As recently discussed on Moonbase, Arto has kindly supplied pics of his neat LP No. 104 Space Rocket with astronaut.
I love the price tag, which I assume means 2 shillings and 11 pence! That's 1p [or 1d as it was shown] shy of 3 shillings.
Incidentally, this would have converted into 15 New pence when Britain went decimal on 15th February 1971.
Text appears as white bars on my phone, only the word 'converted' is visible.
ReplyDeleteSame on my computer. Really nice photos.
ReplyDeleteSorted now. Its a re-formatting issue when I forward emails to the blog. Thanks for your patience. Had my hands full today.
ReplyDeleteThanx to Arto for sharing that terrific rocket!
ReplyDeleteNice coincidence: two and eleven (shillings and pence) is also exactly what a Spacex Stage 1 card would cost a few years later.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes that rocket sound dirt cheap (or Spacex sound expensive) even taking into account Sterling being devalued inbetween in 1967.
I've just run it through the currency convertor linked from my Prices page, and Arto's rocket in 1965 would equate to £2.78 - whereas a Spacex card in 1969 would be £2.36 in today's money.
The other reason for these prices being close could have been that Triang as a middleman between manufacturer and market may have taken a larger percentage on top than the average importer offering LP toys to British retailers.
Best -- Paul
Very interesting Paul! Just goes to show how dear some of the big SWORD toys were. Probably the big SpaceX Major stuff too.
DeleteI'd imagine this fragile vintage toy is difficult to find in this condition, especially with the original tiny astronaut and original box? Another great addition, Arto :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteI agree Tony, the little astronaut must have been easily lost, but the wafer-thin nose antenna is really impossible on a toy with any play value. Sometimes it feels like LP did not make their toys to be played with but to be adored.
I like that last line Arto, 'but to be adored'! Childhood and collecting all in one!
ReplyDeleteThe outlier astronaut really makes it, but what a gem!
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