Join the Empire ! And be all you wanna be...

Do you know who's who ? We have :

1. Bikerscout
2. Snowtrooper
3. Imperial Gunner
4. At-At driver
5. Death Squad Commander
6. Stormtrooper
7. Imperial Commander
8. At-At Commander

Armoured Command Car

Armoured Command Car, Dinky Toys, England,
1970's

"Designed by Gerry Anderson" ... at least that is what says the box. I don't recall seeing this vehicle in any SPACE 1999 or Thunderbirds or UFO movie. But the car looks at least like it fits right in. A number of rotations to the radar dish and the front of the car opens and sparks get out. Nice at night...

"Il était une fois l'Espace"

Era uma vez o Espaço (figurinas), Maia e Borges, Portugal,
1983

Another cartoon, this one going a little deeper into human condition, future prospects and the creation of the universe. "Il était une fois l'Espace" followed another multi-country success series "Il était une fois l'homme". Even though it was a French cartoon (Procidis company), other countries like Italy, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Israel participated all in the production.

What made it quite interesting is that it became a multicultural and equalitarian cartoon with "progressist" themes and ideas. For example, Psi, (middle of image) was black - quite unheard of for a cartoon character (and protagonist) of a 80'ies TV serie. Even the president of the republic of planet Omega was a woman, democratically elected...

Great Mazinger, Go !

Great Mazinger, Popy, Japan,
1970's

Go Nagai was, no doubt about it, the father of all Super Robots in Japan. He got us Grandizer (aka Grendizer, Goldorak or Goldrake) Getter Robot, Jeeg, Groizer X, Gaiking etc.

But it is definitely with Mazinger and later Great Mazinger that he got it started. Strangely enough, while this robot was well known in Spain and Italy, where the series aired with astounding succes, in France it came as late second, after "Goldorak" - and was seen there as a pale imitation.

Outside of Europe, it hit a big following in lots of Spanish countries of Central and South America (where it was shown uncut / uncensored). In the States, it aired under the name TRANZOR Z but heavily modified to be "acceptable" by US standarts. (Go Nagai's work was regarded, even in Japan, as controversial / erotic to some point).

Before Jurassic Park...

Dinosaur Gun, Witty Toys, Hong Kong,
1970's

Dinosaurs have always been in the imagenary world of many generations. This gun here is a mixture of Sci-Fy mixed with Paleonthologisms... You have to love the plastic with the clear window, that lets you see how the toy works - and the spikes on the barrel (just like on a Tyranosaurus Rex's back ?)

Goofy faced space-boy

Space boy Maximino, Juguetes FEBER, Spain,
1970's

Sometimes a toy just has all the charm of the world. This spaceman / astronaut with freckles from Alicante (Spain) is a dancing (= windup) toy. From the TV serie los Televicentes.

My favorite spaceman... now has spaceships !

These 2 plastic ships are Portuguese - no markings, but presumably by OSUL, just like the spaceman. The yellow and red one (with the spring inside ?) reads: "Valverde" - "MARINHA GRANDE". They go perfectly together with the blue astronaut (see previous posts)

Spaceman and spaceship, OSUL (?),
Portugal, 1950's -60's

Vader's boss.

The Guard, the Dignitary and finally the master chief of evil himself - el imperador ! They really love wearing monk's robes at the dark side, don't they ? Fashion statement for the Sith ? Hmmm - that's not a Hugo Boss suit, that's for sure...

Empreror Palpatine, Kenner,
(Taiwan ?), 1984

Imperial Dignitary, Kenner,
(Taiwan ?), 1984

Imperial Guard, Kenner, Taiwan,
1983

Before the A-TEAM... somewhere in Metropolis

Why does Clark Kent need a van ? Just like the bike issue... Superman can fly for heaven's sake... He is faster than a speeding bullet and can outrun a train !

I think that Corgi needs to apologize to all the geeks between us. You just don't have Kent driving a Chevy van. B.A Barracus maybe. Clark Kent definitely not. And the lab ? with a TV screen ? why needed when you have supervision ?

Chevrolet Van (detail - Superman's lab), Corgi, Gt.Britain,
1970's

Chevrolet Van (detail - Superman's lab), Corgi, Gt.Britain,
1970's

Chevrolet Van, Corgi, Gt.Britain,
1970's

R2, you shouldn't be so polite,this little rebel is going to be late...

