Project SWORD (ish) Craft Artwork

Hi Woodsy

 Take a look half way down the left hand side of this image. The header card for the blue rocket has a craft on the left looking rather SWORD'ish!

Regards

Terry

Nuclear Ferry Artwork spotted by Terry

Blog pal Terry H kindly sent this ace pic he saw on a Japanese site.

It's a gorgeous carded display of baggies of plastic toys spaceships, possibly connectable.

And yep, check out that Nuclear Ferry!

There's a little astronaut riding it too! 

What's the smaller spacecraft in the middle and top right anyone?

Thanks Terry!

JAPANESE SWORD: PROSPECTOR, CAPE KENNEDY AND MOON BUS ON FILM

This is an interesting British Pathe short from the 7th International Toy Fair 1968 in Japan, made even more interesting by some Project SWORD action from three of the range's classic toys. There's more toys besides. What can you see readers?

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/238186/

Your Project SWORD film clips, home made or found online, welcomed!

EXCLUSIVE! THE MISSING JAPANESE PROBE FORCE NO.3 BOX ART

The Spacebird No.3 is one of several clones of the Project SWORD Probe Force 3 toy.

For years this has been the only and restricted view we had of the Spacebird No.3 box top from Japan.

Not anymore, owing to the immense kindness of blog reader Terry Harle, Moonbase has received this amazing example of the box and the toy!

Here's the box top in all its glory!

Released by Maruman or MAN of Osaka, Japan.

Within lies the toy too.

In this case the silver Spacebird and not the white one originally seen.

A beautiful craft.

The engine cover is light green.

The rear exhausts are red.

All in all, a wonderful addition to the Moonbase fleet thanks to Terry and a huge box art mystery solved!

What do you think?

MY MOONBASE PROJECT SWORD TOYS COLLECTION

 This is my Century 21 toys Project S.W.O.R.D toy collection hangered here at Moonbase. These are all the known Century 21 SWORD toys. It excludes the books and comic strips.

On this Century 21 table you can see from LtoR:

Probe Force 3, Booster Rocket, Probe Force 1 [elevated], red Task Forces 1,2 and 3, Scout 1 [yellow], Scout 2, Scout 3 [behind], Space Glider grey, Space Glider orange, Scramble Bug, Moon Ranger, Moon Bus and Apollo Saturn Rocket [behind].

Scoop 2014

This table below, from LtoR:

Moon Prospector, Dyna Soar [tail], Cape Kennedy Set [in box], Zero-X, Probe Force 1 [elevated]

Scoop 2014

Same table at the end, from LtoR:

The blue Nuclear Ferry [kindly on loan from Salim], Probe Force 2

Scoop 2014

This table is of North American Tarheel SWORD and various knockoffs and is by no means exhaustive.

Back Row From LtoR:

Tarheel Probe Force 2, Tarheel Moon Prospector, Tai Hing/ T in a Circle Moon Prospector, CHIBI Moon Prospector [Argentina]

Scoop 2014

Front row, LtoR:

Tarheel Probe Force 1, white SL Task Force 3, Tarheel Probe Force 3, Behind: yellow Tarheel Task Force 2 and a carded red Tarheel Task Force 1 [custom card], Redacted 'Tarheel' Moon Ranger  for the Italian market], Hover Probe Force 1, Hover Probe Force 3, NaSa Probe Force 3, SL Task Force 3 box and Hover Booster Rocket.

My Japanese SWORD toys and kits - again not exhaustive. There are many more out there:

From top to bottom:

Maruman Probe Force No.1 'SB' model kit

YT Spacebird No.3 green canopy,

YT Spacebird No.3 red canopy [in bag]

Imai Thunderbird 7 model kit [aka the Beetle]

Hope you liked my collection.

Now onwards and upwards ....

SCOUT MEETING

 Doing a Japanese GLIGO online search it was great to meet up with a miniature Scout 2 again, here in green.

Scout 2 is one of the three scout ships from the Century 21 Toys Project SWORD toy range, which I adored as a kid.

Being ,asters of reduction, the Japanese have miniaturised many of the SWORD toys and issued them as small gifts in candy.

I used to collect these but buying from outside Japan has become difficult.

Have you anything like this?

BLOGGIVERSARY OPENER: ARTO'S MARUMAN TOY PROBE FORCE 1

Wholly new to the blog is Arto's new find, the Japanese Probe Force 1 by Maruman.

image: simplyrobots

We've seen something very similar on MC years ago but in kit form.

Bill and Arto have kindly supplied me with photos to allow a comparison.

Top: Arto's new toy version, bottom: Bill's old kit version built-up

Arto says: In the "top" photo you may see clearly the sprue marks on the upper wings. The toy measures 32 x 9 cm.

Bill says: "Arto's has slots to clip in a friction motor, whereas mine does not."

The boxes compared: Arto's toy top [a 32.5 x 10 x 4 cm], Bill's kit bottom [32 x 21 x 3.5 cm]

Both versions came with SB decals, SB short for Space Bird.

Arto concludes: Funny how both boxes use the same elements but in a different setting. Must be the same illustrator I guess.

Arto's new Probe Force 1 is the best Project SWORD discovery in years.

Do you like it?

TEARS FOR SEARS

 Years ago the blog's focus was on Project SWORD toys and their many relatives.

One such relative was the wondrous US Rocket Base released by Sears in the mid-Sixties. Its an early version of the Project SWORD Apollo Saturn. There are Japanese versions too. Bill has one of those.

I don't 😥

I've just found this short video on YT about the Sears Rocket Base. Have a gander. Do you have anything like this? What do you think?

A SCRAMBLE FOR PROSPECTORS

I liked these Aoshima Moon Base Interceptors lined up and ready for action on a Japanese modelling site.

