ED'S PROCESSED PLASTICS ROCKETS AND CARS

 Ed of Las Vegas has very kindly sent more personal pics of his own fab collection of Processed Plastics toys.

For more of Ed's delights see his neat blog, Toys and Stuff.

NOT SURE HOW TO SAY IT: THE LIABE!

Now this is a spaceship I just do not know at all. The LIABE Star Cruiser by Entex, picture borrowd from Fantastic Plastic com.

I know I've posted about the ship to the top right before but not the LIABE or the lower right craft.

Apparently they are from a 1978 movie called Message from Space. Have you seen it? Is ot any good? Is it Japanese?

The LIABE is an amazing design. What inspired that?

PLEASE HAND YOUR KEYS AND LANYARD OVER ON YOUR WAY OUT

Yep, it's happening. I'm a day away from finishing work for good.

I'm retiring.

I imagine a few of you Baby Boomers have done already too. Its our time isn't it!

Its a happy but sad feeling finishing work as a teaching assistant, especially after being at my High School for 13 years.

In all of that time I've come home and added something to this blog for the next day's post, so I associate Moonbase with coming home from my job. It'll be strange having so much more time on my hands and not coming home!

At the moment I've no great plans. I'll carry on buying and selling old toys, which I love to do [especially the finding at boot sales and in charity shops], restore old toys [my new passion], carry on with Moonbase Central of course, finish a second book I started ages ago about more JR21 toys and spend a lot more time with wider family and friends, who for one reason and another [work, Covid, Grandkids] I've probably neglected.

If any of you who've retired can offer me any pearls of wisdom regarding what to and what not to do in the next few months I would be most grateful!

Scrapheap? Rocket Base? At the moment I'm unsure what retirement means!

LOVING THE ALIEN (WHOMOBILE)

 Some photos from Smallspace 10, the sci-fi model show which took place last weekend in the village of Hanslope, near Milton Keynes.

This year, the theme was the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who and featured a rare appearance of the ‘Whomobile, the futuristic – looking vehicle, commissioned by former Doctor Who, actor Jon Pertwee. (The car had made a previous appearance at Smallspace way back in 2015)

Remarkably, it’s street-legal and is classified by the DVLA as an ‘invalid tricycle’

The car appeared in two classic Doctor Who stories; ‘The Invasion of The Dinosaurs,’ in which it appeared with a temporary wind shield from a speedboat, as the full size cockpit canopy hadn’t completed, and in ‘Planet of the Spiders’.

The ‘Whomobile’, which is actually called, ‘Alien’, was created in 1973, and designed by Peter Farries, based on Jon Pertwee’s instructions. Peter Farries, was at the time Chairman of Nottingham Drag and Custom Club.

Although it obviously has the intended appearance of a hovercraft, the surrounding 8 inch rubber skirt conceals it’s three wheels. The rear mounted engine is a Hillman Imp 875 cc, specially prepared by Chrysler UK which I’ve read would have rebored it to a 998 cc.

The engine cover is a place to tie down luggage as the car has no boot. Note the grills which are presumably there to provide ventilation for the engine. It has a reputed top speed of 105mph, although current owner, Paul Buckland tells me, he’s not done over 45 mph in it, Frankly, I don’t blame him. I’d imagine the overall visibility inside the cockpit is very limited with no practical rear view mirrors, apart from a single one protruding from the canopy.

It’s 14 feet long, and 7 feet wide, with the large rear fins extending 5 feet off the ground. The thicker than usual fibre glass body is painted a metallic silver and red, which according to Paul Buckland, is finished with 100 coats of lacquer.

Inside the ‘futuristic’ 1970’s cockpit is a TV screen, a red telephone receiver, a computer (in reality a group of flashing coloured buttons) and a very 70’s looking piece of nostalgia, a ‘Monatone’ car cassette player!

The hinged cockpit windscreen has a BBC Children in Need sticker, and a 1996 tax disc, coincidently the same year Jon Pertwee passed away.

The Whomobile owner, Paul Buckland. 

RICHARD'S TOY PHOTO ARCHIVES: MORE!

Hi

More images from my toy photography archives....

The first one....this was a catalogue panorama shoot for the "ZERO HOUR TOY RANGE" for Bluebird Toys of Swindon .

It was also used as a poster that Toy Shops could display.....and it also was used further as a giveaway item to customers.....a big set six feet wide and seven feet deep....The model set was built at my studio in Lancashire in 1990 for the pictures for this range of toys.

The range was released in the USA by Mattel Toys and they received my pictures .....the first time my work went over the pond to the USA .

Second image....."Transformers Armada" Range....from Hasbro Toys.....This image was used for the Children's Comics publicity....appearing in Marvel Comics Transformers Comic and others from Panini Comics UK .

Third Image...."Mighty Max"....from Bluebird Toys in Swindon UK...I completed two photo shoots for the range which included model set photography.....with the range being very small figure items I had to use macro lens , closeup lens and the full bellows extension on my Mamiya 6x7 cameras to capture the images .

These images appeared everywhere including the Argos Catalogue's .....across the UK and abroad.....

More archive images in a few weeks.....hope Moonbasers enjoy looking back on these....

Best regards 

Richard Dixon

TPD STUDIOS LANCASHIRE ENGLAND .

The New Knights: Starfighter and Batmobile Restored

 Finished two more classics restorations, which were great fun to do. Not pristine, but cabinet-ready.

With my trusty Sharpie, black seems to patch up really well on die-casts. A coat of varnish and a few kitchen drawer replacement parts and these two old codgers have a new lease of life.

See what you think.

Trident Starfighter kindly donated by Kevin.

Batmobile, car boot special.

Together on a night mission

KEVIN'S SCRATCH-MADE MRS. COBBIT FROM TRUMPTON

Hi,

Another one! Mrs. Cobbit, the Trumpton flower seller. There every morning at the Town Hall Square, on the dot of 9. Oh, except when the ceiling fell on her!

Off to get a button hole for the Mayor,

Kevin

UK

Kenner's SSP Dune Digger Restoration

 I've finished restoring my yellow Kenner SSP Dune Digger. Kindly donated by Kevin it was great fun to do.

Hope you like it.

Here's how it started covered in red paint.

Some silvering completed.

Exhausts fitted courtesy of old biro stoppers

The finished article.