I recently picked up a Chad Valley ‘Stingray’ Give-A- Show projector set, dated 1964, and something I particularly remember owning and enjoying as a youngster.
I can still easily recall projecting the colourful simply drawn comic strip images on the wall, (up to 5 feet square, apparently!) and experiencing further adventures with Troy Tempest and co.
Each of the 16 slides, made up of seven images was a complete, if somewhat brisk story!
In Britain, the Give-A-Show sets, were a repackaged Kenner toys product, an American company which created the projector sets in 1959, with the intention of providing a unique and simple way for children to engage in story-telling and art. British toy company, Chad Valley sold the toys in the U.K. and Australia. It uses a uniquely designed battery-powered torch fitted with a lens, with a slot in the side which holds the strip of slides. It could also be used to project standard 35mm slide too.
Chad Valley introduced the Give-A -Show projector set in 1962, at the Harrogate Toy Fair. The following year, a set came out featuring Supercar and Fireball XL5.
In 1965, the Stingray Projector set appeared, and fast became a best seller for Chad Valley.
Some might say it’s hardly sophisticated compared to the toys of today, but for a young Stingray fan in the 1960’s it was still great fun. As a point of interest, Kenner and Chad Valley even went on to do a ‘Star Wars’ version in the seventies!
There was also a separate deluxe version which had a special attachment which projected a kaleidoscope pattern which could be used in conjunction with the slides – very psychedelic!
There was also a sound version using a record player playing along to the slide show!
For Gerry & Sylvia Anderson fans, Chad Valley produced slides of Supercar and Fireball XL5 in early compilation sets which shared billing other licenced series like Popeye, Snow White and Winnie the Pooh, but the Stingray set was the first to solely feature the Anderson series.
A similar dedicated set featuring ‘Thunderbirds’ followed, dated 1965. The box artwork showing the Thunderbirds craft looks to me like what Derek Meddings originally envisaged in his preproduction concept art.
At around the same time, for fans of the popular BBC TV sci-fi series, Dr Who. Chad Valley also released a Dr Who set, which shared the spotlight with the Daleks. There is also a picture of a tall Zarbi with it’s mandibles on the TARDIS!
Chad Valley also released individual sets of slides of your favourite shows, for those who already had a Chad Valley projector.
No Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons set appeared for some reason. Maybe Chad Valley didn’t have the licence for that series. However the company did put together a complete mega set combining all the Stingray and Thunderbirds slides.
Other compilation sets were also available which featured a small sample selection of slides from their previously released sets. These included Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Dr Who and The Daleks.
A further set featuring ‘Joe 90’ appeared some time later, dated 1968. This had the added benefit of having a TV screen printed on the inside of the front cover to project the images onto.
Chad Valley produced lots of different sets featuring many TV tie-ins, including Daktari and Batman, but its the Anderson sets, and in particular, the Stingray set I have the fondest memories of.
The Chad Valley brand. which still exists today, has its headquarters in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and is owned by Sainsbury’s.
Very informative post as always, thanks Scoop. Got only the Thunderbirds set, and for a good reason: Collecting them would require lots of shelf space!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly would, Arto. For us older collectors it's the box artwork that sells it for me. Although I love Stingray, the Thunderbirds one is probably the best.
DeleteI had the Dr Who one.
ReplyDeleteNotice the constant mentioning of the fact that the slides are in colour.
This was a real draw, at the time, as even the TV shows themselves were only in black and white, in the UK. Colour transmission didn't come in till 1968, I think.
I remember a pal of mine had the Dr Who version, probably at the height of Dalekmania!
DeleteAlthough I loved both the colour Dalek films in the sixties, they weren't a hit in spite of the 'in colour' tag line. Same for the Thunderbirds films!
Cool post Scoop, true nostalgia. I had one as well, just not sure which. I always found the pictures really charming. I wonder what they'd be like as illuminated pictures for the wall hung like a painting? Earlier in the year I saw a really early Chad Valley projector called Super Show featuring Supercar and Fireball XL5 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFCe7B9-VNioLsTwqmYvS4ilq9war2NW_zso1xX1ExpgGKk9F7_GTK7gYnA6DIFvRwzd7D-f8SJzNhye7QHCr4pDKGuRKnI_v9COYBsu_gV0lBiPZr6_F3ddmAveL7H7b_FemwEjlLeyjP4LYvvC3LOM2FbuqupFu9aomTZJUkHBxB3odmhlyW3pYhcU/s4160/IMG20250401132532.jpg
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