WILL'S BADGES

Hi.

These old badges came in the other day with a load of tri-ang trains. 

I wonder if there are any here that MC readers remember? 

Will O.

UK

TOPPER ZUMBADOR?

 

This old Spanish catalogue shows an interesting toy pistol top right, Pistol Zumbador.

It looks familiar. The red missile says Johnny Seven to me, which suggests a Topper Deluxe Reading influence.

Did Topper issue a toy like this pistol?

THE MATCHBOX SKY BUSTERS DREAM CHASER

The Matchbox Dream Chaser has been mentioned before on Moonbase Central, but it seems to be a fairly hard model to track down. 

I finally found one, so I thought you might like some photos of it. 

Not exactly a pretty craft, with its upturned nose, but a welcome addition to the ranks of Real Space models.

The Dream Chaser is a small, re-usable space shuttle, built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation in America. It is intended to produce both unmanned cargo, and manned versions (with seating for up to seven astronauts). The first mission is now due in 2022, a little later than originally planned. It will be used to carry cargo and personnel to the International Space Station. The launch vehicle being a Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for the craft.

Dream Chaser - Wikipedia

The Matchbox Dream Chaser is part of the Sky-Busters line, and was first released in 2019, model number SB143. Length 91 mm. The black base and engine bells are metal, with the rest of the model being either black or white plastic. The cockpit windows are opaque, so there is no interior. The black plastic undercarriage is fixed, and the wheels do not revolve. The tampo printing is well done, in red, blue, black, and yellow.

The information cast in to the underside comprises the model name Dream Chaser - SIERRA NEVADA, Matchbox, © 2017 Mattel, the number SB143, MADE IN THAILAND, and a tiny elephant.

The card for the original 2019 version had a cloudy sky background, and a red stripe at the bottom. The 2021 card is orange, with the planet Earth providing a background to the model. The craft themselves appear to be the same.

Matchbox Wiki page for the Dream Chaser.

Dream Chaser (SB-143) | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Addition: Hot Wheels branded Skybusters!

ED'S TRAINS

Sooo, I've been busying myself of late with inventorying and photographing some of The Hoard. 

I've only plowed through two tote bins but found things in them I had totally forgotten about and a couple things I thought I had sold off years ago but am happy to say still reside out in The Cave. 

It started with a tote bin of Western/Old West toys then progressed to a tote filled with Lionel Pre-war O-gauge trains. The Old West bin had enough spare parts to make several complete wagons (Chuck wagons, covered wagons, stagecoaches, etc.), while the Lionel tote had engines and rolling stock I haven't run since the mid-to-late '90s. 

So far, I've blogged most of the wagons [on my blog Toys 'n' Stuff], and the trains have been featured in a couple of Y'allTube videos.

Enjoy [this sample]!

Ed B

Las Vegas

[bits in brackets inserted by Woodsy]

DC: DISTINGUISHED HOT CARS!

I picked up a set of Hot Wheels DC Superheroes models from the 2022 range. 

In a rare stroke of luck, I managed to get the whole lot in one shop, no need to go on a hunting expedition to several shops to find the last one or two models needed to complete the set.

These models are from another of the Hot Wheels premium lines, this time the Character Car series. The series name now appears on the card itself, making them easier to identify. This time there are six models in the set - but they form two distinct sub-groups. Some have a working Action Feature.

The first three models come on dark red and black cards, and are tied-in with The Batman movie.

Batman - with the new-style Batmobile that looks like an ordinary American road car, except for the suggestion of a cape at the rear. Black with grey interior, and tampo-printed lights. New model 2022.

Selina Kyle - no mention of her Cat Woman name. Another ordinary looking road car. All black. New model 2022.

The Riddler - Off-roader in two-tone green, with a brown canvas tilt. Black patch on the doors, with a white question mark. New model 2022.

The next three models come on much brighter, light blue cards. Each car is decorated in a scheme that matches the costume of the character depicted.

Superman - Red and blue, with a touch of yellow. Originally released in 2019.

Wonder Woman - Red, blue, yellow, and white. Originally released in 2019.

The Flash - Red and yellow. Originally released in 2012.

All the models are of mixed metal and plastic construction, with tampo printing. Made in Thailand.

The card is wider than a normal Hot Wheels card, and is printed in colour on both the front and back. The back has a panel showing all six models in the series. Copyright date 2021.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

KEVIN'S SCRATCHBUILT BLAKE'S 7 IMIPAK

Hi,

Just completed a scratchbuild of the Imipak key from Blake's 7 second season episode 'Weapon'. 

Imipak is developed by a Federation scientist, who then steals it. It consists of two parts, a projector which marks a victim indelibly forever. 

If a marked person is within a million miles when the key is activated, they die. No time limit between being marked and being killed. 

A Weapon with massive political potential.

Not bad for a beta grade,

Kevin

UK

THE OLD WAYS: COMBAT MAN'S RETURN JOURNEY

 Today was a toy day.

I set about sprucing up two new ones.

Using the old ways of glue and the bits box the first on the bench was a G1 Transformer Wildrider I picked up at a car boot today.

Its bonnet was missing. 

I thought it would be good if it had one for my display cabinet. Remembering the easy way Fimo coughed up a foot for my Halloween Witch last week I turned again to the coloured clay.

Good idea?

Big Mistake!

No good left foot this time, this turned out to be a real dog's dinner destined for the bin!

The Wildrider will remain bonnetless!

Better success came with my efforts to jazz up Combat Man's Military Train I blogged about last week.

Some energetic battery contact scraping and a squirt of WD40 got the loco running again.

Then I noticed that a wagon had a set of wheels missing so I set about knocking up a pair in the old way with buttons and bits.

The pair on the left is the real one I was copying.

I split a button, glued in an axle, repeated the process and coloured everything black with a felt pen.

The finished wheels, resting on the kitchen knife, didn't look half bad ... but would they fit and run?

Yes! 

Success!

I then cleaned off some old glue residue on the tops of the two wagons with lighter fluid, cleaned everything up and slotted it all back in its tray.

The ripped cellophane window was replaced and any box tears were repaired before replacing the lid on the box, standing back and really enjoying seeing this rejuvenated set finished on the bench.

Finally I took a few shots of the train in the sunshine. 

Hope you like how it turned out readers.

LOOEY IN THE GRIP OF THE SAURIANS

Travel to Knebworth House in Hertfordshire and travel back in time...

To a kinder gentler time, to the time of my childhood 50 years ago when dinosaurs like Iguanadon were still tail draggers!

Seeing as some of the concrete exhibits seem to have been directly inspired by those at the Crystal Palace, I should be thankful the spike is on the thumb and not the nose!

They also had a full size concrete Corythosaurus that looked like it had been scaled up from the Pyro/Life Like plastic model kit I had in the mid sixties!

Knebworth's helpful information panels are just as up to date as their dinosaur reconstructions. How did they die? As long as leaves obscure the sign, I guess we'll never know. But food poisoning sounds pretty legit.

And of course, being a dinosaur fan from the moment she could read (and in later life writing and illustrating two books on Australian Dinosaurs) my wife couldn't resist correcting the spelling for "Cretaceous"!

Looking forward to seeing Brighton again. 

As I've mentioned on previous Moonbase blogs, I've found some gems there compared to stupid Australian prices! Will I visit the Brighton Toy Museum again? Hmmm, it really is the best anywhere in the world!

Cheers, 

Looey