From PILLAR To POST - You Can BANK On It... (Updated)

A 'Smash'-hit special delivery...

Smash Marty was a little dusty when this photo was taken back in 1989...

If memory serves, the date was December 14th, 1978.  The place was Southsea in Portsmouth, and I was down there for a few days to be Best Man at a then-friend's wedding, having taken time off work specially for the occasion.  I was looking through the large window of an old-fashioned newsagent's - one of those that had a bit of charm and a hint of the '5os, instead of like today's soulless, sterile places.  Of course, there could be a chance that I'm romanticizing the shop in memory's golden gleam, but even so, it wasn't too far removed from the ideal.

Two glorious-red tin pillar/post box banks caught my eye, and I knew I had to have them - for two reasons.  The first was that sometime back around 1963, I'd been at Church (or Sunday School) with my mother one Sunday morning when the minister (or teacher) had suggested that the congregation buy toys for underprivileged children.  In memory it seems like we went straight to Woolworth's right after the service, but Woolies wouldn't have been open on a Sunday back then, so it must've been the next day or the one after.  There my mother invited me to choose two toys, so I picked a plastic post box bank and a plastic steamroller.

When we got back home I ran straight into the garden to play with them, but my mother took them away from me, saying that they were for underprivileged kids.  Listen, no kid ever felt more underprivileged than me at that moment, being parted from two toys I wanted to play with.  I'd probably forgotten by then what the silly minister (or teacher) had been wittering on about and thought the toys were for me.  Anyway, the upshot of this was that, over the years, I gradually developed a mild-though-subconscious fixation on post box banks, but strangely, not so much one on steamrollers.

Sometime before my visit to Southsea I'd been discussing this with another pal, who likewise evinced the desire to own a pillar/post box bank, which brings me to my second reason for buying them - one was for him.  When I returned home, I kept one for myself and gave him the other.  I had mine for around twelve years when, unfortunately, it got damaged beyond repair and I reluctantly disposed of it.  However, that strengthened my obsession with them and I've since bought quite a few different examples of post box banks over the years, to compensate for the loss of my one from Southsea.  (If you don't all behave yourselves, I may even do a blog about them some day.)

I've been scouring eBay over the last few years looking for one the exact same - a Chad Valley one, seen in the above photo next to my Smash Martian, but to no avail.  Until recently that is, when I saw a pair on offer for a ridiculously low starting price, along with a 'best offer' option.  So I offered a modest amount which was accepted, and today two almost pristine replacements for my original arrived at Castel Crivens.  Just think - it was in 1978 I bought my first pair, and 48 years later I bought another pair precisely the same.

In honour of the memorable event, I've posed them next to the same Smash Martian seen in the above pic (which, incidentally, was taken on November 5th 1989), and snapped a photo which you can see below.  Over 30 years later, and I now have my Chad Valley bank back (well, two of them), and, curiously, I think that brings my collection of pillar/post box money banks to an end as my compulsion to collect them seems to have suddenly abated.  But has it?  Only time will tell.

In the meantime, does anyone know where I might find a toy steamroller?

...but he's been cleaned up for 2021.  Happy looking soul, ain't he?

And here's an approximate re-creation of the 1989 photo, 31 years later

A BADGE OF HONOUR...

A good story about an eBay seller...

The badge is around the size of a £1 coin

Bought a badge on eBay last week, and it arrived with a noticeable bump on the front, caused by the clasp on the back pressing into it.  Could've been inadvertently sent that way, could've received too much pressure on it in the post, dunno.  I managed to flatten it a good deal, but throughout the day it niggled me, so I contacted the seller and asked if he'd sell me another one at the same price as the first, which had been a 'bid on' item that I'd won.

Guess what?  He replied, saying he'd send me a perfect one free of charge.  Happy ending, so top marks go to daves_scooter_shack.  However, you inquisitive Crivvies may be wondering why I want a badge with Yogi Bear on a scooter.  I've never worn a badge in my life (apart from my Plastoid Batman badge as part of my homemade costume when I was a kid), but I occasionally collect certain badges, though I'm highly selective about which ones.

Title card from the 21st Yogi cartoon

The badge looks like a screen-grab from a Yogi Bear cartoon called Scooter Looter (the 21st Yogi cartoon, shown in the US on the Huckleberry Hound Show on March 19th 1959 - title card above), which perhaps inspired the Marx Toys friction-drive Yogi scooter back in the early 1960s, so I thought the two would complement one another.  That's the toy below (my very own) and it's about as hard to find in that condition (with box) as the LP Toys Space Blimp Of Christmas.  In fact, both toys are difficult to find in any condition, boxed or not.

