Space Lab

The 70ies were not only missions to the moon. In the meantime, NASA continued to study space with their SKYLAB program. Not long afterwards, Japanese toy-makers jumped on the opportunity to create new versions of tin toy rockets - lab included.

See more about Skylab here.

Space Lab, Alps, Japan, 1970's

baby Atom

How cute can cute be ? Yes - it is a rhetorical question. And for Tezuka's wonder-boy, definitely very up-to-date. This is all about KAWAII people (if you don't know what Kawaii is, google it up !)

Atom 001, Tezuka Moderno Labo, Organic,
China, 2010's

X-Or

Space Sheriff Gavan (X-OR), Popy, Japan, 1982

This one comes from one of the many Japanese Sci-Fy shows we got to see in France. The music was really cool on this one...

Greenland vs America

Hulk and Cap'n A, unknown, China, 2010's

Yes, sometimes I feel green too... 

And my name ain't Dr. Banner :)

Great fair !

Here some pics of the toyfair we had in Lisbon and some of the items to be found... Always nice to be around people that have the same "toy" virus...

The Batman

No missile tubes ?

When the Batmobile was still just a normal "car"... Bats was looking like this :

Dark

wire in the cape ? coooool !

1939 Batman, Masterpiece edition,
Chronicle Books, 2000

Already a Bat-belt and a Batarang ?

Number 2 on the list of all time superheroes (after Superman) - he didn't even have his own comic to start with, but appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939.

Without any "real" superpowers, this vigilante soon became all that the eternal boyscout was not: bitter, revengefull, violent and dark... but also more human because of that.

Zeroids à la japonnaise...

Rubber Zeroid ?  Yeah, why not. Let's do them in bright orange too... They will sell better that way !

Orange robot, ?, Japan, 1960's-70's (?)

Somebody please help... my
japanese is very weak.

all that shines... is Chinese and goes to space !

Shen 5 rocket and module (lighters), China,
2010's

OK, not technically toys (these are even forbidden to be sold under EU law because... hmmm they look like toys and kids can burn themselves, or their house, or learn to smoke or something else nasty...) But for me, they represent all the bling and shine of a nation that, well yes, is going to be the decision center of the world pretty soon. So let's all start to learn Mandarin or Cantonese, shall we ? Then we can all go and sing under the stars...

Shenzhou 5 (simplified Chinese: 神舟五号; traditional Chinese: 神舟五號; pinyin: shénzhōu wǔ hào) — was the first human spaceflight mission of the People's Republic of China (PRC), launched on October 15, 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (later, Russia) and the United States. More about the chinese space program here... The rocket was named after Hsue-Shen Tsien or H.S. Tsien - source : Wikipedia.

For Flash and Buck, when they were kids and went to school...

It´s a Raygun ?

So tiny ?

Ray-Gun pencil sharpener, Admiration, USA, 1950's 

Toyfair Lisbon - 20 of April 2013.

A great place to be on the 20st ! Will I see you there ?

Ultraman

Anyone with a fetish for latex ? The actors filming these episodes did not have an easy job...

Ultraman figurine (hard plastic), ?

Some heroes acquire immediate fame - others are just for a few. Ultraman was very popular in Japan - but unfortunatelly not so much over here in Europe. Some diehard fans collect only Ultraman toys.
I have only one, and it is rather small... Different versions, masks and costumes existed, each new season modifying a little the version from the season before...

Lifesize statue at Museu do Oriente in
Lisbon

It's Sparky !

Lots of modern reproductions of toys are found nowadays, but few with attention to litho and details like the old toys. This one is an exception...

Sparky robot, Ichiko, Japan, 1990's

Great Litho and metallic smile !

Damn you ! Where is my gun ?

Mini SD Gundiam with flyingsuit, Bandai, Japan, 2000's

Itsy bitsy Gundam that felt into the marmit when it was young ... Then became a lethal robot full of blades and laserswords and other "don't you touch me" features...

Legend Gundam, Bandai Japan, 2006

Yellow and red bip... like a banana with strawberies bipbip...

Radar Robot, ?, Hong Kong, 1970's

See here for the other cousins of the radar familly !

I guess there are quite a lot of variations in color, antena, face etc. The early ones are marked "made in Japan" - the later ones were made in HK.

Dairugger knock-off

It's big and all plastic.Another famous bootleg from our Chinese friends (or: how to buy a Godaikin without going bankrupt...)

Dairugger, ?,China, 1990's

I have a sword !

Dragun

Dragun, Mattel - Popy, Japan, 1978

This is another cool Shogun Warrior. Not only does he shoot his fists, but he can do this with a hatchet also. Yes, we were trained to be serial killers in the 70ies. Our toys did that to us, Mr. judge !