Great Space Toy Blog: Moonbase Central

I was recently hipped to a blog called Moonbase Central (projectswordtoys.blogspot.com), which focuses on old Project Sword toys, as well as a wide variety of vintage, (mostly) plastic space toys from (mostly) the U.K., Hong Kong, the U.S., and Canada. It's a great site with tons of information and wonderful photos. I've only spent about 40 minutes looking through it so far, and I've already found answers to a number of long-standing questions I've had about toys in my own collection (or toys I've thought about buying). Now that's a good blog!

Logo via Moonbase Central

Moonbase Central also features articles on related space-age toys, books, magazine articles, and ephemera, as well as actual Gemini/Apollo era goings on within the real space community. It provides some nice context for the toys and helps paint a picture of what was happening in society and pop culture as these toys were being produced.

For those who don't know, Project Sword was a British series of toys produced in the late Sixties by Century 21 Merchandising (connected with Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions), as well as a series of comic strips and text stories, and various other related items. Similar toys were also produced by a bunch of companies out of Hong Kong -- including a couple toys that remain popular among collectors who have never even heard of Project Sword. (Like... ahem... myself, until fairly recently. Hey, I'm young, cut me some slack!)

Guest Column! X-505 Flying Saucer (Nomura, 1962)

There's no denying that flying saucers played a major role in science-fiction toys of the Fifties and Sixties. There's also no denying that I don't know much about them. So I'm bringing in a ringer: Donald Conner. I'm proud to announce that Don's going to write a semi-regular column on these great old space toys, one that draws on not only his vast collection of flying saucers, but also his deep reserves of knowledge and research. If there's a man for this mission, it's Don! Take it away, buddy...

-- Doc.

By Donald Conner

In the 1950’s, you had your two basic space ship designs: the rocket and the flying saucer.

We earthlings knew all about rockets because we invented them. For years, science-fiction art and movies depicted the rockets; they were curvaceous, sexy things of beauty in a decidedly art deco mode. And by the 1950s, we were already sending them up towards space -- the dream of putting a man on the moon would soon become a reality.

Flying saucers, on the other hand, were steeped in mystery and urban legend. While people wrote about rockets in science journals, saucers were fodder for the tabloids and the pulps. These were the aliens' vehicles, terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. The idea of a flying saucer sent the mind racing: "Are they real?" "How do they work?" "Who built them?" "Are they friend or foe?" Imagine the cosmic knowledge that could be learned by one trip in a flying saucer! Combined with their unfathomable menace, they were like outlaw bikers and the key to the universe, all rolled into one.

While other kids might have been afraid of a saucer landing on their lawn, I would have asked Marvin the Martian if I could take her for a spin! A rocket could only follow a straight line, but it was a well-known fact that a flying saucer could turn on a dime and zip in the opposite direction in an instant -- it really handles, baby! It was a cross between a Lotus Elan and a hovercraft, the perfect intergalactic sports craft.

Some of Don's flying saucers.

And that's why I collect flying saucers. Once you decide to collect vintage robots and space toys, you can quickly discover that the space toys are almost overwhelming in their variety. Space tanks, flying saucers, rockets, space cars, lunar landers, space capsules, and space stations -- all have been produced by the great toy manufacturers from Japan, America, Great Britain, France, and Germany during the classic period from the mid-1950s to the late-1960s. Faced with that, I had to find a focus, and I was drawn to the flying saucers like a divining rod drawn to the Pacific Ocean. Battery operated, friction, and wind-up -- these toys whirred, spun, bumped, turned, almost but not quite fell off the table, rose and hovered! And they did it while flashing, sparking, buzzing, and beeping their way to a coveted status among kids back in the day -- and collectors today!

To launch this column, I'd like to talk about the X-505 Flying Saucer, by Nomura of Japan. It's one of my personal favorites. Sure, it's an extremely rare piece, but I also love it for its looks and its status as a trend setter.

The X-505, a true beauty!

Catalog dated to 1962, the X-505 is one of the earliest of the friction saucers to have a central, clear dome. Another Japanese company, Masudaya, had been making friction saucers some years prior, but their design had more of a fuselage swooping back between two elongated fins. And a company called Yoshiya had been making battery operated saucers with central domes and pilots as early as 1960. But Nomura took it a step forward with the X-505, introducing the tin, lithographed cockpit and pilot to the friction saucer. Other toy manufacturers would soon be copying the X-505 formula of tin-litho pilot's head and cockpit, embossed headlights, two fins, and sparking window.

Note the lithographed cockpit and pilot underneath that perfect dome.

Sparks would light inside the four elongated, red windows behind the pilot.

The X-505's mechanism is fairly simple. The inner flywheel acts as a motor for this bad boy -- rev the toy up by swiping the wheels across the floor and then set it down and watch the sparks fly as it zooms forward!

