As part of their general space range in 1967 Century 21 Toys produced the Moonship. It was a sleek cigar-shaped rocket about a foot long with friction drive. It was misquoted in the toy trade press at the time as being part of the Project SWORD range. Still, it does adds a certain kudos to it.
pic: zzrobot
Century 21 Toys made two colour variations. One had navy blue engines and side panels, along with red roof stripes [above].
The second one had red engines and side panels and blue roof stripes. Both had white fuselages and silvered nose, engine and rear shields. They both came with a Union Jack sticker and were numbered 6801.
Not to be outdone by the Brits, the American plastic giants AHI bootlegged their own version, the blue and red Super Rocket Plane above. In classic knockoff style AHI simply created another colour combination from the same three basic colours. I think they did a superb job myself!
Tip silvering isn't present on my own example but it may have been there originally. The nose, engine and rear shields are made of recycled marbled plastic.
The Century 21 box is a long window box with flaps at each end. The graphics are on the back. I don't know why but find it a disappointment for such a fabulous toy but I've never actually seen the box in the flesh.
pics: zzrobot
Using Century 21 's artwork AHI did a better job I think, creating a blue and green extravaganza of colour for their Super Rocket Plane.
pic: t.emchowitz
For the completist Moonship collector there is a third version. This one is tinplate and made in China. It's somewhat shorter than it's plastic cousins and has more paint detailing. Its friction drive too and comes in a snazzy two-part box.
pic: Ozzie
When I first got my tinplate Moonship I thought it was the Century 21 toy. Before the internet it was difficult finding out hard facts about toys and only years later did I discover what I actually had.
I'm pleased to say that I now have all three Moonships. I'm missing the blue and white C21 variant and all the three differnt boxes, but I've made some mock ups and they seem to do the job.
Does anyone else have a Moonship?
Cool stuff Woodsy!
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