DONALD TRUCK

Hello Woodsy

Further to Will O's Disney windows, here is Donald on a farm tractor.

This seems such a ridiculous combination yet somehow it looks right!

Stay well,

Terranova47

USA

Weirdsville Customizing Set

After delving in to the Remco Flock & Feather bird kits from 1969, I wondered what other plastic kits included feathers ? Not many, I should think. The only one I can think of is the Hawk Weirdsville Customizing Set - which was part of the Weird-Ohs line from the 1960s.

The Weird-Ohs were designed by Hawk box-top artist Bill Campbell, with the first of 12 kits being released in 1963. The Weirdsville Customizing Set included three of the early Weird-Ohs vehicles (described as 'Three Miserable Mouldy Models'), along with a plastic bag of items with which to customise them. All were moulded in white plastic, and were individually bagged.

The kits were:

530 Digger - The Way Out Dragster (42 Horrible Bits of Fine Mouldy Polystyrene)

531 Davey - The Way Out Cyclist (39 Horrible Bits...)

534 Leaky Boat Louie - The Vulgar Boatman (27 Horrible Bits...)

To quote the box-top, the bag of 'goodies' included:

Foul Feathers in Kooky Kolors

Gooky Glitter

Hysterically Horrible Hair

Fancy Fuzz

A Length of Blotchy Braid

Enough Customizing Frills to Confuse a Magician

Over 100 Putrid Parts to Paste

The Set was numbered 301-300, meaning it had a retail price of $3.00. Given that the individual Weird-Ohs kits sold for $1.00 each, that effectively means the customising accessories were free.

White glue (PVA) was recommended for attaching the custom materials. The instructions further suggested dressing the models up with items from around the house. 'Beads, colored string, aluminum foil, and pieces of cloth' were all listed.

All the Weird-Ohs kits, along with the Silly Surfers and Frantics, used box-top paintings. But the Weirdsville Customizing Set used a photograph of the three built-up models, adorned with the customising accessories. This probably did not help sales. A panel at the side listed the contents.

The contents were also shown on one side of the box, with other Weird-Ohs kits on the opposite side. The kit number was only shown on the ends of the box.

This mix of nightmarish monsters, with feathers and glitter, seems a little strange. I do wonder how many sold. Certainly, not many appear to have survived, and the set is now considered rare.

All the Weird-Ohs kits have been re-issued, and the range expanded by adding other kits from other companies, but the 

Customizing Set has never re-appeared.

Two photographs from Worthpoint

Paul Adams from New Zealand

X-FILED

Just watching the X-Files again, Season 1 Episode 1, "Pilot", the very beginning of the Mulder and Scully journey. Me and the Missus were so excited back in 1993 when it aired and for the next year at least we watched it religiously every week without fail. All the great episodes were there: Tooms, Squeeze, Gargoyles and more.

Watching the pilot again I'm getting that same old thrill. The Missus is in bed this time round but I may suggest that we watch the series again together. 

Checking the notes to the series I was amazed to see that creator Chris Carter was inspired by that old classic Kolchak The Night Stalker. I can see that, the original investigator of spooky goings-on, as well as Scooby Doo and the gang!

I was also amazed to see that there was another actress who played Dana Scully, one Tea Leone! What! Sacrilege! It must have been much further in the later series. It did go up to eleven series!

Did you like the X-Files?

A-HA STATES

I watched A-Ha's old 1984 Take on Me video today. Its one of Moonbase Junior's fave songs. I couldn't help noticing how the final scene where the singer catapults himself from wall to wall in the hallway is something I have seen before, a take on something else!

You may have guessed what I mean. Its that scene in the brilliant Altered States [1980] where William Hurt does exactly the same, pounding the walls as he tried to stave off existential oblivion. Its a powerful scene and has stayed with me since first seeing it.

Do you think they're similar? Am I altering my state!

WILL O's DISNEY 100th ANNIVERSARY SHOP DISPLAY WINDOW

To celebrate 100 years os Disney, we did a couple of shop windows with vintage Disney toys . There might be a few things of interest for Moonbase readers to spot. 

Will O.

UK

Well At Least They Tried: Solido Lockheed XFV1

The XFV was an experiment in vertical take off and landing (VTOL) capabilities.

 Testing of the XFV began in November 1953 with short hops and the first official flight was in June 1954. Its top speed could never exceed those of jet fighters that were already in production and the program was cancelled in June 1955. The sole aircraft is now on display at a museum in Florida.

Unlike the other aircraft I showed you, the Solido version is metal, not plastic, and is one of the smallest toy aircraft in my collection.

From Vegas Skunk Works

Ed

USA

REPAIR SHOP YELLOW SUBMARINE

image: BBC

I caught on the tellybox an episode of BBC's The Repair Shop, where this Yellow Submarine was restored to what you see in the picture.

It was of great interest as I both had a Yellow Sub as a kid and I restored one myself in the 1990's, an early and very poor attempt at anything of the sort.

It was a great TV restoration and the craftspeople in the Repair Shop are so skilled it's amazing. I was intrigued as to how the restorer would do it. Bearing in mind that every part of the Yellow Submarine can be bought off the shelf as a repro part nowadays, I knew the restorer would ignore this and do everything from scratch.

Coincidentally the periscopes he made from modelling putty. Years ago when I made my own scopes I used Das Pronto. Mine were terrible. The restorer's were simply brilliant, especially once the paint lady had painted them yellow and red.

With all the mechanisms fixed, a new propeller made from plastic and the periscopes in place, the owner of the special object was thrilled to bits. It all worked and looked fab!

Interestingly the back-story was that this Corgi Submarine was given to the owner's Dad on the night of the Yellow Submarine film premier in the Sixties, whilst attending it!

Have you been given a special toy? Have you restored a die-cast, even a Yellow Sub readers?

Well At Least They Tried: Marx Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak

The D558 program was a joint project between NACA (the predecessor to NASA) and the U.S. Navy for transonic and supersonic flight. 

The Skystreaks were strictly experimental and only three were built. One of the planes crashed but the other two survived and are currently in museums in Florida and North Carolina.

Marx's version was marketed as the 'pull rudder' jet. Pulling back on the rudder, then releasing, caused the plane to roll forward. There is a strong (and may I say not accidental) resemblance to the XF-92 when comparing photos of the prototype to the toy.

From Vegas Skunk Works

Ed

USA