MOONBASE CENTRAL

Friday, 2 December 2022

GODFREY PHILLIPS AICRAFT CARDS 1938

Here's a 1938 aircraft UK set. No album unfortunately.

Enjoy,

Terranova47

USA

Giving You Wings

Going even further back to 1961, we have the Lyons Tea Card set 'Wings Across The World'. This is one I was largely unaware of, until I inherited all my dad's tea card collections. Again, its a bit dilapidated, having spent the last 60 odd years being thumbed and dog eared, badly stored, hidden in a loft and ultimately rescued from the back of a cupboard.

It shows the transition from propellor driven airliners to jet and is very much of the classic era of aeroplane travel, when there was still a certain prestige attached to it and package holidays still languished in the near future.

Once more, like the previous post, the card subjects are a little dull for my tastes, with the exception of the Argosy Transport and BEA Rotodyne. They do capture the spirit of the Airfix heyday, when you could buy a kit of almost any plane under the sun.

Its also interesting to note the airlines which are now long gone, such as B.O.A.C and BEA, which were common sights at airports in the sixties.

With the exception of loose cards and the odd aviation card in other albums, this is it for my aeronautical series, but look out for other albums shortly! I'm off for a cup of tea now and a nice sit down.

ZEE TOYS FIREBIRDS

Check out the Zee Toys Firebirds! Ever seen these designs before?

Thursday, 1 December 2022

THE SANCHIS CANNON

I like this old large cannon by Sanchis of Spain. They were prolific toy makers and released an amazing output of plastic vehicles.

This is the Self Propelled Cannon and is quite a remote-controlled beast by the looks of it. It could easily have worked on a Gerry Anderson show do you think?

Have you got anything like it or did you have?

Johnny Lightning Big Switch Track Sets and Carry Case

Here is a new item from You Tube, featuring an old Johnny Lightning ad for the Big Switch track system. Towards the end is a beautiful carrycase in the shape of a foot and a half long racing car, with compartments for 16 Johnny Lightning cars.

This is based on a real racing car from the Indianapolis 500, and is described as the winningest car of all time.

This is not a regular TV ad aimed at consumers, but appears to be a company promotional production intended for salesmen or distributors, as it refers to a planned multi-million dollar advertising campaign for the JL range.

Ads would appear on television, in print, on radio, in boy's magazines, and major spotting events.

Johnny Lightning Road Racing Set Topper Toys - YouTube

Paul Adams from New Zealand

JUNK DRAWER XL5

I saw this old image of an auction lot and thought it was a great bundle.

What can you see in there readers?

Transport through the Ages

Another Brooke Bond classic album, from 1966, illustrated by Richard Ward. A bit before my collecting bug took over, as I was only 4 at the time, this one is from my dad's collection again. A little bit dull by comparison, to the others, but interesting from a historical perspective, as it gives a snapshot of the current technological achievements of the day. The highest of which appear to be the Mercury Atlas Rocket on the last card, but interestingly the X-15 rocket plane is shown on the inner front cover and the early tilt rotor aircraft near the end. For me, probably the most interesting card was Donald Cambell's Bluebird, who's sleek lines looked so removed from even the Le Mans racing cars as to appear almost science fictional.

Santa Claus Friction Toy Snowmobile

I saw this Santa Snowmobile earlier in October on American Ebay so I saved the pictures.

It struck me as a possible relative of the Space Blimp at Christmas released by LP.

It's 4.5 inches long. The Ebay description didn't mention how it works, just that it does work, so I assume the deer's head bobs back and forth as the sled is pushed along.