LUNAR CLIMBER ORIGIN DISCOVERED BY BLOG READER ROCKET PUNCH

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.