So that's the story.  Now you can all rest easy in your beds tonight, knowing that a perfect Yogi badge is going to pop through my letterbox any time soon.

Inspired by the cartoon perhaps?

WEDNESDAY'S BABE Of The DAY...

Sybil Danning...

Yes, I know Christmas is over, but

as I awoke to freshly fallen snow (really

must get my roof fixed), I thought a pic of

the sensational Sybil in a Santa hat would

be appropriate.  I'd sure like to wake up on

Christmas morning with her in my stocking

- or vice versa.  (Relax, I'm sure she has a

 sense of humour as well as looks.)

ANYONE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON?

I've just noticed that the edit facility at the foot of all my posts has disappeared and I can no longer edit a post from the page itself.  Instead, I have to go into the 'design' page and do it that way.  Anyone else noticed this problem and, if so, know what's causing it?  Or am I the only one afflicted with it?

A SOUNDTRACK To CHILDHOOD...

Goingggg 'ommmme...

Here's one that's not due for release until the 22nd of this month, but I received my copy today.  It's the soundtrack cd album of Fireball XL5, the first of Gerry Anderson's TV puppet programmes to be set in the 21st century.  Apt, considering that Century 21 was the original name intended for Fireball at the developmental stage.  I've only listened to half the album so far, but it does exactly what it says on the tin and is a nice reminder of the show.  If you're thinking of buying a copy, best to get it direct from Silva Screen Records as it's cheaper by a few quid than the usual online 'middle-man' sources.  For example, Silva's price is £8.99 for the cd, plus £1.75 for p&p, whereas The Official Gerry Anderson Shop's price is £14.99, plus whatever they charge for p&p, which is usually a lot more than £1.75.

Anyway, here's a question for all you decrepit old farts older citizens out there who are ancient enough (like me) to recall when Gerry Anderson's shows were first broadcast.  I no longer remember if I ever saw Four Feather Falls, but I was there when Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, and The Secret Service (probably best to forget about that one*) had their initial airings back in the '60s.  Although Thunderbirds had great designs for the rescue craft, I'd have to say that my favourites from the GA stable are Fireball, then Stingray, with Thunderbirds a close third.  Captain Scarlet was good as well of course, though I never quite warmed to speccy four-eyes - er, I mean Joe 90.

So, Crivvies, what was your favourite Gerry Anderson show - and why?  The comments section is now yours.

(*Come to think of it, as far as I know, The Secret Service wasn't shown in Scotland so I've never actually seen it - apart from a few clips.)

CAPTAIN AMERICA & The FALCON COVER & SPLASH PAGE GALLERY...

 Robbins runs into Kirby...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Let's start with #164, then leap (after the splash page) to #185 all the way up to #192, which, aside from Annuals #5 & 6 (not show here) are all the non-Jack Kirby Captain America issues in my collection.  (Scratch that - I have maybe a couple of earlier ones, as well as a few much later ones I've shown before.)

I don't remember having all these mags when they were published, apart from around 3, possibly 4 of them, but the ones I do recall are etched in my memory - and, in regard to one in particular (#187 if you're interested), I even remember who was with me on the day I bought it from the local Hospital Shop in my home town.

I don't have the original ones I used to own, but I've had their replacements now for around 25-30 years or so - much longer than I had the ones purchased back in the '70s, so they feel like the originals to me.  However, that's quite enough of my self-indulgent warblings, it's now time to turn you loose on all these great images.

Got a favourite?  Be sure and let us all know, effendi!  And if you'd like to see all of Jack's Cap covers from the '70s (plus a few more), click here.

We know what he means, but it sounds like he's been waiting for The Falcon to slay Cap

Well, they'll burn through Cap too, won't they?  No mystery

H'mm, even allowing for foreshortening, I'd say the baddie's left leg is too long

CAPTAIN AMERICA #117 FACSIMILE EDITION...

The Coming Of The Falcon!

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's another goodie now in my possession - Marvel's Facsimile Edition of Captain America #117, featuring The Falcon's first appearance!  Mix awesome art by Gene Colan and Joe Sinnott with the usual sparkling scripting of Stan Lee, and what do you have?  Another instant collectors' item classic, that's what!  This one's been out for a few weeks (though it only arrived at Castel Crivens today) so you might've already bought it by now.  If not, grab one when and while you can!

A PRESSING MATTER For SINGLES...

Why not go on record...?

