MOONBASE CENTRAL

Sunday, 17 December 2023

TERRANOVA47'S OLD TINS OF BADGES AND PINS

True to Murphey's Law, in searching for something specific, something else turns up instead.

I was looking for the remaining tobacciana items and found two tobacco tins, which on opening contained the remains of my childhood badge collection with updates to the early 70's.

So for readers enjoyment and possible recognition:

An Air Lingus pin given to me when I was in a publicity shot for the airline
BEA pin from the airlines' stand at an Earl's Court Schoolboy Exposition.
TARDIS COMMANDER from an BBC Dr Who exhibit at London's Science Museum
Badges from staying at Butlin's Holiday Camps.
007 from the first Bond movie, sadly suffering from being next to a rusty badge.
Eric Winston was the orchestra conductor at a Butlin's Camp.
Civil Liberty from a High School club
The Blue badge was for my Primary School Marvell House. Which is strange as I was in Coleridge House which was red? The Houses were named after poets
The Empire State Building is the kind of metal badge given out in the USA to show admission has been paid. This is from a trip to the USA in 1959.
Tonibell Ice Cream was from one of their vans.
League of Oveltinies is from the days when Oveltine sponsored Dan Dare stories on Radio Luxemburg.
Castrol and Birds Eye from an Earl's Court Schoolboy Exposition.
Robertson's Golliwog from senidng in labels on jars of jam
Uncle Holly was from waiting inline for hours to see Santa at Selfridges Department Store in London. Uncle Holly was Santa's cheap understudy.
Dr McCoy must have been in a Kellogg's cereal box
Methodist movement's John Wesley was from visiting his home
Matchbox Collector was in with a toy army truck
Desert Commandos was from a brand of dates that had great French Foreign Legion promotions
Esso Safety and Wall's Curb Drillers are from Police road safety demonstrations in school playgrounds.
Potato Puffs, Noddy and Murray Mints are mail in promotions
A Knight of the Banner is from Banner schoolboy shirts,
The QEII medal was given to me by my Grandmother for the Coronation in 1953
The Muffin Club was from the BBC children's programme, Muffin the Mule
Dan Dare was with a Dan Dare licensed belt.

In with the badges were these four US packs of safety razors. Part of another of my eccentric collections.

No doubt the DUREX one will send shivers down any UK readers spine!

Stay well,

Terranova47

NYC

Mego Fonzie with Custom Restoration

https://youtube.com/shorts/P7ZjLb5wxls?si=e4JzKtPPcAB7EokF

Heeeeyyyyyy!

Enjoy!

Southcoast Base

A LOOK AT THE RESCUE EAGLE FROM ANDERSON ENTERTAINMENT

Here’s some quick first impressions of the recently released Rescue Eagle model from Anderson Entertainment.

Out of the box, the model certainly looks fine, and is very nicely detailed.

It’s also quite familiar as most people suspected, it simply appears to be a repainted 10” Eaglemoss model, with all the usual Eaglemoss design defects, the most obvious being the black paint around the reaction rockets on the shoulder pods, and the lack of detail on the rockets, themselves.

Anderson Entertainment Rescue Eagle at the top, Eaglemoss Standard Transport Eagle below.

Comparing the models, the overall colour, like the original Eaglemoss models still appears to be a very light grey, (although I can't decide whether the A.E. Eagle does look ever so slightly lighter) The landing legs have been painted a dark grey, and most of the decal detailing has been altered .

The red strips on the module look fine , although it's been pointed out by others that they are a little too thin, but certainly not a deal breaker for me!

As with the Eaglemoss models, the module is fixed into place. The piping surrounding the engine bells have also been removed, although, to be fair, this is how Eagles would have looked during the first season of Space: 1999.

I suspect removing the piping might end up taking away some support to the engine array. One of the engine bells on my example is slightly askew, although I reckon that could be just down to the infamous lack of quality control that was evident with the original foreign manufactures used by Eaglemoss!

