Airfix, what a great hobby and what a great shop we had in Mansells model shop in Paignton. There was also the model shop at the top of Ellacombe (name escapes me).
Happy days indeed. ;D
........I've sort of stumbled into this topic a bit late, Phil (although I seem to recall there WERE rumours on the terraces of there actually BEING a "Train Spotting" thread in these 'ere parts) - the name of the model shop in Ellacombe was
SAVAGES' (I think in later years, it went on to be a surfing shop at some stage for a while) - bruv Nige and I along with the lads next door (Alban and Phil) in Reddenhill Road, Babbacombe were regular patrons there back in the early 70's, continually supplementing our Airfix armies with various pieces of ordnance along with huge amounts of increasingly bizarre personnel (nothing wrong with French Foreign Legion, Confederate Infantry, Afrika Corps and Napoleonic Cavalry sharing the battlefield with Sopwith Camels, Sunderland Flying Boats and Junkers 87-Stukas in our day!!)................
.....these brill sites will bring back some memories I think.....
Airfix Catalogues/Plastic Soldiers and related stuffpws.prserv.net/gbinet.dbjames/cats.htmwww.plasticsoldierreview.com/ManufacturerList.aspx?id=3......and this one although not anything to do with Airfix (or trains really for that matter, though note number 32) will add to the flavour of it all - be young again, bring out the Top Deck Cider Shandy.........
Patterson Blick Instant Picture Bookswww.action-transfers.com/html/a_ranges/pbipbs_linking.shtml........and, although all the following is rather of a collectible-type theme, as opposed to more biblically correct "Train Spotting" material to fit with the thread title, I thought I might as well complete the nostalgic picture for anyone else reading this whose childhood halcyon days covered the late 60's and early 70's period with.............
Action Man/Johnny West/Chief Cherokee/Bonanza/Six Million Dollar Man Figureswww.actionmanhq.co.uk/frameset/frameset.htmlwww.stewartsattic.com/marx/figures/index.cfm .........on the off-chance anyone else remembers these, me and my bruv had cowboy Johnny West, his arch-enemy and main Red Indian bad boy Chief Cherokee, two (!!) horses with all the tack and associated gear, a jeep AND a horse box - these guys would, without shame also make use of much of our Action Man kit and weaponry, including a tank, an armoured car, even a spacecraft (along with Huskies from the Explorer kit and unbelievably, a mastiff Guard Dog from the Mountie kit for Gawds' sake!!) - although aesthetically pleasing and when combined, forming an extraordinarily formidable collection of armour, it was not I admit now, strictly accurate in the historic sense...............
.........then there was the literally uber-rare to the nth degree (well in our house anyway!!) Bonanza set of figures, I can't actually recall us having these for sure, though can certainly visualise the catalogues kicking around, maybe Savages' had them in stock and gave them to us kids to tease us, the Wagon and Horses set for these dudes possibly being our own Holy Grail of the time..............
bonanzaworld.net/collectibles.php.......not to forget Lee Majors and "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him and all that" as the catch-phrase went for "The Six Million Dollar Man" character (my bruv had this one not me I hasten to add, seeing he was brought out in 1975 and I had progressed to the delights of Flox Records by then!), the boy Austin was a late addition to the set-up...........
bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Steve_Austin_(Doll).......and lastly, the finest of 'em all, in every little bit of its' glory (even the shiite Rugby version, which I did actually own once, and was COMPLETELY baffling)........
The Mighty World Of Subbuteo/Strikerwww.peter-upton.co.uk/sub1.htmwww.peter-upton.co.uk/striker.htm.......is that a tear in my eye or just the Airfix glue fumes?.......
...as Mary Hopkin sang, "Those Were The Days, My Friend".......
.........now wheres' me Spacehopper?........
.....and I won't even start on the Johnny Seven gun (yet)...........
..........can I suggest the ideal soundtrack to view these nostalgic sites to - Galloping Home (Black Beauty theme)/Eye Level (Van Der Valk theme)/Sleepy Shores (Owen MD theme)/The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe theme and the most top-notch of all as any fule kno, the sublime White Horses by Jackie - if that little lot lot doesn't do it for you, nothing will.................
........pretty sure my learned friends Mr_Chelstongull the Progmeister and Jon (Chief Sage and Historian along with Barton Downs) will come up with some memories here..........
......You or me could move this over to a separate thread if you like Phil, although it might become platinum-plated mega-nerd heaven! (Retro Ramblings (could cover all sorts of 50s/60s/70s/80s stuff)
?)...........
The Tornado took fifteen years to construct from first being mooted as a project of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust in 1993 and I bunged a little bit of money into that fund when it was set up so can lay claim to "owning" a boiler rivet or two of the magnificent beast!
?)...........