Adding an X-505 to your collection is no easy trick -- they rarely come up for sale, and I do mean rarely. But if you do come across one, take a close look at the dome. Nomura used a much thinner plastic on their friction saucer domes and it cracks easily.

I bought mine years ago in a Smith House auction, it was the one piece I wanted very badly out of that auction and at the time I didn’t have a complete sense of just how rare it is. Luckily, robots were getting much more attention than saucers in those days and I managed to snag this little gem. In the 5 years since that auction I haven’t seen another boxed example come up for sale anywhere. In my opinion, the box itself is one of the best flying saucer boxes eve. The art work really sizzles with its emphasis on the sparking engine. Whenever I see it I can't help thinking the same artwork could have been easily used on a brick of firecrackers.

So you can see why the X-505 was such a trend setter. It's a real dazzler, a space vehicle with hot-rod good looks and a forward-looking design.

Another Vintage Space Toy Photo

Many thanks to Attic contributor Karl Tate, who uncovered photographic proof that yes, dressing like a Space Cadet won't always scare off the girls. Especially girls who are cool enough to dress like Space Cadets, too!

Awwww...

It probably helps that the guy dressed to impress, and sports a snazzy Space Scout helmet, by Renwal. The photo is from Life Magazine, and was taken by Robert W. Kelley at what is described as a "Science Fiction Party, Oak Ridge." It's dated 1954, which, incidentally, is as close as we've come to figuring out when the helmet was made. Nice archeology work, Karl!

Here's a photo of mine, which I wrote about -- along with Renwal's wonderful Planet Jet Gun -- here.

It's Worth WHAT?

Let's talk a little about spending money.

A good rule of thumb when collecting: If you pay what a toy is worth to you, you'll never pay too much.

Now, of course, this isn't entirely true. You could pay more than a toy generally sells for and then say to yourself, "Dang it, I could have had the toy and some extra cash in my wallet." Or perhaps you could have bought two toys for your money.

But that's missing the spirit of the saying. The basic idea is that these toys have no intrinsic value beyond what you might get if you brought them to a recycling center. Instead, their value is based on our own desire for them. If you love a toy and see it offered for $600, you have to ask yourself, "What's more important? The toy, or the $600?"

And let's say you choose the toy, and then discover you could have bought it for $500. Did you screw up? I say "no," because that toy was worth $600 to you at that moment, and the value of $600 in your mind hasn't changed. So while it's always nice to buy a toy for less, in the end, if that toy is actually delivering $600 worth of good vibes, that's all that matters.

I'll admit it, I paid a little too much for the Ranger Robot I just won. I didn't realize it at the time -- I thought the market value was a bit higher -- but I'm okay with it. I was perfectly happy with the price once the hammer dropped, I was perfectly happy with the price when I counted out the money to pay for it, I was perfectly happy with the price when I was showing off the toy to my friends. When weighing the money versus the toy, the toy won out -- that didn't change when I discovered that it has, sometimes, sold for about 15% less.

(And let's face it, I was paying for the condition. This is one of the nicest examples of the Ranger Robot I've seen in years. As one prominent dealer pointed out, finding them loose in this kind of condition is next to impossible. "It's a toy of extremes," he said. "They're either mint in box or loose and crap." So yes, I'm quite happy!)

All that said, it pays to balance the concept against sound fiscal judgement and good research. If you're prepared to pay $600 for a toy, check to make sure it's not more often up for grabs for $300. Some gaps are too wide for even love to cross.

Also, I don't recommend ever spending more than you can reasonably afford. While it's one thing to charge a purchase and pay it off a month or two later, no collectible is really worth going into deep debt over. That kind of financial burden creates a lot of stress, and you'll soon think of nothing else whenever you look at your toys. Deep debt can suck the fun right out of the thing you went into debt for in the first place, which is wonderful for irony, but not so great for your peace of mind.

Just a few thoughts on buying old toys (or anything, I guess, that doesn't have a firmly established market value).

The Morphy Auction: After the Mayhem

Saturday, 6 p.m.
I was tired and, truth be told, more than half-mad. Eight hours of an auctioneer's constant patter was taking its toll. His voice was as mercilessly loud -- and as completely inescapable -- as a serial killer's chain saw. But I wasn't going anywhere, not now. Not after everything I'd sacrificed to get this far -- the deals I'd let slide, the toys I'd let go, the smaller battles I'd forfeited in order to win the war. No, I was in too deep, stuck in the mire of my own stubbornness.

And then, after nearly 500 lots, my waiting ended.

"Lot 1275. Let's start the bidding at-" I didn't wait to hear the number, I just shot my hand into the air. The piece of paper with my bidder number on it was crumpled in my fist.

A nod from the auctioneer, and a call for a higher bid. Someone else's hand went up. Then an online bidder bumped the price even more. I raised my hand; the guy online followed right on my heals. I bid again, and smiled as my online competition dropped out. Unfortunately, he was quickly replaced by someone sitting a few rows behind me.

To hell with this, I thought. I raised my bidder sheet and this time I kept it up. The other guy bid, my sheet stayed high. His move. He upped the price; my hand never wavered. Back and forth, the price climbing, my arm a steel beam, never bowing, never faltering. I had tunnel vision, the world around me shimmered and disappeared, all I could see was the toy. The bids kept climbing, and I began to wonder just how far I could go before oblivion dragged me down into her sweet, sweet embrace...

Friday, 8 a.m.
The road was clear as my friends and I left Manhattan in our rented Ford S.U.V. and headed south to Adamstown, PA, for the Morphy Auctions sale of the Marc Solondz toy collection. The mood in the car was light, our excitement levels high. Two full days of vintage toys, 1500 lots in all, ranging from tin robots, space toys, and ray guns to Japanese vinyl and die-cast character pieces. The collection was full of rare variations, uncommon boxes, and unusual finds. It was unheralded, and represented more than 30 years of toy buying by a man with a keen eye for quality.

Besides attending the auction, we planned on hanging out at the Toy Robot Museum, seeing some friends, and generally geeking out over our favorite subject: Vintage space toys and robots.

In the navigator's seat was Karl Tate, a contributor to the Attic. Steve Jaspen, who appeared in the Attic's first Top-Shelf Titans interview, chilled in the back. Discussion centered on the amount of toys flooding the scene in the last month, as well as the downward trend in pricing. We talked about the toys in the auction that interested us most, calculating the odds that we'd actually take something home while also figuring out what we'd do if we came up short. Auctions are tricky business, and it pays to have a Plan B.

Me, I was tied up over two toys: the Moon Robot (a.k.a. Ribbon Robby), and a rare little number called Ranger Robot. Both are tough finds, but beyond that, they couldn't be more different. The Moon Robot is inspired by Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot, and features three, spiraling metal ribbons under its dome that spin as the toys walks. It's an understated 'bot, but its subtle design gives it a lot of impact. I've wanted one for a long time, and I was pretty certain I could afford it.

Moon Robot. Note the pink tinted dome and the revolving ribbons of lithoed tin.

The Ranger Robot, on the other hand, is all flash and sizzle. Its mechanized guts are sheathed in a clear plastic body, and it features an array of lights, noise-makers, and even a smoke-blower -- all of which remain visible. The toy isn't based on any previous design, and it never inspired any imitators. It's a unique, stand-out addition to any collection -- but one that would probably cost me a few bucks more.

Ranger Robot. One of the few toys that let you see the inner mechanism.

Frankly, I had no idea which I wanted more, and I was driving myself nuts turning the question over in my mind. My plan, formulated as I drove down the New Jersey Turnpike towards PA, was to check them out up close, hold them, give them a good once over, and hope I'd feel some sort of emotional tug in one direction or the other.

Friday, 11 a.m.
Pulling into Adamstown, we decided to head directly over to Morphy's. The auction house is located just off route 222, inside a nondescript brown building. I wasn't sure what sort of action we'd find, and couldn't decide if the parking lot was half full or half empty. Today's auction featured the die-cast and vinyl toys, and I wondered what kind of crowd it'd attract. There wasn't anything I wanted, of course, but curiosity and a deep love for pretty much all toys compelled my friends and I to check it out. Besides, it's always a good idea to scope out the auction house beforehand -- find out how the auctioneers operate, investigate the place's layout, that sort of thing.

Once inside, I headed right over to the cases of robots. They'd been cleaned up and re-arranged since I first saw them months earlier during a preview weekend, and the effect was impressive.

A minty example of the Space Commando. The helmet is usually cracked, if not missing altogether.

One of my all time favorite space tanks. The litho's just amazing, with a lot of great details.

An uncommon, original Tetsujin 28 toy. Love that box.

I quickly found the Moon and Ranger Robots -- conveniently located only a few toys away from each other -- and asked an employee to take them out so I could inspect them closer. See, that's one of the nice things about auctions: They're like museums, but you're allowed to handle all the merchandise. It's an incredible opportunity to fondle examine some really rare toys, stuff you'd never likely see at any other time.

Sadly, my plan failed: giving them a close look only made me want each robot more. I put them back on their shelves with a sigh, figuring that maybe I'd just go for whichever came up first. That'd be the Moon Robot, leaving the Ranger Robot as my Plan B. But somehow, that didn't feel right. I shook my head and went looking for my friends.

I soon ran into a long-time, high-end collector named Perry Mahoney. He also runs a store called, appropriately enough, Perry's Toy Exchange. He was there with his friend, Glen, and the two were picking over the shelves of toys like crime scene investigators looking for clues to a murder. I asked him if anything interested him. "I don't know," he replied. "I think I have everything already!" Apparently, he was hoping to stumble on some rare variations. If nothing else, he figured he'd pick up some toys for resale later on. A good plan.

A small group of robots and astronauts.

Mr. Atomic, with the Moon Robot right behind him. Two fantastic toys!

Tremendous Mike. A rare toy that was also available in grey.

Karl, Steve, and I spent a couple hours checking out the rest of the cases before deciding we'd had our fill -- time for the Toy Robot Museum. Located about five minutes north of Morphy's, it's run by a good friend of ours named Joe Knedlhans. Besides being possibly the only museum of its kind, with more than 2000 robots on display, it's also the unofficial club house for robot collectors whenever they're in town. (I've written about it here and here, and have posted a video profile here.)

Joe was his usual, jovial self, and soon after arriving I found myself wandering around the museum with a beer in my hand and stars in my eyes. It wasn't long before some other collectors showed up: Phil, who owns one of the nicest Buck Rogers collections I've ever seen; Mark, a guy who not only owns some amazing toys but also builds his own; and Charlie, who's built an impressive collection that focuses on vintage space toys and robots by a company called Horikawa.

Soon after that, we were joined by the man I think of as the original toy robot collector: David Kirk. David, who's also a successful artist and the author of the Miss Spider and Nova series of children's books, began actively collecting robots when he was just a kid back in the Sixties. He got most of his toys upon their release, and even appeared on a local TV program about collectors. In the Nineties (I think) he sold off many of his toys, but over the last decade he's managed to rebuild an incredibly impressive collection. He's also a hell of a nice guy.

As great as it was to see all those guys, I've got to admit that the high point came when the door swung open and in walked Pat Karris. Pat's a long time collector who, over the years, build up the biggest collection of Robby the Robot and Forbidden Planet related toys in the world. You name it, he owned it. When I first met him, he lived in NYC and worked just around the corner from my office. We'd get together a few times a week for coffee and conversation, and over time, he ended up teaching me nearly everything I know about collecting robots. Along with Steve Jaspen, he's one of the people who I can honestly call a mentor. Unfortunately, he moved out of town and I hadn't seen him in a couple years. Needless to say, there were a lot of slaps on the back when he strolled into the museum.

Friday, 10:30 p.m.
After dinner at a local Italian restaurant and a couple more hours at the museum for geekery and beer, we all decided to call it a night. Saturday's auction was slated to begin at 10 a.m., but doors opened at eight. Of course, I wanted to get there as early as possible. Because I'm a madman.

I was sharing a room with Karl and Steve at our favorite local crash pad, the Black Horse Lodge. Nothing fancy, but the prices are low, the rooms are clean, and the staff's always friendly. We knew there'd be only two beds in the room, so I brought along an air mattress for myself. I was pretty tired after the early morning drive and the long day of toys, and was unconscious soon after hitting the inflated vinyl...

Boom! Awake! Eyes snapped open, brain alert, sleep banished. I glanced over at the window expecting to see a little light sneaking around the edges of the heavy drapes. No such luck, which meant, I figured, that it was about five in the morning -- two hours before my alarm was set to go off. No big deal, I thought, and I grabbed my iPhone so I could read the morning's news. That's when I noticed the clock... 2:45 in the morning! Hours until the auction, and wide awake. Great.

Saturday, 3:15 a.m.
Paper: read. Twenty games of Solitaire: played. Emails to friends on the West Coast: sent. Short blog entry: posted. I started to feel a little drowsy, so I killed my phone, pulled up the covers, and settled back in for a few more hours of sleep. Er... Not so much.

I was stricken with "Christmas Morning Syndrome." I was so eager for the auction to begin, so wired from thinking about all those toys, that sleep was utterly impossible. I'd close my eyes and my mind would keep on racing. I'd slip off for a few minutes, but the robots tromping through my brain would wake me right back up.

I did have one interesting dream during a brief foray into unconsciousness. In it, I discovered that one of the robots I wanted to buy -- I don't know which one -- had a busted leg. I was so happy, because it meant my choice between the Moon Robot and Ranger Robot was clear. In fact, I felt a twinge of sadness when I woke up and realized that, damnit, both toys were as close to mint as I've ever seen. It's definitely the first time I felt upset over a toy being too nice. Man, I'm a freak.

Anyway, after tossing and turning for a few more hours, the sun finally started coming up. beating the alarm, I jumped in the shower and got dressed before waking up my compatriots. A quick breakfast, check out of the lodge, and then it was off to the toys.

