F is for Fattypuff, T is for Thinifer

The last of the First Wave stuff from Mattel on the subject of the sequel/prequel/spin-off/arse-tear which seems to have been the movie Lightyear. I didn’t get all of them, there was a 'dogfight double' with Zurg's ship (see below and Buzz's XL-15, it came with rocket firers which could apparently be fixed to the locating divots under the four smaller, single pack vessels, which we've seen in the last few days.

 

Zurg's fighter, as far as I can tell, Zurg is some counter-Buzz from a paralell or alternate universe, but as Buzz is a toy, it's all in his head really!

 

There was another, bigger Zurg-related toy in the First Wave, which is called the Mothership, and comes with another Zurg figure, and - I think - a couple more Zyclops, to even up the score a bit, with five vessels in Buzz's available fleet, and four from Zurg's faction, two ships, two pods, and six figurines apiece, if you get all bar the twin-set?

 

It too was remaindered, a year later, over Christmas 24/25 (the fighters were, before their reappearance in Home Bargains last week, cleared in the autumn of '23), in TKMaxx, but because TKMaxx is never as cheap as it should be for a supposed 'clearance' model, they started them at something really silly like 70-quid? It came down to about £35 within a fortnight, and was further reduced to about 25 Pounds, in the after-Christmas sale, but for something which originally retailed at about 17-23 squids, I wasn't biting, and let them go!

 

The Armadillo, I assume this is from the third-act too, if Buzz flies fifteen vessels, at four years per trip, the whole search for a working 'Hyperspeed' must have taken around 60 years (Wikipedia says 66)? So, the other character here. Izzy, must have only been alive for the last five or so experimental vessels, and only be barely old-enough for starship fighting!

 

Mattel's sister brand, Hot Wheels, did an Armadillo in grey, as a small die-cast, I don't know which is the more accurate colour, because, as stated before, I haven't seen the movie!

 

With four more ships and a reissue of the Zyclops pods (to maintain the balance, of a sort) in the smaller Second Wave, a nice little range, but to me, of more importance for their compatibility to the Star Wars Action Fleet stuff from Galoob and Hasbro.

 

The figures being better than the Star Wars (and similar Star Trek figures from Playmates), in having separate articulation for each arm/leg, while the others were joined pairs, although they're still pretty wooden!

 

And having mentioned the Playmates, while the figures fit the other two universes, the vessels are not to scale with the figures. Of course, Galoob also gave us Alien/s and others in the same format, while similar sci-fi, fantasy or TV/movie stuff from Bluebird, Hasbro and Mattel, means you can get a really weird Cantina scene set up, with a little imagination!

 

"Where’d he come from Obi Wan?"

 

"Infinity and beyond apparently, and those two belong to some 'Federation' in a galaxy far, far away, but not so long ago, while the red being in the corner, is rumoured to have got those scars from a kid younger than you, called Max; the Mighty Max, supposedly?

B is for Back to Hyperspeed!

So, these are the other three issues in the set we looked at the other day, and these have not been de-boxed, as they're in storage and have been there since these shots were taken in 2023. They were remaindered in The Entertainer, I would never have bought them new, far too pricey!

 

And I suppose it's worth mentioning, for overseas loyal readers, the Brits probably all know, that The Entertainer is a slightly weird chain of otherwise standard mid-range, mostly 'big-brand', toy shops, and only weird because it's owned by a god-botherer, so they won't stock any Harry Potter toys (it's the Devil's work!), although they seem happy with the equally numerous lines of Tolkien stuff, and they don't open on Sunday, an important day in modern retail, as it's one of the few days the modern family can be found together, with a bit of spare time!

 

I don't know why I didn't twig I was missing two ships, but the card back may have been different to the two I got the other day, but I don't think so, I think I just wasn't paying attention!

 

XL-01, the ship which started it all (whatever it is, I haven't seen the movie (I may have the DVD in the watching queue somewhere?)), and upon the return from the flight of, Buzz discovers his crew-mates are all four years older.

