T SPACE VEHICLE SURFACES AGAIN

This marvellous Space Vehicle was unknown to me until last year when Ferryman first introduced the blog to it in his article. This particular example was auctioned this week by a Hong Kong seller who, if I remember correctly, also auctioned the Nuclear Ferry in January 2009. As we discussed last year it's obviously a relative of the T Moonbus. I couldn't tell from the auction listing if it was made by T or not *. Maybe one of the blog's readers was the lucky winner and may be able to confirm it? This example doesn't appear to have the NASA 'A' logos on it. A beautiful item and a distinct gap in the Moonbase collection!

* now confirmed as T.

SCALE MODEL NORTHROP AND MARTIN X-PLANES

Modelmakers have been biulding kits of SWORD-like planes for years. Probably before 1967 when the X-Planes in the SWORD fleet were produced, the Space Glider and Dyna Soar. This love affair with X-planes kits shows no sign of fading and there are many sites devoted to them on the net. I came across SCALE MODEL AIRCRAFT a little while ago and the site owner, Alexandre Biqey, has kindly given me permission to post some of his brilliant pictures, including models at the IPMS USA Nationals 2007.

Does anyone know when the very first kits appeared for the Northrop Lifting Body M2F1. M2F2, Bell Lifting Body HL10, Dyna Soar X-40 and the Martin X-24B?

THE LAST FERRY

AURORA MONSTER MODELS SPOTTED IN SALEM'S LOT: EEK!

I'm struggling to find the space and robot toys scene in Eliott's room in ET so in the meantime here's some classic Aurora Monsters being painted by the hero kid in SALEM'S LOT. OK, they're not space-related but those model kits, which my big Brother Steve had in our house, we're as essential as a Johnny Seven and a Secret Sam Attache Case back in the mid-60's! Salem's Lot, starring one David Soul (very approprite surname given his role in this film), was a rather scary mini-series, which was condensed into a great vampire flick in 1979. If you've seen it you'll never forget James Mason playing the sinister Straker, the nosferatuesque rat-toothed Barlow and in the creepiest scene of the film, when one of the Glick boys floats outside the window tapping on the glass! Uuuugh! The Aurora models (late 70's versions I presume) feature off and on between the 4.50 and 7.30 minute slots in this You Tube part 10. Be warned though, if you don't like Vampire movies don't watch!

TOYS I'VE WALKED PAST: SPACE TRAVEL TB2

Here's another knockoff toy I walked past in pound shops in the 1990's. Wish I'd have at least bought one for a pound! Like THUNDERCOP it's a TB2 knockoff, but a lot cheaper looking. It's called Space Travel. A sort of pull-string whirling ring toy - not sure how the TB2 part fitted in? Anyone got one?

TIME BANDITS

Anyone spot the cool game at the start of this finale to Time Bandits?

Any other cool space toys in films?

SUGAR PUFFS SPLASHDOWN BY THE PHILOSOPHIC TOAD

Sugar Puffs SPLASHDOWN slide

Beautifully scanned 1960's slide from Toad collection of Kellog's MOONSHOT slides. Bet they look great projected onto a wall!

The Aopollo re-entry module, with it's hude red and white patachutes, has to be one of the most graceful machines that Mankind has ever biult. A potent symbol of peaceful exploration and homecoming surely as relevant today as back then. It made us bigger.

SWORD SOUNDTRACK TRACK 2

So, continuing the theme of the disintegration of society at the start of our "SWORD" concept album we have Bowie's ALL THE MAD MEN. Alluding to a crumbling civilisation where citizens are at war with themselves and the authorities, it serves as an ideal track to suggest the struggle between the feral Casuals and the iron-fist of SWORD as earth slowly falls apart. You can read the lyrics here, whilst listening here.

IS THIS THE BACKSTORY OF PROJECT SWORD?

Knowing human nature, he fears what the desperate lottery losers might do. As a precaution, he has stockpiled weapons. His fears prove accurate. His much-abused assistant, F, tries to get himself included in the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead. During the final night, the selected passengers and animals are quietly moved to the launch pad to protect them from any more violence.

Shortly before takeoff, many of the lottery losers riot, taking up weapons to try and force their way aboard. H stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping S from boarding as well in order to lighten the spaceship. With an effort born of desperation, Stanton stands up and starts walking in a futile attempt to board the ship before it takes off.

From space, the ship's television monitor shows Earth's collision with B. H's sacrifice proves to be crucial, as the fuel runs out too soon and R glides the ship to an unpowered rough landing on Z. The passengers debark and find the planet to be hospitable. Remains of an alien civilization are also visible in the distance.

IF SWORD WAS A CONCEPT ALBUM THEN BOWIE WOULD HAVE MADE IT

Think a dying Earth. Think chaos. Think Casuals. Think a rescue lottery. Think martial law. Think SWORD. Think Bowie!

