ARE YOU GOING TO ALPHA:2014?

While blogging and social media are always a good place to converse with like - minded folk, to my mind nothing beats meeting people in real life and mingling in the convention environment.

Obviously, for some people this is just not their thing, and of course its not always possible for some people to attend these events for all sorts of reasons, even though they'd love to. But, in my experience (my first con was Fanderson '81)  for those who do attend it can be a super and memorable experience.

This year I've been lucky enough to attend the mega Andercon convention and the 2nd excellent Cosford Anderson Expo. My next outing will be next month at Alpha: 2014, which proposes to be one of the biggest Space 1999 conventions to date here in Britain .

http://www.alpha2014.co.uk/home.html

According to this flyer there's certainly a large number of guests attending, one or two I've not seen before.

There also promises be the usual excellent model display exhibited by those talented chaps belonging to All Sections Alpha.

Will the future be fantastic?

I'll let you know next month!

Generation SPACEX - Space Station

 SPACE STATION

NUCLEAR PULSE

Spacex Stage One - Space Station was the second part of the Triang fleet, featuring one Major vehicle, the amazing Nuclear Pulse and four standard vehicles. The Pulse remains my favourite Spacex ship throughout the available series, to date.

ROCKET SHIP HAWK

SUPPLY FORCE MERCURY

RECONNAISANCE 2

NEEDLE PROBE

The Hawk example here has taken a beating, but after decades worth of play, its hardly surprising this fragile and delicate ship appears in one piece. The swing wing mechanism is often damaged and the twin canard fins and thin nose are usually first to go. The R2 is shown with a common colour variation, which usually appears in the american Golden Astronaut line.

From Little Acorns

At this point, I think its worth reflecting back to a time before the blog, in the late 90's, when my first tentative steps on the internet were primarily to discover more about my favourite toys; Spacex and Project SWORD. In the first few hours of being online, I discovered a tantalisingly comprehensive page covering everything I was looking to discover. Most importantly, it gave me the name of a fellow enthusiast, Mr P Woods.

Although Woodsys early checklist was spartan in the extreme (no pictures!!) it did help me get an idea of the full extent of both the Spacex and SWORD lines. Shortly after discovering the page, I made contact with Woodsy and the rest as they say is history.

But for now, take a look at Woodsys original magnum opus (although not the very first edition, its the only surviving example) and see the roots from which the blog eventually sprung.

http://www.danefield.com/alpha/misc/sword.htm

(Incidentally, any contact addresses and emails are now defunct - some of the values are a little off the mark too..)

Generation SPACEX - Earth Base

Of all the space toys that have ever been made, Triang Spacex will always be my firm favourite. From the day I received my first Space Patrol 1 back in 1969, to the present, I have never lost interest in the series. Before the advent of the Internet and a whole new sphere of influence came into play, I assumed that any chance of finding new or replacement models for my ailing fleet had long gone. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and I now look forward to owning a complete set of all the production models one day! Meanwhile, Woodsy and myself thought it would be good to just have a brief overview of the first series of models, using Woodsys collection to get a complete idea of what each model looks like.

Some of the toys are battered and damaged, one or two have been repaired and some have repro parts, but all have been played with and enjoyed.

So for now and in advance of a definitive checklist for the blog, which I will post shortly, lets look at some fabulous toy designs!

SPACEX STAGE ONE

The series was laid out as four separate sections, Earth Base, Space Station, Moon Base and Outer Space Travel, each having four small toys and a Spacex Major model. Outer Space Travel had an additional standard model in lieu of a fourth Major.

EARTH BASE

MOBILE LAUNCH PAD

TRACTOR T5

FORKLIFT 7

HELICOPTER P3

These four iconic models can all be traced to their design origins in various strips in TV21. The Mobile Launch Pad, one of the most complex toys in the series, is missing two small bridges on the gantry and sports a reproduction command capsule. The Tractor T5 is one of the more commonly occuring vehicles, often found without the cord and hook. Forklift 7 is an oddly robust little vehicle, and Helicopter P3 very often appears with damaged or missing rotors.

Spacex Space Station to follow soon..

