Instead of collecting Project SWORD it might be interesting to collect Project MOON.
What is Project MOON? Basically its what Project SWORD became at the end of its run in 1969. A re-branding of dead stock from the London warehouse of Century 21 Toys most likely.
Project MOON was purely a mail order line and made up of mostly SWORD toys plus a couple of other Century 21 space toys. Advertisements appeared both in TV21 and Joe 90 comics in 1969. The mail order company were Regent Toys of 58 Dean Street, London, W1.
All references to Project SWORD were removed and no reference to Project MOON is apparent on the toys. The packaging is a complete mystery. Did Regent Toys send the toys out in SWORD boxes or some other type such as plain shipping cartons?
Despite not knowing anything about the packaging, acquiring the loose toys would make a very interesting though equally supremely challenging range for the collector to complete.
What a modern day Project MOON collection might look like
What is Project MOON? Basically its what Project SWORD became at the end of its run in 1969. A re-branding of dead stock from the London warehouse of Century 21 Toys most likely.
Project MOON was purely a mail order line and made up of mostly SWORD toys plus a couple of other Century 21 space toys. Advertisements appeared both in TV21 and Joe 90 comics in 1969. The mail order company were Regent Toys of 58 Dean Street, London, W1.
All references to Project SWORD were removed and no reference to Project MOON is apparent on the toys. The packaging is a complete mystery. Did Regent Toys send the toys out in SWORD boxes or some other type such as plain shipping cartons?
Despite not knowing anything about the packaging, acquiring the loose toys would make a very interesting though equally supremely challenging range for the collector to complete.
The advertised Project MOON range comprised of the following toys [there may have been more in their mail order catalogue as these two adverts suggest] :
Apollo Rocket - looks like one of the Japanese Tomy blue and white versions, rather than the plain white SWORD toy, which is odd [although Century 21 had indeed themselves used this same picture on many occasions to advertise their own white version!]
Cape Kennedy Play Set - looks like standard SWORD
Zero-X - looks like standard SWORD [ Dennis Nicholson's Gerry Anderson Memorabilia Guide book even lists Regent Toys as having released the Zero X toy along with Century 21].
Lunar Climber - as rare as Hen's Teeth I'm afraid. Interestingly it was described as Project SWORD in the trade press at the time in 1969. We know now this was a mistake. It was, nevertheless, a Century 21 toy and it was in Project MOON! Only one example of this toy is known to the blog.
Moonship - another Century 21 mega-rarity. This version is white. In America it copied by AHI, re-coloured as light blue and renamed as the Super Rocket Plane.
Space Glider - note that the picture shows the label NORTHROP on the nose and the word NASA and number 803 on the wings rather than the standard SWORD livery [does this perhaps refer to a as yet unseen NASA toy i.e. the toy cloners called NASA, who gave us a copy of Probe Force 3].
The above advertisements took illustrations directly from these contemporary toy trade press promotions depicting Century 21 Project SWORD. Strangely enough these originals included the 'Northrop' Space Glider and the Tomy Apollo Saturn Rocket [ and the T in a Circle Moon Bus for that matter!]
Did any of you ever get anything from Regent Toys mail order in London or do you have one of their mailing lists?
Its interesting to see the canaveral rocket decoed like the actual apollo Saturn 5 with white body and black stripes
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