A Christmas Card from Paul McCaffrey

Christmas Sniffles

We're childminding the Grandkids today. They're both poorly with colds and temperatures. Better now that at Christmas, although I think we may pick up something off them! Yikes!

I remember our daughter being poorly on Christmas Day in the 90's. We had to delay it all for a couple of days, Santa, dinner, prezzies, the lot. Maybe did it twice over the years.

Has this happened to you? Delayed Christmas? Did you get a prezzie or two in your sick bed?

THE SPACE CARRIER

I like this Space Carrier featured on Alibaba.

There's a whole SpaceX Nuclear Pulse vibe going on here with its four rotors and you even get a fleetlet of tiny craft.

What do you think? A stocking filler?

 

Matchbox Sky-Busters MBX Hypersonic Jet

A fantasy design from Matchbox, the Hypersonic Jet can fly at Mach 5 or higher (the Concorde could only manage Mach 2). The model is actually very similar to a Concorde, with just a few changes. The wings on the real Concorde curve downwards slightly, on the Hypersonic Jet the tips are angled upwards.

The biggest changes are around the tail. Instead of a single fin, there are twin fins, which are canted outwards; with a board, flat rear fuselage. The four engines are mounted on the underside of the wing, just as on Concorde.

Only the white upper fuselage, including the nose tip, small canards, and twin fins, are metal. The lower fuselage and wings are orange plastic. These are held together with four rivets. The undercarriage is black plastic. The wheels do not rotate. Length 118mm; wingspan 63mm.

The colour scheme is orange and white, with black, white, yellow, and orange printing. Matchbox World Airlines. M Airlines appears on the fins, with the number SB70 on the wings. The model has previously been released in a number of other colour schemes, but this is probably the nicest, and most realistic looking.

Moulded in to the underside is the usual collection of names and dates. The Matchbox name is half hidden by the port main undercarriage. The copyright date is 2015, Mattel. SB134 just ahead of the nosewheel. Made in THAILAND appears beneath the starboard wing.

The model comes in a clear plastic bubble, glued to a backing card. The model is shown flying low over a city filled with skyscrapers. Copyright date on the back of the card is 2021, number 16 of 31 models in the 2021 Sky-Busters range.

This is a very nice model, and would have been right at home in Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet. What do you think?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Peeking in Wintry Shop Windows

 We've just spent a few lovely days in the snowy Peak District.

We finished with a trip to beautiful Buxton.

The town's charity shops were festively full of goodies.

There were carded Dr.Who action figures.

A metal Revell Corvette 1992.

A plush Alien. Yuk!

An action figure gun ship. I thought it was GI Joe but it turned out to be Tesco.

I loved this old Quality Street tin, which brought back sweet memories.

As did this vintage telephone intercom set. I had something similar as a kid.

This green army man statue was in a posh decor shop. Who would have thunk it. From Marx to Art!

The elves were sat on Joe 90's settee! Well in my mind they were!

USS Voyager graced this oddly shaped mug.

I'm unsure what this was.

This MDF desk reminded me of school days, especially the pen groove at the top. Did you have a desk like this?

Lots of old paperbacks on the shelves.

Piles of DVDs, which can't be shifted. This contained Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi's homage to the brilliant Night of the Demon.

Fancy Pooh and Tigger on the tree?

Or a direct feed camera to the North Pole.

We were bid farewell by this Flamenco doll

Before retiring to the pub's wood burner and a glass of Bradfield ale.

See anything you like readers?

The Stalls Of Barchester Hooded Monk Figurine

I reckon you can get any figure you want as a carded figure these days. Specialist toy makers are seeing to it!

Here's an obscure character for you! The hooded monk from MR James' creepy tale The Stalls of Barchester. Now that's random!

Its blister carded and stands 10cm tall.

In saw this one on Etsy.

What do you think? A Santa special?

By the way, for readers in the UK there's a new Christmas Ghost Story on the telly on the night of the 23rd December.

SIXTEEN 12 RETRO SWIFT

The long awaited Sixteen 12 Swift die-cast mode has now been shipped  following relaxations of Covid restrictions in China , and is now due to arrive here in the UK sometime in February, 

Sixteen 12 were kind enough to let me photograph their pre-production model, which I thought looked very impressive. 

Unsurprisingly, one or two  people were quick to point out what they saw as inaccuracies which is fair enough. Whatever, I 'm happy that Sixteen 12 are still prepared to produce a commercially available  model, that, as far as I'm aware is currently only available as unlicensed resin kits. 

Moving on, Sixteen 12 have released several 'retro' die-casts in the past, taking inspiration from the oddly painted  Dinky toys from the seventies.  They tend to fall into the love it or hate it category.

 When Sixteen 12 decided to release a retro Eagle Transporter, and in spite of  some very mixed reviews and limited to just 500 units it was a sell-out. The following release of the retro Eagle Freighter was increased to 1000 units, and is still available.

Now, Sixteen 12 have now come up with a retro 'Swift', and have released some photos of it. Looking at it I'd love the opportunity to take a few photos of it myself.

Retro Swift Photos: Sixteen 12

I think it's fair to say that the bold colouring takes some getting used to, and although it's already met with some less than complimentary reviews, ( including a whinge about the year on the box!) I certainly don't dismiss it out of hand. In those colours it reminds me of some of the Treen spacecraft seen in the 50's Dan Dare  Eagle comic strip.