PaulI was looking at your site and thought these images may be of interest. Before Century 21/Rosenthal were the main producer of plastic Anderson related toys, a company called FAIRYLITEe based in Merton, South London did quite a few bits for STINGRAY and FIREBALL XL5 including this friction toy. It is not thought to be seen very often so I was pleased to nab one, albeit unboxed, a few years back. It is a big toy at almost 13 inches long and I was surprised to get one in decent ‘nick’ considering the age. Fairylite did a great deal of licenced stuff for those early Anderson shows but I guess when THUNDERBIRDS hit, the real big names in the UK toy industry wanted in, as well as Century 21 themselves establishing a toy and merchandise arm of their own. However Fairlylite did do a THUNDERBIRDS slide viewer and of course the ACTION MAN-type dolls.
Jim Lewis
7
PS. This is possibley only one of two known examples of this ultra rare XL5 toy. Nice one Jim! The rare Fairylite three of Supercar, XL5 and Stingray are clearly the UK forerunners of what came later with Century 21. Anyone got the Fairylite Supercar?
I recently found my Fairlylite Supercar while I was clearing out my mothers attic in the UK.
ReplyDeleteIt has no damage to the bubble canopy, has all 4 wheels and the friction motor still works!
Regards, Paul (Michigan, USA)
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~coppin/super-3.jpg
Hey Paul.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful Supercar! Do you mind if I post the picture in the main blog so other readers can feast their eyes! Did you have a 'Gerry Anderson' UK childhood?
Cheers
Woodsy
Hi Woodsy,
ReplyDeleteFeel free to use any pictures from my website.
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~coppin/
I also found a Fireball XL5 friction powered Jetbike with Steve Zodiac and Zoonie. I will add a couple pictures of that to the webpage as soon as I can!
I loved all the Gerry Anderson stuff growing up in Luton - I still have my TV Century 21 Agent Identicode Card :-)
Best Regards,
Paul.