Coming home with a bunch of spacemen...

Spacemen, Premier Products, USA, 1952

Waiting for the bus... (Blue bus, Tootsietoy, USA, 1950's)

Spaceman, Premier Products, USA, 1952

These came home with me from the fair yesterday... thanks to the good eye of fellow collector Mr. Carvalho. Obrigado sir !

Hey buddy, there is a siren on your head !

U-5 robot, Daiya, Japan, 1960's

Yes, I have paddle feet and walk like a duck. But behold, my eyes are telescopic scopes ready to blow whoever thinks I'm funny ! I have lost my gear - just an empty shell. Please help me find an organ donor...

Zap. Tin or Plastic ?

Astroray gun, ?, Japan, 1960's

Which one would you choose ? If you had to fight that Alien monster, that is... or the annoying neighbour kid who got all the toys your folks would not buy you... The plastic one is very nice and shiny - and shows how the lazer (hmmm ... sparks) work. Perfect for that would be engineer. The Astroray... well - lots of psychotic spheres painted on it... Oh no! Blurred vision! The Alien gave me blurred vision!

Ray Gun, ?, Japan, 1960's-70's

These boots are made for walkin'

Plastic Robot, Hong Kong (?), 1970's

Hey ! My bellybutton can fly ! And I have horns ! And shooting fists ! And a sticker for a face !

One more knock-off of a long bygone time.

Take the train ...

Maetel, Yellow Submarine, Japan, 1990's

In the sea of stars, travelling is really quite safer if you have her at your side... and that suitcase with a loaded Cosmodragoon gun if needed.

 

Captain Koenig ? Where are you ?

Some spaceships remain iconic, like the X-Wing or the USS Enterprise: Gerry Anderson's shows had a good share of these also : Thunderbirds craft, UFO Interceptors, ... and of course Eagles. And we're not talking about the pop group here...

This is another flea market find. Lots of cleaning needed - and some restauration. I am not even sure of the toy maker - but I guess it may be MPC or Airfix, since they were the companies that made the original kits (and the white plastic was quite yellowish when I bought it - which makes me believe it is really vintage)
The size is larger than the Dinky diecast - and better detailed.

Eagle, MPC/AIRFIX, ?, 1975

Eagle, DINKY TOYS (front) - MPC/AIRFIX (back)

Walkman bot...

Musical Robot, HC, Hong Kong, 1970's

Remember the audio tape ? Yes, that is BEFORE the CD's and MP3 and the like. This bot was born around that time. With headphones and antenas and the works !

Multi-colered parrots ?

Gatchaman rubber figurines, Popy, Japan, 1970's

It's a plane ? It's a parrot ? Oh no, just the very colorfull members of the Gatchaman force.

2nd edition of toy-show in Lisbon

If you don't know what to do next week-end, and you happen to be in Portugal - forget the beaches (it will rain anyway, I'm pretty sure...) Instead - go to Hotel Roma, Avenida de Roma, and visit all the toy-fanatics of the region !

The lady and the buns...

Princess Leia, Kenner, Taiwan, 1977

The hairdoo that Hollywood did not forget. Oh George, what were you thinking about ? Bagels ? Doughnuts ?
Not even Marge Simpson will get to that level. Way to go, Carrie !

Old plastic...

Cosmic Space Set, maker unknown, USA, 1950's

Cosmic Space Set, maker unknown, USA, 1950's

Space Cannon Set, maker unknown, USA, 1950's

Don't know a lot about these. Except they are tiny, and that the rubber bands were soooo dried out I had to replace a bunch of them... There is a "Cosmic / Space train" in this serie also, and maybe a number of other sets with other cards / artwork (but always the same, rocket-shaped card)

Vikings ? nope - spacemen !

Spacemen, Reisler, Denmark, 1950's

Our Nordic tribes also discovered the universe... or so it seems, at least where these come from. In the country of Hans Christian Andersen, these came around.

Notice the cool joint at shoulder level on the rigt arm. Do this on all 4 limbs and you got an action figurine... Maybe here is the missing link after all !

Spacemen, Reisler, Denmark, 1950's

Spielberg Candy

Did our favorite Alien switch of candy-maker ? Wasn't he supposed to like M&M's ? Strange...

E.T. PEZ, Hungary, 2000's

Before the age of cell-phones

Space Phones, Hale-Nass Corp. NY, USA, 1953

Space Phones (detail), Hale-Nass Corp. NY, USA, 1953 

Space Phones (detail of badge), Hale-Nass Corp. NY, USA, 1953

It's Steve Job's new Iphone number 18 ? Nope... It's not a Nokia or a Blackberry either. It's from a time where there were no SMS's - no e-mails... not even at NASA.

