The origins of gaming...

Galaxy Invader 1000, Gakken, Japan
1980's

It is nice to go back in time, and this is one of my time machines...

No thrills, just little blue and red LED ships flying over the screen. Way back, this is all we kids had. And it was wonderfull. And it still is... Shinny plastic, cool design, ... and only one big bad-ass red button. Didn't need to read any manual to understand what it did. Sweet !

Bécassine, c'est ma ...

Bécassine is a French "Icône", maybe as much as the Eiffel Tower or the Camembert. Bécassine is a comic strip and the name of its heroine, appearing for the first time in the first issue of La Semaine de Suzetteon February 2, 1905. She is considered the first female protagonist in the history of comics.

Read more about this character here.

Bécassine, Hornby, United Kingdom,
1934 - 1948

The Irish Dandy...

Dandy, ?; ?, 1960's

I have no idea where this plastic/celluloid figurine came from. Charlie McCarthy meets the Green Goblin or something ?

Just from another period where toys could smoke...

Hey, where is Popeye ?

Hail to the King !

1960' - 1970's, Japan

Robot King, Yonezawa, 

Simple design, bug-eyes and a radar instead of a crown... Who's in charge ? He is... Hail to the King !

Zero-X

Zero X, Bandai, Japan, 1960's

 The Thunderbirds TV serie became such a hit that an actual movie was made in 1966, Thunderbirds are Go. This here is the original toy of the Zero-X craft made by Bandai.

All of the other Thunderbird
vehicles also available...

Oh la qui voilà ?

Inspector Gadget, ? (P&M marking - Maia e Borges ?), 1980's,
Portugal ?

Not really a superhero - more like the anti-version of it. But he did have some very cool robotic attachments!
Vaguely copied from Inspecteur Clouseau? Where is Peter Sellers when you need him ?

Police robots... a new way to fight crime ?

Patlabor Ingram robot, ?, China, 2000's

Not very far off from the Japanese version of Robocop... this is the Ingram Robot. Controlled from the inside by specially trained police agents, these robots are the best of the best in law enforcement...

Nekur Space Ship - Jet Oto

Turkish company NEKUR made a number of spacetoys. This is one of them. The "JET OTO" ship came with different colors and numbers on the nose - but all had N.K.880 markings on the side.

Space Ship, Nekur, Turkey, 1960's

Going to Vegas, Baby !

Straight from the Time-Bokan / Yatterman series is this little guy. Remember the fuzzy dice people installed in their cars ? Well, here you have the bot-version. Strangely enough, it even appeared in a Gatchaman spin-off later on !

Yatterman Omotchama Robot, Tatsunoko, Japan,
2014

I'm finally seeing clear...

For all the would-be engineers between us, it is nice to see that beneath each wonderfull mecha design of Go Nagai, there is a very planned structure of how these robots really do work.

Grandizer, Banpresto, 1999, China

Great Mazinger, Banpresto, 1999, China

Mazinger, Banpresto, 1999, China

http://wardo-hayter.tumblr.com/

 

Je n'ai besoin de personne, en Harley Davidson ...

OK, not going to talk about bikes with big V-engines right now. But bikes with two pedals. Much less noise, and really a lot of fun. A "petit clin d'oeil" to the Tour de France going on as we speak.

Since I 'm living in a city with lots of hills, bicycles are not yet really a big thing here in Lisbon. I had to leave my 3-speed 20+ kg bike full of chrome and fenders in Belgium, and head on for something lighter and with a higher number of hill-climbing options (even though, in the end, it all comes down to what you have in your thighs !)

"Bikers", Different makers, ?, France and Belgium ? 1970's

Any pieces missing ?

Captain Harlock, Puzzle, ?, Japan, 1970's

OK, these are easy to make...
But, then again... I am a lazy butt and will keep it MIB, MIP, untouched and what have you not...

Oohhh ! The joys of the freaking collector !

Fresh from China...

Captain America, Decool, China, 2010's

Iron Man, Decool, China, 2010's

Robots or super-heroes ? No one could tell. But what I do know is that these were quite fun to build ! Lego Style ! And you can even combine the two to make a Giant Iron Captain America man somehow... East meets West, and (not so) communist China takes symbols of capitalistic Comic Book culture to sell back to... well, to us !

Thank you Gonçalo for bringing these in !

Little Werner... playing with rockets, again !

The real deal, unfortunately not meant to be filled  only with water or air...(V2 - Peenemunde)

Satelitte was meant to go on top, and would spin down as a helicopter...

V-X Satellit, pump and funnel (below rocket), Bebu, Germany, 1950's

And yes, ... 20 years later men landed on the moon...

Von Braun and Kennedy, watching them fly !

Green with antenas !

Mini Robot (with paper TV screen !)
Hong Kong, 1970's

Sometimes nice things go in small packages... this is one of them. all shinny and chromy. And it is small... and still affordable when you can find one...

Smoking is bad for your health, Yeah !

Turn my antenna baby !

Bender, Rocket USA, China, 2000

... Unless of course your name is Bender and you are one of the most irresponsible robots on the planet. What ? and you drink, too ? I just thought you were not allowed to make toys like this anymore... you know, openly pushing teenagers into smoking and drinking...

Totally socially unacceptable.

For more strange and weird toys check these links :

weirdotoys
digthatbox
cracked

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime, ?, China, 2010's

The crazyness of the Shogun Warriors made way to a whole new bunch of super robots in the 1980's. And the Transformer's line were certainly some of them. Here their leader, mighty Optimus Prime.

You remember the 'toon ?

Going Black and White on the collection...

Iti is really remarkable what black and white can do to otherwise very colorfull objects ! 

Grendizer's Beauty Salon...

Goldrake (shampoo bottle), Aldimport Mestrino,
Italy, 1978

What a nice way to get your kids to have some basic respect for capilar hygiene... Just get the shampoo inside their favorite robot and... voilá !

Once again, Goldrake saved the day !

Hope it was not lead paint... 

... battledamage from H2O ?