The friction drive version was the first of the Thunderbird toys to be released. It came in two colours - a grey fuselage and pale blue engine , or a pale blue fuselage and grey engine. It had large red wheels, and no markings to identify it as a JR21 toy.
Although it has got lots of appeal, the toy does has a cheap look about it. The two sides of the fuselage are glued, not screwed so if the wings break or the front wheel gets damaged its hard to carry out repairs or replace anything. The rear fins are paper thin and very fragile.
The remote control Thunderbird 1 was much more ambitious. Better made with some nice features, it was much larger than the friction drive - and much more expensive.
Push the nose cone and the wings flip out. A small bulb illuminates the rear of the engines, and the remote control gives forward and reverse motion. The front wheel can be manually altered to steer.
Two very different toys - one, cheap and affordable that looks like something out of a lucky bag, and the other packed with features, well made and imposing.
But, to an old Thunderbird fan like me both are very, very desirable!
I had the remote one as a kid (and have a replacement one now). It had a blue nose, not red and I've never seen another one like it.
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