SHADO's of the Past

My latest efforts to trim down the collection have started to unearth toys and stuff that I forgot I had, so with their redundancy in mind, they are finding their way onto ebay. The latest toy to appear is this blatant SHADO 2 knock off, described as an Emergency Rescue Vehicle as I recall, or something!

I knew I had one, as I had painted it bright red, but it seems in a moment of boredom, I had also bought the second colour variation of blue and mauve (yuk). It is however, a very nice toy, opting for the six wheel drive arrangement, rather than tracks and has a ramp and small scout craft in the back. With a more sympathetic paint scheme, it could easily be a UFO Code 3 model, as its a shade larger than the Dinky SHADO 2 model.

A much earlier SHADO 2 copy was the Laser Command Vehicle from Italian makers 'Atlantic'. A soft plastic toy, it comes as a simple kit and also features an opening ramp. Much closer to the UFO vehicle, but with enough significant design alterations to stay shy of copyright infringement!
 

I'll be keeping this little beauty, as its the only one I have come across so far!