I'm a sucker for a good SWORD knockoff especially when it comes to box art. The above toys [and one record], my Gang of Four, are the clearest and, possibley the only, examples of SWORD box art being lifted wholesale for use on header and backing cards for general 'toys', which have nothing to do with SWORD at all.
From left to right they are: Randy Raider story record, Flying Space Rocket, Space Watch and Pop-Rocket Missile Airplane.
All but the Space Watch Nuclear Ferry image are more or less direct lifts of SWORD images from the original C21 box art, with the Flying Space Rocket and the Pop-Rocket being the clearest. I've included the Nuke Ferry as its similar.
There are no doubt more examples in the SWORDiverse. I can think of at least one box art lift from the Japanese SWORD 'school' of Shigeru Komatsuzaki, in which one of his Imai model kit Moon Crawler images was lifted entirely for a bit part on the unlicensed UFO Missile Tank box.
The issue of whether a toy can be classed as SWORD or not has taxed my grey matter for years. I was fascinated to learn that the Star Wars universe holds a similar conundrum for fans - what is allowed and disallowed from the 'canon' [films, comics etc] as judged by LucasFilm? [I discovered this when reading up on the universally panned 1978 Star Wars TV Holiday Special!.]
When I collated my original SWORD Checklist back in the 1990's I attempted to divide items into 'True' or 'Semi' SWORD. Although clumsy it seemed to capture what I was trying to get at. On reflection such a classification will always throw up lots of grey areas: were Tarheel and T toys really TRUE Sword or can only C21 be? What about the Japanese Imai kits of the 1960's and 70's? This brings us full circle to my 'Gang of Four' - are they TRUE or SEMI SWORD or something even farther from the centre? Hugely subjective I know but inevitable in the world of collecting and archiving, what do you think Swordies?
I'm a bit of a purist and for me, Project Sword is the range of toys issued by C21 and which came with a badge and manual. the tarheel and hover variations are not true sword for me, but knockoffs. I have the same issue with spacex and Golden Astronaut - they are the same toys, but I grew up with C 21 Sword and spacex and for me nothing else will do!
ReplyDeletethat flying rocket header card is cool - love a print of that!
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I fell for the idea of the original closed set of SWORD toys proper being preceded & followed by their Tai-Hing & Tarheel clones, ideas proliferating & taken further afield, slowly dissolving into other sets, connecting with alien lineages ... (too much French philosophy, I'm afraid) ...
ReplyDeleteI'm with Wote and Arto on this. There's Sword and there's knockoff-Sword. And Sword origins too, most certainly. Much in the same way as there's Spacex with a distinct before and after.
ReplyDeleteThe dissolve into other sets I can certainly see too (and I have the odd example :)
What's fascinating is the (let's call it) cross-fertilisation that took place, with for example Spacex using LP figures and then LP copying a couple of Spacex vehicles, that sort of thing. We'll likely never know how all that came about, but we can marvel at it all the same.
And that brings me to the other view: if there's one chap I know that excels at marveling, then it's our good Mr Woods. Although he sees Sword where lesser mortals may not, it's his enthusiasm and dedication that provide us with such a rich and diverse cornucopia of delights and discoveries. And most entertainingly so as well. This blog is my first port of call when I go online, and long may it continue, I hope.
So don't worry about my pigeon holes being different to yours, Paul. Just do what you do so well, and keep on Swordin!
Best
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Paul
To Sword or not to Sword, that is the question! hee hee. Interesting points guys, thanks for the fun debate. And a big thank you to Paul, that's the nicest thing that anyone's said to me all year!
ReplyDeleteCredit where credit is due, Paul!
ReplyDelete