Don't Force It

With a new round of dust allergy driving me insane since I got back to Blighty I was distinctly out of sorts at this morning's car boot sale. Consequently I didn't buy a solitary thing.

Two things I passed on I simply cannot find online anywhere. This could be the search terms I'm using but I'll describe them.

One was a large boxed modern playset by Adventure Force called Dragon Castle of Knights V Dragons or similar. There were two plastic dragons, a few knights and a small castle inside a very large flat rectangular box. I've since discovered that Adventure Force is a Walmart toy brand and covers just about everything from sharks to blasters. I cannot find the dragons and knights playset anywhere.

Second was a loose black action soldier doll in a green uniform. It had a relatively large roundish head and appeared to be at least 18 inches tall. It may have flocked hair. It was lying on top of some 1990's Action Men and was much bigger than those. Again, I cannot find this online anywhere.

I should have been in a better mood then maybe I may have even bought them!

Do you have a dust allergy, hay fever or asthma readers?

ED'S BOATS

A couple of 'sleek' boats plying the waters out in The Cave:

-S&E (Japan) USAF Crash Rescue Boat R-3-A

-MPC No. 854 PT Torpedo Boat

-MPC Patrol Boat

-MPC Rocket Boat w/Radar Mast

-MPC Rocket Boat (yellow)

I have several more MPC PT/Rocket boats, but this'll do for now. 

Drying Out in Lost Wages

Ed B

USA

NOT AS EXCITING AS EXPECTED SAYS LOOEY .....

.... Its a box full of tea, cigarette (including Mickey's Sweet Cigarettes) and ice lollie cards dating from at least 1962...

Subjects include (I'll wake you when I've finished!)

Pets, Freshwater Fish, Wild Animals, Asian Wildlife, Dogs, Bird Portraits, Tropical Birds, British Wildlife, Australia, British Costume, History of the Motor Car, The story of the Locomotive, HMS 1902-1962, Ships of the British Navy, African Wildlife and Wild Flowers.

Of moderately more interest to any Moonbasers still awake, there are Wings across the World, Wings of Speed, A history of British Military Aircraft and some of those Medal cards that used to come with Tommy Gun Soldier figures which could be redeemed much like Action Man's Stars...

Sadly the only spacey stuff in the entire box was three examples from Walls and Lyons Maid Ice lollies.

Ah well, some of my childhood was interesting!

Sweet dreams, Moonbasers! 

 Cheers,

Looey,

Oz

The Day of the Triffids

Talk about day of the triffids. We've come home to find this monster in the garden! Never seen one before. 

I google lensed it and it's a highly toxic Caper Spurge!

Have you got a triffid in your garden readers? 

Falling Asleep in Front of the Telly

They say that we gradually turn into our parents don't they.

I remember my Dad falling asleep in front of the box in the late Seventies, the UK late-night telly whistle not even waking him up [was that high pitch noise after midnight?]. That would be my job for a while back then.

Last night, I did the same, fell asleep watching TV. It fell to my Missus to wake me up at an embarrassing 9.30pm!

After half a days gardening I was cream crackered and took myself off to bed.

I actually fell asleep during a film I had wanted to watch, The House of the Long Shadows. I was aware of this film already as its known among monster nuts like me as one of the last, if not the final movie that four of the greatest veteran horror actors came together in one project: John Carradine, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Alas, despite being a Pete Walker film and featuring the super-scary Sheila Keith [I only need to think of her Frightmare] , it didn't grab me and sleep took me instead!

Have you seen The House of the Long Shadows?

WHAT'S IN LOOEY'S BOX?

Hi Woodsie, I'm in the traumatic (for me!) process of cleaning out my garage to make space for filming my long deferred puppet film! 

I'm having to be brutal and get rid of stuff that is no longer useful. I've found with the changing technology, a lot of the "widgets" I've been saving my entire adult life can be 3D scanned and discarded. 

When I need them, I can 3D print as many as I like at whatever size!

Anyway, this little letter is just a teaser for a mysterious box I found, saved from my parent's house and dating back to my childhood in Blighty.

My Mother had glued a nice French playing piece on the top and inside is a large collection of tea and cigarette cards that my Father must have bought in the Antique shops he used to frequent in the mid 60's... Hopefully the perished rubber bands holding various sets together hasn’t caused too much damage...

I'll sort them out and see if there's anything of interest to Moonbasers...

Looey,

Oz

Cowboys and Aliens

 Hot on the trail of Woodsy's Go West post, here are some old shots of my Britains, Timpo and Herald figures. My dad was usually in charge of buying toys and took care to ensure that I had a wide range of other interests besides just Space toys!

Whilst Britain's wouldn't produce space themed figures until many decades later, I had a good selection of cowboys and indians. My favourites were always the Swoppet figures, which allowed you to chop and change the figures by popping apart the legs and bodies and hats, to create your own style.

Whilst I never actually 'played' with them as such - no running carpet battles as i could do with army soldiers - I did enjoy collecting them and choosing an odd figure now and again from Woolies or other hobby shops, picking them out of a counter top box.

The Herald Totem Pole (centre yellow wings) was always a source of fascination for me and started me on a journey towards the appreciation of real First Nations artwork many years later.

The most recent Cowboy model I received is this Britain's Mini Set. A slightly smaller range of figures on a simple diorama.

Go West!

When I wuz a kid in the Sixties I enjoyed playing with my Johnny West a lot, Marx's solid plastic cowboy man.

I know I had Chief Cherokee as well and maybe Geronimo.

Reading my Tomarts guide I see there were so many more figures in the range. Jamie the boy, Jane the girl ( I've bought and sold Jane), Sam Cobra the baddie, Captain Maddox and General Custer!

There were loads of accessories too. I may have had a horse and a camp set.

Which Johnny West toys did you have readers? Any other cowboy toys?