Above - US Patent
Above - TV21 Ad
Above - Triang Spacex Mobile HQ
Above - LP version
Above - from Spaceflight book
It seems that just like their terrestrial equivalents, Moon Buses, after you've waited ages for one, turn up in quick succession one after another. While researching the Triang Spacex line, a fellow collector, Paul Vreede unearthed a series of Patent Applications on the US Government Patent website, for several models in the line. These patents were granted to Jack Rosenthal of Century 21 Toys and included the Mobile HQ - a dead ringer for the Sword Moon Bus. The patent is dated November 1970 (I'm not sure when the Sword Version appeared?). The advert for the Project Sword Moonbus appeared in TV21 in 1968 and I have a book called Spaceflight which dates from around 1963 which shows a drawing which is definitely the Spacex Mobile HQ! Add to that a small plastic space bus made by LP around the same time as the SWORD version and we have a regular fleet! So does this suggest that the Sword designers merely plundered available ideas for the shape of the toys, or is there another story ? LP Moon car from Ebay - Rosenthal Patent discovered by Paul Vreede -TV21 Ad and Moonbus pic courtesy of Kim Stevens.
Once again, a great piece of research from the mighty Wotan! The patent information is fascinating courtesy of Mr. Vreede. To think, Jack Rosenthal might have made a bigger version of the Mobile HQ in the SWORD range through JR21 toys - more of an exact replica of the SPACEX patent design rather than the MOONBUS we actually got - why the changes in design?
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