Pod Stallions 80: British Annuals

It's just Jason and Brian this time around and our topic this week was inspired by some posts in our Facebook group.

British Annuals are hardback books that go back to the 1940s and over the decades they have made a staggering amount of different licenses and properties.

We start by talking about Doctor Who (a lot of people's introduction to the annual) but discuss Holmes and Yo-Yo, V, The Avengers, Adam Adamant,  Kenny Everett, The Beano, Thunderbirds, Look-In, Abba, Space:1999, UFO, Kung Fu, Star Trek, Tomorrow People, Gold Key Comics, Brian's childhood fears about England and finish off just talking about Buck Rogers for no good reason.

As a side bonus, we will be sharing our collection of UK annuals in our facebook group, join us!

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Toy-Ventures: Halloween Costume Countdown

Toy-Ventures this week is a look at five classic Halloween costumes from my collection, some are weird, none are scary but they're all infused in some magical 1970s pop culture goodness. 

Happy Halloween from PlaidStallions, check out every episode of Toy_Ventures here:
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Dinky Space!

I love the fact that the popularity of Star Wars actually helped Dinky sell more Eagles and UFO interceptors despite the fact that both those shows were long out of production.

New Six Million Dollar Man Shirt in our Redbubble store!

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Toy-Ventures: The Zython from Mattel's Space:1999 line

This week we talk about one of the rarest action figures I've ever come across, the highly elusive Zython from the Mattel Space:1999 action figure collection. I don't own this incredibly rare carded example but thankfully, I do know someone that has one and I examine it and give it's interesting back story. Please subscribe to our channel for a weekly toy venture: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYta3nz_7FAzPvP8FPSgpg PlaidStallions Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Plaidstallionsdotcom/ Plaidstallions facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2226244254053126/

Land of the Giants Space Sled

Who doesn't remember the episode of Land of the Giants where the puppets of Gerry Anderson's Supercar came and saved the Spindrift crew?

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Space:1999 Lunchbox

I love Space:1999 and I occasionally dabble in lunch boxes when I find them for a decent price, so it should not come as a shock that I own the stunning Space:1999 lunch box. Say what you will about the series, it had some incredible merchandise.

More after the jump:

The Dinky Space Fleet

One would be foolish to go up against the Dinky armada in the late 1970s.....

Colouring Book Theatre: Gerrry Anderson UFO

UFO by Purnell (1971)
One of the nicest things I received at Mego Meet was this colouring book, which frankly, I didn't know existed until it was placed in my hands.

The one caveat my pal Corey had was that he hoped it would be featured on CBT. Wish granted!  (One little bit of trivia, the striking woman on the cover is Dr. Strange's real life mother)

While filled with colourful costumes, purple wigs and cool tech, Gerry Anderson's UFO is also a show that featured dark story lines and adult themes. It doesn't exactly scream "Children's colouring book" which of course, makes it all the more delicious to me. (See Dune)

Grab your crayons and join me after the jump.

UFO Eagle

Presenting the coolest cross ever toy I've seen in a long time, normally I am immune to spaceship models (cause I suck at painting them) but this just broke my brain.

More after the Jump:

Space:1999 Space Eagle by Popy Japan

It's no secret that I love Space:1999 toys although I don't own many these days. An opportunity came up to own an item I have never even held before, I couldn't pass it up.

This wonderful diecast Space Eagle was made by Japanese toymaker Popy and as we'll explore they've wonderfully left some cultural fingerprints.

Thunderbirds are Going Japanese

Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds was easily his most toyetic series and that was not lost on the Japanese.

Even though the show was 14 years old in 1980, it didn't stop Popy from creating some incredible diecast toys.

Land of the Giants Space Sled

You may not remember the Space Sled on Land of the Giants, that's because Remco (king of recycling toys) re-purposed this toy from the Gerry Anderson "Super Car" series a few years earlier.

Space:1999 Eagle on sale here

This is a promotional poster Fundimensions released for the Space:1999 Eagle, I honestly have been smitten with this vehicle since i was five. Some guys love cars, I want an Eagle....  

Super Space Theatre Sales Kit

In the early 1980s, ITC Entertainment took their back catalog of (mainly) Gerry Anderson TV programs and edited them into a series of Television movies for the growing Cable TV market. 

Dubbed "Super Space Theatre" these 14 movies were culled together from episodes of "Space:1999", "UFO", "Thunderbirds", "Stingray", "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" and the non Anderson property "The Champions" into new properties.

Apparently it's the year 2100 in this movie.

This package of (sometimes curiously edited) films was highly influential on yours truly, I ruined my sleep pattern trying to watch all of these as a ten year old and in turn, started to seek out merchandise based on these forgotten shows.

 This site owes a great debt to the wonderful recycling of Super Space Theater, so this sales kit containing sell sheets for all the films is truly a grail for me . I've also included some photos of my collection of SST VHS tapes.

Hope you enjoy!

Check out Super Space Theater here.

And hey, if you want some more Gerry Anderson, listen to our special podcast about him!

Grip Character Diecast Catalog

Click on the image to Enlarge.

Eidai Grip diecast vehicles were produced in Japan during the 1970s and featured many popular TV licences not unlike Dinky and Corgi did in the United Kingdom.

In fact, they shared many licenses like Gerry Anderson's UFO (a personal favourite), Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. They also (understandably) covered Japanese favourites like Ultraman, Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets.

Above is a beautiful catalog I found, you can view it in larger scale by clicking on it. I've also broken it down after the jump including shots from my own collection of these. 

Space:1999 Eagle put-up Play-in

This is one of the coolest things I've shown in a while, a kid sized Eagle one.

Also, unlike a lot of the stuff I show here, this actually got made!

Thirsty for more Space:1999 Toys? check out these links for the 1976 and 1977 Mattel Toys Catalogs...

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Beach:1999

Beach towels are a facet of merchandise that kind of fascinates me, mostly because you just don't see them very often. I guess that's because people used them for their intended purpose, I remember my Wonder Woman and Star Wars towels were pretty much rags by the end.

Seeing a strapping image of Martin Landau or the Eagle ship on a terry cloth background makes me want to hit Ebay. Trouble is, how the heck do i display them?

Space:1999 Stun Guns R Fun

 

I think the Space:1999 stun gun is one of the most iconic Sci-Fi weapons ever created. As a kid, I used a Staple gun until I nabbed the AHI water gun pictured above, it's the most screen accurate toy produced in the 1970s IMO.

AHI had a year of Star Trek sales under their belt so they knew phasers sold well, they applied the same concept to the 1999 merchandise, lucky us.

I've never seen this saucer version before.

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Pod Stallions Episode 8: Anderson is FAB

Seeing as it's September 13th, there is no better time to talk about the creative force that was Gerry Anderson.

Eventhough much of the man's output was done before Jason and Brain were even an idea, their timeless quality has fans talking about them to this day. 

The guys show the evolution in puppets from Supercar to Captain Scarlet and the jump to live action with UFO and Space:1999. Mixed in with some discussions about Bond, Gold Key Star Trek comics, nerdy moments and of course, all the merchandise we could cram into a single show.

Anderson is FAB is 

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• The unsold TV pilot for the Solarnauts produced by former Anderson partner Roberta Leigh is retro sci fi gold.
• The Mattel Space:1999 Eagle is easily one of the coolest toys in the 1970s
• Some very cool Thunderbirds toys from 1960s.
• The Trailer for Alien Attack, two episodes of  repackaged Space:1999 episodes.
• The Joe 90 Dossier you had to eat a lotta meat spread to get.
• One of those amazing Captain Scarlet paintings survived and in the hands of a collector.
• Some VHS covers from ITC's Super Space Theater.
• Just some of the Space:1999 rack toys made by AHI.
• Klingons hawking Happy Meals, this happened.
• The Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide is out of print but a must have.
• The After School Special Into Infinity borrowed sets and cast members from Space:1999 
• The German/UK co-produced series Star Maidens also feels like a low budget episode of Space:1999.
• This figure of Gay Ellis by Product Enterprise was in Brain's top five favorites.
• The guys are lukewarm to the Terrahawks but both agree the ships look really cool.

Plenty more content on the PodStallions Facebook page!

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Colouring Book Theatre: Gerry Anderson's UFO

UFO colouring book (Unknown Publishing)

Anyone who has read this blog might know that I am more than a little obsessed with this short lived SF series from the UK.

While this Gerry Anderson show enjoyed popularity world wide, it seemed to really catch on in Japan where its vehicles and colourful cast still enjoy merchandise. 

Merchandise that I must buy.

I am not fortunate enough to own one of these cool Japanese colouring books (I would like to!) but fortunately for me Jim of the S.H.A.D.O U.S.E.C.C facebook group shares with us a look between the covers.

Whats inside is a wonderful mash up of UK design and Japanese style, I love it! Unlike a lot of colouring books we look at, this one was made with care.

Red alert after the jump...