One definite improvement is the anti-glare sections on the command module have been painted black, rather than a dark grey which was chosen for the original Eaglemoss version.

The model comes with a plastic display plinth, reminiscent of the launch pads that comes with the Sixteen 12 12” die-cast Eagles, although it is less detailed than the Sixteen 12 version.

The box looks impressive, and is nicely designed. The front and base of the box have a side view drawing of a rescue Eagle (not the actual model), surrounded by the Anderson Entertainment branding colours and logo.

The box flap folds back revealing schematics and technical info about the rescue Eagle. The model and display plinth are well packed in packaging foam.

Overall, the model does carry some good cosmetic improvements over the original Eaglemoss versions, and as the three Eaglemoss releases didn't include a Rescue Eagle, this model will no doubt prove popular with collectors.

The only downside is Anderson Entertainment’s much higher price of £124.99, which is over double what the Eaglemoss models originally cost, There may well be some justification to this, inflation, licensing rights etc. Whatever the reason, this might make some think twice before investing.

SPRUCED UP!

The other day the Missus and me went to a tree farm for a real Xmas fir after having plastic for years.

As soon as I saw inside the tree barn I noticed the startling ropes attached to each tree from the ceiling, a supporting tactic I'd never come across before.

The scene immediately made me think of that iconic image ion the 1978 movie Coma, where the comatose patients are all dangling from the ceiling too!

Shaking that image from my mind, we put our little fir in the window for Santa to see.

Have you got a tree? Real? Plastic? Pics!

Any space decorations .... or monsters ... or anything you like!?

IN THE JAWS OF CHRISTMAS

As a follow-up to his Amity Police Blazer post in November Paul from NZ kindly sent me these pictures he gleaned from Ebay and Worthpoint. Did you 'snap up' any of these Jaws die-casts when they came out readers or any other Jaws toys and collectables?

Paul says: I recently picked up a new Hot Wheels die-cast from the movie Jaws (1975). This got me thinking, how many other Jaws related models are there ?

Actually, quite a few. Plus lots of unofficial, shark-related models.

I do not have any of these models - yet. But I plan on adding them to the collection, if and when I come across them.

First up, a model from the Matchbox Star Car Collection. This was a range of models inspired by various movies and TV shows, but which used existing Matchbox models, rather than vehicles that appeared on screen.

The SCC Amity Police Boat from Jaws, copyright date 1997, used the Matchbox Police Launch, finished in Amity Police markings. There was also a plastic model of Bruce the shark.

There was also a range of much larger Star Car Buses. This Jaws bus has the copyright date 1999 on the back of the card.

Tomica is a Japanese, Matchbox-sized die-cast line. They did a single Jaws model, with the shark hanging from a large wooden frame in the back of a six-wheel truck.

According to an article by Mike Pigott, the Jaws Truck from 2019 was an exclusive model for a Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, and was only sold in Japan. The model is brown, with red JAWS markings.

The shark and its framework have to be assembled, and an instruction sheet is included. The box was larger than was usual for Tomica models, and was square.

https://mikepigottsdiecasttoysandmodels.wordpress.com/2021/09/22/jaws-by-tomica/

The Muscle Machines line included two Jaws Monster Trucks. A boxed example in 1/43rd, and a carded version in 1/64th.

Finally, there is the Hot Wheels Character Car. These models are shaped like the movie character they depict, in this case the shark.

The bonnet opens, just like the jaws of a shark, showing off a mouthful of teeth. From 2022.

Most of the artwork on the packaging for these models is based on the movie poster, showing both the shark and the girl swimmer; or just the shark, jaws agape. None of these die-casts are contemporary with the original film.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Saturday, 16 December 2023

THE BARRETT SPACEMASTER

Looey's amazing Eco Squad and his Ark II project recently reminded me of a space toy first posted here 2011, the Spacemaster.

Some of the old links may not work now, sorry.

It maybe interesting for new readers nonetheless I hope.

The above mystery ship recently appeared on fleabay [seller neuelectro]. It was described as the "Space Master Spaceship Made in England by A. Barrett & Sons, 6.5 inches long and complete with box and figures."

