Terranova47 spotted this carded set of 6" figures ripping off Star Wars, seen in NYC about five years ago. Bobble heads rare among us!
Have you got any other knockoffs to share readers?
Thursday, 23 February 2023
MJ's 35 Years of Home-spun Batman Cosplay
I just reached 100 subscribers on YouTube so to celebrate I put together this short of all the cosplay suits I've made over the years.
Regards
MJ
Southcoast Base
FUNDIMENSIONS GIGANTICS MONSTER INSECT KITS RESEARCHED BY PAUL ADAMS - INTRODUCTION
I know that the Gigantics giant insect kits have already appeared several times on Moonbase Central, but I thought Moonbasers might like a little more detail on the history of these kits.
Unlike most firms who made giant insect kits, which heavily emphasised the educational value of their models, Fundimensions promoted the fun aspects of giant insects on the rampage: trampling people, crushing cars, and generally causing havoc.
All were given a diorama setting, showing a giant creature on the rampage in a city!
The US firm Fundimensions made four of these models in total. All carry the copyright date 1975.
Two were re-issued by Airfix, and three by AMT/Ertl. To be strictly accurate, only two of the kits were of insects (six legs), the other two were of arachnids (eight legs).
Despite the fantastic nature of the settings, the actual insect models were accurate enough to be displayed on their own, according to an ad for the kits on the bottom of the box.
There is a small block of text to the side of the box-top pictures, which says 'Look For All Four Gigantics Model Kits - Collect and build all four "Gigantics" ! Display them in scenes or display them alone as scientific and detailed insect replicas !'.
One side of the box proclaims 'All the parts are included to build a wild "Gigantics" Science Fiction scene !', along with photographs of the diorama under construction. The other side shows the insect or arachnid model on its own, and emphasises its detailed and accurate nature.
I never had any of these sets, although I do remember seeing the Airfix versions in the catalogue. They were not really the sort of thing I would have been interested in at the time.
These dioramas were clearly inspired by the giant-bug-on-the-rampage science fiction movies of the 1950s - the box tops carry a mock newspaper headline describing the events in the diorama. However, the cars look too modern for the 1950s.
Given that the kits date from the mid-1970s, the cars are probably from the same period. Each kit included the central insect or arachnid; a selection of moulded three-dimensional buildings, cars, people and other props; and a printed cardboard base and backscene, which was in full colour.
The boxes boasted It's A Gigantic Entire Scene Model Kit. For Ages 8 to Adult.
No scale appears to be given, and none are listed by Scalemates. There are actually two scales here. The scale of the model compared to the real creatures, and the scale of the giant bugs compared to the people and cars they are crushing!
Scalemates listing for Fundimensions
MPC 1975 Catalogue, from the Box Art Den
Airfix Catalogue, 13th Edition, from the Box Art Den
Fundimensions was a US company that made a few kits in the 1970s, mostly TV related models such as The Six Million Dollar Man and Space:1999. The boxes say Fundimensions, Division of General Mills Fun Group, Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Some boxes have An MPC Product of Fundimensions Division of General Mills Fun Group. Fundimensions kits were included in the MPC kit catalogue. There are only a few MPC catalogues on the Box Art Den site, and the Gigantics are included in the 1975 edition, but not in the 1977 issue, so they were not around for long.
Airfix re-issued the Mantis and Scorpion, which were only included in the 13th and 14th Edition catalogues (1976 and 1977). Airfix re-used the Fundimensions box art, with the addition of the Airfix logo, and a few other changes. Both kits were in Series 5.
In the 1990s AMT/Ertl re-issued most of the kits - the Tarantula, Mantis, and Scorpion - but not the Wasp. All the kits had new box art, and the 'headline' for the Scorpion was also changed. Copyright date 1996.
Ad on box bottom
From Plaid Stallions
This is already getting a bit long, so I will leave a closer look at each of the kits themselves for the rest of the week.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
RAQUEL WELCH RIP
Last week Sixties and Seventies film icon Raquel Welch sadly passed away.
I remember Miss. Welch largely from the black and white movie poster advertised at the back of American magazines likes Famous Monsters of Filmland and Creepy/Eerie, the classic image being a still of her from the Hammer film One Million Years BC, 1966.
Raquel was everywhere back then and on a million bedroom walls, easily one of the most famous people on the planet.
Like Valerie Leon and Caroline Munro, Miss. Welch was a constant film personality as I was growing up in the Sixties and Seventies and I'm certain she was viewed as the most beautiful woman in the world at the time.
Her passing is yet another bright star removed from the firmament of our youth and a very sad one at that.
RIP Raquel.
STUFF MUM AND DAD THREW OUT!
I've been wondering if my parents passed on my old toys when I was a kid. I ask myself this as my Daughter regularly has a clear out and passes more of her kids' toys to us for dispersal to friends kids and charity shops.
I was the youngest child of our family so any passing on would have had to have been to nephews and cousins, but I've no idea if this happened.
