Guardianes del Espacio - PART II

Madre Dios ! Los Chicos Tracy did it again and saved the day, thanks to their wonderfull craft. Here is Spanish version of the JR21 TB-2 model by MOLTO.

There was a jeep with this set, and not a TB-4 as, let's say, the Dinky version. However, the car you see here coming out of the pod is not the corect one (should be a greyish Landrover with red wheels).

Thunderbird 2, Molto, Spain, 1970's

Cruizin' till the Chrysler Building...

Futuristic Coupe, Manoil, USA, 1930's

And another futuristic 30ies design, this one from the USA... Maybe Dick Tracy had one of these...

... and back fin to keep up with modernism !

Art Deco front grill !

Cars from that time had a separate
chassis, just like the real thing !

Geschwindichkeit

It's a torpedo on rails ? A flying Cigar ?

Railzeppelin (Deutsche Reichsbahn) 3477, Märklin,
Germany, 1995 

Streamlined like a Shinkansen (=Japanese bullet train)...
...but in 1931 !

When Germany entered the 2nd WW, they left a number of extremely futuristic inventions unfinished. All production had to go to destroying lives instead of giving a better future.

This rotor-propelled locomotive was one of these incredible projects. Here is what I found on the web... 

"Airplane Technology on Rails. In the Twenties of the previous century, aeronautical engineer Franz Kruckenberg, born in Uetersen, Germany in 1882, had the vision of fast railroad passenger service with propeller-driven railroad cars. The plans developed by him were based on lightweight airplane technology and reached their peak on June 21, 1931 in a triumphant record run by his streamlined Rail Zeppelin. It reached 233 km/h / 146 mph, a speed record for powered railroad cars that stood for 23 years. The principle of propeller-driven railroad cars proved to be less than ideally suited during test runs. Yet, Kruckenberg laid the foundation for modern, lightweight high speed rail cars with the Rail Zeppelin and axle-powered successor designs developed by him. The Rail Zeppelin was and still remains a legend and synonym for the rapid progress in railroad technology that has reached its peak in the present with the current high speed powered rail car train technology "

Detail of rotor

Nowedays the only way to see one of these is in miniature on a railroad. This Märklin model (Sonder Serie / special edition) is pretty neat, and it has a silver-plated propellor that was quite nicer looking than the usual 4-bladed orange rotor on earlier models.

At low power, only the rotor begins to spin. Increase a little speed and the whole locomotive moves. Sweet !

The real one. Metal structure.

Copycats... Kuckenberg on wheels !

This loc was a superstar at its time...

Like the TGV or ICE, but built without computers.

No need for water ! (we're still in the steam age !)

For Neil...

One of my heroes passed away today. I hope he will continue to make people dream, wherever he is.

U.N.C.L.E.

The movies had 007. The little screen got the message and needed spies. Quickly. Deadly. Ian Flemming (yes, the one...) and co-producer Norman Felton quickly got their act together and created a new show called U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcment). Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin would play the good guys - with lots of cold war-era espionnage stories to tell...

Oh yes,... do you remember the oranization of the evil-doers ? hehe... T.H.R.U.S.H.! (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity) What a cool name. If one day I create an evil organization I need at the very least to top that !

The real thing, based on a Piranha
chassis with Corvair engine
(the car - look at the car !)
http://sports.racer.net/chassis/piranha/index.htm

The agents...

The toy... Husky, Great Britain, 1970's

Like all spy-cars, it had a secret function...
bonnet / hood pops open for missile to fly.
Having figurines (painted!) in such a small
toy shows the attention to details this toy
was made with.

Rob's friends...

Robo Ton, Popy,
Japan, 1970's

Robo Gari,Popy,
Japan, 1970's

Robo Waru, Popy,
Japan, 1970's

 More Goofy robots from the Japanese Robocon serie - enjoy !

Robomaru

Robomaru (diecast), Popy, Japan, 1970's

This is another robot for the "kiss me, I'm cute - Hall Of Fame" - Robomaru's face was made out of links that would move to morph his expressions.

Triple nine...

Going with the railroad to the stars? Don't forget to pack your Cosmodragoon. Triple nine won't be waiting for you - so hurry up and don't forget your ticket! At the end of the line? Immortality - but no humanity.

GE999 locomotive, Popy, Japan, 1979

GE999 scene (Gashapons), Banpresto, China, 2004

Really nice little diorama, but why 2 Maetels ?

The scene consists of 5 different boxes - one for each figurine

Don't touch - no sign needed.

Toros D7, Bandai HG collection, China 2010's

One of Go Nagai's monsters. Basically an old oil container with spikes and legs. Looks scary. And pointy. And lethal...

Know your droids...

Do YOU know them all ?

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

High Speed, Low Drag !

DX Gattiger Combination Go!!, CEPPI RATTI (Popy copy), Italy,
1980's  

This cartoon never aired in France - but the vehicles remain great. This was all before Transformers folks !

A big little ship... the COSMOLINER !

Captain Future Cosmoliner DX, Popy, Singapore, 1980

If the Comet ("Cyberlabe" in French) was OK to explore galaxies, the Cosmoliner ("Cosmolem") was the spaceraft used to search and travel shorter distances within a planet's atmosphere (a little like the shuttle in Star Trek leaving the enterprise). Much swifter than it's big brother - but of the same design. It came with the  figurines that were sold separately in the 3 heroes set (see: http://geoffstoys.blogspot.pt/2011/10/captain-future-comet-all-plastic-but.html)

Popy catalogue with ordering slip, 1980 (source unknown)

The 3 heroes... also available separately in a box.

 

Big ship, with 2 seats, just like in the cartoon...

Honeymesh reactors

cockpit details