Last summer Bill and I spent a pleasant afternoon in my garden drinking a beer or two and reading up on vintage toys.
In a couple of books, Dennis Nicholson's The Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide and Collecting The Space Race, we found stuff that had been right under our noses for years like an Apollo Moon Exploring carded console set [above right - Space Race].
And years before we knew about them, Dennis's book had had pictures and descriptions of the Morinaga Zero-X premiums, in both normal and deformed styles, all along!
Dennis had also made mention of Project SWORD in Toys International years before we came across the actual article yonks later. It just goes to show that it pays to read a reference book properly the first time round! The description of the Imai Project SWORD Moon base model set always raised my pulse rate and Bill and I hotly debated what it might look like and whether there are any left anywhere.
It must be related to the Imai UFO base sets and double-checking the description of the SWORD vehicles included it sounds a lot like the Imai UFO Moon Base Set later re-issued by Aoshin. The Imai Project SWORD Moon Base Set is indeed a mystery and one as elusive as the Century 21 Moon Base itself. The search continues and any opinions are welcomed!
One more surprise was to be found in an old Action 21 comic which re-printed even older TV21 comic strips. Lo and behold, one strip included the fabled Crash Tender from the SpaceX range, which Vreedey brought to our attention first back in 2009. The strip is by the brilliant Frank Bellamy. The SpaceX toy itself remains as yet undiscovered. Roll on Summer!
Ah yes i can still feel the sun on my face and taste the fly in my beer. A modern recreation of a classic sixties summer day, chillin...
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