Two Fab Ladies: Fairylite's Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope Dolls by Jim Lewis

Having established a profitable connection to the earlier Supermarionation shows with toys based on them the Merton based company Fairylite immediately bought into the Andersons most lavish production THUNDERBIRDS. 1966 saw the first true Anderson ‘Action Figures’ as we know the concept today. All of the main characters in the programme were represented with removable cloth outfits and fully articulated bodies. Despite Fairylite’s use of cheap ‘blown plastic’ bodies the overall impression is a good one and children were excited to be able to own the characters from THUNDERBIRDS in miniature form.

However 1966 was perhaps too soon for boys to feel comfortable embracing a doll. Palitoy’s ACTION MAN had only very recently appeared on the market in England and the concept was yet to be truly established. With this in mind a far more impressive campaign was launched to bring the female THUNDERBIRDS dolls to the attention of girls across the country. Adverts and competitions appeared in LADY PENELOPE comic one of which shows the variety in which the Tin-Tin doll was produced in terms of attire. The dolls heads are in fact one and the same. With a clever facial paint job, and hair colour/ style differences, Fairylite offered two very acceptable representations of the leading female operatives of International Rescue. Unlike the male dolls the female characters only enjoy movement at the shoulder, hip and neck much like many ‘fashion’ dolls of the period.

Lady Penelope’s packaging is of a far more feminine design than that which housed the male characters in the series but Tin-Tin is boxed in very much a hybrid of both styles. With Mattel’s BARBIE and Pedigree’s SINDY both doing well in toy shops Fairylite promoted their two characters in a similar manner. ‘Dressing up’ and fashion changes were very much the order of the day as opposed to the ‘smash and crash’ stuff they were hoping boys would go for with the male dolls.

A variety of costumes were sold separately and encouraged girls to ultimately buy the entire range so both Penelope and Tin-Tin would have a wardrobe to fit any occasion or adventure. Some were pure flights of fancy on the part of Fairylite mimicking ‘Mod’ fashions of the day but others were close approximations of costumes seen in the show itself or the pages of LADY PENELOPE comic perhaps with some small differences to colour or design.

Now almost fifty years on from these dolls first appearing collectors will struggle to find a complete set of them and especially the accompanying accessory sets. The Lady Penelope doll seems to appear most regularly but not Tin-Tin and there are few who can claim to own all three variants of her.

Often overlooked by THUNDERBIRDS and Anderson collectors in general and regarded as ‘just for girls’ the Fairylite dolls are not to be dismissed by the serious enthusiast as they are rarely seen in decent boxed condition and represent well the characters who inspired their creation.

Jim Lewis