Saturday, 9 a.m.
Once again, I had no idea what to expect as I drove out to Morphy's. A seething crowd of madmen, each one wild-eyed and frothing at the mouth? Me, I was a twitchy mess, and I didn't figure I'd be much better off than anyone else. Times like these try men's spirits, and most of us are found wanting. So I was kind of nervous as I got out of the car and approached the double glass doors. Deep breath, Doc. And... here we go.

Morphy's looked more or less like it had the day before, only the shelves were mostly devoid of the vinyl and die-cast toys. A bunch of people were milling around the robot cases, including my friends. I also ran into a collector and dealer named Larry Waldeman, who runs an online store called Cybertoyz. Larry's a great guy, always fun to talk to, and a real expert on robots and space toys. He was dragging some poor, young Morphy's staffer from case to case as he went through the collection, one piece after another. I decided to stick close by, checking out whichever toys he looked at, asking questions, learning something new the whole time.

Morphy's also had a snack bar set up, with cookies, donuts, and even hotdogs. I grabbed a bavarian cream donut and counted that as breakfast.

Atomic Robot Man. This is a rare version that's stamped with the words "Souvenir of the New York Science Fiction Conference" on its back. Only three or four are known to exist. I wrote about mine here.

The Atomic Water Pistol, a rare die-cast toy out of England.

A fantastic example of the Buck Rogers XZ-38 Disintegrator. That's the extremely rare box behind it.

Saturday, 10 a.m.
Time to start! We all made our way over to the auction area, a large portion of the building set out with row after row of chairs. The auctioneer was positioned on a raised platform at the front of the room, flanked on either side by two large TVs that would display the toy and lot number currently up for grabs. A couple people sat by him at computer terminals, monitoring the real-time, online bidding. At the back of the room was a bank of phones staffed by Morphy employees -- they would handle the phone bidding.

I only saw about 20 collectors on hand; I leaned over to ask Steve what he thought of the turnout. He wasn't impressed, and told me that the famous Sotheby's sale of F.H. Griffith's collection in 2000 was packed to the rafters. We all looked around at the few collectors and wondered how the turnout would impact prices.

Morphy's says that it runs through about 100 lots every hour, and with hundreds of toys to go before anything I found interesting appeared on the block, I decided to wander around the auction house to look at the other items being offered in later sales. Morphy's doesn't just deal in toys, they also have advertising memorabilia, antique weaponry, vintage vending machines -- an eclectic mix of items. Marbles caught my attention, actually, with all their weird designs and rich colors. I was also digging the old die-cast cars, including a cool, small-scale "people mover" toy from the 1939 World's Fair. They even had a case full of old, wooden Fisher Price pull toys -- fascinating.

During one of the auction's particularly slow moments -- I think they were going through the last of the Japanese character toys -- Larry Waldeman actually lead a bunch of us outside to his car, where he had a number of excellent toys for sale. A couple people bought pieces from him, despite the auction going on just inside. Because that's the kind of maniacs we are...

Eventually, the selection of toys heated up and we all began paying more attention to the auction. That's when I noticed how low the prices were. "Bargain" doesn't even begin to describe things. "Steal" comes close. As Pat said, "If you ever wanted to begin collecting these toys, this is the time and place to do it!" In fact, I saw a number of people bidding on lot after lot. Some were dealers -- like Perry and Larry -- and some were people I'd never seen before. One guy, who looked to be in his early Sixties, had a running list of what he'd won; it'd grown into multiple columns by the time I noticed it. Another collector, a younger looking guy from Europe, was cleaning up on some of the higher-end pieces. In the back of the room, a well-known dealer was bidding on behalf of some customers, and he took home a lot of toys. A few pieces went to online bidders, and some went to the people calling in by phone.

The Change Prince. The dinosaur head opens up, revealing the boy's head. Definitely a big ticket item (though, I'll be honest, it never really did much for me).

The rare Chime Trooper is a pretty whimsical looking toy. It's got a great action -- yep, it chimes when it rolls forward.

The Hiller Atomic Ray Gun. Note the resemblance to the red British gun, above. The Hiller came first. The box pictured in this photo actually belongs to the British gun -- no idea how this mistake was made, but I hope whoever purchased the guns isn't too upset.

The Mighty 8 is high on many collectors' lists. Too bad it's so damn rare, especially with the box. The color wheel is pretty amazing when it's running.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take advantage of the low prices -- the toys I wanted were near the end of the auction, and I didn't want to risk coming up short. So I gritted my teeth and watched as people picked up some of my favorite robots without putting a dent in their wallets.

This was definitely more restraint than I think I've ever shown in my life. I summoned up reserves of willpower I never imagined I had. We're talking zen focus, laser-beam eyes, the single-minded determination of the meanest guard dog you've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Slowly, ever so slowly, the lots creeped past.

Including, by the way, the Moon Robot, which, somewhere along the line, I decided not to bid on. I'm not really sure how it happened, but the Ranger took over my brain and wouldn't leave. That was the toy for me, no doubt about it. Ranger Robot was mine, it just didn't know it yet.

