A.A.G.H: Acronyms Are Generally a Hindrance: QUIZ

Normally refering to "SPACE" WORLD ORGANISATION FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMEMT, the acronym SWORD is explained as having a  different initial word in the 1968 Annual comic strip. What is it?

SUMMER SCIENCE: THE REAL PROJECT SWORD

Hey Paul,

Thought this might interest you. Space historian Curtis Peebles reported this. Air Force Space Command in 1993 established a Space Warfare Center at Falcon AFB in Colorado to conduct the Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities program. The TENCAP programs reflect the future shape of Air Force activities. These include efforts to demonstrate:

Talon Command: Project Shield, (description) Project Hook (description)

Talon Ready: Project Scene (description) , Project Spectrum (description) , Project Stamp (description)

Talon Shooter: Project Sword (relaying information from space systems directly to tactical aircraft in near real-time, via normal communications channels. In the first demonstration, tactical information was passed to an aircraft making an attack on a simulated surface-to-air missile site. The aircraft then fired HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) missiles which destroyed the site, even though the aircraft's own systems had not yet detected it.), Project Lance (description) , Project Zebra (description) .

Regards,

Darth [Reader]

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INTERNET CRASH

Frustratingly I have lost both my telephone and internet connection hence the radio silence. I am currently at a friend's house using the internet. I hope to resume normal transmissions soon! In the meantime enjoy the sunshine!

SUMMER POSTCARD CAPTION COMPETITION

Imagine this was a SWORD postcard you were sending yourself in the future. What would you write?

SUMMER T IN A CIRCLE -TIME: A NEWLY DISCOVERED 'SPACE VEHICLE' BOX

 

 

Now for T in a Circle Nuts like me and Arto this was a dream come true, wholly new space toy packaging appearing this May. We've seen the white vehicle before, loose, courtesy of Ferryman and the earlier boxed red 'Space Vehicle' courtesy of Mark Bergin toys [see below],  but this new find is clearly a different box and in my view a later version, most probably the 1970's looking at the graphics. It suggests that the loose white versions of the toys seen thus far would all have come in this box type. Previously we have seen a loose white vehicle being sold by the ever-rewarding seller 'Pekoday' from Hong Kong. This, the first boxed white version I have ever seen, was sold for a small fortune by a seller based in Lima, Peru no less [to a reader?] and the Ebay description ran thus:

"This is a Space Vehicle, battery operated , made of plastic by T (TOYS ARE FUN) Nº 357, in HONG KONG. with original box. 1970s. In good conditions, 3 small scratches on dome but unnoticed and works well in all actions. Bump & go ,sound and multicolor revolving lights. The box has some damage on paper. Measures: 9 inches long, 4 inches wide and 4 1/4 inches of heigh."

Of particular interest is the use of the 'TOYS ARE FUN' phrase around the T moniker. This is unusual and has only really been spotted once before, by Arto, as reported previously on the blog. It's also similar to but shouldn't be confused with the 'TOYS KIDS LOVE' phrase that appeared below the Empire Toys logo, the later incarnation of Tarheel of Tarboro.

The model number 357 on the white 'bump & go' is the same as the 'earlier' red with silver fins version. The box is completely different as you can see below in this comparison.

To finish this feature it's worth pointing out that there are now two known colour variations of the white bump & go toy, with red fins a la the Lima find and with blue fins as per the Hong Kong find below. There is also a blue'ish version on the 'bump & go' box but this could be just artistic licence.

And finally for the T completist there appear to be two battery-case colour variants, black [below] and white [bottom], although I can't confirm this as I don't own any of them myself.

T Toys are indeed fun!

Watch this space!

SUMMER SCRATCHBIULD SPECIAL MESSAGE: LOVE MY TENDER

Thanks Mike!

Wonderful work - from scratch! Century 21 will be phoning!

If you want to keep up with Mike's final touches check out his thread on the
Space 1999 Eagle Transporter Forum.

If your'e interested in the vintage toys used in Mike's [and the original Thunderbirds modelling team's] models check out previous features 1 [car] and 2  [bus]on the blog.

F.A.B! Woodsy

PS. They sort of remind me of the fabled and as yet unseen [at least by me]
SPACEX Fire Tender toy.

