CAN YOU 'STAND' ANOTHER POST ABOUT MY MARX TOYS BAGATELLES?

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Bear with me, Crivs, it'll soon be over.  Although my two Bagatelles came from different eBay sellers, they were bought and arrived on the same day.  (No, they didn't arrive on the day I bought them - both were purchased on the 12th and arrived on the 18th.)  Fireball XL5 came with its box but no stand, and The Daleks had its stand but no box.  Unfortunately, the stand had been broken in two and glued together at some point, but wasn't in one piece when it reached me.

The two pieces restored to one via superglue

The stand had holes for fingers so that the Bagatelle could be held in place when played with, but I suspect the holes compromised the stand's 'structural integrity' which is likely why it broke.  That'll perhaps be why the stands are usually missing from these Bagatelles, they were probably broken then thrown away, and I suspect that most kids then played with these toys on their laps, not upright on a table.  This Kid is a different bag of spiders though.

Not too shabby, eh?  And yes, they are removeable

I made two new stands, but didn't bother with holes for fingers as they're just as easy to grip by the sides to prevent the Bagatelles moving while in use.  That's not why I made them though, I did so merely because it enables me to better display the items in my room.  I've enclosed a photo of the repaired original stand (which still needs cleaned up a bit) as well as my replacements, which were made from a stiff cutting mat, then sprayed silver to enhance their appearance.

So what do you think, Crivvies - didn't I do well?

******

Surprisingly, although both original stands would've been the same size and shape, they couldn't have been interchangeable, due to the guides they slide into being ever-so-slightly different on each Bagatelle.  There are little 'bumps' which the stands clip onto (see indentations on original), and they're not quite in the same place from one to the other, something I had to take into consideration when making the replacements. 

LIFE IS A BAGATELLE, OLD CHUM... WHAT'S THAT - CAROUSEL, YOU SAY? OH WELL, SO MUCH FOR MY CHOICE OF BLOG TITLE...

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Yippee!  My Fireball XL5 and Daleks Bagatelles arrived today, so I'm happy as a pig in sh... erbert!  Off to give them a little polish.  Now, what's the next set of goodies on my list?  I'd better be quick 'cos I'm running out of time.  (But then, aren't we all, 'cos none of us are getting any younger.)  Feel free to tell me how envious you are, Crivs.  (Don't deny it.)

(Update: And 'you' were wrong anyway.  As CJ pointed out in the comments section, it should be 'Cabaret'.  That's the last time I listen to 'you' - whoever 'you' might be.)

RECOMMENDED READING: BOB The ROBIN By TONY PUTMAN...

Photographs copyright TONY PUTMAN

Unfortunately, I no longer read books as often as I used to when I was younger.  When I try to read a book nowadays, I find my mind wandering off a few sentences into a paragraph, requiring me to go back and read it again in order to grasp what the writer is saying.  I suspect it's the 'brain fog' that assails me from time-to-time, when my mind essentially starts to close down and it's almost like I'm in a trance.  (Happens when I'm speaking as well sometimes.)

Same with some blogs.  There's an excellent site in my blog list, where the writer does exhaustive research and presents highly detailed, fact-filled posts about Marvel in the Silver Age.  Trouble for me is that there's just so much information in each post that I find it difficult to assimilate all of it, and by the time I reach the end, I've forgotten everything but the last couple of paragraphs.  They're quite lengthy posts too, so re-reading them doesn't really help much.  Haven't commented for quite a while because I was beginning to sound like a broken record, my remarks consisting of not much more than "Well done on another fascinating post."

However, that's by-the-by.  I saw mention in a newspaper last week of a book titled Bob The Robin, which tells the heartwarming tale of a gardener named Tony Putman and his friendship with various Robins, in particular the Bob of the title.  I forgot about it almost immediately, but when I was leaving a bookshop a few days later after popping in to check out the graphic novels and comics collected editions, I happened to see the Bob The Robin book on a table as I passed and promptly stole it.  (Nah, just checking to see if you're paying attention.)

