That's not a plane... THAT'S A PLANE !

Ready to slice through thin air ?

Sometimes the absurd becomes beauty, and this was certainly the case with this bird. An experiment on how countries could work together to make dreams come true. A show off for technological acheivements and nations, just like the Zeppelins in the 20ies.

The Concorde was faster than anything you could fly 40 years ago when it first showed its nose... and it is still faster (2.5 times faster) than any comercial plane you could fly today. And it flew much higher than the others... so less air = less turbulance.

Ambientalists ? They cried (fuel consumption of 20 thousand liters of kerosine per hour, big bad boom each time it passed the sound barrier)...

The trully wealthy ? They cheered (Paris / New York in 3h30) because they actually could afford the ticket.

Concorde, ?, Hong Kong, 1980's

For the little story, originally it was not supposed to have any "passenger" windows on the sides. (lighter, better structural integrity) But after some studies it seemed that passengers needed visual recognition points... so they altered the design.

The YAMATO gun...

Yamato Space gun, Popy, Japan, 1970's

I collect space guns and Leji Matsumoto's heroes, and it is nice to have a toy that fit in both categories. Maybe the strangest space gun ever - but it has all the details of the Yamato space ship - and it takes a battery and makes space sounds !

yes, battery goes in the grip.

Boxart is very nice !

Back

Turret detail

White is the color !

Astronaut, ?, 1970's

What does a spaceman look like after laundry day ? Well...

For the info, space suits like the EVA are white to reflect heat so the astronaut doesn't get too warm. And they are really visible against the black background of space... Very logical, yes ?

Jingle Bells !

What better way than August to remember colder seasons.... If Astro was Santa, no need for reindeers ! Or sleigh....!

Astroboy, ?, China, 2010's

I have Pom-poms !

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 !