T in a Circle S.W.O.R.D Registered Designs at the UK National Archives

It's a real pleasure writing tonight during the second bloggiversary. Not only is my favourite film [and soundtrack] of all time on, Enter the Dragon, but I can shed a little light on at least one SWORD mystery, which has been a personal quest of mine for over ten years.

As a kid in 1967 I was the mega-proud owner of a Century 21 SWORD fleet. Like many kids' collections it vanished into the dustbins of Preston and the ether of time. It would be 1990 before I got the collecting bug again, as a 'grown up', and discovered my first 'second' SWORD toy, the Space Glider, at the Normanton evening toy fair. It cost me £20 and that was that. Over the course of the next ten years and with the help of a uniquely persistent and effective toy dealer, Chris Avis, I re-acquired all but the Nuclear Ferry. I also realised, for the first time, that Century 21 SWORD was not alone when Chris sent me a Tarheel Probe Force 1. I was amazed! But it was the discovery of my first 'T' [in a Circle'] brand SWORD toy, a Moon Prospector, at another toy fair, which sparked my real passion for SWORD history.

During the 1990's I relied on UK magazines and toy meets for information, but with the onset of the Internet I was able to communicate worldwide with fellow enthusiasts like the mighty WOTAN and super-knowledgable Paul [Vreede]. It was US Gerry Anderson expert, Marc Fratassio, who first introduced me to the theory that Century 21 may have bought a Hong Kong toy line 'off the shelf' as the basis of SWORD, a theory I have heard repeated many times since. For years I have 'toyed' with who the likely predecessor[s] may have been - Tarheel, Hover, Hoover, even JR21 itself? But it was 'T' [in a Circle] that fascinated me the most.

My curiosity peaked when I saw the original advertisements for the SWORD toy fleet in SOLO comic from the year 1967. Kindly supplied last year by the great Philosophic Toad, the 'ID' chart [below] showed a Moonbus with a T emblem on its front 'nose'. Of note also is that the Moon Prospector did not appear on either of the two ID charts, which appeared in SOLO.

Spurred on by this revelation I began to consider how I might 'dig' further. It was a chance sighting of a particular 'T' [in a Circle] Moon Prospector box, being sold by US ebayer Ykessa, that would provide the next link. Although the box was damaged it was clear from the pictures that, unlike typical 'T' Prospector boxes as shown below, this one [bottom] was without the UK Patent Number normally seen in the right hand lower corner.

This missing 'patent' box suggested an earlier version of the toy and further evidence that it existed in some form prior to it being 'patented'. An equally coincidental find of two related plastic speedboats pictured here suggested a similar history . One has a patented 'T' [in a Circle] box, whilst the lower pictured box is unbranded and un-'patented'.

Inspired by the fabulous 'patent' research done previously on US Spacex toys by fellow enthusiasts Paul Vreede, Bill Bulloch [WOTAN] and Kim Stevens [The Philosophic Toad], I made initial contact with the UK's National Archives at Kew. After some guidance from staff as to how their vast online catalogue functions, I was able to formally request copies of the 'registered designs' [mistakenly refered to as 'UK Patents' by 'T'] of the 'T' Moon Prospector and Moon Bus, as they are the only craft with such numbers.

After waiting a while and to my sheer delight and utter amazement last week I recieved four crisp photocopied documents - two photographic 'representations' and two 'registers' ["a representation of a design is a sample, picture, photograph or sketch of the registered design. The registers of designs include the allocated registered number, usually the name and the address of the owner of the design, who was not necessarily the designer, and the quantity of items registered, known as the bundle or parcel" National Archives].

Unfortunately I'm not able to post them until I clarify copyright with the National Archives, but suffice it to say, they are a revelation and prove categorically that 'T' [in a Circle], as stated on the Alphadrome site, is indeed the mark of 'Tai Hing Metal and Plastic Ware Factory Limited' of No.1 Tsat Po Street, 6th Floor, San Po Kwong, Kowloon, Hong Kong' [applicant for both toys] The following salient points can also be made:

Moon Bus Registered Design No. 930855

1. The 'T' badged Moon Bus advertised for the first time in Solo was indeed a 'T' [in a Circle] Moon Bus

2. The 'T' Moon Bus application was made on the 8th April 1967 and named as a 'toy space tank'. It was approved on the 27th July that year, five days AFTER it first appeared in the photo ID guide in SOLO!

3. The 'T' Moon Bus 'representation' included the 'T' badge on the bus' nose, but it was crossed out, presumably because the eventual toy would omit it.

4. This original design also included a long passenger window on each side of the bus

5. The application was made on behalf of 'T' by 'Joseph Harris and Co' of East Barnet.

6. The 'copyright expired' on the 7th March 1972

[pictures to follow subject to permissions]

Moon Prospector Registered Design No. 963703

1. The application was made on the 15th May 1968 and named as 'a toy vehicle'

2. The application was approved on the 16th December 1968

3. The application was made on behalf of 'T' by 'Marks and Clerk' of Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

4. The copyright expired on the 4th May 1973.

[pictures to follow subject to permissions]

This information answers a number of questions, primarily that 'T' [in a Circle] is Tai Hing and that the original S.W.O.R.D Moon Bus was by 'T'. Unless we can prove that 'Marks and Clark' were a common link, sadly nothing here connects the 'T' Moon Prospector with Century 21 other than the S.W.O.R.D and 'Star Features' motifs on the box. One final puzzle remains in this particular chicken and egg scenario - did the 'T' Moon Bus or Moon Prospector get issued originally without any reference to S.W.O.R.D or 'Star Features or is it just possible that 'T' came up with both before Century 21?