The overall look and particularly the rear engines reminded me personally of Stingray. Anyway, having heard of neither the toy nor the maker I asked several blog readers for their ideas.

Scoop recognised it immediately as similar to a two man escape craft used in Dan Dare’s Operation Saturn story from around February 1953.

Scoop kindly sent me the two scans shown below, the top one depicting a shorter version described as a "small two-seater spaceship" and the bottom 'cards' showing a longer version, bottom left, called the M.H. Test Ship, which for me is the more similar of the two compared to the toy.

Reader Paul V kindly explained a little about the toy company.

"Before the war, Taylor & Barrett were competitors to Britain's in producing metal figures. Also competitors to Meccano Ltd in making railway staff and small lineside items (which Meccano made for their 0-gauge Hornby trains, before the cars and some of the figures evolved into Dinky Toys).

I think I have some platform equipment of theirs amongst my Hornby stuff. When the war ended and toy production could resume, Taylor and Barrett operated separately, both with sons. Still producing metal toys, though turning to plastic in the 60s and continuing production until the early 80s I believe. The figures in the bag are mentioned on the box flap [below]."

Thanks everyone for help identifying this toy. NB. Please note that the item has been relisted this week on Ebay as a metal reproduction made in 1994! Woodsy

Today's earlier post on the Barrett Space Master has proved interesting for Swordies. Reader Arto wrote to me:

Hi Paul, what an interesting case, which brought back to me this quite recent LiveAuctioneers item. It seems that Morphy's had to re-auction the item with a revised description six months later, as the pictures used are exactly the same. And thus also the price came down from $550 to mere $60. As the first description states, there's a picture of the Spacemaster in Blast-Off! (p. 114).

Cheers,

Arto

I'm grateful to Arto for these links and to make it easier I've shown them below along with the date of the auction, the pictures and the basic description given.

Morphies Auctions January 2011 [pictured below] Salesman's Sample. "Very little wear overall. Includes original salesman sample box. Item was never put into production and there are only a few known examples. Pictured on page 114 of "Blast Off" by Mark Young, Steve Duin, and Mike Richardson".

Morphies Auctions August 2011 [same picture as above] Contemporary Copy. "This is a contemporary copy of the original prototype ship and comes in a laser-copied box".

I also found this online record of a Christies blue 'factory sample' sale in 2001:

Christies 2001 Factory Sample "Barrett and Son. Rare Spacemaster Rocket Ship, factory sample, never issued (perspex cover missing) and three Hill aliens." Sold for £235 [were the Hill aliens related to the Space Master in some way? Woodsy]

Reader Ferryman has also wrote in: Hi Woodster, I have a little more info for you on the 'Space Master' blog post. There are apparently only three known original examples of this toy in boxes. They were all salesman's samples and it never went into actual production. Cheers, Ferryman.

So Swordies, the toy never went into production and only three boxed salesmen's samples are in existence!

Presumably the 2001 blue factory sample was either one of these [or a fourth?]. The Morphies' and Ebay auctions appear to have been yellow and red reproductions respectively and no doubt, because of the collactability of this toy, there will be more.

Do let me know if you have any more info regarding the elusive Space Master!

JOE'S DINER: TWO CHROME FENDERS PLEASE!

Joe's Diner from Clifford Toys was the final plastic vehicle kindly donated by Bill that I had a go at doing up this week.

A gorgeous Sixties friction toy, it was basically all there except for a front grille, two bumpers and a couple of lights.

Oh, and Joe himself and his sunroof.

After a soapy bath, a rub down and a lighter liquid wash, I set to on the missing large front grille, cobbling one together from bits in my box and a patch of netting from an old bag. The C in the middle stands for Clifford I presume.

Complete and re-chromed, it wasn't the best job I'd done but looked OK' ish. I think I rushed it. A bit of old kit sprue with boiling-water bent-ends made a simple bumper. Two red lights finished the front.