WE WILL NEVER BE INDIVIDUALLY... (Updated)

Copyright relevant owner

A record that used to be part of my family's collection back in the '60s was a GALA GOLDENTONE single of the LAUREL & HARDY theme song from LARRY HARMON's animated TV show.  It was orange in colour, and is, today, seemingly quite a collectable due to its rarity as it never seems to come up on eBay.  In the States, it was on the LITTLE GOLDEN RECORD label, and was 45 r.p.m. as opposed to the UK version being 78 r.p.m.

Anyway, I've been searching for one for a while now, but with no success, and, as I'm hardly what could be considered a patient person, I decided just to make my own copy.  The two tracks from the disc are available on YouTube, so I recorded them, transferred them onto a CD, made an inlay card, etc., and what you see in the accompanying photos is the result.

At first I was going to make the front of the CD inlay card the exact same as the cover of the single, but it would have required too much work to remove some of the 'wear' on it.  (Also, it was the US version.)  Instead, I focussed on the main image and title (which is chiefly what I recall), did a little tidying up, and created an interior and rear inlay card of which I could be proud.  And I am!  I made the label from a pic of the original record on the Internet, as I wanted to capture the 'spirit' of that little orange record from my childhood.

Update: After thinking about it awhile, I decided to redo the label to accommodate the orange colour of the original record.  If you closely examine the pic below you'll see the 'GG.48' that was etched onto the inside plastic margin of the 1963 record.  In fact, the A Side had 'GG.48A' and the B Side had 'GG.48B', but I removed any reference to two sides as both tracks are now on one side of the CD. 

Well, Crivs - what do you think?  Pretty neat, isn't it?  I have three or four spare copies in cardboard sleeves (not plastic CD cases), which I'll give (one per person) to anyone who wants one (first come, first served) at my own expense, so if you'd like to be one of the lucky recipients, let me know in the comments section.  Of course, you could always copy the YouTube clip like I did, but if you're anything like me, then you'll prefer having something more tangible.  (Update: You're too late - none left.)

To hear the song, click below.  It's preceded by an instrumental version, so if you forward 1 minute 20 seconds ahead, you'll hear the vocal performance.  If you click on full screen mode, as the song progresses, the full cover image gradually comes into view, enabling you to see why I didn't use it as it is.  Anyway, all that remains now is for all you Crivvies to tell me how brilliant, talented, and gifted I am.  Go on, it won't hurt as much as you think.  (Well, it certainly won't hurt me!)

BABE Of The DAY - VALERIE PEREZ...

When the delectable VALERIE PEREZ said she'd pick me up for our date, I wasn't expecting her to arrive in a BATMOBILE.  You should've seen the neighbours gape, though it was a close-run thing as to whether the car or its driver garnered the most attention.  However, you won't be surprised to learn that Valerie just inched out ahead in that little race.

CRIKEY! PART FOUR Of DON STARR'S APPOINTMENT With Mr. BIG...

Copyright relevant owner

Well, frantic fans (of comics, not me), there are only two more episodes (after this one) of DON STARR's final adventure from the pages of TERRIFIC, first published back in the dim and distant days of the late '60s.  I was there to read these stories in that particular pulse-pounding POWER PACK publication the first time round, but you may not have been so bountifully blessed.  Regardless, hope you're enjoying them now!  Be sure to say so either way in the convenient comments section.

FRICTION-DRIVE TOYS UPDATE...

I really don't know where my head is sometimes.  There was I, a couple or so posts back, showing you some of my prize friction-drive toys from the '60s & '70s, and guess what?  I only forgot to include two of the best ones.  Doh!  Anyway, if you'd like to see which ones, click on this link.  Meanwhile, I'll try to remember whether there's any others I inadvertently overlooked.

THE HEAT IS ON...

For all those discerning Crivvies who are also 'fellow Mellows', my other blog - MILD & MELLOW MELANCHOLY MUSINGS - now has an exclusive new post, which can be accessed by clicking this link.

BABE Of The DAY - VALERIE PEREZ...

You'll have to excuse me, Crivs.  I was going to write a

new post, but then I realised I had to feed the cat.  (That's

her above.)  I may be some time.  "Here, kitty-kitty!"

FABULOUSLY FANTASTIC FRICTION-DRIVE FAVOURITES (Updated AGAIN)...

I've got a few other friction-drive toys than just the ones shown here, but they'll have to wait for another time as they're up in the loft - and these babies on display are the 'biggies' of my f-d collection anyway.  Two of them I obtained when I asked on this 'ere blog if anyone had them and the sellers got in touch.  See?  There can be benefits to this blogging malarkey that you'd never have anticipated, and I'd likely still be without YOGI on his scooter and SANTA in his Space Blimp if Crivens didn't exist.

