Hot on the heels of Ed's wonderful Project SWORD Apollo Saturn by Century 21 Toys.
Here's some pics from Japan of the likely origin, one of a number of Japanese toys and kits which very likely inspired Project SWORD toy designs.
This is
Tomy's Apollo-X in its Japanese box, presumably for the mid-1960's home market.
(Their next or other version was the Ranger-7 in an English language box)
I'm not convinced this original version had a parachute capsule, although clearly the red tip detached. It's not clear.
Certainly the parachute capsule appeared in the next Tomy iteration, the Ranger-7 Interplanetary Rocket with the English box.
Century 21 Toys repeated the feature on their Apollo Saturn.
Has anyone got a Tomy Apollo-X in its Japanese box?





If only, Woodsy, if only !
ReplyDeleteYes, if only. I'd love one Mish.
DeleteIve got the later Tomy release. According to the kanji on the box, this version does not have a launching capsule, or the smoke effect. The front nose is removeable and the rear panels light up, but thats it. Tomy/Sears must have added the extra features for the US market. Bill
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it had. Thanks Bill. Funny how C21 dropped the smoke effect on the Apollo Saturn after it was included in two previous iterations.
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