Thankful for the Little Things

I actually had something else planned for this week, but the business of the season got the better of me. So, I just decided to snap a quick pic of some of the vintage Disney games that I'm thankful for.

However, what I'm MOST thankful for are my friends and family, and that includes my blog friends! I always look forward to the comments but even if you've never commented, I really appeciate my readers!

So, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody! 

And as Maceys has just reminded us...the Christmas Season has officially begun!

And keep searching for treasure!

Hot Wheels 'Chute Out!

 Today, in a world where children's playthings are all digital and on screens, it's good to remember a time when toys were much more inventive and clever. The toys that I grew up with relied on simple mechanics to achieve their wonder, and they worked quite well. In this post I'm going to feature a Hot Wheels accesory that was mind numbingly simple, but it etched into the racing memory of almost all Boomer kids! I give to you, the Hot Wheels drag chute!

Here it is featured in a Hot Wheels catalog from 1971. I found this pic on the old interwebs.

Below is the first boxed set that it came in. As a kid I had this set, and I remember racing my cars around that loop, over that jump and popping that chute out time after time! Again, this image came from the net...

And now for what I currently own! This is a parachute still in it's original package! 

Next, we have a 1968 Deora snagging the parachute! I actually rolled this car down the track and worked the mechanism. No faking it for my blog!

And now my 1968 Beatnic Bandit does it as well! I'm not gonna lie. It was actually fun!

Now, let's look at how this works! Remember I said it was extremely simple. Now I happen to have two 'chute boxes (and a total of three 'chutes) so just look at the bottom one. See that hook? Yep, that's about all there is to it!

Opening up the box, we can see that the parachute is hiding inside! The car simply goes down the track, snags the hook, and pulls the 'chute out of the box. Very simple, but very effective. And it works every single time, with no batteries or electronics at all. Toy engineers were brilliant!

And just for completeness, we have a picture of the inside of the empty box.

So there you have it! Simple and fun!

Now, to be clear, these didn't come from those original stunt sets, they came from another set that was released a year or so later. I guess I can do a post on the whole set at a later date, but I thought these were a good example to make my point, which is simple is better in pretty much every aspect of life.

Of course, without electronics we wouldn't have this post, so I guess they do have their place...

Until next time keep searching for treasure!

Afterthought Train Buy

 I will admit that sometimes I get items that I don't really collect just because I think they're pretty cool. Case in point is this week's item.

At the estate sale where I found the Z scale engine that I posted a few weeks ago, I saw a non-descript brown box sitting on a shelf with no price on it. Here it is....

I picked it up and saw this on the end...

A-ha! A train car kit! Now I really don't collect these, but after finding out they only wanted five bucks for it, I went ahead and grabbed it. Let's look closer!

Upon opening the box, we are met with a whole lot of itty-bitty pieces of wood!

Laid out, we can make out some of the parts. You have the top and bottom and sides, and doors, and...uh...stuff.

Note that there are no wheels or couplers. These kits don't come with them. 

Here are the instructions...

The written instructions point out that this isn't an easy kit. No kidding! Still, the parts do seem to be very well made and the more you look at them, the more they make sense. 

The instructions are quite yellowed on the part that was facing up in the box, which made me wonder how old this kit is. So, I did a bit-o-reseach!

Le Belle Woodworking Company is still in business, and, in fact, is apparently the oldest model train kit company still around. This kit is still produced. You can buy a new one for 39.99 right now. So is this kit newish?

I'm pretty sure this kit is far from new. How do we know? The hint is in the address. Now the address isn't the same as it is today, but the real tell is the lack of zip code. Zip codes came into use in 1963, so this kit is pre-'63. You couple that with the fact that this company existed many years before that, even, then we can see that this kit has sat around, unbuilt, for over 60 years. 

Now, the question always pops up in my mind, "Should I build it?" I honestly don't know. I mean, I have a ton of other projects to work on first, but there's a chance I will. It seems pretty cool. After all, that coolness is why I bought it!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

When Shrink Wrap Collides

 Greetings Attic readers!

Today I have a slightly different post brought about by necessity. You see, about ten years ago Laurie (Mrs. Stu) and I went to a really good garage sale that had quite a few space and science fiction related items...which we, of course, snatched up! 

One of those items was this...

It's the Pegasus Models Space Ark from the great George Pal film "When Worlds Collide!" You may remember me mentioning Mr. Pal here...

Pal Link!

Anyway, the model was still in it's shrink wrap, and that's the way I left it all these years. Unfortunately shrink wrap can continue to shrink for quite some time, and this shrink wrap had begun to crush the box. No bueno, my friends. So, I was faced with the reality that after all of these years, I had to open it.

So, here we go!

First, let's take a look at that original price tag and the garage sale tag. 22.99 off? Not a bad deal... By the way, I looked these up to see what they go for now, and they seem to be between 30 and 40 bucks. I didn't want to rip open something really valuable, and you never know how much something may have appreciated!

And now for the Big Rip!!!

With the wrap off, here is one side of the box with a nice color picture...

And the other side with some exciting copy about the movie...

And herr is the newly freed box! Note that the upper right hand corner is crushed. Yeah, the wrap did that...

Inside, we have a lot of heavy duty, very well molded plastic parts! I like the name plate...

Here they all are! The model is really very simple. The base is very lightweight vaccuformed plastic.

This is the tiniest model part I've ever seen. The packaging on this little sliver of plastic probably cost more than the part!

The ship is a decent size, and could probably be converted to fly fairly easily. A standard 18mm model rocket motor would probably fit (although I didn't measure it).

Here is the instruction sheet...

Side one is all about assembling. Not many parts there, as you can see.

Side two is about painting and finishing, which seems to me to be the most challenging part. Not the ship, mind you (it's all silver), but the base!

And everything neatly back in the box. I cut out and saved the price tags.

So there you have it! 

Now, will I build it? 

And if I build it, will I convert it to fly?

And if I convert it to fly, will it work?

I dunno. 

But at least now it's free of the clutches of that evil shrink wrap!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!