Wendy's 'Bobby's World' Explorer 7 Rocket Car (Orange blue) - 1992

Man! I don't believe this. Back in September of 2012 I posted a blue-&-purple version of this car. I had already taken the scans and photos you see here today, but they've been sitting on my hard drive, unedited, the past 12 years gathering dust!! Back then I was buying anything that resembled a futuristic car or space car of some type, and I ended up with these. I vaguely remember the cartoon "Bobby's World' as a real piece of crap TV show, but these cars are nice. The car measures: 4.5" (11.43cm) L x 2" (5.08)cm) W x 1.5" (3.81cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Original packaging

graphics cleaned up a bit.

Marx Moon Grabber

When I covered the Marx Apollo Lunar Landing Miniature Playset back on 9 May 20 (I also covered it back in 2014 - but did it again to start off this latest round of space posts) I made mention of not knowing what the vehicle was. It was no surprise then, when I found out it was the downsized version of the Marx Moon Grabber! Apparently Marx made several different variations of the vehicle under the umbrella term of "Moon Grabber" This one looks like a grabber with those two mecahnical arms sticking out from either side.

I purchased my Grabber in a job lot which also included the Hover Space Explorer 1 covered in yesterday's post. Mine was overall in good condition cosmetically. Nice and clean with intact arms. There is supposed to be a separate one-piece plastic 'searchlight' which attaches to the upper hull in front (see the slot in the photos). My sample doesn't work. I took it apart and all the wires are attached and the solder unbroken. However, the switch is in a sealed compartment (the cover is glued in place) and I couldn't access it, so I'm guessing that's the culprit - either that or the cheap little motor is fried. That's all okay because when I'm photographing these toys it's better if they're not moving. The Grabber measures 7 1/2" (19.05cm) L x 4" (10.16cm) W x 4" (10.16cm) H. 

Up until now I had resisted buying somewhat large-ish space vehicles but really, I have all the 54mm/60mm Spacemen and Astronauts so why not pair them up with like-sized vehicles? This would work well with 54mm figures as well as the MPC Ringhand guys. In scale this is a tad larger than the Hover Space Explorer 1 but they still look well together. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Marx Apollo Lunar Landing Miniature Playset 

Marx Moon Grabber (L) and Hover Space Explorer 1 (R)

Here's a Marx 54mm Astronaut next to the Grabber

The slot on top of the cockpit accomodates the one-piece plastic searchlight

Culled from the Internet: pic of an original box

Multiple Toymakers No. 1213 Space Case - 1970

Here's an interesting set from Multiple Toymakers: the No. 1213 Space Case mini-carry-all playset from 1970. By this time more and more toy companies were offering carry-all playsets but I found this one to be a tad unusual in that it utilized the smaller 25mm figures. MPC / Multiple seemed to have largely steered clear of tiny sets although there were several different themes using this same case but with different graphics and figures and accessories. I counted about 30 figures - although it was tough given that so many were hidden from view. You'll notice a Gerry Anderson clone in here as well, the Thunderbird 5 Space Station - although the toy included here has the number '6' on it. The tiny car is a clone of the Billy Blastoff Space Car (Many Thanx to Woodsy over at Moonbase Central for identifying that). When closed the soft vinyl lithographed case only measures 8" (20.32cm) D x 9" (22.86cm) W x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) H. When opened it stretches out to 17 1/2" (44.45cm) D. This is an interesting set, and fleshing it out with some 25mm aliens and some other small space vehicles - let's say from Golden Astronaut or LP - would make this a truly action packed fun little playset. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Gilmark X-42 Space Car

I've been trying to catch up photographing some of the space toys which found their way into the house the past year (or two, or three) :-)  Here's a nifty space car from Gilmark made in the early 1950s. My sample is a copper and mint green color but one of my reference books shows this in red and yellow so, like many plastic toys of that era, we can safely assume these came in a variety of colors. The car measures 4" (10.16cm) L x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) W x 1 3/8" (3.49cm) H and features an opening 'cockpit', a hallmark of Gilmark vehicles. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

I was photographing some HG Toys space ships at the same time I did this Gilmark car and thought it would be nice to do some comparison shots