NOW HERE'S A FELLOW WITH AN IMPRESSIVE PEDIGREE...

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One of the finest pieces of TV tie-in merchandise ever produced is, in my opinion, Pedigree Toys' 12 inch action figure of Captain Scarlet from the late '60s.  I first saw it on display in the window of a shop called Nurseryland in my local town centre and, some time later, I was a little jealous when I discovered that one of my pals (the late Alan Bowie, previously referred to by me on the blog as Adam Cowie and Billy Liar) had been bought one by his parents as, I think, a Christmas (or birthday) present.

I later swapped him an Action Man for it, and must confess to being surprised at his acceptance of my proposal of the exchange as I had my doubts that he'd go for it.  I can only assume that Action Man perhaps had more street cred as a 'must-have' toy than poor Paul Metcalfe (Scarlet), but that's how the toy first came into my possession.  If I recall correctly, Alan later wanted to swap back, but I was having none of it and the good ol' Cap remained a part of my toy horde for at least a couple of years.

In 1970 my family holidayed in Rothesay, and for some (forgotten) reason I took the good Captain's boots with me, which I fitted onto a newly-purchased cheap Action Man 'knock-off', acquired not long into our fortnight's stay.  The figure was produced by a company called Mintex and had the same face as Pedigree's Tommy Gunn (though the actual figure itself was inferior).  As Captain Scarlet was also a Pedigree toy and had the same body as Tommy, I found that rather appropriate (if ironic).

Then disaster struck.  In attempting to remove the boots, I inadvertently pulled the figure's feet off along with them, so in a fit of frustration (after first removing the feet) I hurled the boots off the end of the pier into the sea.  Wish I hadn't now, though it's decades too late to do anything about it.  Nowadays, I own at least two Captain Scarlet figures, two or three Tommy Gunn figures (as well as a few from when Zodiac Toys took over their production) and various other Action Men from down through the years.

Both Scarlet figures have their original boots, though only one of them has anything approaching an almost full uniform.  The gun and belt are missing, the cap's visor is cracked, and the tunic is in a poor state of repair.  I therefore commandeered a uniform from a Vivid Imaginations Scarlet figure from the '90s for one of the Pedigree toys, and very smart he is in it too.  They're all in a box in a cupboard or somewhere up in the loft at the moment, otherwise I'd show them all together for your personal perusal.

However guess what?  I recently decided to treat myself and bought another Pedigree Scarlet figure, this time boxed and with a complete uniform.  That's him above and below, and isn't he a handsome chap in his lovely Spectrum outfit.  (Oo-er, I hope I'm not on the 'turn'.)  What I mean, of course, is that it's a very handsome toy and a welcome addition to my vast accumulation of stuff, action figures in particular.  When I look at it/him, I can't help but think of that long-vanished shop from my youth.

And also, curiously (or perhaps not), my long-gone pal Alan, who died 12 years ago, 32 years after I last saw and spoke with him.  Ah, the past has come back to haunt me, but that's the kind of 'ghosts' I can live with, bittersweet as they can sometimes be.  How about you, Crivvies?  Any toys from your childhood that you miss, replete with their associated memories, and that you'd like to own again?  Wax nostalgically in our hungry-for-your-input comments section.  This blog's nothing without you.