHIP

 Everythong about the Astr0-Launch Fightership says to me Major Matt Mason.

The box graphics and lettering,

The black and white colours of the toy itself.

Even the launching rotors!

Has anyone ever put a Major Mat or two beside on of these?

WERE THE BEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE AT SCHOOL?

I'm interested, were your school days the so-called best days of your life?

I personally think the old adage is misconceived. What it really means is that your childhood days were the best days of your life. Schools were just part of it and may not be the best bit at all!

What do you think readers?

ARTO'S MOON CAPSULES

 Godspeed Artemis!

LOOEY'S 3D MAGIC: LIFTING THE LID ON MIKE HAZARD'S HAT

As you've seen, with my new kit, I made my own Mike Hazard hat!

I'm using my childhood toy memories to inspire my art toys and I'd already sculpted a spy hat for my own planned Bess Hazmaat Civil Servant figure. I'd managed to make a metal mould of the hat and cast it in soft vinyl, but the complexities of the actual figure had stumped me.

So I decided to 3D scan this hat, shrink it down and 3D print it out for Mike H!

It took a couple of attempts and two different sizes, but I finally got something I'm happy with. This new technology now allows me to recreate and restore old toys to an acceptable level.

Next up (sometime in the future) will be the scanning of the missing landing leg of my Dinky UFO Interceptor, so i can finally have the toy I never had as a kid, in proper WHITE livery!

Cheers,

Lewis

OZ

MAGICAL MYSTERY COACH

 I mentioned to blog reader, Scott Kellogg in the comments of my previous Autotanker post, that a Bedford VAL twin front steering coach was used for the Beatles Magical Mystery tour around the city of Liverpool, here's a Corgi model of it . (photo : eBay.)

Here's a photo of Corgi's The Italian Job set.

This is a model of the toy coach with the twin front steering axles that I remember as a kid, the Dinky Vega Major luxury coach, with flashing indicators!

(photo:eBay)

Shoot for the Moon

 In the quiet hours of this morning and during the night in the states, NASA launched the next step into the exploration of Space; the Artemis mission. Previously delayed three times, due to launchpad problems and a hurricane, the massive rocket finally left for the Moon around 6.30 this morning, following a slight delay.

The Orion Capsule successfully separated an hour later and began its move towards a trans-lunar injection trajectory and the 18 minute engine burn started it on its way.

It will take a few weeks to reach lunar orbit, when it will circle the moon, just 60 miles above the surface. As the initial test phase of the programme is unmanned, the spacecraft is loaded with cameras to gather photographic data en route.

The Artemis Missions will hopefully land man on the moon again on the third trip, Artemis 3, sometime in 2025, with Artemis 2 being a manned circumlunar mission. Despite the almost commonplace nature of NASA launches lately, it was quite exciting still to sit on the edge of the bed this morning, in my pyjamas, watching history being made. An hour later, the first pictures arrived from space of the booster separation and the Orion capsule is now set to provide stunning views of distant Earth and the approach to the moon.