TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: STOP THAT CAR - IT'S MINE! (MATCHBOX VOLKSWAGON 1600 TL)...

PHILIP MARSHALL lived four rows away from me in the '60s and early '70s and inherited the mantle of superhero sidekick to yours truly after his predecessor, JOHN FIDLER, hung up his cape and domino mask when we retired our well-worn BATMAN and ROBIN identities.  (If you're wondering what I'm on about, see here.)  Philip was even more enthusiastic about costuming-up than John had been, so we became POWER MAN and WONDER MAN, and ran about our neighbourhood totally oblivious to how ridiculous we must've looked.  However, that's perhaps a tale for another time, as our awesome alter-egos aren't really relevant in this rambling reminiscence.  Philip is though.

It was on or around the occasion of my birthday, perhaps my 9th or 10th.  I had money to spend and I spent it in my local WOOLWORTH'S, buying a MATCHBOX VOLKSWAGON 1600 TL, a Table Tennis (Ping Pong) set, and, I think, two wooden tops (which were a second pair, having acquired the previous ones back around 1963).  The tops may've been bought on another day, but for some reason I associate them with the other two items, so then again, maybe not.  I'd bought the car because it was red, my favourite colour, and at some stage down the line (months at least, at a guess), Philip Marshall asked me if he could borrow it to play with for a while.

Eventually, I realised that he'd had it for quite some time (weeks at least), and remember chapping his door to ask for it back.  I probably had to do it more than once because he claimed he'd forgotten where it was, but, strangely, I'm now uncertain as to whether I ever actually ever got it back or not*.  Well, it may've taken me nearly 50 years, but I recently took possession of a replacement for my beloved and never-forgotten little red car (with opening doors), which you see in the photo that opens this post.  The car and box cost me less than a tenner (not counting p&p) on eBay, though pristine examples can go for as high as £50 or more.

So that's one more childhood item re-acquired before I fall off the twig.  What will I turn my sights on next?  Whatever it is, you'll no doubt read about it here on CRIVENS!  I can stand it if you can.

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*Since first posting this, a dim remembrance of getting the car back again from Philip has resurfaced.  I seem to recall that one of the doors (maybe even both) were missing, which annoyed me greatly.  Why can't people look after things that don't belong to them?

"- - AND SOON SHALL COME: The ENCHANTERS!" (IF YOU CAN DESCRIBE NEARLY 50 YEARS AS 'SOON')...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Sometime back in 1968, I bought a copy of the above THOR comic (#143), and had fun comparing it with its British reprint in a couple of issues of SMASH!  I think I got the US comic first, but after 49 years I couldn't swear to the order I acquired them.  I read the story again in the '70s when it was reprinted in SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY, but in 1979 a pal gave me a copy of the subsequent issue, #144.  I'd previously read the UK reprints of this story in Smash! and SMCW, but this was the first time I saw it in colour.  It wasn't in great condition, so I cut a couple of panels out to put up on my wall (one of them's still there, the other lies in wait somewhere), but I don't recall being struck by the magnitude of obtaining this follow-up issue a whopping 11 years after its predecessor.  That was over half my life away at that time and such facts usually left an impression on me.

Anyway, I obtained a replacement for #143 many years ago (and it featured in one of my FAVOURITE COMICS OF THE PAST posts a few years back), and on Thursday I received #144, finally owning both issues at the same time, something I hadn't managed to do back in the '60s (or the '70s).  The first of these issues introduce The ENCHANTERS, two of whom Thor defeats in the next ish, with ODIN dealing with the third one in #145.  I already have all 3 comics reprinted in MASTERWORKS, OMNIBUS, and EPIC editions, but you know me - I like to be thorough so may well purchase #145 some day just to finally complete the 'trilogy'.  (Update: Bought one on eBay - now scanned and added to the post.) 

So, Criv-ite chums, enjoy the covers of all three comics, the first two of which were, as I said, originally separated in my life by 11 years, and the second and third by 40 years.  To reiterate: Got my original copy of the first in 1968, the second in 1979, and the third in 2017 - meaning I now own all three comics for the first time at the very same time 50 years after they were first published.  Why do I feel I've accomplished something significant?  And why do I also feel that you all think I'm totally bonkers?  H'mm, don't bother answering that second question - just enjoy these three covers by JACK KIRBY.