Even better are these two miniature colourful interpretations of Project SWORD vehicles, namely the Prospector and the Scramble Bug. The UFO SHADO3 ain't bad either!

Have you got any UFO or SWORD toys or models readers?

PROJECT SWORD: BLOGGIVERSARY BREAKING NEWS!

Its traditional to get some breaking news on the Moonbase bloggiversary and this year we have two lovely bits!

Japanese carded Scouts

Super SWORD collector Arto has now all three of the Japanese blister carded Project SWORD Scouts, having tracked down the elusive white space boat Scout 1.

Difficult enough to locate in their normal UK boxed guises, these Japanese rack versions are like those itinerant hens' teeth.

Feast your eyes on a seldom seen trinity of Japanese SWORD in all their blister glory!

What do you think?

American Durham Space Glider

Over a decade ago a green version of the Tarheel Space Glider surface. It was released by Durham Toys. Super SWORD collector Arto has had it in his collection ever since and no other example has been seen.

Until now!

I saw one loitering in an auction earlier in the year. It was Stateside and inaccessible to me in the UK. With generous help from reader Terranova47 and co-blogger Wotan [thankyou!] I was able to secure this second example for the Project SWORD collection here at Moonbase.

The Glider has come home and is now the new star of my Space Glider fleet.

I hope you like it.

JAPANESE SCOUTS

 A couple of miniature Project SWORD toy Scouts I recently spotted on Yahoo Japan.

Blue Scout 1

Silver Scout 2 - bottom left, three along.

THUNDERBIRDS TV THEME IN JAPANESE

Blog reader and friend Bill Everatt flagged this up.

Its the full TV theme from Thunderbirds in Japanese courtesy of You Tube! 

It was released as a single too and the cover and sleeve pictures are fabulous, especially of the Zero-X! Here's part of the inside courtesy of Discogs. It looks like a small comic.

Bill sent me the link to Discogs, a record sales and reference site, where you can see all the record sleeve pictures. Here it is..

Here are the approximate lyrics from Bill.

Thunderbird

To Glowing Cosmic Blue Space 

Dancing the breeze

Thunderbird

For the happiness of this night

Land on the sea

who can find the sky

That calling voice is S-O-S

Thunderbird

To Glowing Cosmic Blue Space

Dancing the breeze

THUNDERBIRD

Japanese lyrics by = Takita Jun

Composer = Barry Gray

Arranger = Hattori Katsuhisa

Singer = Royal Knights 

What do you think readers?

HYPER HOBBY DASH AND PROJECT SWORD

This is the Hyper Hobby Dash magazine from Japan, 1998. 

I saw it on Noppin and saved these pics.

Here's the cover.

and here's one set of Imai pages, the left one featuring Project SWORD no less, in relation to Imai's yellow Thunderbird 7 model kit.

RUBBER SOYUZ

This is a superb set of space rubbers from Japan I've not seen before.

These were on Yahoo Japan so I saved these pics.

It reminds me of similar display cards of Project SWORD-styled rubbers I've covered here before..

Both are labelled as UFO.

This set appears to have a Soyuz style capsule on the header card - with the sticky-out solar panels - and the small yellow eraser below, with a more recognisable rounded front.

Do you recognise any of the other spaceships?

IT HAPPENED ONE SUNDAY MORNING IN 2011: THE FIND

Re-posted from 2011

Just occasionally something completely new turns up. Earlier in the year Wotan and Terry Harle found the miniature SWORD spaceships, which were just brilliant. 

Well, browsing this Sunday morning, coffee in hand, I stumbled across the Morphy auctions Space sale archive from 2009 and, lo and behold, contained within was this fantastic Flying Space Rocket shop display from Japan complete with SWORDised header card! 

Looking at the header a bit closer below we can clearly see Task Force 1 and the Booster Rocket. There's also a rocket powered Gemini for good measure! 

I don't recognise the UFO or the trademark. Anyone?

Comparing the header card to the actual SWORD box tops below we can see immediately that the TF1 and Booster Rocket illustrations were lifted wholesale, even down to the SWORD badge on the Booster!

AN ENCAPSULATING MYSTERY

I found this in my photo archive from years ago.

Its very interesting ... at least for me!

I have been collecting mini plastic Project SWORD vehicles for years and always wondered what packaging they came in.

Well it just maybe have been right under my nose all along.

Yes, these little plastic capsules!

It seems likely that the Japanese Yahoo seller photographed the little toys and the capsules because they are related.

Is it an assumption too far to think that the toys came out of the capsules?

But, some of the toys look too big!

What do you think?

Doubts aside, what are these capsules?

What are those little papers inside? They look like stamps!

What is this brand of capsule and toy? Anyone know?

IMAI 1972 CATALOGUE: PROJECT SWORD

1972 kit catalogue showing model kits containing Project SWORD vehicles: yellow Thunderbird 7 on the cover and the 4 black and white pictures on inside - UFO Base kits.

Anyone got any?

TENTH BIRTHDAY NEW SWORD SIGHTINGS: BAGGED PROBE FORCE 2

Header card and bagged Project SWORD Probe Force 2 with badge. Japan.

From a defunct Yahoo auction.

LICCA CHAN MEIJI COCOA BOX: PROJECT SWORD ART CONNECTION

I think the Japanese Meiji Probe Force 3 sticker I blogged yesterday goes with this superb box I've blogged about before!

Looks like a very similar picture on the front.

Connection!

Pity I don't have the box! I shall be looking for one now!

Can anyone confirm that vintage Meiji cocoa boxes came with stickers?

TENTH BIRTHDAY NEW SWORD SIGHTINGS: PROBE FORCE 3 MEIJI STICKER

Japanese Meiji candy sticker depicting Project SWORD Probe Force 3.

Donated by Terry H.

Can anyone read the rear of the sticker?