SUMMER SPECIAL: NEW VEHICLE IN THE LP FLEET

It's not often that I come across a completely new space toy for me but here's such a one, the all-plastic LP SPACE RADAR CAR [below left and bottom box]. New to me and the blog it is a missing peice of the puzzle that is LP. With it's moon-bus-esque looks it sits well with the rest of the LP fleet [ robot missing here - see previous post]. These pictures are from the fabulous book FUTURE TOYS by Anthoni Emchowicz [of Zoomer Toys], which I wholeheartedly recommend.

Knowing that LP usually took their cue from larger toy lines I looked round for the likely origin. And here it is, the tinplate and plastic SPACE RADAR SCOUT PIONEER by Masudaya [below]. There is also a tin version by Tada.

So, are there any more lost LP's out there?

SUMMER SUPPLEMENT: A Fall of Moondust and the Rise of the Moonbus

In 1961 Arthur C. Clarke published 'A Fall of Moondust' about the plight of the dustship Selene trapped under the Moon's surface. On page 8 he wrote "Selene's official designation was a Dust-Cruiser...she was called 'ship', 'boat' or 'moon-bus' according to taste". I guess this must be the first use of the term 'Moon Bus' [although Selene is more like Century 21's 'Moon Ship' {cf. cover art above} than the Moon Bus we know and love]. As previously covered on the blog the classic Moon Bus concept we are familiar with first appeared in 1963 and it's first 'Anderson' appearance was 1966 in Lady Penelope comic. But neither of these were refered to as a Moon Bus. It would be in the 1967 Summer of Sword before the classic shape was linked to the name Moon Bus in the SWORD strip in SOLO comic August 12th, a good six years after Clarke coined the term [see pictures below].

1967

Despite SWORD's Moon Bus appearing as a beautiful toy in 1967 [and  later the Spacex Mobile HQ] I would have to admit that the term was really put on the sci-fi map, once again by Arthur C.Clarke, in his 2001- A Space Odyssey published in 1968 and in the 1969 Stanley Kubrick film [which has links to SWORD in more ways than one], which gave us probably the most famous of all plastic Moon buses, the Aurora Model Kit. With all this in mind I think it's fair to say that Arthur C.Clarke is indeed the inventor of the Moon Bus.

SUMMER QUIZ: PROJECT SCANBACK

 

So you think you know about space stuff eh? Well let's see if you knew as much as kids [maybe like you] back in the late 60's! This is the PROJECT SCANBACK quiz as it appeared in the 1969 Project SWORD Annual. First one to send ALL the correct answers via comments or email is the winner and will be promoted to SWORD ASTRONAUT!

NEWSFLASH! READER ARTO FROM FINLAND HAS GOT THEM ALL RIGHT AND IS HEREBY PROMOTED TO SWORD ASTRONAUT! Well done from the Scanback Team.

SWORD SUMMER SPACEX: T-5 SPECIALS BY MIKE BURROWS

Beautiful Mike! Thanks Woodsy!

SWORD SUMMER FUN CAPTION COMPETITION 2

[picture: GACCH 'Like Father Like Son' TV21]

What's this young chap saying to his audience?

SWORD SUMMER FUN EXTRA: TV21 PICTURE GALLERY

I've posted this TV21 shot before [Issue 196, 19th October 1968] but I likes it so much here it is again. Anyone know said John Kent?

OK, 2 things for you to do here Swordheads:

1. What would an older "John" be saying now d'ya reckon?

2. Name all the toys in the picture?

[I would welcome any more shots like this of JR21/SWORD toys and young fans from TV21/Tornado or anywhere really]

Go to the superb Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History site [in part the work of our very own Toad] for more info on Issue 196 of TV21 [did the above picture appear in the Dutch TV2000? Was there a Projecteren Zwaard in TV2000? Check out more Dutch memorabilia in Theo De Klerk's excellent series of linked SIG pages] or indeed any other Anderson comic including Project SWORD in SOLO and TV21 and Annual. F.A.B!

SWORD SUMMER SPECIAL: Pssst! Wanna Buy a Fanzine? by Richard Farrell of Andersonic

The idea of doing a Gerry Anderson-based fanzine had been kicking around for a while before we actually got round to backing up all the talk with some action. The main impetus was the nagging feeling that there was a gap in the coverage of the Anderson series in print and online. We wanted to look into the metaphor of the episodes and the influences on the writers, directors and designers who contributed so much to the longevity of these series; for example, what was on Keith Wilson’s mind when he designed Guardian of Piri, or David Tomblin’s when he was directing The Cat With Ten Lives, to make them such stand out instalments? Prior to our first issue, I’d been cajoled into writing for the Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History website and realised both that there was still much to be explored, and also that the subject matter could be covered in a more humorous way.