DOCTOR WHO -THE AFTER PARTY

Now most of us have seen the opening episode of the new series, I've been checking out what other fans think. There's a few spoilers in this so if you haven't seen it yet go and watch it.

While most of the professional critics, broadly speaking give it a thumbs up, a lot of the self appointed experts on all things Who are a little more reserved on their judgement.

Well, as a medieval monk, John Lydgate once famously said, '.. you can't please all the people all the time', and while I can't begin to address the self appointed experts' concerns, I think that for me, regardless of whether elements of effects or story etc. are good or bad there must be a lead actor in the role who I feel is right.

I do confess I really did enjoy the opening episode and was keen to see Peter Capaldi's interpretation of The Doctor. As I've said in previous posts my personal preference is to see an older actor play the part, and found 'Matty watty' Smith's antics quite juvenile. Obviously, his tenure as The Doctor appealed to a lot of fans, especially female ones it would seem  who, quite bizarrely, found him attractive! The same people probably felt the same about David Tennent. They may well have felt the same about Christopher Eccleston, I don't know.

So,on  to yesterday's story. Regeneration episodes I've seen over the years are usually a little chaotic as everyone tries to find their feet, and 'Deep Breath' was no exception. There was a few things I found a bit  dodgy. Returning character Madame Vastra who's able to wander through Victorian London clearly accepted by the Victorian public as someone who has a rather nasty facial  disfigurement. I suppose if you've got the Elephant man, a crime-fighting lesbian lizard ninja  is a stroll in the park.

Clara, quite naturally looked a bit confused. Her young dashing Doctor had turned into an old senile Scotsman before her eyes. But after Matty Watty's Doctor phoned her from the past,  it all became totally clear to what she had to do - and, no doubt  to all the Matty Watty fans who were mourning his passing. I'm not sure why we had to endure this daft cameo as I've every confidence in Peter eventually making the role his own.

And to the star, Peter Capaldi. As I said before regeneration stories are there to experiment with the character. Things haven't quite fallen into place yet as Peter's Doctor begins to form. There were comic moments.

Doctor: "I'm going to have to relieve you of your pet"  
Coach Driver: "You're what? 
Doctor: "Shut up, I was talking to the horse!"

In fact The Doctor told quite a few people to shut up throughout the episode. Will this be a plot point in a future episode, we'll have to wait and see. Seriously, there was a few intriguing story points that will develop into part of the story arc - the Doctor's choice of face for instance.

There was the usual 'Doctor to the rescue moment, as he ripped off his disguise, a mask made of skin,  to save Clara from certain death at the removable hand of the baddie.

And finally to the baddies themselves, described by the Doctor as 'The Rubbish Robots from the Dawn of Time'. They were first seen in the David Tennent episode, The Girl in the Fireplace, a particular favourite of mine.

Actually they looked pretty good to me, quite scary, and their leader,  the grotesque Half-Face Man was very effective, visually. Although to be fair the most disturbing scene was the ninja lizard woman giving  a full open mouth kiss to her 'wife' under the guise of first aid!

Actually, I do make these comments with, my tongue firmly in my cheek. Its not easy to put together a mega popular show like this and there's a lot of time, work and effort gone into it to get it right.

I'm sure Peter Capaldi has the abillities and talent to be a popular choice, and I'm wishing him and team around him all the best - and lets not forget, next week's episode features Daleks!

 

The Doctor will see you now.

Well my verdict. Peter Capaldi is The Doctor!

YOU AND WHO'S ARMY

Come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough!
Here's to Peter Capaldi, lets hope he manages to lift Dr Who back up into the annals of scifi greatness. Who has gone downhill recently with Matt Smith and a smattering of pointless celebrity actors, not to mention silly storylines.

So sonic screwdrivers crossed, heres hoping we have another Pertwee/Baker/Troughton Doctor to look forward to!

ps - Holy Remakes! Johnathan Frakes schmaltzy reimagining of Thunderbirds The Movie is on Tv, just before Dr Who - is that a bad sign ?

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU SOON

Well, the big day is here, and everybody waits in anticipation for the return of the Doctor!

Will it be worth it? 

Felix thinks so!