When Tikis Trumped!

 This week I went to an estate sale the next street over from my house and although my wife found several things to love (she is really into glass and china- I'm not so much), only one thing caught my eye. These...

Yes, a vintage deck of Hawaiin souvenir cards! Let's take a look at the other side of the box, shall we?

Ah, yes. A beautiful Hawaiin maiden dancing in front of beautiful Hawaiin views in colors that just scream "vintage!"

Just for completeness, the end of the box...

Whenever you buy cards, there is a chance that some are missing. I only payed a buck for the deck, so I didn't bother checking until I got home. I got lucky! All there!

Notice the card with Bridge instructions. Bridge was very big in the 50's and early 60's. Now you would be more likely to have a card explaining poker hands...

The cards were made by Dainippon, which is a Japanese company (hence "Nippon" in the name.) If you look at the joker in the above photo, you can see the Japanese influence. I hadn't heard of Dainippon, but I have heard of another Japanese company that started out by making playing cards- Nintendo.

My best research (I Googled a couple of times, not just once!) only revealed that these cards are "vintage," which I already knew. In fact, I only found one exact match to this deck and it wasn't specifically mentioned in the post. Rats!

Putting on our detective caps, we can guess that these are from the late 50's to very early 60's (I'd wager 1959- 1961). Hawaii became a state in 1959 and these play up that aspect. They could have even been made before official statehood was granted, since it was no secret that Eisenhower was going to do it. 

Why do I like them? Because I like the whole Tiki culture boom that was born around that time! Don the Beachcomber, The Enchanted Tiki Room! All cherished gems of American kitch! And now I have my little part as well.

I think it's neat that I found these in the same year that I was able to once again sit in the original Tiki Room at Disneyland and enjoy the show with my daughter! These are a great reminder of that moment!

So there you go! Sometimes "treasure" is only worth a buck to some people, but a lot more to others!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Wheels of Lightning!

 This week we have an "also ran" of sorts. In 1969, Topper Corporation, a fairly successful toy company out of New Jersey, decided to cash in on Mattel's Hot Wheels craze that had started in 1968. Their answer to the Hot Wheel was the Johnny Lightning.

TOY HISTORY SIDEBAR: Topper Toys started out as Deluxe Toys (later Deluxe Reading Toys) in 1951. In 1966 they changed to Topper Toys (because they "topped" the others) and released both the "Johnny" and "Suzy" lines of toys. "Suzy Homemaker" is still well remembered. I suppose the Womens Liberation movement did them in and in 1971 they went out of business. In 1994 the name was purchased by Playing Mantis toys and a few were re-released. They also released a ton of new cars with much better tooling and style that the originals. The Topper cars are really the most interesting to me, though. Now back to our regularly scheduled post...

Johnny Lightnings lacked the style of Hot Wheels, but one thing they did win on is speed. They had a place under the nose that hooked onto a catapult device that could fling the cars faster than gravity or an electric Super Charger! Great, until you got hit by one!

I have about three of the Topper cars. I don't go out of my way to find them, but I'll pick one up if I run across it. My latest one is this:

This is the Topper Johnny Lightning "Smuggler!" (See the barrel in the back) It's typical of the original cars; kind of clunky and angular, but with a certain weird charm. I actually kind of like it.

Note the oval "Topper" logo under the nose. That's how you know it's an original. Well, that and the really banged up paint from being turned into a high speed projectile by that catapult. 

That's about it for this week. If you hapoen to stumble across a weirdly styled Hot Wheel, flip it over and look for the oval! You might have just found a real live Topper Johnny Lightning!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

When Hot Wheels Flew...

 The year was 1970. Mattel had conquered the boys' toy industry with a new line of cars called "Hot Wheels" just two years ago, and they were looking to cash in on that brand in any way possible. Someone at R&D came up with a brilliant idea. "Kids love rockets and jets! Let's develope a line of Hot Wheels jets!" ...and thus, in 1971, Hot Birds were born.

