FUTURE WAR

 The worlds of Gerry Anderson always provided a wealth of detail about vehicles in the 21st century and besides the main feature craft, there were always other vehicles on screen to marvel at. This always sparked an interest in futuristic toys for me and one of the late eighties toys which fit neatly into that category was Kenners Megaforce. The series of military toys divided up into two warring factions featuring a range of planes, tanks and heavy artillery. The scale was akin to Galoob Micromachines, so the average tank would be about an inch long. The Backlash bomber (above) had a large tank built in which could be released through a rear bay and the Stratofortress included a special landing pad for fighter aircraft which extended as the swing wings were opened.

 Besides the feature craft in Anderson shows, there were always secondary vehicles to see. The XT Enforcer always reminds me of the type of truck seen hurrying along the tarmac of a base about to be destroyed in Joe 90 or Captain Scarlet. The large tractor unit tows a mobile launch pad with a diecast fighter jet ready to be deployed on the battlefield. The pad rotates to sling the jet underneath a protective cover beneath the trailer during transport.

Probably my favourite vehicle from the series is the Strikemaster Orbital Shuttle, a space glider like craft launched from a heavy tracked transport. The shuttle is carried into orbit by the booster sled and then delivers its cargo of tanks back to earth.

The range included many different and unique vehicles, all accompanied by a fleet of smaller diecast helijets, copters and tanks. Ideal for a compact carpet war!