MOONBASE CENTRAL

Saturday, 4 March 2023

Tarzan a Mars Man?

I noticed recently that some Tarzan action figures have him on Mars. I thought Mars was the preserve of John Carter, his Barsoom. Did Edgar Rice send the King of the Jungle to the Red Planet too? Even Tars Tarkus gets to meet Tarzan in this line!

STAR BIRD DELUXE

I was too old for an MB Star Bird, the Zero-X of the 1980's.

If I'd been young enough I would have preferred the Japanese version of it, especially this goldy silver number pictured below. There's a cool red and white version on the box top too.

What do you reckon?

Did you have a Star Bird? Ever had one in your collection?

Friday, 3 March 2023

WILL'S TOYS INTERNATIONAL SUMMER OF '69: MORE!

Some more ads from Toys International July 1969. You may have seen them before but I thought I’d send them anyway. Enjoy.

Will O

DERRY DARING TV AD 1975

Ideal's Derry Daring was their mid-70's homage to female stunt motorcyclist Debbie Lawler.

Capturing the whoosh of the Evel Knevel craze, Derry 's daring didn't last long sadly, cancelled in 1976, but her hey day was immortalised in colour TV ads.

Here's the Wheelie Car one courtesy of You Tube.

Do you remember Derry?

Did you have some Evel?

PLAZER RAY GUN

I have just come across this, the Multiple Toymakers Transistorized Plazer Ray Gun, from the 1960s. Wow.

It is a massive ray gun, that needs both hands to operate, and uses two D Cell batteries, which are installed under the long red panel at the front. It reminds me of the head of K-9.

Made of red, white, and light blue plastic, with the name of the gun, Plazer Ray, in chromed lettering on the right side. The name of the maker appears under the rear section.

The box is made of corrugated cardboard, with full colour paper labels glued on. The ends say Multiple Toymakers, Bronx, N.Y., and A Division of Loral Corporation. Made and Printed in U.S.A. The copyright date looks to be 1966.

You look through the rear scope. Line up on your target, and pull the rear trigger. This operates the aiming laser and beeper. The colour of the laser can be varied - red, blue, or green - by turning the red wheel just in front of the scope window. Then pull the forward trigger. This fires a cap, which destroys the target. The caps are housed within a solid metal magazine, which fits inside the forward handgrip.

It seems there were problems with these guns not working, and it certainly looks as though it would have been a complex and delicate toy, even when it worked.

I only found a few sales listings for it, and an old print ad.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1966-wards-christmas-catalog-page-1809531804

Old TV commercial - the quality is not very good, but it is still fascinating.

https://www.google.com/search?q=plazer+ray+gun+toy&oq=plazer+ray+gun+toy&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3.8403j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d5e6831c,vid:uK_XOBh6cZI

However, there is a You Tube video by ToyKingWonder which shows the gun in action. It also shows how to take the toy apart, the inner mechanism, and how to get the gun to work. It is very detailed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wDlcKBHs0Y

I wonder if it was sold outside the US ?

Paul Adams from New Zealand