KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY #1...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

February 10th 1973, SPIDER-MAN finally got star billing in his own British comic for the very first time.  True, he had previously appeared in POW!, TV21, and The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL, but none of those periodicals bore his name as part of the title.  The MIGHTY THOR served as the support act, and, to my 14 year old self, it was great to see again the tales I'd first read aged 8 in the pages of FANTASTIC.

Only seems like yesterday - funny how 42 years can pass so quickly, isn't it?  Do you have any personal reminiscences relating to this issue?  Go on then - share them with the rest of us in the comments section.

BABE Of The DAY - TYRA BANKS...

Terrific TYRA BANKS wants to show

off her new swimming cozzie, so who am

I to say her nay?  Looks a bit too big to me,

Tyra.  Why not try a smaller size, luv?

SPACE CHAPLAIN? DON'T BE A DUMMY...

Copyright relevant owner

What you're looking at are two of the dummy pages for EAGLE #1, followed by the original concept for DAN DARE, who was going to be a space chaplain (before wisdom prevailed).  The future of mankind (or British comics at least) could have been so very different had Dan not been 'promoted' to space pilot, eh?  Thank goodness he was!

THESE DALEKS RUN LIKE CLOCKWORK...

I'd wanted to show a video clip of these little beauties in action, but unfortunately, by the time I've finished winding up the second one, the first one has already wound down.  (How do you wind up a DALEK?  Tell it The Doctor can kick its @rse!)

Also, not being 'bump 'n' go', if they hit something they stop, not change direction, so a clip wouldn't have been that exciting anyway, I'm afraid.  So you'll just have to settle for a few photos of them posing prettily on my bathroom floor, specially mopped for the occasion, as it's a little know fact that Daleks are highly allergic to urine.  Am I taking the p*ss?  You decide.

These PRODUCT ENTERPRISE Daleks were based on the CODEG ones from the 1960s, and although I think I'd have preferred exact replicas, they're still very nice items indeed.

And here are the originals for you to compare...

BABE Of The DAY - JO GRANT...

Little did The DOCTOR know

he nurtured a viper in his bosom, as

behind his back, his gal assistant JO

GRANT was having an illicit affair

with a DALEK.  Shocking.

As it happens, fellow Crivs, I'm

also quite fond of Daleks, but purely

in a platonic way.  So why the groans?

At least I kept my kit on.  (No point

in making all you guys jealous.)

SHE'S NOT YOU - PELVIS PARSLEY...

Here's wotsisname singing a nice song.

You'll be tapping your feet, believe me.

BABE Of The DAY - ELKE SOMMER...

The electrifying ELKE SOMMER

graces our Babe spot today, chaps, and

hits all the right notes while doing so.  Her

right foot looks a bit odd, but we won't hold

it against her, eh?  Face it, none of us would

ever get the chance to hold anything

 against her, now would we?

INTRODUCING CAPTAIN SCARLET - YET AGAIN...

Another nice and very welcome addition to my ever-expanding nostalgia collection recently was this FANDERSON CD - Introducing CAPTAIN SCARLET.  I have the original '60s Mini-Album, from which I created my own CD a while back, but it's good to now own the 'official' version as well.  The disc, looking like a mini-record, is a nice little touch, don't you think?

Just to remind you all of what my homemade CD looks like, I've included a few pics for your perusal.  Incidentally, the back of the above cover is the same as the original '60s one, as replicated for my own CD cover, seen below.

LOOKEE HERE - 'UNIQUE' 50TH ANNIVERSARY JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN D.B.5...

"So just what's so unique about it?" you may very well be asking.  "It looks just like the recent 50th Anniversary CORGI D.B.5 that you featured on your blog back in March!" you might say.  And you're right, it is - but with one significant difference.  Allow me to recap.

The original gold coloured Aston Martin D.B.5 from 1965 was, as you know if you read my recent post, adapted from the existing casting for Corgi's D.B.4, and was in 1.46 scale.  In 1968, Corgi Toys created brand-new tooling for a more accurate model, which was either in 1.43 or 1.45 scale (The GREAT BOOK Of CORGI confusingly attributes both scales to the new release), around six millimetres longer than its famous predecessor.

The new model had two extra features in addition to the original three.  As well as the extending machine guns and over-riders, bulletproof shield, and ejector seat, it also had revolving number plates and rear tyre-slashers. In the '90s, Corgi re-issued a very poor replica of this second model, advertising it in magazines as "The original is back!"  It wasn't, and was vastly inferior in ways far too numerous to go into again.  (Though you can read all about it here if you're interested.)

Then, recently, they re-issued an improved version of the 1.43/45 scale car - except it was missing the rear tyre-slashers.  Guess what though?  I had a spare set from the '90s model, so I unscrewed the base of the Anniversary re-issue and swapped the rear wheels and axle with the tyre-slasher ones.  Interestingly, the axle I removed was a solid version of the hollow one which had housed the red slashers, so it seems obvious that they were omitted in an attempt to keep costs down.

The result is that I now have a 'unique' 2015 Anniversary edition of the '68 silver birch 1.43/45 scale model that nobody else has - unless they did the same as me that is.  My original 1968 car is still tucked away somewhere, but when I dig it out, I'll post a pic of it alongside the one here, so that you can do a side-by-side comparison.  Hey, generosity is my middle name.

   

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: DINKY TOYS 1972 PINK PANTHER CAR...

