I Wish I was a Space Mouse

So, Mickey watches Fireball XL5!

I do like his scooter he borrowed from Steve Zodiac or was this design around before Fireball?

Not a toy I've seen in the flesh, neither Mickey's nor the various fabulous Steve Zodiac originals.

Have you readers?

Will's Kitmaster Fireball XL5 Restoration

Hi Woodsy. 

My restoration of the Kitmaster Fireball XL5 is nearly complete. 

The decals are reproduction ones , the observation dome is the cockpit glass from a Yak 15 kit .....

 but I haven't found anything that will do for the glass on fireball junior yet!

 Any suggestions would be welcome. 

Will O

UK

WILL'S COLEMAN SUPERCAR AND AIRFIX FIREBALL XL5

My customer who bought me that box of bits awhile ago bought a few more things for me the other day. What looks to be a Cecil Coleman supercar and also the Airfix Fireball XL5 . I shall be attempting restorations on both. there are also lots of other bits which I will email to you in due course. 

Will O

UK

Jumping for Joy

Italy's Quercetti is well known for rockets and parachutes.

Their JR21 marketed Fireball XL5 has featured here many times, as has the Mach-1 and TOR.

These toys incorporated a small blow moulded parachutist and chute.

Eolo's much bigger set had a similar jumping astronaut cum pilot.

This bended knee jumper became a staple. Here's a more recent bag of three. 

I think you can still get this toy in some form.

It's become a party favour!

JET SET: THE VARIOUS TOY JETMOBILES FROM FIREBALL XL5

Check out Santa's scooter! By Masudaya for Illfelder, its straight from Fireball XL5 and clearly inspired by Steve Zodiac's scooter.

We've seen something like before on MC. There's a Snoopy version out there and here's a snap from one 'Steve Zodiac' from a decade ago comparing a large Space Scooter by Amico to the much smaller but highly collectable Golden Gate Fireball XL5 Scooter.

The Fairylite Jetmobile comes without Zoony but does look nevertheless rather spiffing too.

There is also a fabulous Venus version of the Fairylite Jetmobile pictured on the ever-informative Alphadrome site

https://alphadrome.net/data/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=6112#top_display_media

Anyone got either of the Fairylite vehicles and the Golden Gate JetMobile? Are they a similar size? Any chance of a snap of the them together?

Anyone got anything like this design at all?

THE GREEK JOHNNY SEVEN

I've written about these before but I'm always amazed when they turn up on Ebay, the Greek Leizer 200 made by Alpha.

Its clearly a Greek knockoff of the much more famous Johnny Seven by Topper, but still its got some style of its own.

The red pistol at the front detaches too.

It would look the part in a Johnny Seven toy collection or even a Fireball XL5 toy rifle collection!

What do you think?

WILL O'S TV21 FIREBALL XL5

 

From Will's new TV21 comics collection, his JR21 XL5 parachuting spaceship and the ad in a November 1965 edition of the comic.

Did you have one of these XL5's or the other rockets advertised?

ROCKETS AWAY!

 There's nothing quite like a long launch ramp for a rocket.

Here are two famous ones.

The Ark from When Worlds Collide.

Fireball XL5

Can you think of any more readers?

have you got any models like these?

Will Power

Hi. Not my own artwork, but painted for me by a friend some years ago. Will O

FAIRGROUND FIREBALL HOVER BIKES

 Santa needs one of these! I saw these online on a ride auction a while back and thought, yes! Fireball XL5 hoverbikes a la Steve Zodiac!

How cool are these and room for a passenger too! Who would you take?

JAPANESE FIREBALL XL5 STYLE TOY RIFLE

At the top of this old auction pic is possibly a Japanese toy space rifle new to the blog. It recalls the Fireball XL5 rifles I blogged about some years ago here https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2017/11/sounds-of-zodiac-fireball-xl5-toy-rifle.html

Did you have anything like this readers?

Kitmaster Fireball XL5 Model Kit Page

Hi,

I have just come across a site devoted to the Rosebud Kitmaster kit range. 

This was a British doll maker that branched out very briefly in to model railway kits - locomotives and rolling stock - from 1959 to 1962. 

They only did two non-railway kits, a motorcycle and the Lyons Maid Fireball XL5 spaceship which is usually listed as an Airfix kit - Airfix did buy all the Kitmaster moulds in late 1962, but only re-issued a few of them. 

This is the XL5 page. The model was a true-to-life 12" model, and came with 50 parts, glue, transfers & stand. Also, a button hole badge. The kit was moulded in silver-grey plastic, with transparent parts, and there was a detailed cockpit and two crew figures. 

The kit was yours for only 4/6 (22 1/2 New Pence in modern money) plus two ZOOM ice lolly wrappers. The photos show the model, the assembly instructions, the badge, ice lolly wrapper, and advertising. 

The rest of the site is also worth a look.

