Its shaping up into another great year for SWORD, this time in 2009 we saw the elusive Nuclear Ferry gracing the blog and here we have another scoop from the far east. Courtesy of our resident coolhunter and benefactor Terry, we have the actual kit of the Maruman Probe Force 1.
Previously spotted at auction in a fleeting glimpse last year, Terry managed to lay hands on an actual copy of this super rare kit. Near mint in box, the kit is more accurately described as a buildable toy and mirrors its larger C21 cousin almost exactly. Apart from the different box art and slight cosmetic differences, it is basically a smaller version of the PF1 we all know. Made by Maruman, presumably a company based in Osaka, the kit came bagged complete with glue, decals and friction motor. Its almost impossible to date the kit, as it is pristine. The slightly immature style of packaging is hard to place, but a best guess would place it contemporary with the Century 21 toy - or possibly earlier. This is a definite chicken and egg scenario - did this kit give rise to the toy, or was the toy lifted from the kit ? Another strange clue is the inclusion of stickers with 'SB' on them - does this refer to the Space Bird series of toys ?
Either way, it is a gloriously beautiful toy as you can see from the photos. Simple construction is held in place with slot headed screws and the decals are self adhesive as opposed to waterslide. Even the wheel and moulding arrangement echoes the C21 toy. A thing of wonder.
On the last picture you can see the comparative scale compared to the remains of my very first Project Sword toy, the PF1 itself.
What amuses me about these old 50's designs is that they thought intersteller travel would be a simple case of straping Concords wings to a launch-rocket!
ReplyDeleteNice kit!
Wow, I'd like one of those ...
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, the Japanese word “Maru” means circle and was often used in toy and plamodel company names - I'm thinking of Marusan, Marui and now Maruman. There were probably others as well.
Sean
Marvellous kit there, Wotan!
ReplyDeleteLooks super biult up Wote! Easy to see now that it really is a scaled down copy in every way of the big one. I'm afraid mine has been left in its box (thanks Terry!) and put on the display cabinet already! And yes, the old chicken and egg - a date would settle it. But would Maruman have come up with the name 'Probe Force No.1' rather than the guys at Century 21 back in '67? Or is it a case of Maruman cashing in on the Japanese love of all things Anderson, although you can't tell this from the box? We need a date for this kit. Anyone?
ReplyDeletetheres no date visible in english on the box or instructions, but interestingly, the Maruman logo is circular!
ReplyDeleteI am sceptical re Maruman coming up with the name "Probe Force 1", but I have no rational basis for my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Maruman still in existence in Japan manufacturing golf clubs. No idea if it has any connection to PF1, but, according to the company's website, Maruman manufactured clocks and lighters in the 1960s, so the company has had a diverse output. That might have included toys or there may be no connection. (I notice this Maruman is headquartered in Tokyo not Osaka.)
ReplyDeleteSean
Sean
Could Maruman have been a common Company name Sean?
ReplyDeleteAnd PT, if PF1 appears in SOLO in summer 1967, do you think that the writers and artists were working on it for long before that? What do you reckon - a few months?
I asked Shaqui re Solo, and got this reply:
ReplyDelete"The lead time from original material deadline to it appearing in shops would be about 6 weeks: material would be at the printers for 3 weeks, then it would take 3 weeks to be ready for distribution."
Shaqui is of the opinion that the strip appearing in Solo was a rush decision based on falling sales figures, and perhaps as a way to promote the toys at the same time. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Chicken and egg. Two birds with one stone. We're up to our beaks in avian metaphors!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting though what Shaqui says PT. So as a story it could have been dreamt up as late as April 1967. If we could place any SWORD toys before that it would more or less prove that the whole enterprise was toy-driven a la Masters of the Universe years later. Or is that doing a dis-service to the comic strip writers and artists? - it clearly had merit in its own right. It's easier to see Thunderbirds toys as an afterthought, since the TV series was a huge artistic effort and cannot simply have been made to sell toys.
What is amzing about the Maruman kit and the C21 toy is how exactly the same they are other than in size. Both even have the little dark bars on the side of the wings! At some point in the 1960's these two toys were in the same place being copied. Just noticed on the box art that the exhausts fumes are passing under the tail-side-fins. Wouldn't they pass through/over?
ReplyDeleteYes, the strips could have been dreamt up as late as April 1967. It's an interesting thought, isn't it? I don't think what you say is a dis-service to the comic strip writers and artists. They would just have been doing their jobs as requested, and wouldn't have been involved with the business side of SWORD.
ReplyDelete