Agent 21 here! Last year I blogged about these three prototype Thunderbird 6 models seen in the movie of the same name. Brains sweated day and night only to have 'em trashed! That Tracy boss was a tyrant!
We discovered then that my orange Nova III toy rocket shown below was most likely based on Brain's red Six [above and below - bottom models].
Well I was chuffed to find this original Lobby still for the 1966 UK film release amongst a pile of paper memorabilia I acquired last year. You'll see straight awy that it's the T6 in the screen grab at the top of this bloglet. The very same with it's highly unusual shape and victorian brass street lamp on top! But they're different colours? Are there white and yellow versions in the movie?
And lo and behold a further Thunderbird 6 mystery surfaced this week when I noticed the following entry on an old online Thunderbirds collectables list:
Tiger Moth [Thunderbird 6] battery operated, #B44/780 Century 21 Toys, UK
Well, you know my passion for obscure Century 21 and JR21 toys! I was thrilled as I'd never heard of this toy. I asked blog contributors and fellow Century 21 toy enthusiasts Jim Lewis [guest correspondent on this blog as we speak] and Steve [creator of the fab Vintage Thunderbird Toys] their opinion.They were both sure the list entry was wrong and that the toy was in fact by Japan's Bandai [ Steve added that there is also no friction-drive JR21 TB4 or JR21 Tracy Island either - damn shame!]
I consulted my Gerry Anderson Memorabila Guide [The C21 'Bible'] by Dennis Nicholson and yes, Dennis confirmed that Bandai did indeed release a Thunderbird 6 bi-plane as shown below. Dennis kindly provides it's model number too, B44-780 [see his book entry below], which is the same one in the online list. This nails it, the list is incorrect and Jim/Steve/Dennis are right. It's not Century 21 but Bandai! [anyone got one?]
PS. Such a pity that the film makers opted for a Tiger Moth as TB6. Any of the three rejects would have been so much cooler and made great JR21 toys! Views welcomed! Agent 21 out.
the lobby card seems to be a pre-production proof and has been printed without the yellow ink plate - brains glasses should be blue and the colour of his skin would be warmer and less washed out with the full print
ReplyDeletecut him some slack Wote! He's been up all night designing Thunderbird 7! You'd be washed out!
ReplyDeleteNo, there isn't a white version in the film, Woodsy.
ReplyDeleteI'm told that with colour photography being expensive in the sixties, it's likely your lobby card is actually a black & white photograph which has been coloured.
Are you telling me that big green pod with a 6 on it contained a bi-plane??????!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's it - I'm never watching it again!
'Ovenisc'...someone who's totally over-reacted to some mildly disappointing news!
Cheers Wote and Toad, I reckon you've got it. I'll post the rest of the lobby cards in the set so you can see the lot.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese companion toy of SKYSHIP 1 from THUNDERBIRD 6 is an incredible toy too. A pal of mine had them both. Gorgeous looking thing
ReplyDeleteJim Lewis
In relation to the colouring on the FOH still many UK films in the 1960s suffered this budget cut. However THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO had full on colour photographs as opposed to 'tinted' ones like those for THUNDERBIRD 6 in 1968. However THUNDERBIRD 6 had the lovely Frank Bellamy art for the poster whereas the primary poster for THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO is of a lesser standard although vaguely remniscent of the JR21 Toys box art! (Back to that again eh Paul!)
ReplyDeleteJim Lewis
Comet Miniatures did a TB6 Tiger Moth model I think. Skyship 1 should have been TB6. It would have made a great SWORD toy as well. Strange how JR21/C21 left it to Bandai to bring out as a plastic toy rather than having a crack themselves. TB6 is pictured on its box I think. There can't have been many European or North American kids with access to Bandai toys in the late Sixties. Or?
ReplyDeleteI think CENTURY 21 Toys were already way into concentrating on the JOE 90 toys by the time THUNDERBIRD 6 hit the cinemas. Many toy companies feel it preferable to plough money into something kids will see 30 weeks on the trot rather than a potential one-off visit to the pictures. Of course STAR WARS changed that mentality big time. My mate never had one in the 1960s it was when he was an adult collector. He may still have it. His model was in one of the old FAB magazine articles on the toys maybe 15 years back
ReplyDeleteJim Lewis