A few years ago, I read somewhere as to why some 45 rpm record singles had different centres.  (No, I don't mean like chocolates with different flavoured centres - records are for playing, not eating.)  Some had large holes in the middle and were made that way and others had 3 or 4 pronged centres that could be pushed out to give them larger holes.  If I remember correctly, the large holed ones (featuring American artistes) were made in the States (and one or two other countries) so that the could be played on jukeboxes, and also because US domestic record-players had larger (as in wider, circumference-wise) spindles.

The ones made in the UK had the 3 or 4 pronged push-out centres, so that they could be exported to other countries whose record players had the US-type spindles.  These centres also had a small hole in the middle so that they could be played in the UK, so, effectively, they were 'dual purpose' centres.  So I know why the differences exist, but here's something where my memory is failing me on.  With a few records, I have two copies of the same disc, one with just the small hole in the centre, the other with the push out (if required) middle part.  In some cases, the reason may simply be that one is a later pressing, but would I be right in thinking that, sometimes, both versions (of the same record) would be available at the same time?

Why does it matter?  Well, when I have record which says 'Recording first published in 1968' (for example), I'd like to think that my pressing was made in 1968 and not 1976 or whenever.  On the Suzie Quatro example shown here, you can see that one says 'Made in the Republic of Ireland' though both say that they were 'Made in Gt. Britain', so in this instance, one was made on the mainland (I assume), and the other was made in Ireland, but both count as being British made.  Is it simply that a different pressing plant was responsible for one style of record than the other?  Or is it more complex (or even more simple) than that?  What I'm asking, just to be clear, is could both versions of each single have been pressed in the same respective years?

Any record collectors out there who know for sure?  Please refresh my memory.

EVERYBODY NEEDS GOOD NEIGHBOURS...

Robert Baird - R.I.P.

We called him 'Bimbo' when he was a kid.  Whether he was nicknamed after the Jim Reeves song or the nursery comic for children, well - if anyone ever asked him its origin, I never got to hear about it.  He was in my primary school class (though not secondary as I went a year ahead of him), and was also my next door neighbour from 1965 until 1972 when I moved to another part of town.  I occasionally saw him around our secondary school (which I yet attended even after vacating the area), but couldn't say with any precision when sight of him ceased.  It was many years later that I learned he and his family had moved to England not long after we'd flitted.  A friend of his says that he moved to Essex (in 1976), though I'm unsure whether that was straight from Scotland or from somewhere else down south.  I'll have to check.  I'm told he eventually did very well for himself in a high-level position at BP*.  

(*Update: Scratch that, I was misinformed.  Apparently, he was a trader on the Stock Market.)

A few months back, he joined a Facebook group for our old school and we exchanged a few friendly messages.  I was surprised that he remembered me to be honest, and he even recalled my brother's name.  He didn't remain a member for long (couple of days maybe*), due to some others complaining about photographs of our old primary school building being posted, though the group's founder didn't mind as it as it increased participation among the members.  What was their gripe?  That it was a site for former pupils of that particular secondary school, not a primary one, even though many of the pupils had come from the same primary.  Robert didn't like the pettiness, so he quit.  (*According to one of his friends, it was actually only six hours.)

So it had been at least 44 or 45 years since I'd last seen Robert before we exchanged comments on that FB group, and because I was informed today by a former mutual neighbour that Robert died on January 2nd from Covid-19 after being diagnosed in early December, I'm so glad we were able to reconnect - even if it was only for a handful of messages and for such a short time.  My memories of when I lived next to him are uppermost in my mind at the moment, and as I last saw him when he was yet a young teenager, that's how I remember him.  He did return on visits from time-to-time as he had relatives and friends here, but if I ever saw him as an adult - possibly while walking past one another in the local shopping centre - I never recognised him.

And now I want to tell you a story.  I can no longer say with certainty whether it was at the tail-end of my primary school years or at the beginning of my secondary ones (I suspect the latter), but Robert and his sister Elaine had a Santa Claus cake-topper, which I instantly coveted on sight when I was in their house one night on the run-up to Christmas.  They were resistant to the idea of parting with it, but I said I'd give them a selection box in exchange and they said they'd think it over.  About 10 minutes later, said Santa was pushed through my letterbox wrapped in a bit of Christmas paper.  Unfortunately, not being hopeful of them accepting my offer, my brother and myself had already started work on the selection box's contents.

