TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: PRESENTING The PLASTON STINGRAY - AND IT'S MINE, ALL MINE... (Updated)

STINGRAY copyright relevant owner

It was near the end of 1965, either for my birthday or for Christmas*, that my mother bought me a Plaston Stingray from a Co-op store named Krazy Kuts in my town's main shopping centre.  I remember us, on our way home, standing just along from the ground floor flat my grandparents had not long moved into, having relocated from Hamilton Road in Rutherglen.  (I think my father and brother were also present.)  I can no longer recall whether it was on the way in or on the way out (or whether we even went in at all), but I remember studying the box and the cut-out stand-up figures printed thereon.

It must've been early in the New Year in 1966 that me and my brother took my Stingray down to the bottom of the street, across the road from which was a marshy sort of field with a pond in it.  I don't know how, but I managed to lose the Ratemaster propellor and perhaps also the Tail Fins at the rear.  In fact, I don't know if it's possible to lose one without also losing the other, but it's the absence of the Ratemaster I recollect all these decades later.  Now, however, nearly 60 years on, I've finally managed to replace this toy from my childhood.

It didn't arrive in the condition you see in the first six photos though - no, that's the result of my painting handiwork and high-quality repro parts of the yellow 'plug-in' components and Stingray labels, procured from a place in Canada which manufactures many Gerry Anderson pieces, as well as of other iconic toys from the '60s.  As you can see from the five seller's photos of Stingray at the foot of this post, only the hollow, blow-moulded blue chassis arrived at my address after me winning it in an eBay auction.  I knew repro parts for the missing pieces were available and promptly purchased them, along with a repro box, after paying for the chassis.

As you can see from the seller's photos, nary a hint of silver remained on the body, aside from a smidgeon on one of the Aqua-sprites, and a couple of minuscule nebulous flecks of silver on the cockpit.  I'm kind of glad of that in a way, as had the original shape of the windows still been discernible, I'd have felt obliged to restore them to how they were.  After looking at images on the Internet though, I didn't like the look of the mask-sprayed windows, which were too tall and had two front screens instead of a single one.  I therefore took the liberty of painting on the windows more in accordance with how they looked in the TV show, but keeping a hint of the Plaston rendering.

So, like I said, it took nearly 60 years, but another cherished toy from my childhood has returned to the fold to keep me company (along with others) until my 'final bedtime'.  Welcome home, Stingray.  Now, how many comments will 'happen in the next half-hour' ?  Standby for action!  (I hope.)  Update: Only one comment so far?  Don't all rush at once now.

******

*Actually, thinking it over, it's unlikely to have been for Christmas as I wouldn't have been allowed to see it until the big day - even had I known it's what I was due to receive.

  

As you can see, the top of the cockpit had been pushed in, but I rescued
it by softening the plastic with hot water, then inserting an Allen Key
into the periscope hole and pulling it back up into its proper shape

And below is how the windows looked on the toy originally.  (I think mine looks better.)

Curiously, the Plaston Stingray is one of only two or three childhood toys which seemed smaller than I remembered it.  Usually, my replacement toys appear to be the same size to me as an adult as when I was a kid.  The Corgi Toys Aston Martin D.B.5, The Saint's Volvo 1800, etc., don't look one whit smaller than they did then, so why's this one different?  Perhaps it seeming larger to me as a kid was an optical illusion due to the taller windows, which makes the top part of the vessel look bigger.  If you compare the windows in the above pic with the narrower ones of my own, the impression given is that the above toy is more 'bulky' than it actually is.  That's the only reason I can think of, but it might be altogether fanciful.  Incidentally, to give you a sense of scale, it's around 10-and-a-half inches long.  (The toy, I mean.  What else would I be referring to?)