A couple or so years ago, I showed the second edition of the PINK PANTHER car (released by MECCANO, who once owned DINKY) and promised to one day show the first version once I had dug it out of a box in my cupboard.  Well, that day is finally here (I usually get around to doing things eventually), so feast your eyes, Panther fans.

And don't forget the opening and closing credits of  the Pink Panther show - sing along now...

And let's not forget his original theme tune...

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: CORGI TOYS 1965 JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN D.B.5...

CORGI TOYS considered manufacturing JAMES BOND's ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 in 1964, but decided against it.  Then they had a change of heart and rush-released the car to meet the Christmas market of 1965.  This meant taking a few shortcuts.  They didn't have time to create new tooling for a D.B.5, so they used the existing mould for their D.B.4 model and adapted it for the purpose.

It's not widely known that the car in GOLDFINGER was the prototype D.B.5 - in actuality a D.B.4 MARK V VANTAGE, so Corgi weren't too far removed from reality in utilising their D.B.4 moulds in order to get the toy into shops in time for Christmas.  Painted gold due to supposedly looking like bare metal when silver, the colour tied in to the title of the film it appeared in - GOLDFINGER.  I have an alternate theory, however, which is this.  (Complete speculation on my part.)

I sometimes fancifully wonder if a Corgi employee was despatched to the cinema to determine the car's hue (perhaps on account of only being supplied b&w photo reference), saw the opening credits where excerpts from the movie were projected onto MARGARET NOLAN's undulating, gold-painted figure, and reported back that 007's car was gold.  Unlikely?  You never can tell, but I'll concede that it's pure conjecture with no evidence to support it.

The car was blown to smithereens in SKYFALL, so it'll be interesting to see if it ever appears again in a Bond movie.  If not, we can seek solace in the Corgi car from our childhoods - if we're lucky enough to actually own one of course.  I've got two originals, plus the 1968 correct silver birch colour in a slightly larger scale - not to mention various other versions released down through the years. I'll be showing a completely unique, recent Corgi model of the car in an upcoming post.

Meanwhile, enjoy looking at the original.

   

Why not a WALTHER PPK?

TV CENTURY 21 Ad

TV CENTURY 21 CORGI Model Club News

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: CORGI TOYS 1966 BATMOBILE...

BATMAN & ROBIN copyright DC COMICS

This is my very own CORGI TOYS BATMOBILE, which I acquired from a shop in Edinburgh back in 1991.  Someone I knew told me about it, so I duly hopped onto a coach with an old school pal one morning and shot through to buy it.  The one I'd bought back in 1970 or '71 only had ordinary hubcaps, the original gold and red Bat-symbol ones having been replaced in what was undoubtedly a cost-cutting exercise, but I'd always regretted not having the first version and was glad to be able to finally rectify that - even if it was 20 years later.

The first person I ever knew to acquire this 'must have' toy in 1966/'67 was a friend who lived a couple of doors along from me, a lad by the name of JOHN FIDLER.  I like to think his choice of Christmas present (for such it was) had been influenced by the fact that we both liked to run around our neighbourhood playing BATMAN & ROBIN.  (Though that's probably only because I like to take credit for everything - unless it's bad, of course.)

Corgi wanted to re-release this toy a number of years ago, but try as they might, they just couldn't obtain permission from the relevant copyright holders.  That's why they eventually went with the idea of doing the 1966 comicbook Batmobile (as well as others), which had a similar (though not the same) Batman image to the one on the underside of their original 1960s TV toy.  The comicbook version was nice, but nothing could ever replace the original Corgi model.

Now that the copyright issues over this car have finally been resolved, I wonder if Corgi will ever follow through with their original plans, and re-issue this iconic TV vehicle for a whole new generation of children (and an older generation of collectors)?  Wouldn't that be nice, Bat-fans?  Why not get in touch with them and suggest it?  You just never know!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures in this post, and I'll maybe post more classic toy cars from yesteryear soon.  Incidentally, the second set of missiles in the bottom photo are actually bright red - they came out a funny colour because I scanned them instead of photographing them.  I trust you won't hold it against me.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - 2000 A.D. #1...

Images copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING

February 1977 - a new comic title hit newsagents' counters that's still around over 38 and a half years later.  Little did I guess then that, in a mere eight years time, I'd become a regular contributor to 'the Galaxy's greatest comic', during what is now regarded as the periodical's golden age.  What are your recollections of 2000 A.D.?  Was it the comic of your youth, or did you march to a different weekly's drum?

Why not tell us all about it in the comments section?

And here's what the space spinner looked like...

And here's the cover of the 'dummy' issue...

ZENITH - PHASES* ON STUN...

(*No, that's not a typo in the title.)

Y'know, I've now not worked regularly in comics for the same period that I did (15 years), but there are still perks to be had from my days as a contributor, even after all this time.  For example, REBELLION, publishers of 2000 A.D., recently sent me complimentary copies of their stunning four volume set of ZENITH hardback books, a character whom  I was involved with in a minor way back in the late '80s and early '90s.  And even as I type, the deluxe APEX Edition of Zenith (same as the oversize artist editions by MARVEL and DC) is winging its way to me, courtesy of those nice Rebellion chappies.

So thanks to them for their unstinting generosity, but don't despair, frantic ones, as you too can own these fantastic books, which are available from your local comics store or book shop for a paltry sum.  (You can also buy them direct from Rebellion's website.)  So why waste money on unnecessary items like food or clothes when you can buy these great books?

Right, I'm off to don my Zenith costume and then patrol the city - why not nip out and purchase at least one of these books today?  You're bound to regret it if you don't.

Images copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING