Monster Jam

Hi Woodsy.

The Monsters are all tuning up for a howling good time at Monster Base this Halloween.

More to come!

-BrianF 

Monster Base 

NJ USA

When Dinosaurs Filled A Box!

 I recently picked up this solid plastic plesiosaur from a house clearance chap.

A really gorgeous sleek toy, I had thought it might be a Nessie or sea serpent of sorts, but on closer inspection of the base it turned out to be a British Museum model by Invicta from 1978.

I recalled Invicta from being a kid, as they'd made the famous Mastermind game, which many of us had, picturing the bearded boffin and his attractive assistant. 

I guessed the plesiosaur was part of a range but boy, I had no idea how cool that range was!

Googling eBay I was amazed just how many Invicta dinos there are out there. It makes sense, they are solid hard plastic, ideal for display cabinets and will last.

The Invicta Museum range is a really superb and fabulously designed set. 

All the gangs there, Brontosaurus, T.Rex; yep, all the big lizards and ...... They came in a fantastic box, as seen in these examples on eBay.

I mean, cor!

Some of these are dated 1987, ten years after my Plesiosaur, so it was a range that had legs. It also came with posters and leaflets!

Wow!

I wonder if it was exclusive to the British Natural History Museum shop?

Maybe they still sell it? Is Invicta still around?

Did you visit the Museum and did you have these dinos readers?

Any Old Iron?

 There's a travelling antiques valuer visiting our village hall.

A sort of fancy rag and bone man I guess (I remember them vividly as a kid.Do you?), dressed in a suit sat at a little baize topped table.

There'll be valuations galore and hopefully a few ..... purchases!

We've lots of old creaky stuff that needs to go: jewelery, cutlery, nic nacs. You'll have the same I'm sure, gathering dust in the dark.

It's probably of no value whatsoever - our stuff - we've done an auction and this is what's left - so one last blast is worth a punt and the walk to the hall will do us oldies some good.

I suspect though there'll be a queue a mile long as everyone will have had the same idea!

After this, TV's Cash Cow is the next stop!

Have you ever been to a travelling antiques valuation day readers? 

One Sad Apple

 

This small lonely thingy was in a bag of junk our daughter gave us. I thought it was a remote for something.

But it's an iPod.

A complete mystery to me personally, the Missus seemed to know about iPods, although we've never had one.

Being interested in boomer tech like VHS and Super 8, I wondered whether anyone will collect stuff like iPods in the future?

Did this Apple gizmo last long? Was it a sort of music centre? What did it replace and what replaced it?

Like Mini discs and Laserdiscs, iPods simply passed me by and thus stilk hold some mystery.

Where you an iPodder? 

Photos From My Past: Dracula and Friends

Having a bit of a clear out at Moonbase.

Its turning up lots of nic-nacs and tons of photographs.

Some of the photo's have reminded me of the stuff I used to collect in the early days. In one pic there are window boxes hung on the wall containing three small collections.

One is a group of Secret Wars action figures.

Another is a Micky Mouse toy collection.

The third one is a bundle of plastic toy ray guns including two JR21 Thunderbirds pistols.

I was really pleased seeing my old stuff again. Needless to say I don't have any of it anymore.

I was really chuffed to find evidence of something I had as a kid which I thought was lost from memory, a beloved Dracula candle. There he is alive and kicking on a mantelpiece.

Alas, since writing this, I've mislaid the photos again! 

Easing round Elsecar

 A mosey round the huge Elsecar emporium, despite not buying anything, did throw up a few things to photograph.

A Tufty Club bendy. It must have been a bigger deal than I recall on TV, the Tufty Club. I've seen books, games and now a bendy! 

I had thought at first glance this was Tom Baker but it's Austin Powers of course.

This was Tom Baker though! 

Maybe the earliest Superman annual I've handled, this was dated 1958!

Lots of Hornby trains with many many red boxes items.

Two attractive early space age pictures.

Pennybrix? New to me. You?

And seen a few times in MC, old Tivvy, this one being a plastic savings box for a bank.

Anything you would have been interested in readers?

Famous Keyfobs

I bought this American key fob for my old UK vintage toy fair stall. An interesting item was my logic.

I got the keyfob on eBay about twenty years back from a seller in LA.

It was listed as a Forrest J. Ackerman key fob on account of the 4E repeated on it, one of 'Forry's many nicknames. 4E = For-ry.

I've never seen another one associated with Forry, so I have my doubts now I've dug it out again. 

Maybe 4E was a LA firm after all? 

Anyone any clue?

Paul's September Auckland Modellers Fair Kit Haul

Hi Woodsy,

The latest fair in Auckland was very successful for me, with a good haul of kits, die-casts, and books. This fair will be moving to a different venue in 2026, so this was the last event in the present hall.

First up, a look at the kits. Mostly aircraft this time.

The star of the day being this vintage Renwal Ballistic Missile Submarine (with firing Polaris missiles !) in a massive 1/200th scale. With interior detail, and 25 inches long, this would be an impressive model built up, although mine will be staying in its box.

A pair of inter-war racing planes – the Laird Solution Racer by Hawk, moulded in bright orange plastic. The kit comes with a pylon for low-level air racing, which acts as a display stand for the completed model.

The Curtiss Racer by Testors, is an ex-Hawk kit. This started out as the R3C-1 with a normal wheeled undercarriage; but it was later changed to the R3C-2 floatplane - moulded in boring old light grey.

The final, 1978 boxing of the Airfix P-38J Lightning from 1958; an early example of the Heller Spitfire Mk.I fighter; the Smer Tiger Moth from the Czech Republic (an ex-Merit kit, still with moulded in national insignia and serial numbers); an assembled AMT Jaguar XKE (E-Type) in the unusual scale of 1/43rd, which is more commonly used for die-casts; and finally an empty box, for the Panda B-52 Stratofortress bomber in 1/320th scale (ex-Fuji, from Japan).

Finally, two boxes of Bayko building bricks, by the Plimpton Engineering Co. Ltd., of Liverpool. The plastic bricks did not inter-lock in the now common manner, but were assembled on to upright metal rods.

This is not a toy I have ever had before, but it looks like fun. The parts are moulded in red, white, green, and light grey.

There was also a largely complete Airfix Fort Sahara (French Foreign Legion) Playfort. Only a few minor pieces were missing, and these are easily replaced – all the walls were there.

Plus a box of assembled small model railway buildings. 

Die-casts will follow in Part 2.

See anything you like?

Paul Adams from New Zealand