THE WHAM VAN MAN...

Still on the subject of collectable vehicles, here's one that LLEDO released quite a few years ago in a series devoted to comic papers past and present.  At one time WHAM! was my favourite comic (though it was actually 7d when I started buying it) - mainly because of The FANTASTIC FOUR within its pages.  When I saw this van, I simply had to have it - in remembrance of happy childhood days.  Here's hoping it also reminds you of yours.

And, just for fun, here's the cover to the first issue.

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: The RINKY-DINK PANTHER (Mark II)...

Pink Panther copyright relevant owner

A couple of months back, I took my DINKY PINK PANTHER car off display, put it back in its box and tucked it away in a cupboard.  Remember the one with the big black rubber wheel in the middle of the chassis?  You pulled a plastic strap through it, causing the wheel to spin at great speed, placed it on the ground and watched it disappear into the horizon - or against a wall with maximum force.

Yeah, that's the one.  There was a series of other cars (by another manufacturer) with the same feature of course, but the Panther-mobile (if that's what it's called) is the one that everyone of a certain age seems to recollect.  Anyway, I'm not about to make a mess of my room by dragging everything out of the cupboard to find it, so, until I do, in the meantime you'll have to be content with the Mark II version.  (In case you're wondering, I stashed the original away because I was worried about the rubber wheel deteriorating in the arctic conditions of my room - the rubber arms of my MATT MASON MOON SUIT suffered just such an inglorious fate.)

The first version of the car was manufactured by Dinky which, as most of you will know, was a MECCANO company, and it appeared in toyshops sometime around 1972.  At some point Meccano and Dinky parted company, so when the second version of the car appeared around 1979-ish (I think), it no longer bore the Dinky name on the base, but rather that of its once-parent company - Meccano.  The mould had been altered to remove the large wheel from the centre of the car, and the car itself, as well as the Pink Panther driver, were in a lighter shade of pink than Mark I had been.

So, until I get back into that cupboard, here's the slightly more aesthetically-pleasing model for your eager eyes.  I've still got the bubble-card package it came in, but that's in the cupboard along with the other car, so you'll have to live without it for now.  CORGI TOYS also produced a Pink Panther item - Panther on a motorbike - I'd have shown it here, but guess where it is?

Right first time. 

TERRY NATION'S DALEK ANNUALS...

The DALEKS copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

DOCTOR WHO has been one very lucky guy.  If it hadn't been for The DALEKS, it's unlikely the programme would have survived on TV more than a few years after its debut back in the 1960s.  It was the pepper-pot tyrants who virtually created (or at least consolidated) the merchandising arm of the BBC, ensuring the show's survival as a potential cash-cow ripe for financial exploitation.

The Daleks have been immortalised in many different incarnations over the decades.  Transfers, bump'n'go toys, friction-drive, model kits, bubble bath, wallpaper, remote-control, clockwork, banks, games, playsuits, pencil tops, badges, jigsaws, bagatelles, greetings cards, comics, writing paper - you name it and they've probably been it.

This time, however, it's the Dalek Annuals I'm focussing on, and in particular the annuals of the '70s.  Presented here, for your consideration and appreciation, are the front and back covers to the four publications which appeared on newsagents' shelves from 1975 to 1978 - each for the subsequent year obviously.

Look at them, study them, but most of all enjoy them.  Nice, aren't they?  Not all that long ago, the '70s Annuals could still be bought for a reasonable price, but they're now commanding higher amounts.  I suspect that a few uninformed eBayers noticed what the '60s books were fetching and just assumed that the '70s ones must be worth something similar.  

And, for all you completists out there, here are the three books from the 1960s.  The first one introduced the Emperor Dalek, later seen extensively in the back-page TV CENTURY 21 strip, as well as those handy little hoverbouts the Daleks used.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL 'KID-ITES'...

