Years ago I did a post about bigger TV and Film cars.
This is a sort of follow up.
First up a favourite of many, the ASC tin Monkeemobile.
I'm hearing some rumours that a reboot of The Avengers TV series is being planned.
According to RadioTimes.com Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the creators of a TV series called Industry, which is a co-production by the BBC and HBO are penning an Avengers script, with Ben Taylor who has worked on Netflix's teen show, Sex Education, directing the pilot.
I can't say what we might expect, as I rarely watch modern BBC drama nowadays, and as my teen years have long past I've never felt the need to tune into Sex Education.
There has been several attempts to bring back The Avengers. Anyone remember the awful Avengers 1998 box office bomb, which failed to capture the mood of the original TV series, not helped by the total miscasting of Ralph Fiennes, as John Steed, and Uma Thurman as Emma Peel. Original Steed, Patrick Macnee has a cameo, but only as a disembodied voice!
Personally, I think most rebooted vintage series just don't work in these modern times. On top of that they might have an issue with the title, as a modern audience might confuse it with Marvel's costumed superheroes.
To paraphrase Steed , " Mrs Peel - a rebooted series? - NOT NEEDED!"
A pearl among the junk, I found this compact stack of Guy N. Smith paperbacks in a charity shop shuffle across Shipley the other day. Bingo!
A great new haul this, as I collect Guy N. Smith paperbacks as part of my big horror novel collection.
Shelling out just three pounds, the stack included three of the well-known Crabs outbreaks, which Smith made his name with.
Despite the author having been very prolific, these 1980's horror paperbacks are now increasingly hard to find, as many will have been simply read and binned back in the day.
Although my favourite novel by the late great Guy N. Smith has to be the folk-trash, The Sucking Pit, the first one I ever read was Killer Crabs, so I'm really looking forward to a scuffle through its pages again.
Smith died aged 81 in 2020, very unwell and infected with COVID. Sadly gone but not forgotten, his many works live on and no doubt like the unknown Shipley reader who donated these paperbacks, I'm very excited about reading them.
Have you read any Guy N. Smith?
Do you collect books?
A long-put-off project saw the light of day this week.
Way back in 2020, during the UK's homebound lockdown, I kindly received some broken Thunderbirds toys in the post from Tony K and Bill to keep me sane. Tracy Aid no less!
Tony's JR21 Thunderbird 2 was 'restored' at the time, which I blogged back then but Bill's box was put sadly aside and gathered dust.
No more!
My first project from the box is to brush-up Bill's old busted childhood Dinky Thunderbird 2.
As a kid Bill had painted it black. You can see the original blue inside.
Some photos of the newly released Corgi die-cast Stingray toy.
The toy has certainly proved to be quite divisive, and a talking point with many Anderson model collectors.
The main bone of contention is the shape of the sting-missile launchers, which appear to be designed simply to facilitate the spring-loaded ‘sting-missiles’. This toy aspect is something else that divides collectors, with most not wanting the feature.
The rounded shape of the front also comes in for criticism, along with several other design imperfections.
However, in spite of the critics, the toy seems to be fairly popular with others, including the online Anderson Store who through Corgi produced a limited number of models using exclusive Anderson Entertainment packaging. A pity they didn’t have a hand in the model’s design!
Personally, I think the standard packaging looks reasonable enough, and follows Corgi’s packaging design for the recent Captain Scarlet re-releases.
At a tad under forty quid, the model is quite expensive compared to thirty quid for the Corgi Captain Scarlet SPV or the Angel Interceptor.
Here’s a couple of photos comparing the Corgi Stingray to the larger Product Enterprise die-cast, and the much smaller Matchbox example. It’s middle ground size fit’s in nicely, but those cut back torpedo tubes really do ruin the look!
Putting aside it’s obvious flaws, it’s a good looking toy, and for the Stingray fan, and probably most Anderson model collectors it’s bound to be a must have. A warning though; It does come with a small plastic display stand, which as the model is die-cast doesn’t strike me as hardly sturdy enough.
Overall, a missed opportunity. It appears to me that more research should have gone into the design and shape of this model, and at least some initial feedback from fans before the prototype had already been produced.
Have a look at the stock labelled Gerry Anderson on the commercial archive Alamy. Some great shots. What do you think?
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/%22gerry-anderson%22.html?sortBy=relevant
This was the kind of cheap spy rack toy I loved as a budding agent. The Bullet Firing and Puff Pipe by Woolbro. I think I saw this on Etsy so saved a pic. The grey plastic ammo looks a lot like the stuff you got in Redbox spy toys too.
And look at that header art! I'm shaken and stirred!
You?