"And in the death

As the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare

The shutters lifted in acient Temperance Building

High on Poacher's Hill

And red mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City

No more big wheels

Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats

And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes

Coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers

Like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue

Ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers

Family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald

in the day of the dog

the year of the diamond dog

this aint rock and roll its genocide"

David Bowie: Future Legend from the Album Diamond Dogs 1974.

And here's an interesting re-use of the name,

Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days

ULTRAMAN'S FLEET BY ROCKET PUNCH

1

2

3

4

5

6

Hi Paul, here are some pictures from my archive which may be of interest to the blog. They are of lifting body inspired craft from two Ultraman series. Photos 4 and 5 are of the Mini VTOL from the 1966 Ultraman series. Of the two main craft in the series this was my favorite. I'm constanly looking for more versions to add to my collection. Photo 6 is of my entire mecha and prop toy collection from the 1966 Ultraman series. The second and third photos are the GUTS Eagle Alpha from the 1997 series Ultraman Dyna. It's the first component of the three part GUTS Eagle. GUTS stands for Global Unlimited Task Squad. Photo 1 shows how the Eagle in its fully combined form. Enjoy.

Best,

Rocket Punch 

Fabulous RP. Beautiful toys! Anyone else collect Ultraman? Woodsy

JOE RECEIVES THOUGHT PATTERNS FROM BIG RAT

Anderson supercollector Steve, proprieter of the fabulous Vintage Thunderbirds Toys site, has sent in pictures of two of his latest fab acquisitions:

The Pedigree JOE 90 Doll, boxed, shrinkwrapped and looking very Austin Powers. Ooh, yeah baby!

And the Smiths Crisps Thunderbirds packet

Fantastic Steve! Thanks for sharing. For more of Steve's gems browse his brilliant website.

SWORDAIKU Parts 1 and 2

The cold gantry falls:
The sloshing fuel ignites,
Fsssssst!

by The Philosophic Woodsy


Bright stars beckoning,
Rocket poised ready:
Whooosh!

by The Philosophic Toad

BASHO's FROG

The old pond,


A frog jumps in:

Plop!

 
 

Basho's famous Haiku - there are many translations. For the Philosophic Toad in us all!

DAY - F - RAN TOYS CHECKLIST

DAY -F- RAN of Hong Kong was an obscure toy manufacturer who, like 2001 and CHIBI, dabbled only once in cloning a SWORD toy. So which of the most copied star turns -PF3, Space Glider, PF1 - did they have a go at? Well it was a rather cheap-looking but strangely attractive orange Space Glider. It came in a window box with classic boxart. Perhaps the quaintest feature, certainly on mine, is a flower sticker just behind the cockpit. It lends it a psychadelic air - a hippy glider!

The only other Day F Ran toy that I have come across is a carded GRAND PRIX Speed Roll Racers no.7954 (Ebay US February 2010).

Rolls Royce Silver Shadow #13102 Ebay summer 2010

September 2010: Day F Ran [Day Fran] DIANA DOLLS found on the marvellous WHO's THAT DOLL site: Dolls and Fashions and Petite Fashions [like the one pictured from the site - Day Fran logo top right]

September 2010: More Day Fran outfits, this time for LISA on Kat's Overzone [can't actually see the Day Fran logo anywhere but they're refered to in this Face Book page]. The Face Book writer makes the following interesting remark about dolls, which could so easilly atranslate to SWORD toys as well: "Realistically, of course, there were probably only a handful of 6½ inch doll makers and clothing makers in Hong Kong at the time, which is why there is so much cross-over between the different lines."

September 2010 Superman Radio - Ebay [2006] - "a portable solid state transistorized Superman radio dated 1973. Distributed by Day-fran Toy Company, Cambridge, Mass and made in Hong Kong. Never used because I was an anal little boy that kept everything in the box! It does not have the earphone." The "Cambridge, Mass." reference is interesting!

 

September 2010: OLD DANIEL BOONE POSEABLE 8" DOLL.THE BOX HAS SOME DAMAGE BUT,THE DOLL AND HIS CLOTHS ARE IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. HE IS FROM THE HERO OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COLLECTION.THE BOX SAYS;IT WAS MADE IN HONG KONG FOR THE DAY-FRAN TOY CO.CAMBRIDGE MASS.THERE IS NO DATE ON IT.THE REST OF THE SERIES NAMES ARE;BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,JOHN PAUL JONES, PAUL REVERE,THOMAS JEFFERSON,MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE,GEORGE WASHINGTON,PATRICK HENRY AND NATHAN HALE.ITEM NUMBER 5929433975 IN MY EBAY STORE [2004]

PS. I've found pics of Heroes of the Revolution online [Ebay] but they may or may not be Day Fran. Certainly the logo on the bottom left of the last pic doesn't look like the classic curled f Day Fran logo [or could it be a DF on it's side?]

Any more Day F Ran (or Day Fran/ Day Ran) toys or information out there? I would love to hear about them and add them to this ongoing checklist.

SWORD HAIKU

A long trip,

the pilot flicks,

Zoom!

SWORD BOOSTER ROCKET SCALE

The question of a common scale for SWORD vehicles has had me thinking recently and the last post about the spaceship that sits on the end of Booster Rockets brought to mind the original design for a Nuclear powered vehicle to visit Mars.

The Lockheed Martin idea for a Booster Rocket with detachable fuel tanks was topped by a two man lander. Given that an additional two crew members may have stayed on board the main ship, a four man crew might seem reasonable. Looking at the Valigursky artwork for the ship, the shuttle does not appear to be much larger and this design seems to have been carried over to the SWORD ship. The Spacex version of the Booster Rocket has opted for a more visible cockpit on the front of the red shuttle, which might suggest a crew of two to four once more.

Given that the Nuclear Ferry concept by LTV was designed to carry 28 passengers and the SWORD toy clearly carries 10 astronauts, its possible to say the booster rocket is on a slighly smaller scale than the Nuclear Ferry and therefore the full sized vehicle would be slightly larger. The Solo strip seems to have little reference of scale between the vehicles and draws the ships to suit the requirements of the story rather than relative to the toys themselves.

SPACEX NUCLEAR FERRY AND BOOSTER ROCKET LAUNCHING SPACESHIP ORIGIN

Recently at 'Geekstock', courtesy of the mighty WOTAN, I had the pleasure of seeing for the first time in my life the awesome Century 21 Nuclear Ferry. It was even better than expected and took my breath away. Incredibly well constructed it really is a sleek and beautiful toy in one of the best space toy boxes of the time with the fab Rob McCall-inspired artwork. Another first was handling it's little brother, the SPACEX Nuclear Ferry, which is virtually identical except for a strange miniature jet, which inserts into the front. We've seen WOTAN's little red jet before on the blog and the similar red one on the SPACEX Booster Rocket, pictured below (the silver jet is off the C21 Booster Rocket). I got to wondering if those Tri-ang Rovex/Pippin boys and girls had simply dreamt it up or were inspired by a contemporary design. I've spent a little time since and have come up with something that fits in terms of looks and timing: the PAN AM MOON EXPRESS from the 1969 film MOON ZERO TWO about a lunar mining colony (sounds like SWORD!). I'm theorising it's possible that they saw the film and hey presto, the rest is Spacex!

(bottom picture credit: http://davidszondy.com/future/moon_zero_two/pan_am.htm)

For anyone interested in the actual making of the film MOON ZERO TWO including some incredible pictures of the Moon Express and the ANT-like Moon Fargo model I recommend David Sisson's fabulous site, where an even earlier design source is suggested, the Rogallo Wing (D.Sisson/B.Hinchcliffe). This is it's Wikipedia entry. There is also an excellent Moon Zero Two section on Tales of Future Past.

TRAVELLER STARSHIPS AND SPACECRAFT: SWORD AND SORCERY

Just occassionaly, like the video game Moon Patrol I recently blogged, I stumble across a whole new sub-genre with a SWORDish edge I didn't even know existed really. Well, it's happened again. This time it's role-playing games and specifically JUDGES GUILD TRAVELLER. The particular 'booklet' which caught my eye is called STARSHIPS AND SPACECRAFT from 1979, pictured below. Now, if I'm not mistaken, that triangular spaceship looks remarkably like the Century 21 SCOUT 3 from 10 years earlier as shown beneath it. The Traveller ship could, admittedly, be copied from the same source as the Scout (see 'Scout 3 origin'), but I'd like to think the artist had his C21 toy out (and not any Star Wars usurper) when he drew that cover! Anyway, I love that old late 70's/early 80's simple fanzine art - things of beauty!

Googling 'Starships and Spacecraft' and 'Judges Guild Traveller' I was amazed at the number of sites there are. In fact it would appear that 'gaming' is immersed in Sci Fi as much as it is Fantasy. There's a comprehensive list of spaceships, which appear in role-playing games here and whole sites devoted to Traveller like this one. I've also seen mention of a 'SCOUTS' booklet but can't find any pictures. Could it be related in some way to our very own fleet of C21 scouts? Anyone into Traveller?

ALL TERRAIN EXCITEMENT

During the recent Geekstock festivities when Woody visited Wotan at the far flung Farside Lunar Outpost in darkest Lancashire, he brought along a rather fabulous find for the Wotan archives!

