The story of the LUNAR CLIMBER is a fascinating one. For Swordheads it really begins in this article below from a journal from 1969, Toys International, which clearly states that the CLIMBER is part of PROJECT SWORD.
We know now that the above journal unfortunately got it wrong. A more correct family grouping is PROJECT MOON, which this Century 21 advert from summer 1969 is sort of hinting at (whether they new it or not)
PROJECT MOON makes its official debut in adverts by Regent Toys such as this one from 1969, in which our CLIMBER has found a proper home along with its stablemate, the awesome MOONSHIP.
and below is the CENTURY 21 LUNAR CLIMBER in the flesh from 1969
Like many great space designs the Climber has clones and copies. The ASTRO CAR below (box and model) was a kit by Paramount (date?)
and PAYA of Spain made what is probably the closest relative of the Century 21 version, as its a remote controlled toy: the X-11000 pictured below - date? (courtesy of Darth)
Paya Catalogue (above)
Paya X-11000 Box (above) and toy (below)
But preceding them all is the MIDORI SUPER BEETLE. Blog reader Rocket Punch has pinned down its origin and takes up the story: Greetings Paul, since the data in Character Age Magazine was so brief I had attempted to do some additional research. The kit was originally released in November of 1967 by KSN Midori as the Super Beetle Tank. From what I learned in both the magazine and my research is that this was its initial incarnation. If you look closely you'll notice that the kit has a decal with a rhinoceros beetle. The version I was most familiar with was later (Ed.) the Paramount Astro Car. My personal intrigue with this kit is its overall appearance when completed. Unlike other Midori kits, the completed Super Beetle looks much more like a toy than a model. I've built many Midori kits and they never looked as 'toyetic' as the Super Beetle. I'm not saying this as a criticism; it's just an observation. I'm very curious about releases outside of Japan. Also the release date confirmation on the Super Beetle can be found on page 37 of Character Age. It's 11 down from the top: 1967.
Midori Box above from japansuperfantasticmodel
Midori Super Beetle as it appears in Character Age magazine (2008)
Midori Super Beetle Close-up of Character Age article
Artwork in Character Age showing Super Beetle and many other crawlers and tanks.
On the Character Age artwork: top-left and bottom-right have a Captain Scarlet look about them.
ReplyDeleteIs that the Moguras at top-right? And the Vangaurd at bottom-left?
Other Midori vehicles in the pic include the Atlas (the one with the circular saw, third row, right) and the eight-wheeled vehicle (middle, top row). Sean
ReplyDeleteYes that;s right. All in the picture. The magazine covers all of them one by one. the Captain Scarlet vehicle has the word Captain on its side. There is also an SPV attached to a a large caterpillared wedge vehicle! The magazine also covers the SPV/SWIFT REMOVALS van kit. All in Japanaese!
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous instances in which Century 21 designs were incorporated into Japanese SF kits. The Tiger Captain and Thunder Captain are good examples of this. In each case the vehicle's front end (either the SPV or Saloon car would eject away from the main body.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that one of the toys in the JAYA ad is a Grumman LRV. I never knew that anybody had created a toy from that rover design. I'd love tp put on of those in my collection.
ReplyDeleteRP, There'a at least 2 ways to get that design in your collection - the Spacex 'Grumman' http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2008/10/spacex-moon-buggy.html
ReplyDeleteand the Paya version
http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2008/09/paya-lunar-jeep-thing-of-beauty.html
I'd love either one too!
Is it clear that C21 designs were incorporated into japanese SF kits. Could it not be the other way round?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion C21 series changed the face of Japanese SF design for television series as well as toy and kit production. As strange as this may sound I've been preparing a paper on this subject for quite some time. As a quick example, there are no Japanese kits or toys depicting drill vehicles prior to the release of Thunderbirds in Japan. Afterwords though there are suddenly a multitude of them. They then become a staple of Japanese SF series.
ReplyDeletei´m have this toys to sold guillentoys@gmail.com
ReplyDelete