I've shown most of them before, but these pics are all brand-new photos taken especially for this post.  Of the seven toys being shown for the first time, two are of Yogi Bear - one of him in his car and the other a 'running' Yogi - no doubt fleeing from either RANGER SMITH or CINDY BEAR.  The others are of a nifty little racing car, two rabbits (or hares), and a mouse.

Anyway, I hope that you'll enjoy the images that follow - they were all taken especially for you Crivs.  Incidentally, all '60s toys shown here are the original versions (as are the others) - there's not a modern reissue or replica to be seen.  Did you have any of them when you were a kid?  If so, share your memories with the rest of us.

Update: How could I do it?!  I forgot a couple of my most prized f-d toys - GEMINI SPACE CAPSULE and STEVE ZODIAC & ZOONY The LAZOON on a jetmobile.  Now added, so check 'em out!  And I just realised that SMASH MARTIAN is a wind-up toy, so I've removed him from the post.  He'll pop up again when I get around to showing you my 'clockwork' toys.

    

BABE Of The DAY - VALERIE PEREZ...

What's that?  You want more SPACE

BLIMP?  Calm yourselves, impetuous ones,

you know the old saying about having too much

of a good thing.  So, for a change of pace, here's

stunning VALERIE PEREZ to take your mind

of Blimpy.  If she doesn't do it then nothing

 will.  (I reckon she can do it though.)

MORE GROOVY PHOTOS OF THE SPACE BLIMP OF CHRISTMAS! DID I MENTION I HAVE ONE...?

I recently bought a SPACE BLIMP Of CHRISTMAS, manufactured by LP Toys back in the '60s.  What's that?  I already mentioned it?  Are you sure?  Well, whad'ya know, it must've slipped my mind.  Seeing as I'm here, I may as well show show these new photos I took of my classic collectable item.  Betcha wish you had one, eh?  No?  What's wrong with you guys?!  Are you ill?  

SO YOU THINK I'M FINISHED WITH THE SPACE BLIMP OF CHRISTMAS?! WELL, JUST HOW WRONG CAN YA BE?!

One of the things that appeals to me about my recently acquired SPACE BLIMP Of CHRISTMAS is the fact that, apart from being taken out of its box for the seller to photograph for his eBay listing, it's remained unopened and unplayed with since it was first bought sometime back in the '60s.  It's difficult to know the precise date because I'm unsure which version of the toy came first or in what year it was released.  Was it the one I just bought, which required a few small parts being slotted into place, or was it the one which came already assembled in a larger window box?

The manufacturer was LP Toys, and if the window boxed version was first, maybe switching to a smaller box and having the customers attach a few pieces themselves was a way of reducing production costs.  Or, if the reverse, perhaps pieces were breaking while being slotted in, leading to complaints from parents and returns to shops and then to the manufacturer.  Also, maybe it was thought sales would improve if kids could actually see the toy in a window box, with all pieces already attached.  A choice of two scenarios regarding which one came first, but will we ever know?

And were the pieces (reindeer head, tail, tree, sack) attached the same way in both versions, or did the pre-assembled one employ a more secure method of attachment than the smaller boxed one, which seems a bit fragile in that regard?  If anybody out there knows, feel free to fill me in on the details.  Anyway, as I said, the toy has never been played with, which means I'm the first owner to attach the pieces since the Blimp was made back in the '60s.  I know I owned my original one no later than 1968, but I've never been able to shake the feeling that I got it earlier, possibly '66.

Before                                                                                        After

As you can see in the accompanying photos, in common with many toys made in Hong Kong in the '60s, the paint job on mass-produced items wasn't always applied with any particular neatness.  Although the Blimp had never been played with (the reindeer head, tail, etc., were still untouched in their bags), Santa's beard, gloves and fur trim hadn't been painted with much precision.  I therefore gave them a minor 'retouching' to improve their appearance, but didn't go overboard so as to retain their '60s 'spirit'.  Take a look and compare the 'before and after' photos.

Collectors who believe that things should be left in their original state, even if imperfect, will be aghast, but I prefer to put my personal 'stamp' on a toy (when 'corrective' work is required) so that it then becomes mine, as opposed to a generic example of its kind.  I wouldn't advise just anyone to try it, but I'm handy with a brush (as you'll know if you've seen my painted model kits on the blog) and I'm of the opinion that if some 'remedial' tinkering improves the visual appearance of a toy then it's worth it.  Judge for yourselves whether I was successful in my aim.