 This, and some other robotic catch phrases (let me re-phrase this : beeps from ARTOO and annoying remarks from THREEPIO), is what makes this alarm clock so great !

STAR WARS Alarm clock, Bradley, Japan + HK,
1980

Another pink robot ? Nope ! It's a ZAKU !

Gundams had their evil nemesis also.

These oponents would prove very hard to vanquish... and would become as recognizable as the Gundam robots themselves.

Gundam Chogokin GD-20 MS-06S Zaku
(Char Custom), Bandai, China, 1999 

Where's the Honey Baby ?

For the sake of nostalgy (and to prove that I don't only collect robots and spaceships) a little flashback to our wonder years.

Willy (left) and Maya (right), Brintois, Portugal,
1970's

I think this cartoon has aired in about every single country I lived in. So it should touch the memories of thousands of you. The Adventures of Maya the Bee (German: Die Biene Maja) first started as a book, written by Waldemar Bonsels (German) and published in 1912. Here the Fench intro-song.

I copy you, you copy me...

Plastic Space gun, ?, Macau,
1960's (in background Space Outlaw gun)

Plastic Space gun, ?, Macau,
1960's

When a design is that good - it has to be used again, doesn't it ? Not a 100% copy (longer scope, vertical bars instead of horizontal ones on top of barrel) but a very close match. Even the rocket and the stars on the grip are identical...

Sagittarius robot, Son Ai Toy, Taiwan,

1980's

Sagittarius robot (detail),  Son Ai Toy, 
Taiwan, 1980's

Some plastic robots are really weird looking. This is one of them. Viking stickers - cool helmet. I don't know if it had a rider or not. Maybe a shield and a sword in both hands...

Like father... like son

Donald Campbell's Bluebird, Everife toys, Hong Kong,
1970's

Whe would they paint this car orange ? The original was blue - blue like Bluebird... Also not there is the plane-like back fin that was used for the speed record of 1963-64.

Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird...

Wooden wheels and paintloss,
but what a toy !

Bluebird, A.R., France,
1935-36 (?)

In the craziness between the two wars, people were pushing the envelope of just how fast they could go, both in the air, on land or on the water... Sir Campbell was one of those "lunatics", beating speed record after speed record. How did he do it ? Improving on his vehicles - and using bigger and better engines all the time. The first Bluebird car was raced using a Napier-Lion engine, but this model (rebuilt car in 1931) had a powerful Rolls-Royce R V12 engine with supercharger. On 3 September 1935 the speed of 300 mph was achieved (about 480 km/h) on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.

Tragically, it is about at around the same speed that his son, Donald Campbell, would die in 1967 - but this time on water... See http://www.sirmalcolmcampbell.com/sirrecord.html for the list of all speed records of the time.

All that shines is not gold...

In the days before CGI (Computer generated images) a real actor had to go in a suit and do whatever was needed to cast his/her role. This post is dedicated to one of these "men behind the mask", Anthony Daniels.

Without them, no original Star Wars would have ever existed...

C3PO (12"), General Mills, Hong Kong,
1978

Fritz Lang's Maria, Metropolis
She was inspirational for the overall design of C3PO

Weirdos from outer space

Keychain - ? - Hong Kong,
1970's

Rubber flubber on spacebike with suction thingy, ?, Hong Kong,
1970's

Sometimes toys are so weird they just get appealing... This is the case for these 2 little gems. Spacemen ? maybe... Aliens? more probably so. No idea who made them - but they certainly let their imagination go whack ! (or maybe smoking some mushroom from a foreign planet....hmmm)

Alien charm, ?, Hong Kong, 1970's

First TOYfair in Lisbon

The first Toy fair in Lisbon happened last weekend. While the space and the expositors are not the ones found in Paris or Brussels, it was nevertheless a good start - with lots of public coming in (entrance was free) and some nice toys on display.

Also to note was a good job from the 501st Star Wars legion - Portugal, who were responsible for promoting the whole event on the streets surrounding hotel Roma.

Warning ! Rocket transporter ...

Rocket whistle, SPEC TOY products,
USA, 1950's

Truck, Reliable, Canada, 1950's

These 2 toys were never sold together... but they sure look nice as a set.

Blasters or rainbow ?

Rayguns, ?, China,
1990's

If you need to fight crime in the galaxy, why not add a little color to your daily routine ? To be joyfull, at least...