Hi Woodsy,
I hope all is well at Moonbase Central. After the terrible news from Britain, things are still quiet in NZ. We are up to 708 cases, with just one death so far, which was on Sunday.
I have been enjoying all the posts, and just saw the one on Kev's Star Cops Sketches. The Moon Buggy reminded me of a model by Matchbox.
It is the NASA S.E.V./Chariot. Model number MB1080, this came out in 2018.
While it is not identical, it is also a six-wheeler, with a large cab - only the port side has an airlock.
The white crew compartment is metal, while the gold base is plastic. The wheels have gold hubs, and the windows are tinted blue. This seems to be based on a real NASA design, although rather simplified.
Still a very nice model, Matchbox have never had many space or SF models in their standard toy line.
The backing card shows the vehicle traversing rocky terrain, with various desert plants in the background - presumably this depicts the vehicle under test in the US, rather than on the Moon or Mars.
Paul A
New Zealand
Anyone else got this model?
Ive been tryingbto find this andvthe Dreamchaser shuttle innthe shops, but Ive only seen it on ebay US
ReplyDeleteI've got the Chariot. I suspect the name picked was a nod to Lost in Space. The back of the cab has 2 docking ports where the excursion suits hang. I saw the real deal a couple of times here in Houston when it was under going tests. Sadly I was driving both times so no chance to take pics. It is a good size vehicle. They had it escorted and followed by police cars when they drove it from NASA along Space Center Blvd to Ellington Field to fly it to CA for more evaluations. It took up both lanes of the street as the wheels have a wide stance.
ReplyDeleteWotan, I snagged a SkyBuster's Dreamchaser out of the toy dept at Sear's back at xmas time. I've not seen another but our local grocery store Kroger's has started carrying SkyBusters so I'll keep an eye out. Only thins I saw last time was their F-117 Nighthawk which appears to be in a deep Blue Angel blue and an odd model to produce, imo, the Rutan Boomerang.
You saw the real thing - I am so envious. Yes, they were hard to find in the shops, there did not seem to be many about. At least in NZ, Matchbox models are not as widely available as Hot Wheels. When I first saw the model I was not sure if it was real or a fantasy design. However, a little googling proved it was real. The Rutan Boomerang is another oddball, only a single prototype was built, and there seem to be plenty of these still hanging up in the shops, it is a model no one seems to want - poor thing. I have not seen the Dream Chaser at all, I will look out for that one too, once the shop re-open.
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