Seeing the Apollo rocket, I recognised this distinctive pattern and checked with a similar toy, the Clifford Apollo Moon Landing set. Not only did the CSM have exactly the same panel, but it was an identical size!
It is possible that the makers of the rocket simply looked at contemporary toys - Probe Force, Nova Rocket and its namesake the range of Apollo toys - and simply 'borrowed' elements from each one to create a hybrid rocket which they could sell on the back of moon landing fever.
Its not outside the realms of possibility that they even looked at Star Trek for inspiration, as the side engine nacelles could easily have been inspired by the Enterprise.
Whichever way you look at it, its a neat little period toy, which i'm very pleased to have in my personal fleet!
Those are some gorgeous pieces Bill! Woodsy was clearly the Santa Claus to know this winter :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's a beautiful piece on fleaBay now for a king's ransom. Have you guys seen it before? It is tin though (hey, I like 'em all, I'm an equal opportunity toy nut!)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1960S-KY-JAPAN-APOLLO-15-SPACE-FRONTIER-TIN-TOY-ROCKET-SPACESHIP-IN-BOX-/161930656273?hash=item25b3d1ba11:g:1qkAAOSwhkRWgJ21
I have one of those Space Frontiers Ed. I bought it for £60 about 15 years ago at a toy fair. the box is shot but the toy is lovely. I had it as a kid and it was one of my top four toys. The action on it is superb, especially when the ladder lifts with the spaceman on top.
Deleteahhh tin! im still a bit of a plastic purist Ed, havent yet managed to find the tin piece to sway me!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool post Bill, How on earth did you spot the baseplate connection? These are the links I love the most, when toys are recycled. A true detective story. I had never considered the Enterprise as inspiration for the side nacelles either. Class that. I bet that baseplate was used on other toys too.
ReplyDeleteWill the rocket manufacturer have had to had the original mould to make that baseplate or will they have just copied the original and made a facsimile mould?
ReplyDeleteim guessing they would have found a toy with the relevant part and just copied it straight up. there would have been plenty of apollo kits by Revell, Aurora and Monogram to hand. its a bit like scratchbuilding!
DeleteJust so that I've understood you correctly Bill - you know hoe I need things spelling out - are you saying that the Clifford Capsule engine plate and the NASA Rocket engine plate are based on an Airfix part? have you got a picture of that?
ReplyDeleteno, I recognised the baseplate from the Airfix kit and shots of the actual vehicle. Any Apollo kit will have the same detail. The airfix part was about the size of a 10p.
ReplyDeletehttp://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8984
Wow, just looked at that link you posted of the Airfix capsule. Its exactly the same! So do you reckon that Clifford et al copied Airfix or did they all copy the actual NASA vehicle?
ReplyDeletethats not the Airfix kit, just a random Apollo model to show that they should all have the same detail. The Clifford rocket could have been used but its more likely they went to the local model store and bought the first kit to hand!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the airfix part is quite the same (the part is used on the Eagle transporter). Your random apollo csm looks bang on though!
ReplyDeleteno Kev, the tiny Apollo kit part is not quite as detailed, but you can see the four circular tanks and the cross shape. I think one of the larger scale Monogram or Revell releases would have been used for reference.
ReplyDeletewhere is it on the Eagle Kev?
ReplyDeleteAh, fair enough. The part is on one of the upper side panels of the Eagle shoulder pods.
ReplyDelete