Since posting Robert McCall's wonderful ROLLOUT picture last month I have been on the look out for other toys where it may have been used for the boxart. No great breakthroughs I'm afraid but one similar illustration does appear a set of LP space toys, which I assume are 'Space Exploring' - see below (courtesy of Mark Bergin Toys)
The rollout-esque illustration, with it's attractive blue sky, to the right of the box appears at a different angle to Mr. McCall's yellowed original in Look and Learn or that which appears on the SWORD Cape Kennedy Set. It is also outside and beyond the confines of the Vehicle Assembly Biulding. I have zoomed in on the LP illustration below and also flipped it to help comparison with McCall's but the quality is too poor to see any detail. See what you think. If anyone has better pictures of this LP set, including the sides we can't see, I would be more than happy to post them for readers to enjoy. I am also interested in the origin of the small circular astronaut picture to the left hand side of this LP box if anyone knows.
"Rollout" under licence from Look and Learn 2010
From the fact that the black marks on the rocket casing (To help filming? re. position) line up, but the angle of view is different, I'd say both pieces of artwork come from Press Photographs taken in the tame sequence from a helicopter?
ReplyDeleteOld printing didn't reproduce photo's very well, so people like L&L, WoW and some of the Brook Bond card type people tended to make artwork from the photographs?
The "Press Photographs" idea seems sound to me.
ReplyDeleteThose black markings are roll patterns, derived from the original black and white colour scheme of the V2 (apparently, von Braun liked it!) BTW, I usually rationalised the wheels on spaceship toys as undercarriage, but even as a child (first time around!) I couldn't cope with the idea of huge wheels on a Saturn V first stage! Not to mention that nose wheel on the third stage! And have you noticed that most of the wheels on the SWORD ships seem to be wire wheels? I guess they had them left over from racing cars, etc - but I have to smile a bit at the idea of spacecraft with landing gear last seen on WWI biplanes!
ReplyDeleteGrif
i think the little pic of an astronaut is from the Gemini or mercury era, possibly even John Glenn. Its from one of the NASA promo shots from that age.
ReplyDeleteThe ROLLOUT picture in Look and Learn comic featured here is from an original oil on canvas by US space artist Robert McCall pinted in the early 1960's. The idea of a press photograph being the inspiration/ basis is interesting and I would be glad to hear from readers who may know which photo it may be from the early 1960's.
ReplyDeleteJust looked into when the Vehicle Assembly Biulding was actually biult - about March 1965. McCalls ROLLOUT painting pre-dates it by a year and is an artists's impression done for NASA/ LIFE as no press photographs existed in 1964. Don't know when the LP toy sets came out. The SWORD Cape Kennedy Set went on sale in 1967.
ReplyDeleteNice research, Woodsy!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am so with you, Grif. Those wheels on the Saturn! *Toad shakes head in despair*