 

XL-15, the final ship, the one that finds the full hyperspeed. Buzz is now wearing a spacesuit close to the one we all know and love, although at this size, there's no clear dome over his head!

 

Note how the tripod landing gear on all these, follows the pattern of the Galoob Micromachine's 'Action Fleet' ships, particularly the X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters, and these will all be going in my Action Fleet tub, as background/freelancer ships!

 

Zyclops Pods, appearing it the third act of the movie, the dénouement, the showdown, the final battle of good verses evil, as - presumably - Buzz defeats anti-matter Buzz, or whatever the excuse for his giant purpleness's existence is, in the script?

 

You get two Zyclops robots (I think they are robots?) and two pods, the pods differ, with one having a push button trigger, to open it upon dropping, with red paint 'landing lights', the other has signs of damage, both moulded in and painted on, no red tips, and needs to be opened manually, I'm guessing there is some reference to a scene in the movie, represented by the distinction between the two versions?

 

Wave Two contained models of XL-03, 09, 12, and XL-14, along with a re-issue of this pod-set, hitting stores in 2022, I suspect only the US got them, as over here Wave One was still on clearance a year later? And we still have two to look at!

H is for Hyperspeed!

This is an odd one; basically, it's clearance of clearance, of clearance! I mentioned the other day (well, sometime in the last few months?), when we saw a figure lose, in one of the donation/plunder/mixed lots, that there was a post on these in the long queue, and there still is, but this isn't it!

 

This is a couple I didn't know I didn't have, and which I picked up in Home Bargains for £1.99, a couple of days ago! I'd been in there looking for something else, saw these and thought "Do I have all five?", so checked the other folder when I got home, realised I still needed two, forgot to go back the next day, but managed to get over on Thursday, and grabbed the two miscreants, which are now the subject of this post.

 

XL-02

 

XL-07

 

The five sets in the series, there are two larger vessels in other series, a huge vessel in a third, and some wave two stuff, which may not have got to the UK, along with a twin set, containing two of the above. 

 

Now, I never watched the movie, but, with the exception of the Zyclops pods (purple 'eggs'), each of the four 'fighters' are experimental aircraft piloted by different iterations of Buzz Lightyear, who is about four years older in each vessel! The premise of the movie, being Buzz's attempts to develop a fuel cell for 'Hyperspeed'!

 

So, this is the second experimental ship in a series, I don't know if [in the movie] it is armed, although there is a node on the underside, to attach the missile-firer from the larger/twin sets, so it can be (for play), and once the XL-15 enters the picture, conflict does occur with 'Zurg' (an alternate Buzz)

 

And this is one of those occasions where, if you've followed the story or are a fan, you know far more than me, but which also comes down to Disney tearing the arse out of a franchise, and tying themselves in knots, some of which remain unresolved to this day!

 

 

Aaaaannd, this is the seventh! Each time Buzz takes a test flight, four years go by (presumably until the XL-15, but I restate - I haven't watched the movie), back on the planet where his friends are, so by XL-14 (not modelled in either wave - there is a second) at least 56-years have gone by (?), so most of the original crew have died (?), or got old, and their children/grandchildren are running the show.

 

And because he's only a toy in the Toy Story movies, we can sort of assume (whatever Disney says), that all this is in his head anyway! So it's all a bit daft! However, I've been bumped, by this purchase, into bringing the other post to the fore, and will get more into it there, in a day or two.

 

Buzz Lightyear Hyperspeed Starships, in Home Bargains, now, today, for a couple of quid each. But, the fifteen-odd cards on the self, Monday, were four by Thursday, so they are selling fast.

H is for Have Screwdriver, Will Travel, Interstellar!

This is all courtesy of Peter Evans, with the carded set coming last year around Christmastime, and the figure being in the latest donation, which I picked-up the other day!

 

Apropos the construction sets we saw in the shelfies from Brian the other day, and credited to a Huan Le Play of china, it's sub-branded, on the reverse, to 'Toys' and imported by Yelsa of Luton?

