I came across this nifty diecast spaceship on ebay the other day, with 30 mins to go, no bids and an opener of £1. I didn’t recognise it, but it was clearly reminiscent of the cool Popy models of the late 80’s and very similar to the UFO Power line.
Needless to say, I bought it and found it was missing something off the back end, a bit scuffed and the cockpit was loose. So I quickly unscrewed the body, popped out the chrome parts and the cockpit, took off the peeling stickers and resprayed the body in a nice Spacex lime green, I had to hand.
The chrome parts were touched up and I knocked up a pair of engine bells from the parts box.
It’s a lovely thing, probably five inches long, but does anyone recognise it? Google Lens said Britains Stargard or Thunderbird 4!
I tried Google Lens and AI Overview butted in, with it's two cents worth -or as is too common,
ReplyDeletetwo cents worthless...
"AI Overview This vintage toy is a Diaclone UFO spaceship, also known as the Shogun Warrior UFO.Origin: It was released in the 1970s as part of the Japanese Diaclone toy line and later imported to other markets.Design: The yellow spacecraft features a clear blue bubble canopy and two blue and silver laser cannons.Markings: The vehicle has "Z-1" stickers on its rear wing fins and "SPACE V..." labeling on the side."
I can't believe people are actually losing their jobs to this junk app, that is so obviously unfit for purpose!
I think AI just lifted that info from the original ebay listing!
DeleteWell the missile launchers are from Shinsei’s UFO Commander 7 toy line. But they never made a vehicle like that. Empire Toys reissued some of the UFO Commander 7 toys and made some of their own designs as well. They used the Star Mite name for their line. Any markings underneath that might shed a bit of light?
ReplyDeleteI love the respray and the engine bells Bill. It looks ace!
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know what it is, but it ain't Thunderbird 4.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely thing, regardless its obscure heritage! SFZ
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at Empire's Star Mite line, this is not from them. So I'd wager perhaps some sort of bootleg using parts from them. Empire seems to have let their rights to the line expire in 1986ish.
ReplyDeleteTheres no info underneath either. I did wonder if it was one of the Polistil re-releases.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, Empire of Tarboro were the successors to Tarheel, who released Project SWORD in America and Canada. That's if it's the same Empire.
ReplyDelete