Batman's new set o'wheels !

OK, it is from the latest game... But it is a nice design and changes a little from the Tumbler !

Batmobile Arkham Asylum, Hotwheels, Malyasia, 2012

Tezuka's Wonder Boy !

Astroboy, Billiken, Japan, 1990's
(1977 copy)

When you have all the power in the world, you'd better be nice to other human beings... Astoboy was just that... only he was not human, or maybe more so than many of us...

Yamato's IQ-9

Can't fly a spaceship without him...

IQ-9 (windup), Popy, Japan, 1970's

Ulysse in need of a haircut ?

He's back, ready to confront Zeus and all the mythological figures that stand between him and his home...

Ulysse 31 - High Dream, China, 2003

Indians and Cowboys - what happened ?

Musical Horn, ?, Portugal ?, 1960's ?

When I was a kid, I did not grew up only with robots and spacetoys... nope. We had Davy Crocket, Zorro, Rintintin, Bonanza and a lot of other Western-based TV shows. So much so that everytime I found a pigeon's feather on the streets it would end up in my hair somehow.

Nowadays, the genre is dying....

E.T. for you, E.T. for me !

E.T. keyanger, ?, HK ?, 1982

This little fellow is definitely one of the most bootlegged toys I have in my collection. With Lucas making millions, I never quite understood why Spielberg did not follow his lead regarding royalties on copyrighted items... The number of E.T. toys made in the 80ies is quite astonishing...

E.T., ?, HK ?, 1982

E.T. with teeth, ?, HK ?, 1982

E.T. with lighting eyes, ?, HK ?, 1982

More from the China store...

Robots, ?, China, 2000's

Robot, ?, China, 2000's

Robot, ?, China, 2000's

Optimus knock-off, ?, China, 2000's

Harlock now a designer toy ?

Oh no ! They dared...

Ersatz ? Fake ? or just design statement ?

Albatore, Arty Toys, France, 2012

l'Étoile Filante or the real flying Renault...

Follow the star !

What, a turbine engine ?

Are these guys really the same ones that made the 4L ?

Étoile Filante, Eligor, China, 2010's

Voltron knock-off

Aircraft Warrior, ?, China, 2010's

I just love Chinese stores. Where else can you get a Voltron robot for EUR 6.50 nowedays ? OK, it's all plastic, and will probably not withstand one transformation. But then, I usually use these blisters as wall-paper, so who cares ?

Got hosed ?

Robocon Robo Sho, Popy, Japan, 1970's

Here is another one of Robocon's weird friends, Robo Sho. Red as a firetruck and with the hoses to match. And yes, the bell with the heart on its head... nice touch, really !

You'd better having a pirate holding that belt !

Capitan Herlock (belt and buckle), ?, Italy, 1970's

Now, all I need is a pair of suspenders !

one ex - two exes...

Any connection with Montaplex ?

These little plastic spaceships are possibly the tokens for some sort of boardgame... or something that came from a plastic set ? All I know is they are finned and bear the X-mark.

Plastic ships X-12, ?, possibly 1960's

Is it the new Volga ? Nice wings...

OK, the driver has a "CCCP" on it's helmet and Leonid Bresjnev eyebrows... But be certain you can have your ride in any color of the rainbow as long as it is red ! The Party guarantees it ! Going to space is like driving in rush hour through Moscow. You dodge at anything you pass, inlcuding asteroids, satellites and other space debris. And the bodywork ? Going in style - really nothing to do with the funny convertibles NASA got on the moon, naaah.... 

 

Space Car, Knib (?), Russia, 1975

B-52 for space-travel ?

Take a Learjet cabin, V-shaped B-52 wings with 2 turrets at the end (sorry, "wing tip observation platforms") and voila ! Got yourself an Interplanetary Mystery Space Ship that defies gravity ! All for 49 cents! No - in fact you get 2 of them - and they are touted as unbreakable (well, I have heard that before - that's why I had to re-glue a reactor on the blue ship !).

They come with 2 anti-gravity poles (plastic sticks on a base) and due to the weights in the wing's turrets, they will magically teach kids about points of equilibrium and such...

So yes, "mysteriously" floating in a tip of a rope... Definitely a toy from before silicon chips ! High technology - yet highly simple.

Interplanetary Mystery Space Ships, Concordia, USA, 1950's

Matsumoto's WW2 planes...

In the gems of Matsumoto's mangas, there is a little OAV of 3 different stories called "The Cockpit" that just hits the point. Nothing to do with Harlock or any other space pirate, but with the harsh reality of WW2 (as seen obviously from a "Japanese" point of view). These little kits (read - hard to built for bulky fingers) are based on the serie... (even though the skull and crossbones and "Death Herlock" is seen on one of the Me262a - strange !)

Fw190D-9

Mitsubishi A6M5 model 52

Mitsubishi A6M5 model 52 (roll-out)

P-51B

Me262 A

Me262 A

Nakajima KI-43 (?) (training version)

Nakajima KI-43 (?)

Box-Art - is it Herlock ?

Dust-jacket for OAV

Más astronautas caminando sobre la luna ?

They look like spaceman with masks of plague doctors - snouts going to their back-pack and ray-guns to blast the infected ! Oh yes, if the desease hits planet Mars, E.T. will be toast ! They are spanish of origin, and quite unique in toy design ! 

Yes ! we're flat !

Spacemen, MONTAPLEX (or PIPERO ?), Spain, 1960's -70's (?)