ACTION FIGURE BONANZA - PART THREE...

Four more action figures for you, Criv-ite chums.  And you're wrong, you haven't seen that SUPERMAN figure in a previous batch, because that's a different figure with a different face.  Did you have an ACTION MAN when you were a kid?  Of course you did - most kids had at least one.  You'll therefore probably be surprised to learn that this Action Man isn't for kids - read what it says on the bottom of the box:  'WARNING - THIS PRODUCT IS NOT A TOY.  NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.'  What's the world coming to, eh?  An iconic kids toy of the '60s & '70s is no longer considered a toy, nor is it regarded suitable for kids.  It says 'For The Adult Collector' on the sides of the box, but why can't it be for grown ups and kids?  You tell me.

FABULOUS FLASHBACKS - SUPER DC #1...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Back around September of 1970, I bought SUPER DC #1 from a local grocery/newsagent's type shop called CORSON'S (which still inhabits the same premises today and is run by a member of the same family - though not under the Corson's name).  When I think back to that time, it seems that the 14 issue run of the monthly mag lasted for years, and that I inhabited the house I was then living in for many years after Super DC came to an end.  However, checking the dates reveals that I continued to live in that particular house for only a year and 9 months after #1 came out, before moving to another house in a different neighbourhood.  Or to put it another way, we flitted a mere 7 months (or thereabouts) after Super DC ended around November of 1971.

I can't quite believe it!  Didn't I continue to live in that house for several years after the comic's demise?  It sure feels like it.  But no, just over half a year later I was somewhere else, though it sure doesn't seem like that when I think back to that time.  I once heard a saying on the radio which ran something like this:  "The memories of childhood are without time and without end."  Or it might've been "...without end and without time."  (Anyone know for sure, and where the saying originated?)  That's exactly how it seems to me - childhood lasted forever, and there seemed to be no beginning or end to it.  We grew up not quite knowing we were doing so, so there seemed to be no definite boundary line between our childhoods and the commencement of our adult years.  We just suddenly found ourselves in 'Adult-land', without knowing how or when we got here.

Anyway, perhaps such philosophical ponderings are not something which interests you, but you may be interested in seeing the cover of Super DC #1 and its free gifts again.  So here you are.

A TALE WHICH MIGHT NOT ASTONISH YOU, BUT I THINK IT'S INTERESTING...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

See the above cover of TALES To ASTONISH #89?  Good - now forget about it for a moment and cop a gander at its predecessor below, TTA #88.  My original copy of this comic was bought sometime back in the '60s.  I no longer recall with any certainty whether I acquired it before or after I'd read the SUB-MARINER tale when it was reprinted in TERRIFIC, but I suspect it was before.  If so, it would have been one of those rare occasions when an American MARVEL mag was available in Britain not too long after it was published.

I know I read the follow-up to Subby's adventure in Terrific, and I'd have read it again when it was reprinted in one of the Marvel UK weeklies in the mid-'70s, but I never had the original issue.  I've got a reprint of it in one of my HULK MASTERWORKS volumes, but I've always hankered after owning the original US ish so that it could join my replacement copy of TTA #88, which I obtained more years ago than I'm capable of remembering.

Well, now I've got it!  The above comic arrived today, and it'll soon be keeping company with its companion in my filing cabinet.  Another quest completed, wherein I secured the subsequent issue of a comic I first bought around 50 years ago - wow!  And, if memory serves, I believe I also own TTA #87 (which I likewise originally had back in the '60s, and replaced many, many years ago), so that's 3 in a row for me.  (Update:  Actually, memory doesn't serve, because, upon checking, I don't have #87 after all - except as a reprint in a Masterworks volume.  Ah, well - maybe one day.)  

Yes, trivial I know, but to me, it's a significant accomplishment!  Any memories relating to either of these mighty mags?  Feel free to share them in the comments section.  And remember the cry - Make Mine Marvel!

FABULOUS FLASHBACKS: 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF RAMPAGE #1...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

October 12th 1977 - that's the day RAMPAGE #1 went on sale.  The weekly Rampage that is, not the monthly magazine that surfaced sometime after its namesake's demise.  The one you're now looking at lasted for 34 issues and featured The DYNAMIC DEFENDERS and The Man Called NOVA.  At one time I owned them all, but now only have the first 3 or 4.  You have to hand it to MARVEL UK - they were continually unleashing new mags on British Marvelites in an attempt to see what would stick, but aside from SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY (in all its various incarnations), nothing seemed to last for long. 

In just under 3 weeks, it'll be 40 years since I bought this comic (yup, this is the actual one I purchased back then), but the moment seems as fresh as the touch of a gentle summer breeze upon my face, and I find it hard to believe that such a length of time has elapsed, so quickly has it flown by.

Anyway, that's enough of my nostalgic introspection - now it's time for yours as you peruse these pulsating pages and re-acquaint yourselves with yesteryear.  If you bought this comic back in the day, let's hear all about it in the comments section.

ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 - IT'S WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD...

You little beauty!  This is the gold-coloured JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 50th Anniversary reissue by CORGI, which is going for astronomical prices on eBay at the moment.  Luckily, I managed to get mine for a modest amount, and it now joins its silver companion alongside the original '60s models in my vast and diverse collection.  This is a vastly improved version compared to the mid-'90s reissues, which, frankly, were substandard in so many ways (and yes, I have them too).

However, there are three improvements that Corgi should make to this car for future releases.  The first is to make the vent outline touch the windscreen edge of the bonnet (as it did on the '60s & '70s toys), instead of disappearing before it gets there.  The second is to make the baddie a lighter shade of blue as he was originally, and the third is to reshape the ends of the over-riders, which are too 'squarish' and not as they should be.  There are one or two other minor things that could do with a bit of tinkering, but if they fix these three, the model will come a little closer to matching the magnificence of its earliest incarnations.

