There has been a large disturbance in the force at the check-out lines of the "Continente" (group Sonae) supermarkets here in Portugal lately. They got the Star Wars franchise to offer a number of freebees (Topps cards, pillows and more - see here) . My favorites ? These little Bustz figurines. (24 ones to collect). Which one is your favorite ?
This figurine of Captain Harlock was found at the last "feira do brinquedo" here in Lisbon. Is it a one- off or another paintscheme used here in Portugal ? I don't recall having seen blue pants on any Italian Fabianplastica... (see the monochromatic version and the normal "paintscheme" here)
Captain Harlock, Fabianplastica Italy 1979 (painted in Portugal ?)
In my eternal search for the weird and ugly and kitsch, these ones I could not let pass... It kind of shows how a Japanese cultural icon is translated in South America. Blown plastic. Cheap. But really... who cannot enjoy a fluo Godzilla ?
Every sci-fi hero had to have a soulmate to travel through space. Flash Gordon had Dale Arden, and Buck Rogers had Wilma Deering. This one here has the design of the 1930's serials. Behold ! Armies of Killer Kane !
Portugal did not make a lot of Sci-Fi based toys, but this one is a rare exception. It is listed in the book "O Brinquedo em Portugal" from Carlos Anjos and João Arbués Moreira (see bibliography) in the section of 1961/1970 toys - as "Carro Espacial - desconhecido" (Space Car - maker unknown). It is 22cm long and came in different color schemes (some with the top "cockpit" part in a different color of plastic - some with the torpedo tubes painted red instead of black etc.)
Was it a copy of another existing toy ? If you have some information on this please let me know.
A big thank you to the fellow toy-collector who helped me get this one into my collection !
Well, guess where I was this Saturday ? With my kid and all my fellow nerds at Comic Con, of course! With cosplayers, otaku, geeks, gamers and fans from the far realms of the kingdom of coolness!
