It was 1977 or '78. Once, I could have told you precisely what year, but my memory is in decline, alas. I'd been in Glasgow for the day and purchased a Revell life-size human skull model kit. I have a notion I got it from Miller's Art Store, but that may just have been the bottle of luminous paint with which I covered the skull once I'd built it back home. I remember there was an episode of Mind Your Language starring Barry Evans on TV as I perused the contents of the box to familiarise myself with the parts.
Once painted, it looked like a real skull, and my friends and me had a laugh when walking along the street, taking turns to hold it under an arm - it certainly received quite a few double-takes. With the ignorance of teenagers we thought observers must have believed it to be genuine, but they were probably just thinking "Who are these d*cks with a toy skull?". In the fullness of time, I passed it on to my pal Joe, who later gave it to one of his friends, who somehow managed to lose the jaw and four front teeth and a rear molar.
I didn't lay eyes on it again until decades later after Joe had re-acquired it from his careless friend, and that's when I first learned of the damage it had suffered. He asked me if I wanted it back, but I declined as it was now in less than pristine condition. More decades passed and eventually so did Joe, and while round in his flat helping to pack his possessions away for disposal, I finally reclaimed the skull from my teenage years and brought it back home with me, rather than abandon it to be binned by his family.
It needs a little work, as some of the luminous paint has flaked off, but it's not a priority as I have so many other things to do first. Funnily enough, not long after bringing it home, I was examining it and there was a repeat of an old episode of Mind Your Language on TV. I've no idea if it was the same one I watched back in the '70s on the night I first acquired the skull, but wouldn't it be something if it was? Or do those ironies only ever happen in books and movies? However, that's not the end of the story.
I recently saw a boxed, sealed example of the same Revell skull on eBay and decided to buy it for old times' sake. It has one significant difference to my original, in that it's a 'glows-in-the-dark' version, meaning I won't have to apply any luminous paint to it. Sure, I don't really need it, but it's a way of reliving a long ago moment, as well as having a complete model of the skull with a full complement of teeth along with its lower jawbone*. The sentimental among you needn't fret though, I'll still retain its predecessor.
(*Maybe I'll even get them 3D scanned and printed, and repair the original.)
Ever owned anything you eventually gave away, only to be reunited with it decades later? If so, all your fellow Criv-Kids want to read about it so get typing.
14 comments:
I didn't give it away but only a couple of years ago my Mom found a pencil topper in the garden which I must have lost when in infant or junior school so fiftyish years ago. These pencil toppers were shaped like funny faces, several to collect. The shop I got it from has long gone. She also found many Lego bricks in the garden which me and my brother used to throw at each other. Probably the most productive thing we did with Lego.
Not a skull but one of my favourite things I had as a child was a bendy skeleton with a wire frame internally and it glowed in the dark. No idea what happened to it.
Hope you kept the pencil topper and Lego bricks, M, as they're a gateway to your past. I like the sound of that skeleton, must see if I can find one on eBay.
Just looked - there's a few different ones.
I can't think of anything I have given away that was returned to me but I visited Millers Art store yesterday when I was in Glasgow.
Having thought about it, the pencil topper was a fruit man. I've Googled and apparently it was part of the Munch Bunch. I've found them on eBay and my one is the first one in the first photo, although mine looks like it's been in the garden for fifty years.
https://ebay.us/m/jviKkt
The funny face man I was confusing it with was in the shape of a hammer I think and had a parachute attached to it. I think there were different tools to collect. No idea what happened to that, probably in the garden, although no chance of finding that now as Mom has moved.
I've looked for the bendy skeleton but can't find an example anywhere on the net.
There are some bendy luminous skeletons on eBay, but not necessarily the same as the one you had, M. Took a look at the link - yours looks as if it's meant to be an orange.
Kid, perhaps those passers-by thought you were planning to re-enact the famous scene from Hamlet - "Alas, poor Yorrick. I knew him, Horatio".
I was in Tesco this morning and I didn't buy any skulls but I did buy a new umbrella to replace the one I'd bought from M&S which had holes in the canvas after less than a year's usage. I also noticed that Tunnock's caramel wafers are now available in dark chocolate.
To answer your question (sort of) - about ten years ago my recycling box vanished from outside my house on collection day so I ordered a new one from the council and then about six months later my original box re-appeared outside my house with no explanation of where it had been in the meantime so ever since I've had two recycling boxes, one green (the original) and one black.
Nah, more likely they thought we were just a bunch of teenage t*ssers, CJ. (And they were probably right.) Nice to hear you were reunited with your original recycling box, which was probably green with envy when it found another one in its place. (See what I did there?) Which one will you use from now on? Will one be a spare?
I still use the original green one and keep the black one as a spare but nowadays there are recycling bins all over the town centre and outside Tesco too so there are much more ways to recycle stuff than relying on the weekly kerbside collection.
And yet, despite them all, I'm told that only a small percentage of rubbish intended for recycling is actually recycled. Who'da thunk it? Just published a new post, CJ - refresh your browser and it will be visible to you.
Kid, I gave my daughter away, but she sadly got devorced, and came back to me! (For real, she's now gone again, though?) Does that qualify?
Sure, why not? She might even come back a second time.
Good purchase Kid, I remember that skull kit. Surprisingly, I also noticed your actual kit on ebay, but my collectors spending money had been wasted on boring car repairs. I do remember, that PYRO models did a range of anatomical kits in the 60s, 70s. Are you not tempted to build it? I probably wouldn't, I'm weird that way with vintage kits, I like the whole original package, untouched and like a time capsule ...
I got it for a little under the seller's asking price, AAW, but I can't recall whether I made him an offer or he made me one. That's how bad my memory is these days. I've already removed the cellophane from the box as I wanted to 100% confirm it was the same skull so I needed to see the parts. (I was pretty sure when I bought it, but feared I might be mistaken.) Anyway, definitely the same one, except this one's made of luminous plastic. Now that it's open I likely will assemble it, but it won't be for some time.
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