PROJECT SWORD: STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Here's a series of quotes and extracts about Project SWORD I've collated from people who where there at the time and worked for or with Century 21. There are also some thoughts from third parties about Project SWORD during the 1960's. I've cited the source at the end of each piece.

When Century 21 Publishing collapsed, the gentlemen of the wholesale trade had had their fingers burnt pretty badly due to having bought huge stocks of “Project SWORD” toys that they couldn't shift. Roger Perry Bear Alley

Project SWORD was going to be the next big thing. Because they had loads of merchandise for it - vast amounts of merchandise. And the scripts were written around the merchandise basically, featuring the various vehicles and spaceships and things like that. If you look at the annual, there's a lot of stuff taken from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Howard Elson GACCH* 

*[GACCH is now sadly a defunct site but can still be partly found on the Wayback Machine archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160412194219/http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/]

But in the annual, we have the Project SWORD Moon Crawler, and they actually had this merchandise - this Moon Crawler - made out of plastic and tin and whatever, and that's what they wanted to sell, so we just wrote scripts round the machines. Howard Elson GACCH

I'll tell you where that probably came from - that was Life magazine originally. I remember seeing an artist's impression of a spaceship, which I might have used. Mike Noble [referring to most likely the Nuclear Ferry] GACCH

The idea was they had a range of merchandising that they wanted to sell, and they decided to sell it on the back of strips. The strips basically revolve around the vehicles, which was a unique idea at the time. Howard Elson GACCH

'Early in 1968, Century 21 Merchandising, a company set up to handle the toys, puzzles and other film-spin off material - excluding, of course, publications - came up with the notion of producing toys not directly linked to any Century 21 Film production. The reasoning was probably that TV Century 21 was such a successful seller that anything Alan Fennell and his stalwart team could produce would generate its own popularity and therefore sell toys. Accordingly, talks were held with Alan Fennell, and the outcome was a set-up called Project Sword - dealing with the evacuation of selected people from a doomed planet Earth. Angus Allan GACCH

Alan Fennell approached me to compile a Project Swordannual - strips and text stories - from soup and nuts. I remember that I had great fun doing it... I suppose it was because I was given virtually a free hand to create and develop characters. In fact I did, in a manner of speaking. 'live' the production.' Angus Allan GACCH

I know they had great high hopes for Project SWORD to be a big sell out for merchandise, and this was in the days when merchandising was just coming in. Howard Elson GACCH

I wish I could say that the marketing experiment [Project SWORD] was an unqualified success - but it wasn't. It went to prove that, to make a real go of a marketing operation, you really do need the backing of a 'hit' TV series!'. Angus Allan GACCH

But I don't think it [Project SWORD] worked. I sure it didn't, because we only did one annual, and I don't know how well the merchandise sold. But it didn't become a Lego, or a Barbie doll, did it? Nowadays that's the main criteria, you have to have television. But in the same way that TV Comic, and TV Express, which were the forerunners of TV21, their success was borne out on programmes that were on television. I think if Project SWORD had been on television, in any shape or form, then I think it would have had a chance. It was a very good idea but it just didn't work. Howard Elson GACCH

thankyou for your letter dated 9th august [1996] requesting information about the 1960's project sword. gerry anderson is the person best placed to provide the information you require and i have forwarded your letter to him. keith shackleton to me. personal letter 13.8.96.

century 21 was a much bigger organisation in those days and i was not directly involved in the day to day handling of the project [sword] and of course all the records have long since disappeared. Keith shackleton to me. personal letter 20.11.98.

SWORD was an in-house project conceived as a theme which might spin off into a television series, but thos of course, did not happen. Keith Shackleton to me. Personal Letter  2.7.97.

Non-Verbatim

words in brackets inserted by me for purposes of flow.

He [Keith Shackleton] did remember it, as a totally separate merchandise venture which owed its creation to Jack Rosenthal , whose toy company by that time belonged to A.P. Films. However, as Gerry Anderson considered himself the ideas man he, subsequently had no interest in it at all. Keith also had no recollection of Solo comic either, which might have been something that City magazines themselves came up with. Scoop, Moonbase Central website.

An idea [Project SWORD] which originated at Century 21 Merchandising, Keith Shackleton recalls that it was Jack Rosenthal, the Managing Director of J.Rosenthal Toys (latterly renamed Century 21 Toys, and producers of quality Thunderbirds toys) who put forward a new range under the name Project SWORD. This, Keith Shackleton had once said, was a scheme to reissue and link together existing toys that had been acquired when Century 21 Toys bought out a Hong Kong based manufacturer. Shaqui Le Vesconte/K.Stevens GACCH

It is believed Keith Shackleton, the head of Century 21 Merchandising, did try and persuade Gerry Anderson to do a series along the lines of Project SWORD. But while the format of this version would have been a logical successor to previous series, combining the grim realism of Captain Scarlet, with the very human drama and optimisism of Thunderbirds, the concept of an 'Earth on the brink of destruction' style series was seen as too dark. Shaqui Le Vesconte/K.Stevens GACCH

Keith Shackleton told me that it was devised around a range of toys they had got the rights to when they bought out the company that made the Thunderbirds toys. Keith tried to persuade Gerry to make it into one [a TV series] but Gerry wasn't keen! David Nightengale Star Trader [defunct website; taken from my print out]

Rosenthal didn't have catalogues, only a small number of leaflets [more of an importer]. Sword was Hong Kong/ Chinese off-the-shelf product coordinated into Sword linkage by C21 who bought Rosenthal to control their own merchandising. Lew Benjamin [PYE] and Keith Shackleton sorted it out. Kieth went to Hong Kong to source the range, liked it and then gave it a home ie. Project Sword. Project Sword was controlled by the publishing division of C21 with Richard Cully, Alan Fennell, Keith Shackleton, Angus Allen and Todd Sullivan in loose control. Alan Fennell thinks Project Sword started in SOLO comic as a strip toward the end of the run as a 3 page strip with cutaways. Run was June 24th - Sept 16th 1967. Then went to text story in TV21. Alan Fennell via Will Osborne [my personal photocopy of Will's notes]