Oo-er, what was I to do?  I chapped their door and gave them a surviving Bounty bar (and possibly another choccy bar, a Milky Way maybe), explaining what had happened and promising to make it up to them later.  What's that they say about good intentions?  Somehow I never managed to get around to it before we flitted, but for years now, I've been planning to find out his address and post a selection box to him with a little note saying 'debt paid'.  Alas, now I never will, as that damned Covid-19 has taken him from his family and friends (and former neighbours) much too soon.

Y'know, for years after flitting from our old neighbourhood, I assumed he was still living there, because, as I said earlier, I didn't know he'd moved until many years later.  Below is a photo of him as he looked when I last saw him, taken from a school 'wallet' of classmates given to me by a friend to copy a good number of years ago.  The photo which heads the post is from Robert's own Facebook page (hope his family won't mind me borrowing it), and I note with interest that his last entry to it was made on the 14th June 2020.  I find that strangely significant in some indefinable way, because we moved from our old neighbourhood on 14th June 1972, exactly 48 years before his final FB contribution.

It would've been good to see and speak to him again at some point, and, if there's an afterlife, maybe it'll happen when I depart this mortal vale of tears.  In the meantime, Robert, hope you're at peace, and don't forget - I still owe you a Christmas selection box.  Hard to believe you're no longer around, except in my memories and a couple of photographs in my possession.  Rest in peace, wee Bimbo, and condolences to all those you loved and who loved you back.

******

Isn't it strange how people from so far back in your childhood who you haven't seen or spoken to in decades still resonate down through the years and can affect you when you learn they're gone?

For the follow-up to this tale, click here.  

TUESDAY'S BABE Of The DAY...

The sensationally-stunning Valerie Perez...

 

On this chilly January day, there's

nothing better to warm your hearts than a

photo of gorgeous Valerie Perez.  She's the

kind of woman who every man would love to be

married to, so why do I keep knocking her back

whenever she proposes to me?  (Just joking, Val.

Who'd ever knock back a goddess like you?!

  Well, no one sane, that's for certain.)

A POEM For POSSESSIONS...

 And that's only a few of mine below...

In a strange kind of way, I regard all of my many possessions as though they were my children, and sometimes worry about what will happen to them when I'm no longer around.  Several months or so back (maybe longer), with this in mind, I dashed off a few lines of verse on a scrap of paper and then forgot about it.  I found it while tidying up my room earlier and decided to publish it on the blog.

I'm not had time to polish and refine it yet, but I thought some of you might appreciate the sentiment, if not its execution, so here it is.  Not thought of a finished title for it yet, just a temporary stand-in.  (Hey, who said "Call it P*sh"?)  I'd be interested in knowing whether you regard your collection in the same way, or would you say I'm taking things to extremes?  Let's hear what you think.

Incidentally, some lines may change as new revisions occur to me.

 

The Break Up

                                           The treasures we cherish from cradle to grave,
                                           possessions acquired we've chosen to save;
                                           companions through life to ourselves and each other,
                                           we love them as though we're their father or mother.

                                           Then one day we're gone, our treasures are scattered,
                                           orphaned, dispensed with, like they never mattered.
                                           Some go to new owners or are just thrown away,
                                           A 'family' divided - oh, sad wretched day.

                                           To lose first their owner then all of their friends,
                                           a potent reminder that everything ends.
                                           There's no point, I know, in a cruel fate berating,
                                           but I hope, up above, to find them all waiting.

WOTTA PICTURE, WOTTA PHOTOGRAPH...

Now this is what I call Art...

You'll remember me telling you about the 'photogravure' illustrated Bible my mother bought me back around 1971, and how the 17 pictures seemed, to my eyes, to have a photographic quality to them.  When I acquired a later edition replacement (containing only 15 of the paintings) some years down the line (the original having disappeared in the intervening period), the illos didn't appear quite so photographic, and I wondered whether mention (absent from the replacement) of the photogravure printing process in my original edition had influenced my perception somewhat.

A little while back, I managed to get a different edition containing all 17 illustrations (and I've since managed to obtain yet another edition, this time the exact same as my 1971 copy), and I realised that it hadn't just been the power of suggestion which made me think the pictures looked like photos.  Not all of them did, at least not completely, though there were aspects of each illustration which did, indeed, have a photographic quality to them.

The top picture is just one such example, and it leads me to believe that the artist, Jack Hayes, must have used live models (or photographic reference)  for at least some of them.  The shadows on the boy's face and arm in particular, and also on the material of his clothes looks like a photo to me, though the man's face and hair is perhaps less persuasive in that aspect, though still superbly painted.  Comparing the first picture with the one above from my second edition, the later printing doesn't seem to quite capture the photo-like quality to the same degree.  What do you think?  I've reproduced the two of them side-by-side, below, to help you compare.