And so I wanted. And waited. And waited. Hours and hours of sitting there, listening to the auctioneers incessant patter while the occasional gasp of frustration escaped my lips whenever a toy sold for a bargain basement price. And then, finally... "Lot number 1275. Let's start the bidding at-"

Saturday, 6:02 p.m.
I'd been bidding on the Ranger Robot like a maniac. Just as I started to wonder if my money would last as long as my willpower, I noticed the auctioneer looking around the room. He was repeating my most recent bid, waiting to see if anyone would step up and beat it. My heart began beating faster as the auctioneer held out for another 30 seconds -- I swear, it felt like an hour. Just waiting as the auctioneer implored someone else to outbid me and drive the price up further.

No one did.

"Sold!" he proclaimed. "To the guy who's been waiting all day for that piece."

I fell back in my seat, a grin plastered across my face. It took me a moment to notice that the room was applauding. Applauding! In a day without any crazy, price-driven drama, my little moment in the sun stood out. I'll admit that it felt good, a perfect ending to what had been a loooooong day.

My Ranger robot. A great example that works like a dream. More details in future posts.

All in all, it turned out to be a fantastic weekend. Good friends, good toys, and good times. If that's not what you're supposed to get out of a hobby, well, I'm not sure why else to even bother!

Happy collecting!

Vintage Photos Of Vintage Space Toys

I love finding old photos of vintage robots and ray guns, and I was thrilled when frequent Attic contributor Steven Baker sent me a link to this photo on the Getty Images web site:

Inspired, I began hunting through the archives to see what else I could turn up. The pickings were slim, but here's what I found:

Another shot of a proud space cadet, armed with a Remco Electronic Space Gun and wearing an Orbit Space Helmet.

Who are those masked men? I don't know, but one of them is packing a Buck Rogers U-235 Atomic Pistol. (It might be the earlier, similarly designed XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol, but I don't think the photo is quite that old.)

The call him the Space Cowboy, probably because he's got what appear to be two Buck Rogers Sonic Ray Guns. Judging by the hearts on his suit and helmet, I guess he's also the "gangster of love."

Ready to join up: This kid's got both the Space Patrol helmet and the Marx Space Patrol Flashlight Gun.

This photo's been featured on Alphadrome in the past. It shows a salesman's sample ST-1 Robot pushing the cart it was sometimes sold with. The rocket was never meant to go with the toy, but it sure looks good! Also, the wind up robot never actually had those weird shoulder wires.

This robot looks home made, but I thought it was cool so I decided to include it.

This is a photo I found on eBay years ago. It shows the battery operated version of the Planet Robot, and was dated 1957. That is one happy looking kid!

If anyone else uncovers anything, send 'em my way and I'll post them with an appropriate credit to both the original source and the astute sleuth.

Space Toy Auction: Marc Solondz Collection

Morphy Auctions has posted their online catalog for the Marc Solondz collection, and it's definitely worth flipping through. Give yourself some time, though, because there are more than 1400 toys up for grabs!

The sale takes place both live and online on November 13 and 14. Loyal readers might remember the trip I took to view the preview a few months ago. Pictures -- many, many pictures -- from that little journey can be found in this post.

Now, granted, the auction encompasses more than just space toys. Solondz also built a stupendous collection of vintage and modern Japanese vinyl and die-cast character toys. These include super heroes like Ultraman and his ilk, giant robots, and city stomping kaiju. Impressive stuff, indeed.

But of course, I'm most excited about the wide variety of vintage robots, ray guns, and space toys. The collection covers a lot of ground, with many rare toys mixed in among some of the more common pieces -- something for everyone! Boxes abound. And while the collection isn't as complete or across-the-board mint as the one featured in the most recent Smith House auction, it's still breath taking and an inspiration to toy collectors everywhere.

If you're really interested in these toys, I also suggest ordering a physical copy of the catalog (which can be ordered via the web site). At $45, it's not cheap. However, you get a hard-bound, 200-page book filled with glossy photos of toys. The pictures aren't huge, but they're big enough and they're accompanied by some decent -- if bare bones -- descriptions.

While I'm at it, I highly recommend the Smith House catalogs for their two Alan Rosen sales -- they're auction numbers 74 and 75 and can be ordered directly from Smith House.

Combined, they cover a majority of the space toys and robots you're ever likely to encounter, and there are hundreds of rare boxes featured as well. While the photos, again, are a little small, I'd say these two books together represent the most encompassing guide to these toys available right now. I'll admit, they're not as cosmetically impressive as the Morphy catalog, but for the sheer volume of images, they're more than worth the $35 each.

