J O H N N Y S P E E D

 What a toy! What a TV ad!

Did you have a Johnny Speed toy?

Auf Wiedersehen Pupp

 A few final notes from abroad last month now I'm home.

I saw this toy cable car in a German shop window, which I thought was neat. Whether it moved I don't know. It didn't when I was there. 

I think the maker is Lehmann but I may have seen a Rigi one.

Me and the Missus said goodbye to everything in her late parents' apartment. Everything that we didn't sell at Flöhmarkten or give away. This old plaster grandma held on till the bitter end, finally parting with us in the final days before we closed the door for good. She just didn't want to leave.

This long model ship was in a Trödel Laden or junk shop. It will make someone who collects ships sehr zu frieden (very happy).

I snapped this hot air balloon as it was passing near our car boot stall. I hadn't realized I'd got the chap in too. He looks non-plussed! I've never been in a hot air balloon and with a bad fear of heights I wouldn't ever. I do love to see them though. You?

This beautiful Isetta caught my eye whilst we delivered a deck chair to someone. I remember these from being a kid in the Sixties. We called them bubble cars. 

Has any reader driven one? Have you ever sat in an Isetta?

And a final sad note: despite trying to re-home a lovely and large 1960's home-made Puppenhaus, or dolls house, with various friends, alas, it went back to the charity warehouse we bought it from four years ago to start yet another journey in its long life.

Auf Wiedersehen Puppenhaus.

F U T U R E T E C H C A R: A Mushroom Comics Mystery

 This is unusual and a new one on me. I saw it online this year.

Futuretech.

A sort of futuristic friction sports car.

The body is iridescent.

The rear spoiler gives it a sort of Sam Loover's Car vibe.

Part of a Funline brand, the toy was issued by Mushroom Comics. The logo is an atomic mushroom cloud!

I know nothging about Mushroom Comics. Do you readers?

I dunno, I like this toy and the whole Futuretech look.

Guards! My Moonbase Star Maidens Home-Made Doll and Backing Card completed

My Star Maidens project is complete.

At the start of November I had a crack at making my version of this rare Guard doll from the Star Maidens range.

Using a Sindy clone, a small American football helmet* and a pair of cheap Supergirl boots I got on Ebay, here's what I came up with, which I blogged at the time.

Next up was to recreate the backing card and blister.

Our friend Arto over in Helsinki Base kindly sent a fabulous scan of his own original and well-loved card; the blister was already off the card so no harm was done to it.

Wotan Bill was able to do his magic and tidy it up - and sent a lovely new copy over to me.

Here it is glued to some card. Its still drying!

 

Made to measure, my doll sat snug on her new backing.

Next up was the blister. This proved much harder than I thought. Scouring the shelves of cheapo toy aisles, toiletries shelves and food aisles in shops I searched for a 12 inch blister. Nada!

The best I could come up with was this bauble box made of two sides glued together. The seam runs along the left side down the shoulder and leg line. Its not perfect at all - I'll keep looking for a cheap doll box in a discounter - but as a temporary measure it'll do.

So here's my take on the Star Maidens Moonbase Guard doll on its backing card.

Hope you approve.

From the front 

and side

I'd like to thank Arto and Wotan Bill for all their kind help with this fun project.

*

* Years ago I blogged the exact American Football helmet online which the original toy company used. One day I'll get one of these, which is a proper colour match for the original. 

Does anyone recognise the team badge?

ED'S ONE AND ONLY SCHLEICHS

 Ed at Vegas Base kindly sent these live pictures of an Apatosaurus in Las Vegas!

The Dino was swiftly joined by Ed's one and only Schleich dragon!

Grrrrr!

Have you got a favourite dragon readers? In books, films or toys?

TYPHOO TEETERS

 

Another sad day for iconic brands from our childhood. Typhoo Tea are about to call in the Administrators.

I remember collecting their tea cards as a kid, along with PG Tips and Brooke Bond.

I've drunk Yorkshire Tea for years now, so I haven't helped Typhoo either.

Will you miss Typhoo Tea?

A Friday Treat! Norman's Thunderbirds Chocolate Bar Wrappers and More!

Hi Woodsy

You asked if I should dig out the chocolate bar wrappers, could I send you scans? Well the answer is YES!

I remember having lost one collection of TV21 to a Thrift Shop in Valletta, Malta (thanks Mum!), the next set came from a friend at school who didn't want them any more. 

So here I had the opportunity to assemble all my ephemera that no-one would ever care about (!) and create a good old-fashioned scrapbook - lots of cutting out shapes and images and texts from TV21, the TV21 Diary, colouring books, party cracker boxes, nougat bar wrappers, the toy boxes and of course ... those foil chocolate bar wrappers!

I was going to crop the images to just the wrappers but thought you might get a kick from seeing what I did and you might even spot some more rarities.

I have collected 12 of them, but who knows how many more there were. There are as follows:

Thunderbird 1

Thunderbird 2

Thunderbird 3

Thunderbird 4

Thunderbird 5

FAB1

Jeff

Lady P

Parker

Scott

Tin-Tin

Hood

So if I were to guess what others might have been:

Virgil, Alan, Gordon, John, Kyrano

But maybe that's just in a sweet shop in my dreams!

Captain Scarlet and Stingray are tucked away somewhere too!

Best wishes

Norman

Frank Bellamy Checklist and Blog

Frank Bellamy Facebook page

and my other interest

Raymond Sheppard

WILL'S JOHNNY EAGLES

Hi Woodsy. 

On the blog a few days ago there were some catalogue pages with some toy guns. 

Here are some of my Johnny Eagle weapons by Deluxe Reading, Topper.

Will O

UK

Have you anything like this readers?

Any Johnny toys?