Remember the name - Jack Hayes.  A stunning artist to be sure.  I wonder if he ever illustrated any comic strips?  I know he contributed to Look & Learn, but can you imagine what he'd have done with The Trigan Empire?  That would've been well-worth seeing.

The RISE And FALL Of The TRIGAN EMPIRE VOLUME TWO...

More Don Lawrence Masterpieces...

Copyright REBELLION

Safely arrived today at Castel Crivens straight from Rebellion is Volume II of The Rise And Fall Of The Trigan Empire, featuring the wonderful art of Don Lawrence (and Ron Embleton).  Do I need to say anything more?  You should be putting on your hat and coat (and don't forget your trousers - I've found that judges can be very unforgiving about that sort of thing) and be halfway out the door on your way to buy your own copy of this marvellous book.  Or you could do what I did and order it online.  So what are you waiting for?  Get buying!

BUGSY HAS A BACKBONE, SO THAT MEANS HE ISN'T YELLOW... (Updated)

Crater Critter back where he belongs...

I'm fortunate enough to own complete sets of Crater Critters, Neptune and his Sea-bed Serenaders, and Sooty giveaways, individually included in packets of Kellogg's breakfast cereals back in the early '70s.  In the UK there were only 8 Sea-bed Serenader figures, though in Australia there were 15, which is the number in my collection.

However, my replacement Sooty figure wasn't grey like the first one I owned, so I made it my mission to track down one in that particular colour.  (You can see it here.)  Likewise, my Bugsy Backbone figure wasn't the original light green* of the one I had as an 11 or 12 year old, so I added that to my list of 'must haves'. 

Glad to say, therefore, that I managed to get a same-colour replacement on eBay a few days ago and it turned up this afternoon, so I thought you might like to see a piccie-wiccie of it.  If so, that's it at the top of the post; if not, that's still it at the top of the post.  (So there!)

The Critters were made by an Australian company called R&L and given away (in Oz) with Kellogg's cereals in 1968, and again in 1972.  The '68 releases all had different alliterative names, like Kingly Critter, Kindly Critter, Creepy Critter, etc.  At some point they were also known as Critter Creatures, but I'm unsure in what year and in which country, though it was an English-speaking one.  In the UK, they were issued in 1970 and were called Crater Critters and had names like King, Lunartic, and Bugsy Backbone, these being the same aforementioned trio.  Japan also had 8 figures, but two of them were different - though one was also called Lunartic.

Any of you Crivs collect any of the cereal giveaways?  If so, which were your favourites?

******

(*Under certain lighting conditions I'm slightly colour-blind and thought it was yellow until a school pal told me it was green.  I could see it was green right away when it arrived earlier today, but now, looking at it across the room on top of my sideboard, it once again looks yellow.  Hey, maybe it's a chameleon crater critter?)

BEANO - The DENNIS COLLECTION

Celebrating 70 years of menacing...

Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Got any Christmas money left, Crivvies?  Then you may want to consider treating yourself to a copy of this great book which arrived at Castel Crivens today.  No need for any info from me when you can read the official spiel on the back cover of this nice thick hardback volume - oh, what the heck, I'll give you some anyway.  This terrific tome contains Dennis's first appearance, the 'speculative' debut of his striped jumper, Gnasher's initial appearance, and no doubt other 'firsts' as well.  (Not long arrived, so only had a cursory browse through it.)

Originally £20, I got mine (new) on eBay for just under £14, post free, so check online for the best deal you can get as, considering the book is still currently available, I've seen some ridiculously high asking prices.  It's a great collection, though there's no explanation as to why Dennis's mum and dad suddenly change appearance towards the end of the book, so older readers who haven't seen The Beano in some years might be left scratching their heads.  Most strips have the date of when they were first published, but two or three seem to have slipped through the net.  Anyway, highly recommended.

(Scary thing is, it only seems like a year or two since I bought the 60th Anniversary collection - a whole 10 years ago.)

******

Having now read the book, I note that a few of the later stories appear to 'start midstream', as if they began on the cover which has then been omitted.  One story even seems to have a third page missing, as it ends as if there's more to come, and another seems to be a Dennis 'extract' from a larger, issue-length story featuring all the comic's characters.  That aside, up to that point it's great.  And let's face it, it's really the classic stories that most readers will be buying this book for anyway.  In that regard, it doesn't disappoint.