PLASTON TARDIS TIMES TWO...

As a kid, I had what I now realise was an inadvertently destructive habit of removing stickers and labels that weren't positioned properly from newly acquired toys, and then trying to replace them in a neater, more symmetrical way than when they'd left the factory.  Matchbox Flying Bug?  If that 'cross' on the bonnet was in any way squint, off it came and was reapplied.  Same for the Bat emblem on my Marx Poseable Batman and any other plastic or metal toy you care to name, such as Dinky's TB2.  Trouble is, of course, they didn't always come off in one piece, and even if they did, they'd probably be creased and wrinkled and tend to curl when replaced, leading me to dispensing with them entirely.  So why mention this now, you may be wondering.

Simply because I was too young and cack-handed to accomplish my attempted 'repairs' back then, but it's a different box of badgers these days now I'm a grown-up (okay - allegedly).  Around a year or so ago, I obtained a Plaston TARDIS to replace the one I owned in boyhood, but the Police Public Call Box sticker was absent.  If I recall correctly, it went around the front and both sides (the back didn't have one to avoid covering he coin slot), but I was only interested in restoring the front part of the label, so I simply made one, using pics of one on sale on eBay as a guide.  (I can always add the side parts of the label at a future date if I want to.)

Talking of the coin slot, it would appear that the money bank was manufactured with an indentation of where the slot was meant to be, then cut by hand in the factory in none-too-neat a manner, leaving a lot to be desired in the aesthetic stakes (see seller's photo of my replacement, below).  Not only has it been cut squint, the surrounding area has also suffered some damage in the process (or perhaps by the original owner using a knife to remove coins via the slot) and doesn't look too pretty.  I decided to take a craft knife to it and tidy it up, by removing any excess plastic (which was already damaged, remember), and I think it's far more pleasing-to-the-eye than it was before my handiwork.  

Seller's photo, before.  Click to enlarge for more detail

That's the result of my modification below, which is now neater and allows for easier insertion of coins than it used to.  Did I regret it was no longer as originally manufactured back in the '60s?  Well, yes, to a degree, but I consoled myself with the fact that the previous damage was now absent and it looked more like it should've done back then.  Guess what, though?  I recently saw another one for sale on eBay (before my decision to try and cut back on my purchases), and though the coin slot was neater than its predecessor, it had no labels adorning it like it was meant to.  (Some other kid maybe removed then because they were roughly misapplied.)

Buyer's (that's me, folks) photo, after

It would've been relatively simple to photograph my first replacement and then produce similar labels, but I decided to make it look more like it should've done by creating more 'authentic' labels reflecting the TARDIS from the TV show.  So that's what I did, as you can see in the first photo at the top of the post.  Incidentally, Plaston later produced a more accurate version of the Time machine (though in a lighter blue), but as I never owned this one, I've decided to forego adding it to my collection.  However, I've included a few pics of it obtained from eBay so you Crivvies can see the difference.  Another company later released a copy of it in yellow - another one I'll be giving a miss.  (The design of the first one's back and sides didn't match the front.)

The coin slot on my 2nd TARDIS - as originally rendered

Anyway, admittedly nothing much to this post (crap, NB?), but I always feel compelled to give you Crivvies something to read, even when I have nothing much worth writing about.  Can't have you dropping in and have nothing to offer you, can I?  That would never do.  Anyway, feel free to comment, should you so desire.