Lights in the sky – a special report

Seven falling lights formation seen on 10th December 2019 at 05.25.

December 10th. Tuesday. 2019. 05:25. Near the city of Toulon, Var, France.

Diary, I woke up at 05:05 ready to begin a 13 hour shift at work. At 05:25, I went out onto my terrace to fetch my bicycle, where I paused briefly to look up at the sky. It was dark, cold, with patches of stars visible against heavy rain clouds moving in from the north, and with a brisk, north-easterly wind snapping at my face, I steeled myself for what I suspected would be a daunting ride ahead.

Then something caught my attention: in the lower part of the south-eastern sky, I saw seven bright stars in a perfect vertical line aiming down at the horizon. At first I believed it was Orion’s Belt – but the constellation of Orion is not visible in this part of the sky at this hour in December, and normally appears around 22.00 in the evening, plus, there are only three stars that form Orion’s Belt, and I was witnessing seven.

What could they be? All at once, the seven stars began moving, descending, and I had to quickly reassess that what I was witnessing were not stars at all… they were moving lights in the sky!

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Happy 50th birthday the Apollo 11 moon landing!

Examples from the “Luna Station play set” by Jean Höfler, early 1970s, West Germany. From the collection of TVTA.

Inspired by good friend and WP blogging buddy Wibi Wonders I’m joining in the celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing which is 50 years old today! Be sure to check out Wibi’s wonderful space exploration stamps 

Here are four of my own Apollo mission stamps, along with vintage print ads and other retro space and moon-related goodness.

Thanks for looking 🙂

Ajman Apollo 11 moon landing stamp. 1970s.

Space stamps. 1982. France.

Atari Moon Patrol. 1984.

Playmobil Space. 1981. Denmark.

MOON ROCKET, battery operated tinplate spacecraft, by Masudaya, Japan, 1960s.

Space pinball. UK. 1983.

Space Shuttle Mission Jacket. US. 1982.

NASA Poster. Space Ship by Kotaro Hirano. Starlog Japan 1981.


Thank you for mooning with us 🙂

Join us ye brave space cadets…

… as TVTA blasts off into 2019 and gets completely spaced out in the name of all things space!

Stick around! Space Letraset action transfers. 1960s. France.

A TVTA Special.

Dear readers, we invite you to get with the space programme! 

Here are your eight training modules. Good luck space cadets… mission control is counting on you!


Module 1 – Galactic Communication. Space exploration stamps!

Module 2 – Simulations. Learn how to make Nasa space dioramas!

“We come in pieces.” Jean Höfler / Plong Nasa space toys. West Germany. Diorama by TVTA.


Module 3 – Essential Equipment. Space toys!

Module 4 – Construction in Space. The Lego Method!

Module 5 – Video Learning. Space movies!

Module 6 – Uniforms and Kit. Space style!

Module 7 – Know thy moons!

Module 8 – Space nutrition. All you can eat and drink in the vacuum of space!

Congratulations space cadets! You have passed your basic training and can now proceed to mission control to receive your first assignment.

Don’t forget to pick up your free astronaut goodie-bags, space TV wi-fi helmet and alien monkey blaster gifts from Group Captain Buzz Lightyear who will be on hand to answer all your space questions! Cosmic calamities await!

Buzz Lightyear original 90s talking toy. TVTA collection.

Join us again soon as we blast off to Venus in search of chocolate fizzing macaroons and gravity-free Swiss cheese! Happy New year to all our readers, and may much happiness and success come your way! As always, thanks for looking 🙂


 

Vintage NASA Space Set Made In West Germany

A TVTA mystery toy special! NASA formed in 1958 and West Germany ceased to be in 1990 – so this toy set which I picked up for under a tenner at my local vintage toy shop was produced anywhere between those two dates, likely the 1970s following NASA’s successful lunar missions.

The figurines are approx 1 inch tall, and like the lunar module and rocket vehicle have ‘W GERMANY’ stamped on them as COO (Country Of Origin). The red pilot figure has no COO stamp but has the same uniform as the others, and was likely meant for a vehicle that’s missing from the set? I made this quick dio using card, rocks and sand.

Edit: 20/11/17. Thanks to TVTA agent Arohk over on the TIG forum I’ve found out the origins of these toys. Fast forward to the end of this post to find out!


Mystery solved! The figurines and “Luna Station play set” were originally made by Jean Höfler in the early 1970s, with the figurines eventually being licensed out to Plong bubblegum in North America. The following images are all courtesy of the excellent site: blechroboter.de

image by blechroboter.de

image by blechroboter.de

Thanks for looking 🙂