A Few Brief Thoughts On Why I Show Off My Toys

An interesting discussion on Alphadrome leads me to ask this question: Why do we show off our collections? Why isn't it enough to get the toys -- or whatever -- we want and then lock them away behind foot-thick doors, safe from prying eyes, sticky fingers, and the ravages of direct sunlight?

Someone pointed out that in Europe, collectors are a little bit more private than their American counterparts. Here in the States, we enjoy showing off our stuff, while across the pond, some of the biggest toy collections in the world are known to only a select few. While I can't speak for everyone, I've gotta say, yeah, I like having a chance to show off my stuff.

I'd be lying if I denied feeling a thrill every time a fellow collector stopped by and ogled a rare piece. And I'm happy to admit that I sometimes enjoy a bit of an ego boost whenever I tell someone about a great score. I'm human. But you know what? None of that's why I do it.

Truth is, I look at my collection like a mini museum, a humble attempt at capturing a certain cross-section of pop culture that thrived for a few decades before succumbing to changing fads. In those heady days before the space race really heated up, before we became mired in the sticky muck of reality, science-fiction toys embraced whimsy with fantastically, impossibly, and often ridiculously designed space ships, ray guns, and, of course, robots. They were inspiring, they were exciting, they were fun! And for no other reason than they could be.

It's easy to forget that, and in forgetting, to lose some of the spirit that drove people to dream the kind of dreams that often leave people standing with mouths agape and a sense of wonder overwhelming their brains.

In these toys we have tangible proof that a time existed when we knew rockets would take us to the colonies at the edge of the solar system. When we knew that robots would help make the world a better place. When we knew that the future wasn't a dark and scary place, but was instead a land of opportunity and adventure.

So okay, that's not how it all turned out. I know that. But looking at these toys makes me smile because I think to myself, "Maybe it's not too late."

And when friends and neighbors occasionally troop through my collection, I'm not hoping they look at the toys and think, "Wow, a Hook Robot!" Heck, none of my friends would know a Hook Robot if I used it to catch a fish. No, I hope they're thinking about how, once upon a time, a long time ago, the future was stuffed with possibilities. And then perhaps they whisper, "Maybe it's not too late."

So that's why I like showing off my toys. I'm showing off the future that never was, but might still be. Because if enough people say, "Maybe it's not too late," well, maybe it's not.

Aren't toys cool? Heck yeah...

Robots On Display: Robots Among Us at Windsor's Community Museum

Anyone living in Canada, or planning a trip there, might want to stop by Windsor's Community Museum in Windsor, Ontario, to check out their Robots Among Us exhibit. It features just a sampling of collector Darryl Dupuis' vintage and new space toys, and provides an excellent overview of the toys and their history.



A portion of the exhibit. Photos by Darryl Dupuis. (Via Alphadrome)

The display will be up through January, though I suggest contacting the museum before traveling out there. The museum can be reached via their web site at www.citywindsor.ca/002821.asp.

To find out more about Darryl and the exhibit, check out the following:
WEBSITE: The Robot Nut (www.robotnut.com)
ARTICLE: The Windsor Star. "Robots From the 50s, 60s Amaze Modern Kids" (August 7, 2009)
VIDEO: The Windsor Star. "Robots From the 50s, 60s Amaze Modern Kids" (August 7, 2009)
VIDEO: Robots Among Us

Sadly, I live nowhere near Windsor, so I can't make it to the museum. If anyone happens to go, feel free to write up a post and take some photos, and I'll run them both as a guest blog entry. (Nope, no pay, just fame and glory for your endeavors.)

Adventures Into The Land of Robots! Toy Robot Museum & Morphy Auction House

Art lovers have the Louvre. Dinosaur buffs have the American Museum of Natural History. And space toy collectors have the Toy Robot Museum. Guess where I was on Saturday? 

The Toy Robot Museum in all its glory!

I'd planned this trip months ago, and was joined by two other local collectors -- Steve Jaspen (who was interviewed for the Attic's first "Top-Shelf Titan" article, here) and Karl Tate (who wrote the article on Apollo-inspired space toys, here). Chatter about it on Alphadrome brought other collectors from the area out of the woodwork, and soon the Geek-O-Meter levels were rising fast as about eight of us descended on the museum. It was going to be a good day.

Located in Adamstown, PA, the Toy Robot Museum features well over 2500 pieces, from the very old to the very new. Cases line the aisles, stuffed with every color, shape, style, and model of toy robots. The overflow, which includes posters and related ephemera, climb the walls and cling from the ceiling. Robot-themed video games and pinball machines beep, chime, and clatter, competing with the click-click-thwok-buzzzz of a vintage Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game. 

A case full of classics: two variations of Electric Robot and Son (Marx, 1955), and (bottom) the great Robert the Robot (Ideal, 1954) 

Joe's museum has every version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. He's even set one up so kids (of all ages) can play with it.

