In the 1964 US Sears Christmas Catalogue, which was probably available Autumn 1964, the fabulous Sears exclusive 3-Stage Rocket appeared for the very first time. As blog reader Darth pointed out last year in his
bloglet, this pre-dated the Century 21 SWORD Apollo rocket by 3 years. Exactly the same, the Sears version was bigger, had smoking engines (cool!) and a huge gantry.
Then in June 1965 an Apollo rocket appeared in this TV21 ZOOM competion advertisement. The toy is clearly the Sears version from the year before as it lacks the chequered neck-band, which adorned the later Century 21 rocket ( previously posted courtesy of Jim Lewis).
Then in 1966 we see the Sears 3-Stage rocket again in their Christmas catalogue. This time it's joined by Moon McDare and friends and the price has risen by a dollar! The amount of space related toys is starting to increase as the Space Race kicks in. I can't find any further Sears catalogues for the 'Space Race' years between 1967-1970, so I can't be certain that the Sears 3 -Stage Rocket continued to be advertised. It will take the UK until 1967 to catch up and launch it's own Saturn rocket toy via
Project SWORD.
In the 1964 US Sears Christmas Catalogue, which was probably available Autumn 1964, the fabulous Sears exclusive 3-Stage Rocket appeared for the very first time. As blog reader Darth pointed out last year in his bloglet, this pre-dated the Century 21 SWORD Apollo rocket by 3 years. Exactly the same, the Sears version was bigger, had smoking engines (cool!) and a huge gantry.
Then in June 1965 an Apollo rocket appeared in this TV21 ZOOM competion advertisement. The toy is clearly the Sears version from the year before as it lacks the chequered neck-band, which adorned the later Century 21 rocket ( previously posted courtesy of Jim Lewis).
Then in 1966 we see the Sears 3-Stage rocket again in their Christmas catalogue. This time it's joined by Moon McDare and friends and the price has risen by a dollar! The amount of space related toys is starting to increase as the Space Race kicks in. I can't find any further Sears catalogues for the 'Space Race' years between 1967-1970, so I can't be certain that the Sears 3 -Stage Rocket continued to be advertised. It will take the UK until 1967 to catch up and launch it's own Saturn rocket toy via Project SWORD. 
Nice to see Space Mutt on the 1966 page too!
ReplyDeleteSpace Mutt rules! Mans best friend - even in Space!
ReplyDelete