Hot Birds were a line of six die cast planes meant to inspire kids' imaginations with visions of zipping through the atmosphere and beyond. They were all pure sci-fi designs, with little relation to any actual aircraft being produced at the time. I bought one:

The Hot Birds "Maching Bird"

This picture isn't the one I had as a kid. That one was purple, as I remember it. This one was picked up on eBay recently. Still, its the same model.

The planes were designed to "fly" down a string. There was a wire harness that clipped into that slot between the engines. By the way, the engine hatch also opened and the wheels retract. The cockpit doesn't open.

Hot Birds never caught on. I think that while Hot Wheels cars were exciting because they were really fast, Hot Birds just weren't. In fact, I remember them getting hung up on their string and just hopelessly hanging in mid air. Really, it was a good thing they weren't any faster. These things are a lot bigger than a Hot Wheels car and made of metal. Getting hit in the head with one of these suckers would not have been fun! They only lasted one year and then were forgotten.

Still, that means that they are pretty darn collectible now. If you go to eBay in search of one, plan on forking out just shy of fifty bucks (with shipping.) Not bad for a toy that was a flop.

Thanks for taking a flight down memory lane! Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Yet Another Moonliner

Disneyland's first rocket to the moon was certainly a hit. Crowds' imaginations were ignited by the towering "weenie" in Tomorrowland. 

There have been a few Moonliner models over the years. First, in the 50s, was the Strombecker model...(not mine- picture from eBay)

Next, we had Glenco re-release it....several times over the years. (this one IS mine)

Then there is the one I built from scratch. Here it is next to my Walt Cunningham signed Apollo 7 Saturn IB.

And, yes, it flys...

And I consider this one a model too...I took this on my recent Disneyland trip!

Now, however, I found a model that I completely forgot about! I had a friend that passed away a number of years ago, and another friend that was helping with his estate gave me this...

Ok, not too interesting. But inside we have...

A Moonliner model!

But what is this and where did it come from? Well it seems that in 1999 the International Plastic Model Society (IPMS) packaged a custom version to welcome the new century. The IPMS is still around, by the way. Here is their story about this Moonliner...

This kit comes with a custom slice of Mars!

 Mine is kit number 527...

It also comes with a custom decal sheet...

The instructions are pretty much the Glenco originals, with added hints about the Mars display stand.

Will I build it? Probably not. I really think it's cooler as a kit! 

By the way, there is apparently a new kit out that I know nothing about...but I just might have to get!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Banking on Texas

 Hello Atticittes! This week I'm going to feature the other thing I bought at the estate sale where I got Skittle Poker.... What is it? Well...this!

This is a small (about 4 3/4 inches tall), very simple bank! It's made out of some brass-like metal that is stamped with the state of Texas. Here are a couple of other shots of the stamping...

I actually looked this bank up because I hadn't seen one exactly like it, and it seems it was probably made in the early 1960s. This is the only Texas example I could find, but there were banks for other states. There was even an example from the New York World's Fair that I would really rather have (if anybody wants to trade ;-)  ).

An interesting detail I noticed was that there is supposed to be a penny glued to the top. Mine has the dent for it, but no penny, so I found a 1967 example and placed it there for this picture. Hey, production value is important for a blog!

The bank is very simple to open. You just screw off the bottom. There is a long screw down the middle that holds everything together.

And there you have it! These seem to all go for right about 25 bucks, and I paid less that two for mine, so I did ok. I'll add it to my small (but growing) coin bank collection.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Skiddle Cards!!!

 Sorry this entry is a day late! My anniversary was yesterday and I was focused on that. Also, there's literally no one saying what day I HAVE to publish, so there's that...

Anyway, this week's entry is an item I picked up on Sunday! We stopped into an estate sale that we happened to be driving by, and in a closet by the car port I found this...

