DIAKONIE DIE-CASTS

 Just a few die-casts netted at the local Diakonie in Germany, along with a MASK figure.

I'm looking forward to touching up these cars, both Matchbox and Hot Wheels.

See any you recognise?

ZEITGEIST

I've just got back from a close family funeral overseas in Germany. 

Its been a trying week for the family but we sent my wife's father off with quiet dignity, now resting with his own beloved in a peaceful Friedhof in the Ruhr valley with a glimpse of the church spire under which they got married in in the 1950's across the city fields.

Thank you very much for your words of support readers. It meant a lot at a difficult time.

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As you'll appreciate there wasn't much time for toys and collectables, although there was some much needed relief now and then from the business of bereavement.

The local Bahnhof bookshop is always interesting and captures the Zeitgeist. There is a avid readership of magazines and comics in Germany and the store reflects this.

Lots of mid-sized pulps covering horror, cowboys and romance, all produced in the country and all long established titles.

Modelling is popular and the two stand-out magazines on the shelf were Modell Panorama ..

... and ModellFan.

There used to be German toy collecting magazines but I couldn't see any anymore. Car Booting/ Flea Marketing is popular and that hobby still has its own magazines.

I was well impressed with the range of home-grown horror comics still being published like Horror Schocker and Feral. I'm unsure f there are any modern horror comics being published in the UK. What about your neck of the woods readers?

Phantom was there too and all had quite wonderful artwork.

These were in the wider Youth section of publications. You can see Pokemon and Genshin.

Marvel, DC and Star Wars are always popular too.

I didn't buy any comics or magazines. They are, like here in the UK, all quite dear and to be honest I have stacks of comics, mags and pulps in the attic.

This old red Feuerwehr Wagen in an antique shop window caught my eye too. Dated 1935 it looks to be home-made to me and an excellent job some old Opa has done too!

My late Father-in-Law would have liked it. The handiwork and perseverance would have appealed to him, attributes that helped him survive the horror of World War Two as a young boy evacuee on a farm in Munster.

Finally in this post here's a small item I did actually buy in a Charity shop, as a gift for a German friend who collects small wooden games.

Having Google Lensed it, this one is called Crazy Fours and there are 14,000 possible combination of colours using the multi-coloured dice. Just the green face is shown here. Beyond that I'm unsure how you play it but my friend seemed pleased!

There were a few more purchases whilst abroad and I shall blog them later.

Till then, auf wiedersehen.

Miraculous Pussycats!

 I caught a glimpse of Miraculous on TV, a new kids show. As soon as I saw it I thought of Josie and the Pussycats from 50 odd years ago! What do you think?

Did you watch the Pussycats?

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Postscript from Terranova47 in the US of A:

I had not heard of Josie and the Pussycats before now. A few months ago impressed by the fact our four year old grandson watched something other than Godzilla videos I purchased for him two 6 inch figures representing the main characters of Miraculous, Cat Noir and Ladybug.

He rejected the figures out of hand and as far as I know has never watched or mentioned Miraculous again.

He is back with his Godzilla obsession!

Spam or Maybe Not!

Waiting for a train to the Flughafen I noticed something in the blog admin site I'd not seen afore. A spam folder. A good thing in itself, trapping the junk mail MC receives, alas, it has also grabbed lots of readers' comments over the years. The oldest was one from Yorkie from 2011!

I have released as many as I could from incarceration so you may see the odd comment of yours appear after being lost in space.

I have no idea why blogger thinks some legitimate readers comments are spam but I shall check from now on!

Putting the Action Back in the Figure

One of the first 'action figures' I bought was the Power Droid from the Star Wars line. Basically, a plastic box with two stumpy legs. Kenners answer to the Star Wars phenomenon was a late release of stiff, benignly smiling plastic dolls, that moved at shoulders and hips and were moulded as if standing to attention. They were appallingly bad and compared to G.I Joe figures, were drastically inferior. But at least two years prior to that, Denys Fisher had released a licenced version of the 'Henshin' Cyborg figure and after that Airfix brought out the Mego Micronauts line, which featured ultra poseable 3" versions of the cyborg figure. It took many years for western companies to catch up with japanese manufacturers and even now, the gap in production and design is massive. Micronauts and its progenitor Takara's Microman line are easily one of my favourite action figures, but besides those there are thousands of lines which only now are finding their way to Europe.