But what a sleek design (ordinary phones were made of bakelite at that time !) Really ideal if you want to chat with neighbour kids or if you want to bake pancakes...

Who do you call ?

Ecto 1, left Hotwheels (Mattel) Malaysia , 2009 - right ? (possibly ERTL) 1989, China

For all the geeks among us. 2 Ecto ones... no slime attached...

Comansi Spacemen - futurism made in Spain.

To illustrate one of the many companies that produced toys in neighbour Spain, I present you some of the plastic Space / Astronaut / Thunderbirds figurines. The design is fabulous. Please read more about this here: http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.pt/2012/04/beans-grits-and-tracy-boys.html#comment-form. The astronauts I got all have "OVNI" and a number "2000, 2001, ..." printed on the base. The figurines from the Thunderbirds (bigger heads - easily recognizable) do not have markings.

Astronaut, Comansi, Spain, 1960's

The nice thing about these figurines is that they came in a variety of sets and boxes, and that collectors are finding very interesting mixtures of sets - even including cowboys and indians... Some more expensive sets (Thunderbirds window boxes / UFO etc.) had them even hand-painted. Please see the astronauts sold in "Battle of the Planets" packaging here... http://geoffstoys.blogspot.pt/2011/10/jecsan-batalla-de-los-planetas.html

Brother - brother ? Robot - robot ?

These 2 are from the same period - the same country - but definitely false twins. This is why Japanese toys are so interesting ! The basic character is the same. But molds, colours etc. are all different. The Bullmark version (orange) is articulated at waist level. The red one at head and arms... A third version exist, all diecast metal, made by Bullmark (Zinclon toy-range) that has little dice in the belly ! No need to go to Vegas anymore...

Curricula Machine, left unknown,
right Bullmark, Japan, 1974 

Curricula Machine, ?,
Japan, 1974 

Curricula Machine, Bullmark,
Japan, 1974 

Jack Sparrow ? Buck Rogers ? hmmmm...

For all that futuristic weapons are worth - this one comes straight from a very colourfull steampunk movie...

It seems as your over-the-counter regular Ray-Gun, but it's made from old barrels of rhum. Yes ! yes... Does anyone know what that flame-type character is on the handle ? Esso ?

Gun, unknown, USA, 50's or 60's

The Soyuz kid...

Cosmonaut, ?, Romania ?, 1960's ?

Cosmonaut, detail of backpack...

Well, now you know. The secret soviet space program? A big kindergarden in orbit.

Why do all Russian spacetoys have kid's faces? And why are all the cosmonauts I find from over there always made of the same flesh-coloured plastic? Well, at least this one has jointed arms and legs.

Yuri Gagarin with his cosmonaut crew...

Persplex cockpit and matching lipstift...

It's pink and has a bubble - but it's not Lady P's Rolls - just a friction space racer made in HK...

Going to Mars, Barbie ?

This toy was based/copied from an original Renwal toy (USA)

Champion Spacecar, TAT, Hong Kong, 1960's

One Harlock ersatz? knock-off? aftermarket? bootleg? Pirated pirate?

Captain Harlock, unknown, ?, 1970's

This one is difficult. No, it is not the Fabianplastica made in Italy PVC figurine. It's a couple of mm. taller.

Also, the paint job is done with very poor (read: not surviving time) kinds of colors...

Anyone can help ? I have already some people saying this could be from the HEIMO company... The only marking is a big C in a circle on its back.

Captain Harlock, left : Fabianplastica, Italy. right ?
1970's

It's a skull ! No, a robot ! No, it's GAIKING !

Gaiking, Popy, Japan, 1970's

Gaiking (box), Popy, Japan
1970's

Gaiking was Toei Animation's first super robot series not based on an existing manga (the company's previous super robot anime Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, etc. were based on manga series by manga artist and writer Go Nagai). Even so, Go Nagai confirmed that the original idea was his. Toei studios did not want to pay royalties, so they kept him in the dark.

Really Bad-ass !

Zarkies

7 Zark 7, Magneto France (left) and Jecsan (Spain) right,
1970's

The Battle of the Planets license went all the way through Spain - and the Spanish version of Gatchaman's aka Battle of the Planets little robot had a cape - and was all by all much more ressembling than its French magnetic counterpart.