MOONBASE CENTRAL

Saturday, 30 November 2024

RE-INFORCED! THE STORY OF KENNER'S RECYCLED STAR WARS TOYS

Even if you're not a Star Wars fan this is interesting for toy collectors generally.

Long time Star wars collector and writer Ron Salvatore has torn apart the Falcon to find all the Star Wars toys that Kenner up- and re- cycled. It looks old and I've no idea when it was written but I liked it a lot.

For instance, did you know that the Kenner Gamorrean Guard became their Friar Tuck? Me neither!

Its a fascinating story, so have a shufty.

http://theswca.com/images-speci/recycle/

I also found Ron's bio page really quite poignant, talking about his Mom and Dad and those gloriously free days of our childhoods. Even though I'm much older and British, it struck a chord, which I imagine is universal.

http://theswca.com/ron.html

Have you come across Ron Salvatore before?

Friday, 29 November 2024

U N I V E R S E : the 1960 short film that is said to have inspired Stanley Kubrick

This is new to me and a revelation.

https://aeon.co/videos/prelude-to-the-space-age-the-1960-film-that-inspired-2001-a-space-odyssey

Shown on the Aeon website, this was originally on the National Film Board of Canada's website.

To quote Aeon:

Universe also altered the course of cinema’s evolution: the film’s masterful cinematography and groundbreaking animation inspired Stanley Kubrick when he was researching his own space-traversing masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Kubrick even borrowed the voice of Universe’s narrator, Douglas Rain, for the iconic role of HAL 9000.

What do you think readers?

Station to Station

I've always liked the rare three-legged space station by LP or Lik Be seen here top right in Wotan Bill's old collection.

It's composition is described in detail by Bill n MC and our friend Paul V's Triang SpaceX site (link to site in the labels below)

Such a cool and simple thing, I love the two flat circular platforms the most.

Another structure with circles are these futuristic buildings with Saturn-like rings on the old cover of the US Tarheel Project SWORD catalogue.

Here it is in close up. Again, simple but effective.

The busy cover brings to mind a Worlds Fair like this artwork for Seattle in 1962 with it's iconic double-ringed needle.

Or Mike Trim's Car Vu, with those spiral ramps and the saucer tops, seen in the first episode of Captain Scarlet, where an SPV drives to the top!

Another rare toy is the card space-port tower found on the back of the Golden Astronaut gift pack described again on Paul's fabulous Triang SpaceX site ( the only place I've ever seen it).

In close-up it's a central spike topped with another ring structure and a final smaller ring like the LP station.

Again it recalls the Seattle Century 21 Needle

Or even the Tracy Island roundhouse from Century 21's Thunderbirds, seen here being worked on by Mike Trim back in the day.

Another Century 21 building I like is this yellow Century 21 Toys, where Agent21 gets all his deadly gadgets in TV21.

That huge glass sweeping front could be straight off the pavillion at New Yorks World Fair in 1964.

My final sweeping structure is this excellent building and skyway on the box of Bichi's Carlos V Batmobile released in South America.

There is a black and white sweeping cityscape with FAB1 too but I can't find it.

Can you think of any circular space stations, ringed towers or sweeping future scapes you like readers?

MYSTERY AMPHIBIOUS TRUCK

This mystery vehicle is in my photo archive. I've no idea what it is.

Have you readers?

THOSE PUPS JUST KEEP ROLLING THEIR EYES

Years ago my friend Paul V discovered that LP Lik Be re-used their toy puppy eyes as space domes. You can read about this fascinating discovery on his fab SpaceX website.

https://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGAderv/LPHK/LPhkSmTy/LPdomes/LPdomes.html

Those domes are a mindworm. I just cant help coming across rolling dog dome eyes. I've spoken about blow moulds before and here's another one in the US, a large ball visible underneath that propels the pooch along.