Overseeing it all is the museum's curator, a boisterously cheerful collector named Joe Knedlhans. Catch him in the right mood -- and by that I mean "awake" -- and he'll gladly spend an hour talking about his favorite toys. Joe is an endless font of knowledge, whether he's answering questions about a vintage Robert the Robot or a brand new Wall-E movie tie-in toy. 

The man, the myth, the legend: Joe Knedlhans!

Joe's favorites: Robert the Robot. Seen here are all three variations. Over time, Ideal simplified the toy's design. 

The rare Robert the Robot flashlight.

The equally rare Robert the Robot record. This example has never been played.

Ideal also produced a Robert the Robot tractor. An uncommon, beautiful toy.

Between the toys and their owner, it's absolutely impossible to visit the museum and not have a great time. I love seeing all the robots I'd never necessarily collect, but still think are cool. And in many instances, visiting Joe's has prompted a new appreciation for certain toys. I can think of four robots in my collection that I only own because I had a chance to see them at the museum. Of course, the downside is that every visit to the museum ends up costing me way more than the $2.00 admission price! 

For more on Joe and his Toy Robot Museum, you can watch a video piece I produced, here.

There were other reasons to be in Adamstown on Saturday; besides hitting the museum, we decided to visit Morphy Auctions, which is located just down the road to the south. They were holding their preview for a huge -- huge! -- auction of over 700 vintage space toys, and it was a unique opportunity to check out some of the rarest toys, many with their original boxes. (The auction also includes thousands -- yes, thousands -- of new and vintage Japanese vinyl and die cast character toys.)

Morphy's didn't disappoint, and we were suitably flabbergasted by the cases of toys stretching out in front of us. Robots, rockets, flying saucers, space tanks, futuristic cars -- they were all jumbled together, often without much rhyme or reason, fighting for space and our attention. A riot of shapes and color, I found myself picking over the same shelves again and again, discovering new toys each time. Fun, yes. Exciting, surely. But seriously overwhelming. 

Amazingly, Morphy's wasn't displaying all the toys -- they were still cataloguing everything, and don't expect to wrap up for another few weeks! 

The auction is scheduled for some time in November. As it continues to come together, I'll post more information. Also, look for news -- and a behind-the-scenes article -- about yet another massive auction, this time from Smith House Toys, in the near future. I tell ya, it's a great time to be a vintage space toy collector!

After seeing all those toys at Joe's and Morphy's, I was itching to bring home something for myself. Luckily, the road running through Adamstown is littered with antique stores and I've had some luck in the past, snagging a couple beautiful -- and rare -- space guns for amazing prices. I crossed my fingers, and my friends and I began our hunt.

Sadly, though, our antiquing went nowhere. We'd found some nice toys, but the prices weren't great and none of us felt compelled to buy anything. It looked like I'd be driving home without a addition to my collection after all. (Cue chorus of Awwwwwww. Thank you for that heartfelt show of sympathy...)

My fellow collectors and all went back to the Toy Robot Museum to hang out before dinner, and I decided to poke through Joe's gift shop. It's a small section towards the front of the shop, filled with all sorts of robot- and science-fiction related toys, games, videos, mugs, books, knick knacks, and whatever else you can think of. Joe's also got one special case built into his front counter, and that's where he stores some of the better toys: Vintage stuff as well as higher-end modern pieces. 

And that's where I saw them: A pair of rare Strato Scout Space Phones! Score!

I collect vintage space walkie-talkies (they'll eventually appear in the Attic, I promise) and even though I already own the Strato Scout model, Joe's was a variation I'd never seen before. The price was right -- and, frankly, I like supporting my friends -- so I grabbed them up quick. 

And then I did the smartest thing I've done in a while: I asked Joe if he had anything else lurking in his storage room. See, the last time I visited the museum, I happened to mention that I was looking for an original, first-generation Robert the Robot, and if it wasn't too much trouble, I hoped Joe could keep an eye out for me. Before I'd even finished the sentence, Joe had jumped up and dashed out of the room. He was back a moment later with a beautiful example of the toy, which I bought on the spot.

So I decided to try again. And, like last time, Joe dashed out of the room only to return with another great robot: Mr. Zerox (Horikawa, early 1970s). It's a later version robot, appearing towards the end of the great space toy era, but still one that I wanted pretty badly. I'll write more extensively about it in the future, but for now, here's a shot of the robot and the Strato Scout Space Phones:

The day ended with dinner -- all the visiting collectors plus Joe -- and then one more trip back to the museum (because it's hard to get enough). And then it was time to drive home. 

I'd call it a perfect day all around, and it reminded me that, as much as I love the toys, most of the hobby's fun comes from hanging out with all my friends.

...

Okay, you got me. I'm in it for the toys... But the friends are great, too!