Andersonic’s approach is very much influenced by the Doctor Who fanzines of the 80s and 90s which often featured some very incisive discussions on the classic series which led me to re-evaluate several stories I’d previously dismissed - the likes of Faze, Matrix and Skaro featured some of the best criticisms I’ve ever read. It occurred to us that the likes of Space: 1999 would benefit from such discussion - so we take a functional approach, comparing and contrasting the Anderson series with their contemporaries; it’s not so much about our personal opinions as attempting to put the episodes in context with the way the world was at the time, because good SF has a lot to say once you’ve decoded the message. Understanding the direction Johnny Byrne and Christopher Penfold took Space: 1999, or the metaphor of the aliens in UFO is the key to a greater appreciation of these series as a whole.

Our other main influence is the irreverence of the music press back in the days when NME, Melody Maker et al were essential reading - the way they’d relentlessly mock groups or individuals they deemed absurd or no longer cool (I remember a particularly funny assassination of Kevin Rowland from Dexys Midnight Runners taking an innocent trip to the barbers that still makes me laugh). So how can you not take the mickey out of Victor Bergman’s lack of answers or the second series of Space: 1999 in general?

Starting the fanzine is the easy part; you have years of enthusiam built up and this can fuel the first couple of issues while the much-needed offers of assistance from like-minded souls start to trickle in. Despite the influence of photocopied Doctor Who fanzines, modern DTP applications mean there’s no excuse for shoddy presentation so it was back to the text books to learn about laying out a document, text boxes, pdfs and all that modern stuff. Good to keep the old grey cells working! Other important ingredients include a graphic designer friend who’s good with logos, a local printer who knows one end of a pdf from another and whose price is right, plus a friend in convenient possession of a database of readers from a previous Anderson fanzine - so it’s all systems go!

One of our first articles that ‘clicked’ covered the Starcruiser comic strip from Look-In, which benefitted so much from the input of artist David Jefferis and modelmaker Martin Bower, featuring hitherto unseen artwork and photos of prototype versions of the Starcruiser model. Articles on exploring the links between Space:1999 and its distant cousin 2001: A Space Odyssey followed, along with discussing female role models in the Anderson series (from a female perspective, of course), reinforcing the direction we wanted to go. Several fans have written fascinating accounts of their first-hand experiences of visiting the studios during production, something the rest of us could only dream about. We have also covered the enormous influence of concept aircraft and the X-Planes on the designers at Century 21, something of which I’m particularly proud, as I’m not aware it had been covered in Anderson circles previously, along with charting the reappearance of numerous Century 21 miniatures in early 70s Doctor Who after the studios closed and flogged their props. Finding that the Shadair jet from UFO was based so closely on the XB-70 Valkyrie or that the UFO spacesuits ended up in The Goodies of all places was as big a revelation to us as some of the stuff Paul has featured on his Project Sword site (particularly discovering the use of commercially available toys as Brains’ Thunderbird 6 prototypes), underlining that there’s still much to be unearthed and discussed about these classic series. Coverage of the use of toys and kits in the Anderson series is a fascinating area to explore, but as I haven’t touched an Airfix kit in decades, I’m on the lookout for a volunteer!

Apart from such revelations, being able to run interviews in the more recent issues has given Andersonic a new impetus - it’s a chance to get it from the horse’s mouth. What’s more, all the interviewees have been enthusiastic and helpful and happily no illusions have been shattered: Gerry Anderson casually invited us to ring back if we wanted anything else, Mike Trim liked the more humorous approach and Mike Noble even wrote to say he liked the cartoons - so it’s become quite a love-in! And as for Captain Scarlet director Leo Eaton... well, there’s someone who should be writing his autobiography; you’ll just have to wait for the next issue to see what he had to say! The fact that their interest and enthusiasm remains undinned after the intervening decades says a lot about them and their work.