Were (are) you a fan of Corgi's James Bond Aston Martin D.B.5?  Then share your childhood memories of the toy in our comments section, before they recede beyond your ability to recall. 

YOWZA! PART TWO OF ACTION FIGURE BONANZA...

Yes, I know we saw STEED in the last batch, but I thought I'd show him again along with his sidekick, Mrs. EMMA PEEL.  I've just taken these photos in my hall, and the flash (I assume) has given the skin tones on some of them rather strange hues - perhaps I should've waited 'til daylight and taken them outside, but too late now 'cos here they are. 

Look at the size of JOE 90 in the above pic - he's surely the tallest 9 year-old schoolboy in the world (or the smallest, depending on how you look at it).  And cop a gander at the MEGO SUPERMAN below - isn't that DEAN MARTIN in fancy dress?  The middle figure is CAPTAIN ACTION as The LONE RANGER in case you were wondering.

And down below we have SUSAN STORM, The INVISIBLE GIRL - now that's what I call a woman!  (What's that?  Oh, yeah - I forgot for a moment.  What I meant is, now that's what I call a poseable figure.)  Unfortunately, her clothes are moulded on, but you can't have everything.

More action figures as soon as I find them, Criv-ite chums.  Don't forget to come back and check out some of my poseable treasures.  You know it makes sense.

MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY...

Might've played this one before, but it's a belter.  The mighty JIM REEVES shows all those modern pop stars how to sing - with feeling.  So pin back your lug-'oles and prepare to be transported to another level of musical magnificence.

THE OPTIMIST RETURNS...

Remember the biscuit tin I showed you several posts back?  Something I didn't realise until only recently is that there was another tin featuring the same boy and his dog.  This has no nostalgic associations for me, but I may, eventually, decide to get one - just for the sake of completion.  I wonder if there were any other tins with this pair on them - any readers know?  Perhaps it's my imagination, but I think the lad looks a little bit like I did around that age, though I'd never be caught dead wearing that outfit of his.  It may look all right on Oor WULLIE, but there's something decidedly 'feminist' about it.  Anyone else collect biscuit tins? 

BABE OF THE DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

M'mm, CINDY CRAWFORD.  What more need be said?

MINICHAMPS ASTON MARTIN D.B.5...

Fans of JAMES BOND's ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 are sure to love this 1:43 scale working model by MINICHAMPS, of which I have two - lucky me.  (No, I'm not holding a competition to give one away - buy your own.)  Isn't it great?  I have a couple of larger (about a foot long) models of the car still to show you, which you'll get to see when I dig them out of whichever boxes they're in.  If I ever win the Lottery, I'm going to buy a real version of this car - then pay SALMA HAYEK to be drive me around in it.  Sounds good to me.  (With my luck though, first thing she'd probably do is use the ejector seat to get rid of me.)

THERE WERE THESE FOUR MONSTERS, SITTING ON A WALL: ACTION FIGURE BONANZA - PART ONE...

I've been going through some boxes in my loft recently and discovered a few of my collection of action figures - of which I must have at least 70 or so.  I've snapped a couple of photos of some of them as they come out of the box, just to give you a quick look.  Don't worry about JOHN STEED in the pic below - I do have EMMA PEEL also, so he's not on his own.  (Though I think he's taken a fancy to the lass on his left.)  More as I find them, Criv-ite chums.

FABULOUS FANTASTIC FLASHBACK - 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR #1...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In a mere 4 days time, it'll be 40 years since the very first issue of MARVEL UK's then-latest weekly landed on the counters of newsagents' shops across Britain.  It immediately became my favourite comic as the good ol' FF had long been my preferred group of Marvel superheroes, but my joy was short-lived as the mag lasted for only 37 issues.  However, that gave me a chance to re-collect the 'classic' adventures of the Cosmic Quartet as I hadn't kept my early issues of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in which they'd appeared in 1972.

Anyway, here's a few pages to give you a taste of the mag and kick-start some memories for you if you were a reader of this pulsating paper periodical back in the day.  Any reminiscences you'd like to share?  Then you know where the comments section is, frantic ones.  40 years, eh?  Where did the time go?

REVISED REPOST: STARBLAZER COVER GALLERY OMNIBUS...

Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co, Ltd

Elsewhere on this blog I related the tale of how, several years or so ago, a pal of mine turned up at my door one evening with a bag of comics that I'd given him 30-odd years before.  "I thought you might like these back!" he said.  Among other gems (some of which I previously told you about), the bag of goodies contained - wait for it - the first 10 issues of D.C. THOMSON's STARBLAZER pocket-sized science-fiction comic-mag.  I originally parted with them because I missed subsequent numbers for some reason (probably just didn't see them in the shops), so saw no point in hanging on to the ones I had.  Recently though, I decided to track down #s 11 & 12 and round off my returned collection to the first year's worth.

Starblazer survived for 281 issues before succumbing to the 'Death Star' of cancellation due to declining sales.  Launched in April 1979, it finally crash-landed in January 1991, but is fondly remembered by those readers who supported the title during its respectable almost twelve year orbit.  Previously I posted the first 10 covers in two parts, but with my acquisition of the next two, I herewith present all 12 of them for your perusal and pleasure.  Am I thoughtful or what?  I've tarted up the first 10 covers a little, as my current scanner is superior to the original one I had.  When I get the time (if I ever do), I'll rescan and replace them with better images.  Now - enjoy!