Yep, it's Skittle Poker by Aurora! There were a couple of years in the early 1970s where everything was coming up "Skiddle," baby! Don Adams, of Get Smart fame, was the spokesman for a line of games that used on interesting swinging ball device to bowl, play pool, or, in this case, play poker! There were even more skiddle games as well, but I don't recall what they were right off the top of my head- which is how I usually do research on these posts. Nothing's too good for my readers!

Now this box is BIG! It's over two feet wide, and about four inches deep. You won't find any display space hogging games like this at your modern department store, but it was a different time. And that time for this game was 1972!

Opening up the box doesn't show you much. This is just the poker table part, with the plastic ring around it that the skittle shooter sits in. Everything else is under the board.

And here are the parts set up! You only get eight playing cards, which brings me to the fact that this game is complete. 

This is a "player's view" of the game. The idea is simple; you swing the ball attatched to the chain into the stationary ball mounted to the tripod that then knocks the colored ball (green in this case) into a hole on the board. Everything can be aimed and the tripod can be moved around the ring.

So how, exactly, do you play? I'm glad you asked! Here you go!

This last page was in the box, but I'm not sure it actually came with the game. It doesn't seem very useful in this application.

So there you go! Having owned this for just a couple of days, I haven't played yet, butbI will! I hope I remember to tell you guys how it goes!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Case of Matchboxes

 Hello Attic Folk!

This week we're going to look at something that I've had for quite a while. It's a 24 car hanging (or standing) Matchbox case! Now, as I have said many times, I don't collect Matchbox. However, when you collect Hot Wheels of the same vintage, a Matchbox item is bound to get snagged with the haul. 

So let's take a look, shall we?

Here she is all loaded up with 24 of my best 1960s Matchbox cars! The case is made of that thin vacuformed plastic that was so popular with toy makers in the 1960s and 1970s. It gets brittle over the decades and there are a few small cracks in the shelves, but nothing concerning.

Even though all of these cars are from the 1960s, the case is actually from 1978. I found this out by doing a bare minimum of research, because you guys are worth it! I picked up the case for five dollars at an auction house that was closing down and selling off their odds and ends. 

This is the back of the case. You can see there are two "nail holes" for hanging it on the wall, and a fold out table stand as well. From what I hear, the stand never held up well, and this one seems no different. It will work, but I wouldn't trust it for long!

Most Lesney Matchbox items were made in England, but not this case. It was produced in New Jersey here in the good ol' U.S.A.!

Ah, there's the credit going to England. Very nice!

Now I took the picture of the case with it loaded with cars because it looked better that way. And, in another example of going the extra mile, I looked them all up! If you want to read about them just keep reading. If you don't, the just skip to the end!

I'm not as knowledable about Matchbox as I am Hot Wheels, so I looked up each car. Some were produced for two or three years with no changes, so I just put the first year they were produced on the description.

Here we go, starting from the top-left...

1. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud #44- 1964

2. Mercedes 230 SL #27- 1968

3. Lamborghini Miura #33- 1969

4. Volkswagen Camper #34- 1967

5. Ford Galaxie #55/59- 1967

6. Field Car #18- 1960

7. S&S Cadillac Ambulance #54- 1965

8. Dumper Truck #48- 1967

9. Coach #66- 1966

10. Ford Heavy Wreck Truck #71- 1968

11. 8 Wheel Crane #30- 1965

12. Land Rover Fire Truck #57- 1966

13. Horse Box #17- 1969

14. Refrigerator Truck #44- 1966

15. Cattle Truck #37- 1966

16. Same as above

17. Fodor Concrete Truck #21- 1968

18. Refuse Truck #7- 1966

19. Unimog #19- 1967

20. Grit Spreading Truck #70- 1966

21. Boat and Trailer #9- 1967

22. B.R.M. #52- 1965

23. Dodge Crane Truck #63- 1968

24. Dodge Wreck Truck #13- 1965

So there you have it! My accidental collection of stuff I don't collect, but I guess I kind of do...sort of...

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!