Kitmaster

Paul Adams from New Zealand

THE US ROCKET

I was fascinated by the detail of this online gallery for one boxed toy, the US Rocket. A battery-fired plastic rocket with parachute, each component is lovingly photographed. The most interesting item is the box of engines and wires, which we don't see, just the box, the contents of which were made in Macau. Having never had anything like it I have no idea really how this worked.

Its a strange title, US Rocket. Bland, non-specific, but overall the toy recalls the JR21 Quercetti Tor and Fireball XL5 rocketry missiles seen on the blog.

What do you think of the US Rocket? Were you a rocketeer? 

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/rocket-flying-model--us-rocket/nasm_A19930629000

MORE OF KEVIN'S SCRATCH FIREBALL XL5

Hi,

Final batch of pics of my scratchbuilt XL5 for now!

Take care,

Kevin

UK

Kevin's Scratchbuilt Fireball XL5: More Pictures!

Hi,

Here are a few more!

Kevin

UK

KEVIN'S FIREBALL XL5 Scratchbuild

Hi,

Finally completed my XL5 scratchbuild. 20 inches long, made from plasticard, milliput and perspex tube. Junior is held in place with magnets. I will take more pictures soon.

Kevin

UK

fireball xl5 music video

Hey Woodsy!

This showed up in my feed today despite it being several years old. I've not seen this video before but I do like the feel and look of it. They captured that 60s vibe without being cliche. The CGI work is fairly nice especially sine its just for a music video. Hope you enjoy it.

Lance

Sounds of the zodiac: the fireball xl5 toy rifle and its variants Updated

This article pulls together all the research I've done on the blog about the Fireball XL5 toy rifle over the years.

It tracks the toy's interchange between the sleek XL5 style to the clunkier 007 Tommy Buster.

it comes full circle back to Gerry Anderson at the end with the TV21 Tommy Buster.

Your views, pictures, stories and additions welcomed

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This is the glorious Fireball XL5 plastic toy rifle. 

lesterdemon

I am unsure who manufactured it or when. It may have been Lone Star.

I assume it was released during the Fireball XL5 TV show's run between 1962 and 1963. Whether anything like appeared in the show I'm unsure. You?

From the pictures I've seen though the toy looks quite beautiful and is oddly reminiscent of the jet age - atomic style like Captain Video, Space Patrol and toys like Renwal's lovely colourful ray gun and helmet pictured below.

Despite not being able to find out who made the Fireball XL5 rifle, certain parts of it do remind me of other toys. 

These are the Johnny Seven's Butt edge 'teeth' and the Tigrett Zoomeray's 'holed' handle, which vaguely recalls the holed superstructure inside the XL5's cockpit.

You can see the similarities below. I've also seen that big red butt cylinder somewhere but cannot think where.

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The Fireball XL5 rifle has a number of clones. Whether these are forerunners or successors its hard to say, another Anderson chicken and egg. 

Perhaps a very detailed timeline of the different additions would provide the answer but in the meantime here are the 'other' Fireball and similar rifles collated from many online sources [I do not own any of these toys].

Capitan Marte, 

Spain

Maker unknown

[Image: Alphadrome]

the clone of clones, a near perfect copy of the Fireball XL5 rifle

[Capitan Marte means Captain Mars]

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Jyesa

Spain

1971

[left, centre]

A multi-coloured clone of the original Fireball XL5 rifle similar to the the Capitan Marte rifle.

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Tada Tommy Kick 

1970

English box seen on Main Street Toys website 2015

[picture unavailable]

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Tada 

Tommy kick 

Japanese box 1970

Tada 

Sound of Space 

1970

[chunkier style: note the change of butt style and the addition of the sound box and radar similar to the Ideal Man from Uncle Thrush Gun]

Alphadrome

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Interstellar Gun ST-302

Greece?

[a copy of Tada's Sound of Space]

*

Leizer or Leizec? 200

Alfa Toys

Greece

missiles now added to the mix!

*

Space Machine Gun

Baravelli  

Italy 

bottom right. 

This rifle may well be the same as the Greek version above

*

Spain

Unknown Make

Top left

Similar to the Greek and Italian rifles above

*

James Bond 

Thunderball Special Agent

Lone Star/ TADA Japan

1973

Similar to to Greek, Italian and Spanish versions above

Note the Johnny Seven/ Secret Sam style lettering on the butt.

There are Japanese TADA versions too.

Vectis

*

Jolly Seven 

TADA

Same rifle as above

Jamesbondtoys.com

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Tommy Buster 007

Lone Star / Atom Japan

Nothing in common with the above except the maker and the Johnny Seven/ Secret Sam style lettering on the butt

Hakes

*

Agent 21 Tommy Buster

Lone Star/ Atom Japan?

TV21 

reader offer

Came with TV21 paperwork - no images found

[anyone know more about the 21 Tommy Buster offer and the toy?]