Ideal #4867 Turbo Jet Car (1959)

Here is a really cool vintage toy I got earlier this year:  Ideal's #4867 Turbo Jet Car from 1959.  It had been on my bucket list for ages and when this near pristine, working example (minus box) came up for  a decently low price I jumped at it. The car closely resembles the 1954 General Motors Firebird I concept car from 1954. I have several spaceships in the collection whose design borrows heavily from these various jet cars of the 1950s & '60s and - as a toy - this was the OG.

The measurements: 

-Car 11" (27,94cm) L x 5.25" (13,33cm) W x 4" (10,16cm) H

-Launch pad 10" (25,40cm) L x 5" (12,70cm) W x 4.25" (10,79cm)H 

- Overall 13" (33,02cm) L

Ed

XP-21 Concept Car

1954 General Motors Firebird I concept ( XP-21) first gas turbine automobile ever to be built and tested in the U.S. 

(images culled from the Internet)

Ideal's Turbo Jet Car and Launch Pad

Ideal's Turbo Jet Car 

Ideal's Turbo Jet Car Launch Pad

Let's Chat: Forces of Valor U.S. Willys Jeep

Having had to run errands this morning I'm a bit behind the power curve. As a follow-up to the Forces of Valor / Unimax Jeep Willys the past few days we have this nifty image of a Jeep climbing a small hill somewhere in Normandy. I never liked that FOV called this a 'Jeep Willys" - it's so bloody awkward sounding. For this post I call it the way we would say it: Willys Jeep!

Ed

Let's Chat: Play Along Toys - Gollum Having Internal Struggles

Here's the AOME LOTR Gollum figure just posted yesterday in the scene where he's having an active discussion with himself as to whether or not he should throttle the Hobbits now or bide his time. Welll, we all know the answer to that.

This is not the image I really wanted, but using the free version of Chat GPT limits me. I only get four or five edits every 24 hours and if the image isn't exactly what I want, I can burn through those in no time, which means other image edits are put on hold.

Ed

Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax #82003 1/32 Scale Diecast U.S. Jeep Willys - Normandy 1944 (2003) - Pt 3 (Final) Jeep

The Jeep from FOV is probably the very best 1/32 scale ready-made Willys Jeep made. Loaded with details, it is also the only one I know of with the cable catcher at the front. Those were installed after GI's ran into an insidious trap: the Germans were stringing wire or cable across the roads which could decapitate Jeep drivers!!! That bar installed on the front bumper was made to either cut or deflect the wire so that it wouldn't harm the driver. This is also the first diecast Jeep I'm aware of with a proper antenna sticking up at the back end. While the machine gun mount is a great touch, I believe FOV made a mistake by having the lighter 30mm MG mounted to it vs. the heavier 50mm also included with the Jeep (but on a tripod). Now, both may be technically correct, the 50mm would actually look cooler! 

If I have any gripes about this offering, it's that the cable catcher probably won't last that long. It's long and thin and fragile and easily broken - which had already happened to me! Several photos here were taken with the repaired bar.

Ed