Thursday 8 September 2016

Thomas the Tank Engine - Vintage View-Master

Since the debut of the TV series back in 1984 various deleted scenes and rare stills have emerged from a wide array of sources, including books, magazines, posters and all sorts of miscellaneous merchandise. The View-Master reels are no exception - they include an intriguing selection of unusual images from the first and second series. In addition to the actual reels themselves, the boxes (top 1984, bottom 1990) are covered in colourful images from the classic series. 

ThomasTankCollectables Archive 2016
View-Master allows the viewer to see a 3D image. The images are composed of two separate images, one showing the left perspective and the other right. These culminate to produce a seemingly three dimensional picture. When viewed through an actual View-Master you can see the depth of the picture, however this affect is not captured when photographed. 

We have gone through the reels provided in the two View-Master sets above and two separate packs of reels, pictured below. In order to capture what is featured on the reels a digital camera was set up, looking through one of the two eye-pieces. Unfortunately some of the images appear distorted, however most of them are of good quality. You can judge for yourself, by watching the video below! 

ThomasTankCollectables Archive 2016 
We do not have all of the View-Master reels available from that time (1984-1986), but there is a good selection of them shown on the video. Please feel free to comment below, or get in touch via e-mail. Please do not use any of the images made available without seeking permission. 



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