Flash forward almost 50 years to my late 40's and the internet age and, like many, I went looking for things I remembered from childhood days finding that they were of course available on the internet. Inititally I balked at the prices then finally in August of 2019 compromised and purchased a boxed Space Base set with a few issues I figured I could fix. I had to have the box in this case because it was the visual of peeling the wrapping paper off that box that stuck with me all these years. Fixing the problems wasn't too difficult and I was buzzing with this piece of my childhood back in hand. Next, I had to have a Robbie Robot and I found that most of the available ones were broken in some way so I took one on that needed a little help. Fixed that and 20 or so figures later I think I've fixed about anything that is usually wrong with them and now have reproduced some of the needed parts. Kind of an excuse to learn to do some amateur machining and mold-making.

In terms of collecting, at first I just wanted to get the pieces I had but I found myself fascinated by the other sets and pieces I was not aware of. I had no idea anything but the Space Base and Robbie Robot even existed. So I started collecting the other US space toys along with some catalogs, comics and images. Initially I just wanted to know the actual names for all of the parts then, what sets they came with, then what sets were released where. What were the differences in each? Billy has other jobs besides astronaut? That scuba set looks really cool. Wow, sets from other countries too? Dealer displays?!?! Too cool! I found myself going down the rabbit hole with a new hobby. The collection of information and images started to take shape and become organized and it became obvious that Billy Blastoff deserved a dedicated website. Many, many hours later this is what I've come up with.

Ongoing, my hope is that this site can be improved upon by collaborating with those out there with much better collections and deeper information than I have. I certainly welcome any corrections, clarifications and images to improve the overall documentation of Billy Blastoff toys. I'd especially like to get better pictures of the sets and pieces as well as good scans of the promotional information. It seems there are more commercials out there. Any personal photos playing with them way back?

I have collected a good amount of the US space related Billy stuff and only just started going after the non-space sets. Very keen on literature and would be interested in purchasing any any Eldon catalogs. What I really like doing is fixing the robots. Something very satifying about getting them to walk again and making some of the most needed parts in my amateur machine shop. If there is something needing to be made please don't hesitate to ask. It was a request that lead to making the drive cleats. Have a few things in mind including a sticker sheet.

Thanks for stopping by!

Maurice

"Just for the fun of it!"