Sunday 21 April 2013

SPRUE LOVE: IMAI ZERO-X AND MEXICAN R & L ATOMIC BOOSTER ROCKET

 
 
 
Two recent collectables to join the Moon Base display shelf are both indirectly Project SWORD related.
 
 
One is an Imai Zero-X model [small version] donated by collector Terry Harle. It has beautiful box art by the late Shigeru Komatsuzaki, the great box artist of choice to cover Gerry Anderson vehicles during the Sixties and Seventies in Japan. This is often referred to as their Showa period. Has anyone got it built up?
 
 
The second toy is also a model. This time its an R and L Kelloggs Atomic Booster cereal premium made in Mexico. Essentially it the Project SWORD / Spacex Booster Rocket in miniature, minus a couple of details like the engine surround. You do get all the fuel cells and the small rocket for the nose of the spacecraft. It's only the second one I've seen on Ebay and it was quite expensive. Wotan acquired the first about a year ago.
 
 
In the Mexican space set their is also a Nova Rocket [the third Spacex connection], Space Housing Module, Saturn V, Astronaut and several more in this unusual range, most often in grey plastic but I've also seen some of them in translucent lime green. [not the Booster though]. It's separate to the R and L SPACE AGE range, which included a MOLAB and Rocket Transporter amongst others models. You can check it out on Greg King's cool website.
 
 
 
 
Like the Zero-X, I will probably leave the Booster model on its sprue, though Wotan built up, added to and painted his own example and it does look really superb as you can see below. Spacex Booster on top, R&L below. Do you leave vintage models on the sprue readers or not?
 
 

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