There were no charity shops back in the early Seventies when my toys would have been removed from my room and my Mum and Dad wouldn't have done jumble sales or anything like that. They did have connections to the local Sacred Heart church so maybe some went there.
I still maintain that the vast majority will have been simply binned. The thought of my Colourforms Outer Space Men figures and accessories, never mind a Century 21 Zero-X and Project SWORD vehicles, lying at the bottom of the metal waste bin fills me with horror!
Fortunately I managed to keep a tiny amount of childhood stuff, a couple of books and the odd magazine, but that's its.
What happened to your childhood toys, games and books readers?
AIRFIX AND THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR BY PAUL ADAMS
Following your recent visit to Oakwell Hall, and your mention of English Civil War souvenirs, I thought a quick look at the Airfix ECW figure kits might be of interest.
The English Civil War has not been a very popular subject with kit makers, although Airfix have made a total of five figure kits in two different scales. In the early 1960s they produced large, 1/12th scale figure kits of both King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell.
In the late 1970s they followed these up with 54mm kits of ordinary foot and mounted soldiers from the period. These could be painted as either Royalist or Parliamentarian troops.
These three kits were the last models to be issued in the 54mm Collectors Series. In the world of model soldiers, 54mm is another way of saying 1/32nd scale.
The models were first shown in the Airfix 14th Edition Catalogue, printed in January 1977. All three kits appeared in the 14th, 15th, and 16th Editions, but only the cavalryman appeared in the 17th Edition, printed in December 1979. The English Civil War Collection was only listed in the 2006 and 2007 Airfix Catalogues.
All three kits have a copyright date of 1976 on the original packaging, but the only release date I have been able to pin down is the English Musketeer, which came out in mid-1978, according to an announcement in Airfix Magazine. This seems to have been the second model released.
The book Airfix - Celebrating 50 Years of the Greatest Plastic Kits in the World, says 1976 for the Pikeman, and 1977 for the others. Sixty Years of Airfix Models says 1977 for all three kits. Scalemates says 1976 for the Musketeer and Cavalier/Roundhead, with 1977 for the Pikeman. The Vintage Airfix site gives 1976 for the Musketeer, and 1977 for the others. None of that matches the only date I can confirm.
The two foot figures only seem to have come in the plastic blister packs used in the 1970s. These had a clear plastic bubble glued to a backing card. This gave far more protection to the kits than the old plastic bags, but still enabled the kits to be seen.
The top of the card was folded over, and provided a full-colour painting guide. The assembly instructions were printed on the back.
The mounted figure came in a cardboard box, with a lift-off lid. The painting guide was printed on a separate sheet of paper, which was standard for the Collectors Series kits.
English Pikeman 1642 - Kit number 01559-0, copyright date 1976
There are 23 parts moulded in white plastic, plus a sheet of thin (5 thou, five one-thousandths of an inch, or 1/8th of a millimetre) white plastic card, from which six straps and belts have to be cut. A template is provided in the instructions.
There are two sets of arms, so the figure can be posed holding the pike vertically in front of him with both hands; or holding the pike in one hand and resting the other on his sword. The parts count includes a small, square base.
Scalemates have the instruction sheet for this kit, which can be down-loaded.
English Musketeer 1642 - Kit number 01560-0, copyright date 1976. Shown in the News From Airfix section of Airfix Magazine June 1978.
There are 36 parts in white plastic, plus a sheet of 5 thou card for the four straps. Again there are optional arms, so the Musketeer can be posed loading or firing. Small square base.
Cavalier/Roundhead 1642 - Kit number 02558-0, copyright date 1976
This was a mounted cavalryman, who could be finished as either a Royalist Cavalier, or a Parliamentarian Roundhead. Optional multi-piece heads were included, and there were optional right arms so the figure could be shown carrying either a sword, or a pistol. A two-piece sash was also included for the Royalist figure.
There were 34 parts in white plastic, and the usual sheet of 5 thou card - this time there were 12 straps and reins to be cut out. The model included a much larger, oblong base, to accommodate the standing horse.
English Civil War Collection - Kit number 06501
This was a boxed set, containing 1 Pikeman, 1 Musketeer, and 2 cavalrymen. The figures were now all moulded in the standard Airfix light grey plastic. Only the sheets of 5 thou card were still white.
The box top shows the artwork from the original kits, with the addition of a Roundhead cavalryman. Look carefully, this is identical to the artwork for Cavalier, except for the rider who is taken from the painting guide, and the sky around him.
All the original kits are marked Made in England, but this set has Made in France on the box. This was one of the few times any of the Collectors Series kits were re-issued after the early 1980s.
In the 1970s Airfix released a series of 28 small, hardback books, on various modelling related subjects. They were A5 size, and contained 64 pages, black and white only. Airfix Magazine Guide 28, the last in the series, covered The English Civil War. Written by George Gush and Martin Windrow, and published by Patrick Stephens Ltd., in 1978.
There are chapters on the history and course of the war, weapons and equipment, wargaming, and one on figure modelling using the new Airfix kits.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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