ZERO X COUNTDOWN

In celebration of the fantastic design of one of the most memorable designs on any Gerry Anderson production, here is a quick rundown of some of the incarnations of the OX in toy and model form, compiled by our far eastern correspondant Terry.

Some of the following items are from his personal collection, others have flown past at auction and one or two are taken from publications. But enough talk - read them and weep!

1. Large Imai motorised model kit. Original 1968 release showing period poster. The later re-release is identical in every aspect except the poster and it has a secondary outer box. The main body is battery operated with the detachable MEV being clockwork driven. Many of the pieces are chrome plated and the overall length on the re-issue is stated as 430mm which must come close to the C21 version.

2. This is the smaller version of Zero - X produced possibly from 1980 to 1988 and it was initially clockwork powered but later kits may have had the motor deleted. The nose cone heat shield is spring loaded and can be launched. This version was moulded all in a medium to dark blue plastic. There was a much earlier version that came with chrome parts having different box artwork and possibly specified as a deluxe version. This picture shows the model built and having silver and red details painted. Sadly no detachable MEV and with the heatshield removed not even a close facsimile of the MEV to look at. (WOTANs note: I have this kit and have to say the only good part about it is the box art! Appaling production quality, bad build and only a passing resemblance to the Zero X!)

3.This little plastic toy as you can see is only 4 to 5 cms long and was issued by a company called Morinaga. They produced dairy products way back in the sixties.

4.Reissue of the large IMAI motorised kit. Purchased in 2008 but the outer box is marked ©1967 - 2007. In these two shots its identical to the 1968 version. Comes packaged in secondary outer 'History Makers' box.

5. Two versions of the die cast Zero X were released side by side in the same Captain Scarlet titled box the only discerning difference from the packaging was a gold/red metallic sticker to denote the contents were the Thunderbirds version with rocksnake included. Whereas the Captain Scarlet version came with a poster and painted in the slightly different shade of blue.
(WOTANSs note: see here for Thunderbirds version in detail: http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2009/06/rockets-red-glare.html)

6. Then a year or so later out came the 3rd die cast issue with completely different box artwork and sporting a Captain Scarlet 40th anniversary sticker. Same toy as before though so no bonus for collectors other than the box artwork.

7.Bandai Plastic Friction toy - (WOTANs note - see more of the range here: http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2008/10/bandai-zero-x-thunderbirds-toys.html

8.Never seen one in the flesh so this picture comes from the book 'Thunderbirds Merchandise Museum'. It very possibly is a shampoo/bubble bath bottle and several of the Thunderbirds crafts were produced in this format.

9.This model kit was issued by IMAI quite late on and rather unusually contains a mini TB2 and Mole. I would hazard a guess at it being the mid sized kit like the IMAI 1980s version, IMAI Captain Scarlet version and Aoshima version.

10.Project SWORD Annual cutaway illustration of the Zero X craft.

So thats a rundown of all the major contenders outside of the Century 21 toy version, no doubt there were other less well known versions of the craft produced, especially after the release of 'Thunderbirds Are Go!' on the big screen - Do any other blog readers have other toys or models to show ?