BLOG LEGEND SUMMER CONTINUES: THE JR21 "STINGRAY" SUBMARINE AIRCRAFT CARRIER

My favourite blog legend by far is the JR21 Stingray Aircraft Carrier. Beginning with Bill's memory of seeing one in a shop window to one being discovered in a garage and finally to a beautifully boxed example surfacing on the bay, each stage in the story was covered live on the blog. 

To celebrate its legendary status I have re-contacted three of the people central to its story as it originally unfolded on the blog four years ago.

First up we hear from Bill:

"Back in the day, probably about 1967/8, I was on a shopping trip with my mother, in Dingle, Liverpool. My Aunt owned a wool shop in the adjacent street to where we lived, so we would probably have been visiting her. 

On the way, we went past a shop with a large display of toys in a side window. As was often the case in my childhood, the shop was shut - presumably because it would be late afternoon and I would be home from school. Near the back was a Probe Force 1 - the first SWORD toy I ever got and next to it, I recall seeing a sleek boat-like craft, that I remember being dark blue and white. 

Inside the 'ship' were what I saw to be small planes. It sat on the box and I saw it was a Submarine Aircraft Carrier. Falling in love with both that and the PF1, I pestered my mother and pointed it out with much excitement. Then I was whisked away on the shopping trip. That Xmas, the PF1 appeared under the tree, but I never saw the Aircraft Carrier again! 

Fast forward several decades and I spotted the craft in the Ron Embleton illustrated Stingray strip and then again in Graham Bleathman's cut-away diagram series and the memory resurfaced, which I then explored on the blog." 

The rest as they say is history!

Dave Nightingale, celebrated Anderson fan, publisher and trader, was one of the few people to have owned the toy and also shares his memories with us:

I can't recall seeing any advertisements in, say,TV21 for this toy so, basically, was unaware of its existence. In the early 1980s I got friendly with a toy shop owner in Blackpool who had been established in the same shop since the war. 

I eventually got privileged access to his upstairs stock rooms to, at first, look at his back stock of Dinky toys including many SHADO Mobiles and Eagle Transporters. The place was a rabbit warren of rooms and I made a number of visits. I seemed to find a new room on each occasion ! I remember seeing "Thunderball" spear guns mint on their large cards as well as early issue Action Man and carded/bagged Twiggy dolls [now worth a fortune]. 

At the time my only interest was Anderson stuff and I recall finding three boxed Century 21 plastic Captain Scarlet Spectrum Patrol Cars. I then saw a Century 21 logo on the end of a box, pulled it out and found it was the Submarine Carrier. 

I knew it wasn't from a TV series though it was familiar - later identified [pretty much] as featuring in an early TV21 Stingray strip. Only when I got it home did i find parts were missing. It had obviously got stuck on the shelf as a shop reject...i am so glad it ended up in the hands of someone skilled enough to restore it. I still have one of the SPCs!"

David

Last but not least, blog friend and super collector Ferryman is another member of the exclusive Stingray Aircraft Carrier owners club and here also shares his thoughts about the toy:

Q. What do you get when you cross a sub with an aircraft carrier and add a sprinkle of TV 21 

seasoning? 

A. A mouthwatering sandwich known as the Submarine Aircraft Carrier - a FAB concept that amazingly made it into production in the 60's as an awesome toy by Century 21 Toys.

I was delighted to be able to add one of these legendary torpedo powered, sub aqua, aircraft 

launching marvels to my Anderson stash a few years ago - even if it was missing its manhood. Luckily my scrap box, some glue, some, red paint and a lot of patience soon returned it to its full plastic fantastic glory [pictures: above]

To my amazement, I was able to acquire a second one of these beauties just a couple of years after the first. What are the odds of that? The icing on the cake was that this one was complete and even had a spare tower!

Well informed sources tell me that this apparently endangered species was fairly common in the non too distant past. Who know's, maybe another one will surface soon!

Ferryman