THE SHARP KNIGHT

 The other day I picked up a battered Corgi Batmobile in Wetherby for £1.

Straight from the Battle of Arkham it was missing its roof bar, three tyres, one axle, front blisters and the aerial. The rear blisters were falling apart too. It came with two spare tyres but not the correct size. All in all, quite good!

I started by re-colouring the body with a Sharpie pen.

I finagled a new roof bar and patched the rear blisters. I also tried a new technique for the front blisters; cutting out semi-circles of plastic and folding them into position. Tyres: I grabbed a few different ones from the bits box and axles are cocktail sticks. It runs - sort of - but it doesn't need to be perfect for me my cabinet. Time to move on.

Some focused bat work later it was ready for Gotham's grimy streets once more. See what you think Bat-fans.

Before

After

I painted the blisters metallic blue. No longer transparent, it'll do. The aerial is off a clothing price tag. The red light is temporary until I find a smaller better one. The body was re-Sharpied again.

Now where's Alfred and that cup of tea and a ginger nut?

WITHOUT A TRACY: ARTO'S MYSTERY ALAN TRACY GLOVE PUPPET

Arto recently sent in pics of his addition to Helsinki Base, a Thunderbirds glove puppet.

Arto says surprisingly its not listed in Dennis Nicholson's Andersonalia bible and so thought it might be of interest.

It reads Made in Gt Britain (c) 1966 at the base of the neck, but no maker. There may have been a label inside the uniform, but not anymore.

Anyone any ideas?

ED's TIN: USAF North American YF-93A - Maybe?

Woodsy and Gang,

Backing off a bit from the big tin-litho pieces, here's a cool little fighter jet that would have been more at home in some boy's bedroom doing strafing runs against his Little Green (or Tan) Army Men!

Here's a terrific little Hunk O' Tin from an unknown Japanese maker, a plane I'll designate a North American YF-93A until such time a better match can be found. The real YF-93A program never made it past having two prototypes made in competition with other aircraft and that competition was lost to the XF-88 Voodoo.

 The profile of the toy is a very good match for the real aircraft with two obvious differences: the horizontal stabilizer on the toy is too far down on the fuselage; and while they both have tricycle landing gear, the real airplane's smaller wheel assembly was in front, not to the rear of the fuselage. 

Toy companies were not adverse to either producing aircraft that never made it to the production stage, or making planes that had a generic look to them. It measures 5 1/2" (14cm) L x 4 3/4" (12.1cm) wingspan x 2 3/4" (7cm) H. Although I didn't take photos this plane follows the two-piece construction method popular back then. 

It has a friction motor attached to the wing assembly and the wing/landing gear assembly is detachable from the fuselage allowing the toy to be packaged in a smaller sized box. Looking closely just above the tail wheel on the port side, it's apparent that the manufacturer's logo was deliberately obscured. Enjoy!

(real aircraft photo courtesy Wikipedia)

From Vegas Air Field

Ed

THAT ILK OF TOY

 A recent rendezvous with the daughter in the picturesque moorland town of Ilkley generated a few old morsels to chew over in the choice Charities before we chomped on proper muffins at Betty's cafe.

This TOMY Magic Sketcher from 1986 was a new one on me and first impressions looked like a Lite Brite variant but its not.

Checking this example on Worthpoint I see its a suction/blow battery operated toy. Anyone know about this?

Being a big fan of Fisher Price Adventure People I snapped this particular morsel up, the Safari Jeep and Trailer from 1975. They're so robust these toys and the figures FP produced were really attractive and sturdy action figures.

A complete boxed Wild Animal Safari set would look like this. Have you ever found any Adventure People?

There were a few of these welded metal planes around. I suppose they're more of an ornament than a toy, maybe something for the desk? Not my cup of tea but maybe yours?

I studied this tin in the shop before photographing it. One of those hypnotic nostalgia products from the Robert Opie's Museum of Brands in London.

Just look at all those great chocolate bars we had in the 1970's that have vanished. Texan, Nutty, Waifa, Grand Seville and Ice Breaker! Did that go in the freezer?

It really took me back but I would rather have the chocolate bars themselves than the tin so I left it. I used to own a few Opie books including the toy one from the 1970's. Great photographs and included some Project SWORD no less!

I imagine childhood chocolate bars and sweets have disappeared all over the world. I miss Aztec a lot! Which ones would you bring back?

FURRED TEETH: THE AHI DENTIST BEAR

It appears that dentistry is a popular profession with Teddy Bears! 

This is the Battery Operated Dentist Bear with Drilling Hand Piece and Crying Baby Bear, No.6484. By AHI of Japan. Share A Joy With AHI Toys. The front of the box also says S & E, in a diamond, just above MADE IN JAPAN.

It is made of printed tinplate, with fur and fabric for the Teddys and their clothing. There is a letter D on the back of the Dentist Bear's smock. The battery compartment is in the base. The tip of the drill lights up.

There are a few of these around. It is 10 inches high, and seems to date from the 1950s.

Two photographs from Worthpoint.

You got one of these?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

WORM ROVER

Art by Johnny Bruck 1971

Anyone know his work?

The Cottingley Fairies

Today we drove through Cottingley near Bradford. I instantly recognized the name from reading about it as a kid in my massive Readers Digest book of myths and legends of Britain, which I adored and still have. Do you, did you have it too?

Cottingley was famous for fairies. Photographs of them. Five.

They were taken over a hundred years ago by two youngsters and became world-wide sensations. You might say they went viral.

Only 70 years later did the youngsters admit they were fake. However, the fifth one, continued to be deemed genuine.

See what you think. Here's an original set that sold at Sotherby's. The fifth photo is the last [images: Sotherby's].

I couldn't believe we were in Cottingley 50 years after I first read about it's fairies. Such a small world of time and place.

Johnny Lemon: Another Squeeze

 This old lemon bottle reminded me how I used to do up Johnny Sevens.

These empty plastic lemon juices made ideal replacements for the top of one the Johnny Sevens missiles.

Have you any parts replacement hacks?

With blisters on my mind I be been thinking about mineral water. Bottles to be exact. The bulb headed ones offer plenty of curves for cutting out for those missing car domes. The bases too, a ring of mini domes! 

Your Captain Scarlet action figure may me missing his cap but never fear, the toothpaste cap replacement is here!