I think the most daunting part of doing a paper fanzine is selling the finished item - when you’re no kind of salesman it’s downright scary. Admittedly it was something I didn’t even think about until I had the first issue back from the printers. Then panic! - it would be easy to fall at the final hurdle and end up shoving most of the print run into the back of the wardrobe! However word of mouth is a wonderful thing and with the support of kind souls like David Nightingale of Startrader and Anthony Taylor at Fabgear USA, Andersonic has spread like a germ, though that’s probably not the most flattering analogy I could use. Once the mindnumbingly obvious revelation struck us that a website would give Andersonic a better profile, the fanzine has been in rude health ever since. I hope regular readers will associate a certain freshness with our coverage of what is now quite old subject matter. After all, as Bananarama always said, it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it. I also hope they laugh at some of the jokes. We’ve learned a lot about putting together a fanzine as we’ve gone along, and I hope readers have learned something about these series along the way that has increased their appreciation of the Andersons’ work. That way, we know we’re heading in the right direction.

As for the future of Andersonic, I think a fanzine is (like a blog I expect) very much like a shark, to paraphrase Woody Allen - it needs to keep moving in order to survive. We’re always on the look-out for new angles and any help with art or articles because now we’re approaching double figures, the last thing we want on our hands just now is a dead shark!

Richard Farrell

Andersonic

Wonderful insight into Fanzinedom Richard! Thanks ever so much! Wonder if there's such a thing as a Blogzine? I see that the next issue of Andersonic includes Century 21 Merchandising - I'll be ordering my copy soon during the long SWORD summer! Woodsy

SUMMER OF SWORD CAPTION COMP

OK Swordheads, caption competition time!

What are these two SWORD pilots saying to each other?

WINNER: SPECTRUM STEVE - made me howl!

[picture: Century 21]

Yesterdays Men

Before we pitch back into vintage space toys and the big Summer of Sword, I thought id just get back into the swing of things with a spot of guerilla blogging - quick and dirty.
The eighties were a great time for action figures and GI Joe and Action Force could always be relied upon to churn out some fine examples. The Star Brigade put Duke, Destro and the BAT legion into powered spacesuits. Action Force, before it was combined with standard Joe figures, introduced a couple of more unusual figures such as the amphibious green Kraken figure, complete with trident blaster and catch net. The chief inspiration for this bloglet was my finding a rare Skeletron figure on ebay. This was a special mailaway figure from the Kraken cardback.
Similarly, Mattel brought an amphibious robot figureinto its Commander Power line in the form of Triton, an articulated droid with underwater lance and special fins. To combat Triton, commander power had his aquatic friend Stingray Johnson at hand in his lovely turquoise wetsuit! Bathtime was never so much fun!

THE SUMMER OF SWORD BEGINS!

[courtesy of  reader John Croot]

" Orbiting the Moon is the most fantastic fleet of rocketry the World has yet produced " - with these words the very first PROJECT SWORD comic strip began in issue 19 of SOLO comics on the 24th June 1967, 43 years ago today! It was the start of a long and beautiful SWORD summer. We were all wonderfully young and wanted to be either astronauts or paleontologists! Well, here's a taste of that cosmic season with the very first strip. Enjoy! - and let the sun shine, the Mister Softee ice cream drip all over and the SWORD fleet fly!

PETROL STATION COINS: LEGAL TENDER IN TOYLAND

Funny how as a Sixties kid I never had any money but I had loads of those brill petrol station coins courtesy of my Dad, like Esso 1970 World Cup [my favourite World Cup with the best Brazilian team ever] and Shell Man in Flight. They felt light and had a flimsy tinkly feel. It was suopremely satisfying to push a new one into the round slot on the display card. I even buried some along with some Spanish pasetas from my brother. Not sure why but I felt strangely compelled to stick them in the ground! I seem to remember checking on them a year later to find that they had started to dissolve! Ah, simple pleasures. Did these petrol coins appear around the world?

Pictures - Ebay [anyone got better close-up Man in Flight pics?]

SPACEX SUPERSET MOONSCAPE

I've often thought that the closest we will ever get to the fabled Project SWORD Moon Base Set is the Spacex Moon Base Set or Super Set. Above is an incomplete example in a battle-damaged box, which appeared on Ebay 2005. I've never seen any of the large Spacex sets in the flesh but they look stunning. Wonder what Superset 2 involved? Interestingly fellow Spacexers have made me aware of the similarity bewteen the plastic moonscapes found in the Supersets and the Johnny Astro toy [below]. Great for completing a Superset if your'e missing the moonscape! Makes sense as both were made by Tri-ang but can anyone confirm that they are actually exactly the same?

Photo above - Ebay 2010