Hi
I came across this tinplate and plastic Spacecraft Ranger toy with magic orbit-track on Ebay. It is made by Alps of Japan.
The box says Battery Powered, Automatic Shuttling, Use 2 "AA" Penlite Batteries. Looks to be 1960s or 1970s - tinplate is not my area. My first thought was that the flying saucer looked very familiar.
It is clearly based on the famous Lindberg Flying Saucer or UFO kit that goes all the way back to 1954. This has also been issued by Glencoe and Atlantis. The engines have been made a lot bigger.
The Alien pilot has been changed over to a racing car driver wearing an open-faced helmet, but it is still recognisable.
Here are two photos for the Alps Spacecraft Ranger toy, including a Lindberg Flying Saucer kit box.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
That green alien looks amazingly like a Mekon Paul!
ReplyDeleteWOw what a great memory! I had Soacecraft Ranger in 1970, and loved it to pieces. it really went down the track, too, albeit slowly.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as you can see from the photograph, the flexible track was fragile, and tended to crack when bent too far. Still a barrel of fun!
ReplyDelete