Thunderbird Toys 2004

Like most Thunderbird fans I didn’t much take to the live action film and that meant I didn’t bother picking up much of the merchandise associated with it, maybe that was a mistake.  

Although, I did get a couple of the smaller vehicle sets which I think are pretty fair.

Being fond of die cast models I got the die cast set  by FEVA.  

The back of the box has a run down of the vehicles, and as a minor bonus some  Thunderbird collector cards.

Even though the models are very small they’re well detailed.

Thunderbird 1 & 3 which both have a reasonable roles in the film are nicely represented. 

Thunderbird 2, everybody’s favourite looks good and is probably the best model in the pack.

Thunderbird 4, which was pretty much shoehorned into the film is tiny, but again well detailed and complete with a set of grabs.

Thunderbird 5 unfortunately is  the least impressive of the set, principally because of the small size of the toy. 

Another similar set I picked up is made by Bandai. 

This plastic all action set is full of little gimmicks. 

Thunderbird 1 fires a missile that you’d struggle to lose seeing how it’s the full length of the toy.

The set has another nice representation of Thunderbird 2. The toy releases a little rescue platform from beneath  it’s pod. 

Thunderbird 3 and Thunderbird 5 share their gimmick. 

As in the film, Thunderbird 3 attaches to Thunderbird 5’s docking station. Flick a switch and TB 3 is flung into space.  Thunderbird 5, presumably in scale with the TB 3 toy is much bigger in this set. 

Thunderbird 4 is nicely detailed but just like in the film, is just  there to make up the numbers.

There we have it. In hindsight maybe I should have picked up more of the  larger toys, particularly Thunderbird 2 but considering the film has no appeal to me, for now I’m happy with these tiny examples.

So with a new series in the offing, will it be a case of third time lucky, with a whole new set of vehicles and renewed interest in the classic series, or will it be just another modern attempt at simply cashing in on the Thunderbird brand.!