One odd line of figures and models is Mechatro WeGo, a stylised 'powered suit', built not for warfare, but as a means to get future japanese schoolchildren to classes safely. Essentially a wearable robot, the WeGo are marketed in all kinds of colours and designs and the toys and models come in a range of sizes. Hasegawa make a great range of 1/20 scale kits, that snap together easily allowing a lot of scope for customisation.

https://youtu.be/KJFhcF2Whmk

This smaller 3.5" version is a diecast body, with detachable plastic Helicopter accessory. It has several removeable hatches, opeing visor, moveable hands and is extremely poseable, showing off the comic character of the figures.

The Takara Microman range reached UK shores in a limited fashion, via a deal with Mego in the US, which was then sub contracted to Airfix in the UK. The main figure in this Micronauts line was branded a 'Time Traveller' and was a transparent figure with chrome head and chestpiece. Again, the poseability of the figure was amazing and the line of interchangeable vehicles left Star Wars toys standing for playability. One of the larger toys was called Robotman or Biotron in the Uk and could carry a Micronaut figure in the chest.

Biotron was about 18" tall and motorised so it could walk and also power a set of tank treads on its back.

A few years ago an independant company released a 4" high 'tribute' to the toy, which echoed the overall design without actually infringing copyright. The Perfect Effect Robot and Starpilot is easily one of the best action figures I have ever had. Its robust, extremely well made and beautifully designed. Its massively poseable and has a set if removeable treads on the back that converts into a minitank for the tiny 1" pilot in the chest cavity.

Again, it lends itself well to customisation and accepts a lot of the weapons and gadgets that come with Microman figures.

Finally, a range of tiny buildable figures which are again based on the Microman line. I'm unsure what the name if the line is, but my good friend and collector Charles sent me a batch of loose figures and some custom metal heads designed to look like the Acroyear figures in the Micronauts comics. 

The figures come on sprues and are built up around a  head/spine and are extremely poseable. Ankles, knees, hips, elbows and shoulders all move on tiny ball joints and the feet hold miniscule magnets allowing them to clamp onto metal stands or magnetic surfaces for stability. A range of tiny weapons can be added too. The overall height is just under an inch, amazing!

If only we had figures like this growing up!

AXLE ROWS

I saw this yellow land-train style truck on an old auction site and thought immediately of the Explorer 12 range of toys we've seen many times on MC. The boxy looks, multiple axles, ribbed tyres and articulation are just rock 'n' roll.

The auction listed it as a Platis Boley from 1986. I have no idea what a Platis Boley is, a brand of toy?

Six years ago I post some You Tubery of someone's very similar multi-wheel truck. Is it the same range I wonder. It says FAUN on the front. Is that a toy brand?

Anyone shed any light on these yellow land trains?

Stamp of Approval

A while back, Woodsy bought me a pack of used foreign postage stamps, all with a space theme, opening my eyes to the beauty of philatelic design.

Considering the size of some of the stamps, one or two are less than a couple of centimetres long, the illustration and designs are wonderful. I have a special fascination with the eastern European and Russian issues, which celebrate the many spectacular achievements in space travel.

Some have fanciful representations of the craft and astronauts on them and others are tiny masterpieces of  technical illustration.

All of them are fascinating and tiny records of events in the great race into space.

 

New Zealand Icecream Wrappers

Here is a look at some New Zealand icecream packaging, from frickr. Most of which I have never seen before. The majority of the wrappers and containers look to be fairly modern.

There is even a set of horror-themed icecreams from Walls: Frank 'n berry, Count Chocula (I think those were both American breakfast cereals ?), Witchy Goo, and Slimey Limey. Totally new to me.

I do remember Joe 90, Zorro, Garfield, Popsicle Band, and Alf.

The regular ones, such as Topsy, Jellytip, Eskimo Pie, and Joy Bar.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenwilliamsnz/albums/72157631780750774/page1

Paul Adams from New Zealand