Ebay US
In the 1960's Topper Toys, famous for the invincible Johnny Seven One Man Army rifle, released the huge Johnny Express range of vehicles. Not a toy that I had alas -I'm not even sure it was available outside the US? I have a recollection that this toy appeared in an episode of Thunderbirds or another Anderson TV show. Does this ring any bells?
Looks incredibly similar to the 'Swift Removals' van that the SPV was hidden inside in the first episode of 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'
ReplyDeleteJust checked the pilot episode on YouTube, and did a quick screengrab:
ReplyDeletehttp://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7087/swiftremovals.png
It IS the Swift Removals van, only it has been modified slightly.
Excellent work Lamont! thought it was in there somewhere! Derek Meddings probably just went to the local toy shop in Slough and bought one (or two or three!) for using on the show! Cool.
ReplyDeleteNotice how the name 'Swift' keeps occurring in Anderson shows? There 'Swift Removals' van, and there was a 'Swift' spacecraft in 'Space 1999' and the 'Swift' jet in 'New Captain Scarlet'...I wonder what the significance is (if any)?
ReplyDeleteIm in Cannock Staffordshire England and I remember a friend of mine at the time had one along with the fork truck and pallet cargo set
ReplyDeleteMal
Johnny Express was not only released in the UK it was manufactured there under licence, and by the same group of companies that were behind Spacex.
ReplyDeleteSean
The Johnny Express line and related toys were a staple of the C21 model shop. The wheels espcially feature on a lot of anderson models.
ReplyDeleteLooking at that page Paul found the Swift truck, I see the Delta tank truck and Jason Smith's truck share the Johnny Express cab as well
ReplyDeleteBest
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Paul
It and its parts/wheels appear a lot in Thunderbirds/Captain Scarlet/Joe 90/ Secret Service and UFO. The dumpster trailer was even used upside down as a Moonbase (not the SHADO one) in UFO.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Barry
the johnny express was sold in the uk i got one for xmas when i was 5 still have it in loft
ReplyDeleteI had a complete set of Johnny Express Trucks the tanker, the box trailer the flatbed, and the military trailer. they were quite fun and I wish I had them still ! My son would love to play with them and they'd be quite a legacy.
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