MOONBASE CENTRAL

Monday, 6 February 2023

THE NAUTILUS VERSES THE WHALER

I was so impressed with Terranova47's Nautilus v. Whaler shot that here it is again on its own. It's one of the best photographs I've blogged I think; so very cool and beautiful.

Terranova47 says that's the real sky behind the Nautilus sinking a whaler, natural sunlight.

MOONBASE VISITS 4EVERETRO TOY SHOP!

Last Saturday the mobile Moonbase family visited a cool bijou vintage toy shop in Bradford, England, called 4everRetro.

Yours truly had a Christmas gift voucher for the shop from Miss Moonbase, so we took Junior along for a mooch.

The small shop is stuffed with boxed vintage toys, a cornucopia of 80's gold and 90's treasure, there were some older morsels for baby boomers like me as well such as Action Man.

We talked with the ever friendly owners, who are using social media to the max in their quest to find, stock and sell toy collectables. the reminded me of the American Toy Hunter Jordan and there's two of them! That's a lot of fab toy finds!

In the livestream they did the day we entered the shop you can see me and the kids, well, entering the shop and moseying around! The timer is set as we walk in. If you wish to see the shop's whole stream just play it back on You Tube.

If you're ever in the Eccleshill area of Bradford then a visit to the shop is well worth it and I for one was chuffed to meet the next generation of vintage toy fans, who have had the courage to open a shop. Kudos guys!

WILL O's SUTCLIFFE SUBS AND TOY BOATS

Here’s some of my metal subs!

A few more Sutcliffes in the memorabilia vein: Sooty, Noddy, a couple of the Campbell’s Bluebirds and a 1953 Coronation toy, which must be in the same series as Terranova’s submarine.

Ken Sutcliffe was a friend of my old Dad. I can remember back in the 70's he and his wife used to visit us in his caravan when touring the country. He used to send us bits and pieces as we sold Sutcliffe boats in the family toyshop.

If any of the readers want to see some more pictures of other Sutcliffes, I’d be happy to send them.

Will Osborne.

Sunday, 5 February 2023

THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE 1958

For Looey and everyone!

TERRANOVA47'S 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE TREE

Back in 1953 I was the proud owner of a gray Sutcliffe submarine with a decal on the top front hull with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II as a Coronation souvenir. I bet Charles III doesn't get such a cool Coronation souvenir.

After years of warm baths the clockwork finally ceased and the model was buried in my parent's garden in North London in order to confuse future archaeologists.

About 1972 when traveling outside London with the person who was to become my wife, I saw in a shop window a Sutcliffe Nautilus which I promptly bought and still own.

Before lockdown I created a diorama using a Nautilus Christmas Tree ornament and metal crew figures from the 1954 movie.

Then during lockdown I created a small diorama of Nautilus attacking a sailing ship.

I was lucky to see both the Disney movie and Mysterious Island on the big screen when they were released but Herbert Lom was no James Mason who for me was the perfect Captain Nemo.

If Kirk Douglas wasn't such a comic relief with that annoying seal, the Disney movie would have been a better telling of the book!

But then later versions have been far worse and certainly the Disney Nautilus can never be bettered. It was far superior to Verne's description of a submarine with smooth sides like a cigar tube. Who would believe an underwater craft like that could work?

Here's a close-up of my Nemo crew and Christmas Tree Nautilus ornament.

When she was about 10 my daughter gave me a birthday present of a VHS Tape of the Disney 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea plus this wooden, hand painted Nautilus she made at summer camp!

Terranova47

USA

PRECIOUS JULES: The Vernian Toy Designs of Libuše Niklová

In 2015 I posted an obscure plastic bubble bath toy inspired by Jules Verne's Nautilus.

Peering further into Jules I discovered the designs and oeuvre of Czech Libuše Niklová described as the 'world queen of toys'. She is seen as an icon of accordion-based plastic toy design.

According to Wikipedia the Nautilus was a Vernian toy she designed for Fatra Napajedla in 1966. Niklová designed 3 toys based on Jules Verne’s novels: Nautilus, Albatros [from Robur the Conquerer] and Epouvante [the Terror from Master of the World]

Designed for Expo 1967 in Montreal, Canada, they didn't appear due to the previous Czech regime's politics [they were seen as too Western]. Eventually they got into production, the Nautilus in 1967, The Terror or Epouvante didn't get further than a prototype.

You can read more on the website devoted to this famous Czech designer.

https://www.libuseniklova.com/

There are quite a few video's featuring her work on You Tube like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MktMAQvd518

Here are some pictures of the beautiful blue plastic Libuše Niklová Nautilus from the net.

Have you got one?

Saturday, 4 February 2023

AN ISLAND CRAWLING WITH MYSTERIOUS TOYS

I've just watched Jules Verne's Mysterious Island the movie from 1961.

I've seen it many times and despite crawling with the giant crabs and hungry rocs there are still a few toy related observations I can make.

One of the high points of the film is the appearance of Herbert Lom's Nemo and his futuristic submarine Nautilus. Nowadays they'd call it steampunk but back in the day when the first Nautilus appeared on the big screen in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in 1954, a Leeds-based company got in on the underwater action.

Sutcliffe Pressings created the Nautilus tinplate toy, an icon of vintage play and a glint in the eye of most collectors. A beautiful toy pressed in various bright colours, what I hadn't realised was just how close Sutcliffes was to Moonbase. Literally half an hour away in Horsforth, Leeds!

Now the site of a residential car park, the Sutcliffe glory days are sometimes celebrated at the local Horsforth Museum and this is one of their past displays of submarines. You can also read about Sutcliffe's here: Sutcliffe Boats of Horsforth [there's a picture of the toy sub being sprayed in the spray shop!]. Did you own a Sutcliffe?

Watching Mysterious Island again I was also struck by Nemo's wondrous electric rifle and how it completely captured the atomic age vibe of many space rifles. See what I mean ...

There were many toy space guns like it and here's one off the top of my helmet, the sensational Pyrotomic Disintegrator by Pyro. Did you have one of these bad boys?

Can you think of a better space rifle like Nemo's?

The last toy link to the film and one I've blogged before is Ray Harryhausen's giant octopus and its influential suckers.

This large cephalopod slipped into the mind of one Mel Birnkrant back in the Sixties and its tentacles re-appeared in his triumphant Outer Space Men with Colourforms, one of my all time favourite toy figures as a kid.

The octopod of the Men was one Astro-Nautilus, perhaps the only figure of the original series I didn't have. Sadly all my Men have have left the ship but pictures still abound on the net. Here is the Man from Neptune.