Copyright REBELLION

As Good Friday is upon us, it's only fitting to present you with an Easter-themed treat.  We therefore unveil the April 13th (dated 20th) 1968 issue of one of Britain's best-loved comics of the past - SMASH!  At this time, Smash! was publishing MARVEL and DC strips within its pages - namely, DAREDEVIL and BATMAN & ROBIN.  I've included the first pages of each strip to give those who weren't around at the time an idea of how the pages were resized to fit the dimensions of a British weekly comic.

Also on view are THE SWOTS & THE BLOTS, RONNIE RICH, and GRIMLY FEENDISH - and that's only a small selection of what was on offer in this great issue.  Weren't around in 1968, eh?  See what you missed?!

HAPPY EASTER!

SUPPRESSED - The WASP In A WIG...

Copyright relevant owner

When Victorian author LEWIS CARROLL (the non de plume of CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON) wrote the classic sequel to his famous book 'ALICE'S ADVENTURES In WONDERLAND', entitled 'THROUGH The LOOKING GLASS And What Alice Found There', he originally included an 'episode' about a wasp in a wig which was excised before the book was published in 1871.

Apparently, illustrator JOHN TENNIEL thought the concept was "altogether beyond the appliances of art" and suggested that if Carroll wanted to shorten the book then here was his opportunity.  Carroll took his advice.  The galley proofs, whose existence was unknown to Alice experts, appeared for auction in 1974 and were first published in the above book in 1977.

If you're a collector of Lewis Carroll's works, your Alice volumes are incomplete without this little chapbook.  What's that?  Don't have a copy?  Then that's why eBay was invented.  I got mine in GRANT'S bookshop in Glasgow's Union Street in 1977/'78.)  With a Preface, Introduction and Notes by MARTIN GARDNER, plus a convincing reconstruction after Tenniel by KEN LEEDER, this is an indispensable addition to any bookshelf.

ISBN: 0-333-23727-7

SUSAN STORM - NEKKID...

Above is a delightful pic of SUSAN STORM from the FANTASTIC FOUR - completely nekkid.  This was taken before she married REED RICHARDS, which is why I use her maiden name.  Unfortunately, unless you have a special set of spectro-analysis spectacles, you won't be able to see her, as she was invisible when this photo was snapped against  a back- ground of unstable molecules.  I can provide a pair of these glasses for a mere £40, inclusive of post and packing.  Another £40 secures the other nine photos in the series.  Get in touch if you're dumb... er, I mean smart enough to recognise a bargain when you see one.

EMMA PEEL? SORRY, BUDDY - YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

With the imminent release of the new AVENGERS movie upon us, now might be the time to re-acquaint yourselves with the origins and history of the super-team from their earliest four-colour appearances back in the 1960s.  Allow me, therefore, to recommend the MARVEL OMNIBUS edition of the group's first 30 issues, painstakingly restored from the best sources available, along with pin-ups, letter pages and loads of bonus features.

What else could you possibly want to spend your money on?  Rush out and get your copy today!

ISBN #978-0-7851-5846-2 

JOHN CARTER - WARLORD Of MARS...

Copyright DC COMICS and the Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

I haven't seen the new JOHN CARTER movie yet - don't know if I'll bother.  I've read some good reviews and some bad ones, so I'm as yet undecided on how to spend my hard-earned dosh in the cinema stakes.  If you're in the same boat, here's a sort of' 'trailer' for it - from way back in 1972.  Perhaps it'll help you make up your mind.

 

And below is the cover of the comic from which came the story you've just read and hopefully enjoyed.  Reached a decision yet?

CONAN CLASSIC...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

Now, for all you frantic fearsome fans of sword and sorcery author ROBERT E. HOWARD's Cimmerian hero, you're in for a special treat.  Here's the young CONAN The BARBARIAN in his very first MARVEL COMICS outing - originally from CTB #1 and reprinted in the first of an eleven-issue series of CONAN CLASSIC.  Written by ROY (The BOY) THOMAS and drawn by BARRY (WINDSOR) SMITH.  Enjoy - and feel free to leave a comment you-know-where.

And if you'd like to see Big JOHN BUSCEMA's much later version of the same tale, then click here to be transported straight to it.