The 8 Wheel Drive Military Jeep fits right in alongside my current collection of Space Eight moon crawlers from Tomy, but despite the fact that it is cosmetically similar, theres no trademark on the jeep or the box. The build quality is excellent and the lower chassi could have been lifted straight off a Tomy toy, but even though the box has a japanese feel to it, theres no sign of any logo.

However, the jeep is a little cracker and sits well with the futuristic military vehicles I have already such as the Army Cricket and UFO Tank!

Big thanks again to the Woodmeister!

SWORD RANKS

Along with a SWORD scale, another grey area for my grey matter are the SWORD ranks. Not being an expert on the comic strip I rely on those which appear on the SWORD toys, each one having its own badge:

Astronaut, Captain, Commander, Supremo

These ranks appear to have been linked to the importance (size?) of the spaceships, for example, the Supremo grade is linked with the Zero-X. So I suppose logically in the SWORD universe there were many astronauts, fewer Captains, few Commanders and only one or two Supremo's ( called Sabre and Rapier in the early comic strip). In reality there were obviously many more than just one 'Supremo' badge as many Zero-X's were sold. But the ratio may still apply to some extent since the Zero-X was far more expensive than say, Scout 1, and as such will have sold in fewer numbers. But then again it may have been more popular so that particular train of thought has got us nowhere really.

Probably more interesting is a comparison of SWORD ranks with similar organisations. Looking at NASA's organisation it doesn't really help. The boss is called the Administrator, although the press often refer to the post as Supremo but this is probably in its more general sense as 'top dog'. More rewarding is a persusal of Military ranks, which Wikipedia have conveniently compared for us in a handy grid, to which I've added SWORD ranks on the right, where I think they go.

Looking at this and knowing SWORD was in effect an 'Air Force' in space, I would say that its ranks are most similar to that of the Air Force rather than NASA. Any other views welcomed.

Finally, here's a list of which SWORD ranks (badges) appeared with which toys:

A SWORD SCALE ANYONE?

Just what is the SWORD scale? It's taxed my addled brain for a while. I always start with what I think is easy, the biggest spacecraft in the SWORD fleet must be the Saturn V rocket, especially when sat on the mobile crawler, which we know when both together, were the 'biggest vehicle in the world'. But that's the real world, not Century 21. Just how big was Zero-X, the Nuclear Ferry or the Booster Rocket? Going to the source must be the answer, an understanding of the comic strip you would think. Not so. Take a look at this illustration below from SOLO 20, June 1967.

Lots of SWORD for sure: PF2, PF3 (below) and NF and Booster Rocket (above). But the size comparison is impossible because of perspective. So, based on what I think I know, here's my best guess  at a SWORD scale - in diagrammatic and font size representations below. Any other ideas/scales would be welcomed particularly anyone with any graphic skills whatsoever unlike yours truly!

 Scout 1,2,3

Prospector Bug Ranger TF1,2,3

PF1 PF2 PF3 

Saturn V Zero X Nuclear Ferry Booster 

THUNDERBIRDS OR UFO?

As I had been a particularly good boy last year Santa Sword saw fit to bring me the IMAI BOX ART of Komatsuzaki Shigeru book this Xmas just gone. Choc full of  stunning paintings, there are also some fabulous renditions of SWORD vehicles and in  particular the SURVEYOR. There is also a Japanese webpage dedicated to the artist (use the google translate button). Despite a whole section in the book on Thunderbirds, it's on the boxart for UFO KITS where SWORD vehicles show up. Is UFO the right setting for SWORD? Why not Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet?

KALI

I think I've just died and gone to toffee Heaven.  On the amazing Quarterof online sweet shop not only can you still get Spanish Gold Sweet Tobacco but also, wait for it .... KALI! This was THE stuff of my Sixties'childhood! I can't believe it! Me and my mates would go down the 'penny shop' bursting with excitement to buy sticks of spanish, chewy snakes, sherbert-filled liquorice and everlasting chews. But above all we wanted Kali, bags of the stuff, which we devoured like ravenous beasts deprived of essential minerals! Like Peter Griffin would say, this is even better than the time my brother pointed out Vesta Chow Mein in the local Booths last year! Wonder if anyone named their kids after the stuff? Kali Woods has a certain ring to it!

T IN A CIRCLE APOLLO - X BY ARTO

Hi Paul,

Here is the T (in a Circle) 425 Apollo-X! This is the same toy as the previous APOLLO - 11 and the SATURN 5 in a German box, only the upper side fins differ in colour. It works too. The box graphics are so into Moonflight '69 that it must date from the early 70's. Curious is the glossy finish on the box, which is much more shinier than the other, more matte - like "T" boxes. Makes me think this is later than the other SWORD-related boxes. Or is there still an earlier "T" box variant of the same?

Cheers, Arto

Thanks for sharing Arto. That's real beauty and in marvellous condition. One more for the T in a Circle Checklist! Swordtastic! (words in italics inserted by me. Woodsy)