LADY P's FAB 3

 I think we've mentioned it before here on MC that FAB 3 was the name of Lady Penelope's Helijet.

It was also the name of her racehorse in a comic run.

Here's David Tremont's fabulous model made for Thunderbirds anniversary.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/o29BVz

BOWLS ROYCE: THE 1967 SUGAR SMACKS FAB1

Check this marvel out, the Sugar Smacks FAB1 on a great cereals premium site, Cereal Offers.

I'm not sure I've seen this FAB1 before.

What do you think?

 https://cerealoffers.com/Kelloggs/Sugar_Smacks/1960s/Lady_Penelope_Fab_1_Vehicle/lady_penelope_fab_1_vehicle.html

There are more Gerry Anderson premiums on the site too:

https://cerealoffers.com/Kelloggs/Sugar_Smacks/sugar_smacks.html

HAWK EYE

 This is an interesting clip by Monta-Man TV showing the Bullycan Portaaviones or Aircraft Carrier toy.

Keep your eye out for the green SpaceX Hawk clones on the flight deck.

Have you got anything like this?

Quatermass History Video

Hi Woodsy

I just found this on You Tube, a 23-minute history of Quatermass. 

From the original TV serials by Nigel Kneale, to the later Hammer film versions, and the paperback books.

At the end of the video a View-Master package for The Quatermass Xperiment is shown, but I doubt this is real. I could not find any sales listings for such a set, and it seems like a very unusual subject for a View-Master reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAijLPntwqU&t=32s

Do you like Quatermass?

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Doll, Card and Blister: My Home-Made Star Maiden's Final Look

 Armed with my baguette blister box I've finally finished my home-made Star Maiden Guard doll on card.

Here's she is complete with new glued-down blister cover.

This decent 12 inch blister does real justice to Wotan Bill's fab repro card art and my home-made doll and clothes.

Its been fun!

Hope you like the final article.

BLISTERING SUCCESS, SORT OF!

Blisters are tricksy things. Finding blisters for toys. Transparently obvious I know but a clear path to victory is eluding me!

I have had one success with a Star Maiden doll blister. Short of buying a brand new doll in a plastic box [which I did look for in discount shops] I first bought a box of Xmas baubles. This required printed labelling being removed with lighter fuel and a light scourer. Alas, methinks he scoured too much and it was compromised. Besides, it needed cutting and gluing to make it fit, never great for that perfect blister.

So, thinking out of the box, I searched for subway packaging - you know, the foot long butties - and found a company, Advanced Disposables, that did clear baguette butty boxes. 

The box cost 5p for a single sample and postage was £3.55. I received tracking info every day from Royal Mail until it arrived; the service was startlingly impeccable so the box makers must pay handsomely for that!

Here is the baguette box, a hinged affair from which the top is perfectly clear and can be cut off to create a fabulous 12 inch cover for a doll or figure. I was thrilled!

However, finding a decent blister for my 7 inch Victim project is another sandwich altogether. Currently she resides in a Sushi box, but being trimmed and glued, it just doesn't cut the mustard for a backing card as good as Wotan Bill produces.

Finding myself in Poundland I stumbled across blusher cheek brushes. Wow! The boxes looked just the thing! The right petit size and depth, in a fever of elation I bought three for £6. At last, the Victim will be finished and could well get some pals!

Alas, on closer inspection at home it turns out what I thought were paper labels inside are actually printed onto the plastic in a thick central band. Tarnation! Scouring and lighter fluid will get it off but ruin its pristine clear looks.

Back to the drawing board with this one to find that goldilocks box that's just right!

Toys: A Short Film by Roman Kroitor and Colin Low

 https://www.nfb.ca/film/toys/

This is an unusual and old film with a macabre spin on Action Man/ GI Joe toys from the National Film Board of Canada. Looking at the date, 1966, it was made when the toys were first out in the shops.

No doubt you'll decide for yourself what you make of this if you watch it.

I understand the debate about military toys generally and its one I have come across often having a grandson. 

All I can say is that personally my own Sixties and early Seventies childhood was completely filled with Action Man and I loved every minute of it. I reckon I turned out more or less OK too now I'm in my Sixties.

WINTER WARMERS

As winter approaches, I am drawn more to eBay, as traipsing round shops in the rain has little appeal. This month it has delivered in spades, with a great selection of vintage Hot Wheels.

Just arrived are a pair of later Sizzlers, ‘Flat Out’ above an ‘March Ford’ below are Formula 1 type cars, which like the blue ‘Indy Eagle’ shown later, have a narrower body and a different tubular battery to the more drum-shaped one in the earlier cars. As a result, I can’t test them out until I source a new battery.

Even so, after removing a greasy deposit that covered all the cars, from the decayed battery, they scrubbed up really well. The engines were all re-chromed with a silver marker and the plastic bodies polished up. Unlike Redlines, Sizzlers are almost all plastic, to save weight and help the tiny motor run faster.

An earlier win brought the ‘Indy Eagle’, a similar race car layout with large exposed engine.

This week, I was pleasantly surprised to get two vintage Redlines, the ‘Ford Vicky’ and ‘Ford Woody’ in one sale for a very low bid. Both had slightly bent axles and worn paintwork, but a swift spray of auto paint brought the two back to good order.

The Vicky was in slightly better shape than its sister, but benefitted from a coat of blue to hide the chips and scratches.

Originally Ultramarine Spectraflame, the Woody’s paint job had deteriorated badly, but a light coating of automotive lacquer, let the metallic finish shine through. 

My second ever Hot Wheels, back in the sixties was a green Silhouette, which these days is showing its age. Luckily eBay provided me with a lovely purple example, with good paint and just needing a new side pipe.

The ‘Repco Brabham’ has appeared here before, just needing a little lick of chrome on those fragile exhausts.

The ‘Indy Eagle’ Sizzler arrived with a more futuristic model, ‘Sideburn’. The Sideburn is one of the first wave and uses the standard drum battery, so may well be running on a track sometime soon.

Last of all, the trusty Deora, my first ever redlines, back in the day. This replacement model just needed a clean and a pair of handmade surfboards for a great finish.