Pop Rocket Mystery Deepens

Some six months ago, I came across a bagged toy that I had as a kid, the little plastic Pop Rockets that Commander Woods offered recently as a prize. In themselves, they are a great little reminder of those far off summer days in the sixties when space and rockets adorned everything. Sweetshops were overloaded with cheap toys and novelties with bubble gum inside. It was rare to find something like this still in the packet and with the card header still intact. What really drew my attention was the colourful drawing of the Probe Force 2, garishly printed on the card along with two other spaceships, loosely representing the toys in the bag.

Apart from a large rocket dominating the card, somewhat based on the Titan with a little Polaris missile thrown in for good measure, theres another ship blasting away in the background. To all intents, this is just another spaceship, but seeing it jarred a memory. Round about 1970, when I was bought a different cheap Hong Kong toy every week by my fabulous parents, I got a cool friction drive rocket in lieu of that weeks comics. This was a large toy, maybe 12" long - definitley on a par with Probe Force 2. Wheels were very similar, with embossed spokes and the body was plastic. Ive created a rough impression of how it looked - the back end was very XL5 ish and the front was a long white cylinder with clear cockpit and pilot. The red nose had a plastic 'needle' in it, supported by an elastic band behind it, so that it would retract on hitting and obstacle. The side wings had SB 3 or SB 2 stencilled on and the box was colourfully decorated with the name 'SpaceBird'. Since that day up to seeing the card header, Ive never seen another. The picture on the card was clearly based on this toy as its exactly as I remember the toy. Does this ring any bells with anyone ? I cant recall a brand - although it was not any of the usual 'Anderson' makers.