Broken Swords

 Toys, at te end of the day are meant to be played with. Kids aren't collectors and don't consider the future, or even the past - they just enjoy the now. Thats why it always amazes me when stuff turns up in mint condition, almost half a century after it hit the shelves. But then, when pristine models and toys do appear, are we doing them a disservice by not opening the packet and taking the rocket for a whoosh around the room ?

Well back to reality and here are my three first SWORD toys, the Task Force. These have been put to the task and played with, luckily, some curatorial gene kicked in at the same time and although they suffered a few hard landings, I managed to at least attempt the odd repair, or at least keep most of the bits. TF1 lost one of the wheels down a knothole at school within days of purchase and all three have been thrown into cupboards and boxes over the years as my tastes wavered and evolved.Until the advent the Project SWORD checklist and more recently, this blog, I assumed that all the toys in this group came in red with grey undersides, or in the case of the TF2, in orange.

In fact, untill I met Woodsy, I had never seen other toys like these. Every kid had a thunderbird, but nobody had SWORD.

 So here are the sad remains of my Task Force, ready for restoration...