About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Monday, January 19, 2009

T is for Thunderbird's are GO!

The best lumpy jerky stringed puppets ever! Hell the Americans loved it so much they let Hollywood screw it up with a lousy sequel/movie thing!

21st Century Toys, a company similar to Blue Box but working exclusively in the larger scales and with TV/Movie related stuff produced this, along with plastic models of T2, T3 and Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce. This is a bit tatty, but it still works!

This is the approximately 1:48th scale Tracy (Dick? ha Ha!) I neither know or care which, that lives for ever at a time, by himself in a space ship not much bigger than a long-wheelbase high-top Transit van! I hope he's got satellite TV!

These are the figures made for Kellogg's and Tom Smith by Crescent Toys. Lady P and one of the Tracy's are missing. The Tom Smith one's came in a set of 12 Christmas/Party crackers and were available for some time, and seem to have survived in larger numbers than the Kellogg's ones.

The only difference between them is that the base-plate on a three-block mould was changed for each contract. The markings are also inverted on one set, the above is a photograph of two Parker's - both facing the same way.

A few other bits and pieces I had in a tub of general space stuff, the top one is from a recent set of Carlton Toys, I think the Orange one is as well. The small T4 is a modern re-make of the old Dinky toys one, the two at the bottom are some sort of premium, issued about ten years ago to tie-in with some TV/Video/DVD/Satellite/Cable release/re-release/Digital remaster....Oh whatever!

The whole tie-in industry is - to plagiarise the immortal words of Andy Warhol - eating itself, it's got so hard to keep up with the endless issuing of regurgitated pap, wannabe classics, remastered shite, directors cuts and whatever that it's fruitless trying to keep up. Add 'Buy to Collect' or 'Adult Collectables' to the mix and you begin to see why the planet is in danger of being totally destroyed by the wants of needy people and the wish of the marketing men to serve those greed's!

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