 

It's the figure we're interested here at the Command Centre, the shuttle's a bit naff, and he's a fully round, slightly juvenile sculpt, but, a useful, and cheerful looking, addition to the pile!

 

However, this almost identical chap has finer detail and a better finish, both in paint and overall sculpt (although the first guy's star-spangled visor is pretty neat!), so the suspicion has to be that the Huan Le set is a knock-off of whatever toy the second geezer came from? Cheers Peter!

P is for Plamodel?

No 'y'. With this SF-Series set of six vintage gashapon, we seem to have a maker/branding, and while there are some similarities, especially with the box-reverse artwork/instruction graphics, enough for me to retro-add Plamodel to the previous post, now you've seen this one, there are also differences, and it may be only a matching of the vending-machine's standard format/parameters, or Japanese toy-trends of the day, rather than any closer connection?

 

Of the six we have another two giant, transformer type robots or 'mecha' battle-suits, and only one 'Space Tank', along with two starfighters and a larger spaceship, all to a box-scale, rather than a constant scale.

 

Space Tank!

 

Giant Robot!

 

Another Giant Robot!

 

'Bronco'

 

'F15/16 Angel Interceptor'

 

'The Hooded Swan'

 

Those last three are my titles, based on their vague resemblance to other properties, and all other comments on the origins of the sculpts/designs are the same as for the previous post's. The artwork makes them look familiar, but Japanese kit-art of the 1960/70's was sublime, even supreme, and has a tendency to do that with anything! Especially when you consider that both the Anime and Manga of the period, also followed quite tightly stylised formats.

 

The main difference with the previously seen quartet, is that these are fuller models, building into more substantial and realistic playthings, also, they are all manufactured of polystyrene 'kit plastic', and can be glued easily to make more permanent display models or toys.

 

The four runner/four colour trope is the same, except for the spaceship and 'Tank', which both have only three, and while the red-blue-black-yellow theme is also generally the same, there are an obviously-turquoise and silver runner exceptions.

 

The 'Space Tank', visually, a sort of Cullin hedgerow-cutter on the Cristie suspension of a Tetrarch light/airborne tank's tracks! Those tracks scream Gerry Anderson, not without reason, they were used extensively by the Anderson's Supermarionation studios, on various models, although taken from models of post-war Vickers Vigor bulldozers, the Tetrarch's running gear was a thinner, lighter affair altogether! 

 

When WWII becomes sci-fi vintage future-past - Vickers Vigor bulldozer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP6y-cDAxRY

C is for Can't Say "No"!

I just can't walk past one of these! This is the third I've bought now, two boxed and a loose one, with an original sent by Great Gizmos to me, as 'Contributing Editor' as I then was (I'm back to just being a supporter/subscriber now!), for PW's little 1-inch brother. Which is four, which is a troop, a patrol, a flight! And, an excuse to paint one or two of them one day!

 

We've seen her before! More than once! It's a duplicate post, but here she is again, the Dimestore Dreams, via Great Gozmos deluxe plastic X-100 Spaceship! Copied from the vintage X-200 Space Ranger design from Pyro/Tudor Rose et al, it's all been written in the previous blurbs!

 

The trouble with my affliction, is a strange emotional connection with the - now long-gone - product, because there was a genuine enthusiasm to promote it at the time. I'd been invited to attend what was my first Toy Fair, by PW, for the fledgling 1"W magazine, when it was in the vast EXCEL conference centre at Docklands, and found these!

 

They then sent me one each of the military vehicles (five or six?), and I have since also bought one or two more of them, along one or two of the civil motorcycles I hadn't asked for samples of, as I was busy being a proper small-scale only editor, and they also sent me a couple of the civil version vehicles, anbulance and linesman's truck if memory serves!

 

An excuse to get Lik Be's little 1:76th/72nd LB 'bots out!

Hanger/apron maintenance crew! 

 

Sadly the range didn't last long, and while Great Gizmos carried on, in infant and novelty toys, they actually closed their doors last summer, after 25-years trading.