What do fellow collectors think?  Leave untouched whatever the condition - or repair, restore, or improve if you can do it to a high standard? 

BLIMPS & FLIVVERS - Or: FRIENDS REUNITED... (Updated)

It's funny the imagination we have as kids, don't you think?  We seem to be able to visualise impossible, unlikely, or even contradictory scenarios in the 'ideas factory' of our minds.  Our brains don't have much (if any) difficulty in running along two different trains of thought at the same time, even if reason and common sense dictate that those 'trains' shouldn't be able to run on tracks so closely parallel to one another without risking a collision when they reach the junction (metaphorically speaking).  No, it's not a perfect analogy, but you know what I mean.

Which is a rather grandiose (pretentious even?) way of setting the scene for the simple subject matter of this latest post, but let's stick with it for a just a little longer.  In my vast and diverse collection of DVDs, there's one entitled A FLINTSTONE CHRISTMAS.  Haven't watched it since I first owned it in VHS format around 30 years ago, but if I recall correctly, FRED and BARNEY stand in for SANTA (who's caught a cold) in order to deliver presents that year.  Even in their comic strips and mags, the Flintstones have been depicted celebrating the Festive Season.

The obvious problem with just such a scenario, however, is that the Stone Age occurred long, long before the birth of CHRIST, so Christmas didn't exist back in Fred and Barney's time.  But why let that little fact get in the way of a story though, eh?  Kids would probably be unaware of the dichotomy of the situation because, presumably, they're more willing to accept whatever's presented to them without analysing it for mistakes or contradictions (or some other reason).

Whatever the cause, when I was a kid I was the same when it came to contriving adventures for two of my toys to embark on as a duo.  I often sat on the back step of my house and dreamt up stories involving my Fred figure from my MARX Toys FLINTSTONE FLIVVER, and Santa from my LP Toys SPACE BLIMP Of CHRISTMAS.  (Yes, I'm back to that again - it arrived today.)  It never occurred to me that the characters couldn't co-exist in the same 'reality', so that never got in the way of the imaginary escapades I created for them. 

Note the Flivver's pattern is a nigh-perfect match with my kitchen worktop in the 1st photo 

Now, at the back step of every home I've ever lived in we kept the same 'shoe scraper' grate, which came with us whenever we moved house.  In the one I then lived in, I'd sit with my feet on the grate while Fred and Santa (the Unlikely Duo) palled about in whatever situation I mentally placed them (mental being an appropriate word in my case).  That grate sits at the back door of my present abode (though now it's an inner back door as we closed off the once open back porch, which has another door), so I thought I'd rope it in for a photo opportunity in order to provide this post with some pictorial content.

I managed to obtain a replacement for my Flintstone Flivver around 20 years or so ago, and I bought the replacement for the Blimp on Sunday (as I said, it arrived today).  Originally, there was a gap of around five or six years between my '60s possession of these two toys, though they met their demise at the same time in the '70s.  It's good to see two old 'pals' reunited, and although they might be only two lumps of lifeless plastic to you, to me they're family and it's great to see them together again.

Okay, doctor, I've finished typing - just let me hit 'publish' and then you can take me back to the nut-hut.  Flibble!

But before I go, let me ask you Crivs a question that I've asked before, but I'll ask again for the benefit of any new readers (though older ones can answer it again if they want to).  Is there a particular toy from your childhood that you'd love to own again, and what specific memories does it conjure up in your mind?  The comments section is ravenous, so please feed it as much as you like.

Update: As you can see in the above photos, in common with a lot of '60s toys made in Hong Kong, the paint job on mass-produced items was seldom administered neatly.  Although the Space Blimp had clearly never been played with (as witnessed by the fact that the reindeer head, etc., were still untouched in their bags), Santa's beard, gloves and fur trim had been painted with not much precision.  I therefore gave them a minor touch-up to improve their cosmetic appeal, while not going overboard so that they retained the 'spirit' of their '60s appearance.  Take a look below and compare the 'before and after' photos.

Of course, some collectors will be aghast, believing as they do that toys should be left in their original state even if slightly inferior, but I prefer to put my 'stamp' on them (only when 'corrective' work is required) so that it then becomes my toy, as opposed to a generic example of its kind.  I wouldn't advise just anyone to do this, but I'm a dab hand with a brush (as you'll know if you've seen my built and painted model kits on the blog) and I'm of the opinion that a toy is much improved after any 'remedial' tinkering by me.  You can judge for yourselves.