It had £2 off so I bought it immediately - what Scotsman can resist a saving like that?  (Though it would probably have snared me at 2p off.)  Anyway, it's not an overly long book, it has fairly large type, but is very well written with some great photographs.  More importantly, I could read it in short bursts when I felt like it, so my mental energy wasn't compromised and I didn't find myself falling asleep a few paragraphs into each chapter.

The point of this post?  It's an emotionally rewarding book that will enrich your heart and make you appreciate nature a little more than you perhaps already do (however much that is), so I have no hesitation in recommending it to you for your own bookshelves, Crivvies.  Only £16.99 and worth every penny.  Buy it today, either for yourself or someone you love.  (I bought mine for the someone I love most in all the world - me!)

******

Incidentally, a few months back, a fearless little Robin would alight on a branch inches from me when I was out in the back garden filling the bird feeders.  It once alighted on my hand for a second to snatch some bird seed and I have to say I felt enormously privileged, almost as though I'd won a Blue Peter Badge.  Sadly, I haven't seen him or her in a while (though have seen other Robins) and find myself hoping wee Robin is okay.  Below is Tony Putman's YouTube channel about Bob.

MAJOR MATT MASON'S MOON SUIT ARM PAK...

If you're a fan of Mattel's Major Matt Mason and own the classic '60s Moon Suit, its rubber arms may have perished - as they were prone to do after a few years.  I've already replaced the arms on my pair of Moon Suits with thicker rubber ones with wire inside that allows them to bend into different positions for display purposes.  I'm perfectly happy with them, but I thought I'd buy the above arms because they work in exactly the same way as the originals, via the 'bellows' pump that fits into the suit.

They're quite expensive, but a lot of work goes into them to get them just right (though they have an extra ridge in them to distinguish them from originals) and it saves having to buy another Moon Suit, which would be even more expensive.  So if you have a Moon Suit and want to restore it to its former glory, they can be obtained from joey-s on eBay.  Go on to eBay, click 'Advanced' and type his name into the 'Sellers' box.  Then message him for details.

This has been a Crivens Public Service Announcement.

BABE Of The DAY - GAIL McKENNA...

Glorious Gail McKenna delights in

her sheer beauty - as do we Crivvies too,

it has to be said - and now has been.  (No,

I'm not saying I'm a 'has-been', I'm more

like a 'never-been'.  Anyway, never mind

 all that, just enjoy looking at Gail.)

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST - IT'S IN THE BAG (ATELLE)...

Images copyright relevant and respective owners

Finally acquired a couple more items from childhood I was beginning to think I'd never own again, but bought them both today from two eBay sellers (one item each, obviously).  I'm using the sellers' photos (I'm sure they won't mind), but I'll add my own when they arrive, hopefully before the end of the week.  The Daleks Bagatelle isn't boxed, though the artwork is the same in either case, whereas (as you can see) the Fireball XL5 box has a different illustration to the toy itself.  Ah, what can I say?  I'm a kid again.  Can't be too many items to replace now.

Any of you Crivs have either of these '60s toys when you were bairns, or did you have a deprived childhood?  (Well, compared to mine, anyway.)  Truth to tell though, the ones I had back then were obtained 'pre-owned' (or secondhand as we used to say) from jumble sales.

RIP JAGGY'S NO-GO...

He's a bit of an 'intellectual acrobat' himself, especially
when defending his opinion.  Copyright relevant owner

Hi, my name's Rip Jaggy (named after an obscure comics character, which fits me to a tee) and I have a wunnerful blog named Rip Jaggy's No-Go.  So named because when I state an opinion on anything, I brook no dissent and won't tolerate anyone disagreeing with me if, in so doing, they demonstrate that I'm talking outta my @ss.  I mean what I mean, regardless of whether what I say can mean more than I meant it to mean, so don't comment if you're going to take anything I write to its logical conclusion and reveal my woolly thinking.  On this blog I'm king and I want you peasants readers to know your place.

Your only purpose is to make me feel good by agreeing with everything I say, and if you don't, I'll take a huffy fit and tell you to f*ck off!  I know I'm an insecure, ineffectual, inadequate individual so I don't need reminding, thank you very much.  In fact, the reason I hate Donald Trump so vehemently is that he reminds me so much of myself.  Now, you know the rules, so don't bother commenting if you're not going to obey them.  Now where'd I put my liquor?

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST - HERTS DALEK And PLASTON TARDIS...

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As you get older, some events in your personal history become harder to tie down to their specific points in time.  Case in point, was it near the end of 1965 or sometime after the beginning of 1966 that I saw a Plaston Tardis money bank hanging on a peg near a cash register in Safeway as my parents queued up to pay for their shopping?  Regardless, they bought it for me (it wasn't expensive) and on the way home, we (including my brother) dropped in to a cafe midway between the main town centre and the neighbourhood in which we lived, having moved there only relatively recently.  I seem to recall that the toy was in a poly bag with a header card, but the versions on the Internet I've seen were in a shrink-wrapped open cardboard container which seems familiar to me.  Maybe it was both.

Same goes for my Herts Plastic Moulders Dalek.  (That's me above with my original.)  Was it purchased in Woolworth's in Rutherglen or another Woolworth's when we were on holiday one year?  As it was only sold in Woolies, it could've been both as I seem to remember having more than one, though maybe not at the same time.  However, you won't be interested in any of that as you'll have your own set of memories associated with these toys - if you were lucky enough to have them when you were a kid, that is.  The Dalek isn't an entirely accurate representation, but not many '60s Dalek toys were, whether it was by Marx, Cherilea, Herts, or just about any manufacturer of Dalek merchandise.  Perhaps the one that came closest was the Codeg clockwork Dalek, but I never had one as a boy so it's not high on my list of things to acquire.

I mentioned in a previous post back in 2016 that I eventually slit open the doors of the Tardis so that I could insert my Marx Yogi Bear, detached from the yellow friction-drive scooter he sat on.  I snapped a photo of him (a replacement) next to a different, more contemporary Tardis, but now I include another pic of the bold bruin alongside the Plaston one, to more precisely capture a memory of bygone days in the mid-'60s.  And thus do I live out whatever time I have left to me; re-creating my childhood by the acquisition of toys that were once (and still are) dear to me.  This time, though, they're simply ornaments, signposts to an earlier era, not playthings.  I like to sit and just look at them from time-to-time, remembering what was but can never be again.  Outside of a memory and an old photo, that is.

Any of you Crivvies ever think about some of the toys you used to have and thought so much of, or do they seem like a dream of a distant land you're not quite sure you ever visited?  Do tell, if you'd be so kind.  Oh, and don't worry, unlike some insecure bloggers who resent someone expressing a different opinion to them, I don't regard honest comments as 'trolling'.  (Such an infantile word, don't you think?  The first resort of infantile people - especially when they're wrong!)

BABE Of The DAY - ZOE McCONNELL...

All hail the stunning Zoe McConnell,

one of the most beautiful Page 3 Girls of

the 1990s.  If I had a figure like hers, most

 likely I'd be a woman - so no thanks.

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST - SANTA'S OCTOBER VISIT...

It's now November 1st, but this classic collectors' item arrived at Castel Crivens yesterday, much to my delirious delight.  "Hold on," some of you may be thinking, "don't you already have this item, purchased around four years ago, with which you bored the rest of us for far too long?"  The answer's yes, but that one was an earlier version (I believe), with a smaller box than my original, and which required the bagged appendages to be slotted into place by the buyer.  This one has the window display box I recall from childhood, with Santa, sack, tree, tail, and reindeer head already affixed, and even though it cost me five times the amount I paid for the other one, I'm pleased as punch to have it - not that I'd  have minded it being less expensive to be honest.

Anyway, being the magnificently generous person I am, I thought I'd share it with all you Crivvies (yes, even you, Tory-hating CJ) so here's Santa's 'Space Blimp Of Christmas' for you to drool over - figuratively speaking of course, 'cos I don't want the box getting soaked.  It's usually described as being 'extremely rare', but how can it be?  After all, I've got two of them! 

In the unlikely event you may have forgotten its predecessor, that's it below.

BABE Of The DAY - GAIL McKENNA...

One of my favourite Page 3 girls

from far too many years ago, gorgeous

 Gail McKenna yet rings my bell.  Ding

dong (as Leslie Phillips would say).

 How about the rest of you?

The 'RETURN' Of CHEEKY & JOEY...

Isn't it funny the things you find yourself buying when they remind you of something from childhood, don't you think?  In my primary school years we used to have a pair of budgerigars called Cheeky and Joey, and there's an interesting story about them which can be read by clicking here.  Recently, while passing a shop window in my town's main shopping centre (now sadly in such serious decline that it's up for sale), I spotted two ornamental ringers for the pair of budgies we'd once owned.  Bought them immediately of course, and they now sit on the shelf of a display cabinet in my living-room.  It's like Cheeky and Joey have been resurrected, and whenever I gaze upon them, I think back to those long ago years which are so dear to me in retrospect.

Sure, they don't move and they don't sing, but at least I don't have to clean sh*t out of a budgie cage on a daily basis, so that's a plus.  It's just nice to look at them - and remember.  Any of you Crivvies got any animal ornaments that remind you of childhood or teenage pets?  If not, if you saw one, would you buy it?  Do tell.

BABE Of The DAY - DENISE MILANI...

Here's Denise Milani getting herself

ready for a hot date with me.  Fortunately

she's got a head start in the 'looks' dept.,

so it doesn't take her very long at all.

50 YEARS FABULOUS FLASHBACK - PLANET Of The APES & DRACULA LIVES... (Updated)

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'Twas back on Saturday October 19th 1974 that two new Marvel UK weeklies hit newsagents' shelves, likely resulting in kids across the country asking their parents for an increase in their pocket-money.  The 'first' of these titles - Planet Of The Apes - lasted for 123 issues, having subsumed Dracula Lives - its sister periodical - at #88, which means DL obviously only managed to last until #87.

POTA also included at some stage various Marvel characters, such as Warlock, Captain Marvel, Ka-Zar and the like, with US Killraven strips being redrawn and relettered as Apeslayer strips, such was the shortage of actual Apes material.  In fact, new Apes strips were specially drawn for the weekly title then later reprinted in the US mag, probably the first and perhaps only time such a thing has happened.

Dracula Lives reprinted (in b&w with grey tones) the main strip from the US colour title Tomb Of Dracula, along with Werewolf By Night and the Frankenstein Monster, as well as (later down the line) Ghost Rider and Man-Thing.  Both of these British weeklies could've done with better printing, especially Dracula Lives, but hey, we were young and things like that didn't seem to bother us too much at the time.

So, 50 years later, let's think back to our youth and celebrate a time when Marvel UK was on the march, before its output started to dwindle and decline in later years.

******

When composing this post earlier, I merely took the covers and posters from folders of earlier scans, but I decided to go that extra mile and dig out my copies of the mags so that I could show you some of the contents, the better to prompt your memories.  Remember them? 

And in case you were wondering, below is how the above poster looked in its original form - as the cover for the US version of Dracula Lives #5.  (Wish they'd left the burd in the UK version.)

MAD COMIC COVER GALLERY OMNIBUS...

Copyright DC COMICS

As most of you crazy Crivvies will already know, Mad started out as an ordinary comicbook for its first 23 issues, before metamorphosing into a magazine format.  You'll have seen these covers before in a four part cover gallery I did a few years back, but I thought it would be handy to re-present them in an omnibus post so that they're all in one place.  Enjoy refreshing your memories.

Oh, go on then.  Below is what the first magazine version's cover looked like.