We've seen this before. Here's another Swing Wing Strike Fighter, this time released by Telsalda.
I've chosen to keep the landing gear pic from anold auction because its the same one as the Century 21 Project SWORD Scouts I seem to remember and a good replacement.
I've often wondered if the small flattish plastic dome in the white Project SWORD Scout 1, top of the photo, should have held a small device like a compass for extra play value, especially as its a boat of sorts.
Did any toy vehicle hold a compass in it?
The flattish blue dome does remind me of a watch face. Maybe a replacement watch face like these would fit?
The photo of the three Scouts above is courtesy of collector Ferryman.
After a first step out into the big wide world yesterday afternoon for a few hours I was happy to breathe fresh air and be among family and friends.
By early evening I wuz bushwacked, back on my sick bay sofa watching You Tube. By the way, thanks for all the hot tips about films to watch guys. All noted for the cinema of the settee for the week ahead!
Late last night I decided to watch some old short videos made by fellow collector and all-round Gerry Anderson expert Modmart.
My recent acquisition of what are probably Century 21/ JR21 Toys SPC missiles and a suitcase got me researching which other Century 21 Toys vehicles had missiles.
Having watched Modmart's excellent footage of his comprehensive collection it would appear that besides the three Project SWORD Scouts, which I have [picture: Ferryman] .......
.... the only other C21/ JR21 toys with similar white red-tipped missiles are the three Captain Scarlet vehicles issued by the company.
These are the Spectrum Patrol Car, Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and the Angel Aircraft, shown below from Modmart's film and none of which I actually own.
As far as I know these Captain Scarlet toys were all available worldwide in the late Sixties.
You can watch Modmart talk about these three vehicles yourself and its well worth a look:
It still seems odd that C21/JR21 bothered to produce two different sizes and shapes for what were essentially the same missile.
The Project SWORD Scouts had the longer ones with the longer bottom plug [below left] whilst the the Captain Scarlet vehicles had the shorter one with the shorter bottom plug [picture: Arto].
Having tried both types of missile in my SWORD Scouts successfully I am still perplexed as to why the two types were manufactured.
Before I fell ill I made a bid on these bits and bats on the Bay.
I won!
I was after the three white red-tipped missiles, which eagle-eyed Bill B recognised straight away as Century 21.
Not sure what the rest of the stuff is.
I had thought the missiles were the correct ones for my three Project SWORD Scouts, which currently have longer versions inserted in them.
It turns out that these three new shorter missiles are the perfect fit for my small Scouts spring-loaded holes but were actually issued for other larger Century 21 toys like the plastic Spectrum Patrol Car!
It does seem odd that the small Project SWORD Scouts were released with longer missiles** when the shorter ones are a better fit, at least on my toys.
What's your experience?
Have you any Century 21 toys' missiles and did you get them with the original toy?
** Arto pointed out this very thing on the blog back in 2016
I love this semi translucent yellow Scout 1 above among a group of fully translucent Star Wars softy toys I saw on a Japanese auction site.
I've had no luck finding the Scout in a package but this looks like the sort of header baggy that the Star Wars toys come in, although I don't recognise the ship or the green fella in this one.
The Invaders style UFO suggests the whole effort is a mishmash. What do you think readers?
If you want to search yourself then try copying and pasting this into your browser
Heeding your call for the C21 missile comparison, here are the missiles for Scout 1 (left) and SPC side by side.
And lo and behold, not only are they different in size & design, but the smaller the vehicle the bigger the missile! The Scout one measures 28 mm whereas the SPC one 24 mm. Also the end seems to be much rounder in Scout 1.
There are some box front differences on these Scout 2 boxes.
The top one above (which I believe is the later issue) has also a somewhat thinner cardboard, and oddly enough a sharper printing quality to the box illustration - qualities which first made me ponder whether it was a very good repro box.
You can notice the difference in the picture quality for instance on the "A706" code on the side of Scout 2; on the (earlier in my opinion) box version with the more blurred image is looks almost like "A705".
But then there's that "Made in Hong Kong" which has travelled from the long side .......
.....onto one end of the box, below left. Additionally, on the left box below, the Century 21 logo does not touch the horizontal blue bar with SCOUT 2 on it, as it does on the other (presumed earlier) version.
Actually the one missing "Made in Hong Kong" on the side, above left, has a longer text "Made in Hong Kong for Century 21 Toys Limited" on one end of the box. I wonder if this pertains to all three Scouts?
*
END FLAPS OF ALL SCOUT BOXES
Here are pictures of all box variants across all three Scouts that I found on the Blog or in my own collection. A short explanation:
V1 = 1-line text CENTURY 21 TOYS LIMITED on end flap
V2 = 2-line text MADE IN HONG KONG for CENTURY 21 TOYS LIMITED
V3 = 2-line text MADE IN HONG KONG FOR CENTURY 21 TOYS LIMITED (all in bold, different colour scheme)
We are missing (at least) Scout 3 box version 1.
[Scout 3 box above is a cleaned-up photocopy of an original. No known examples of an original box known to Moonbase Central]
*
I wonder if other blog readers might have more remarks or Scout box variations to add?
I recently asked if anyone could photograph the missiles from the toy Spectrum Pursuit Car and the SWORD Scouts made by Century 21 Toys. Arto from Helsinki Base came to the rescue and they are not the same after all! Doh!
Dear Woodsy,
Heeding your call for the C21 missile comparison, here are the missiles for Scout 1 (left) and SPC side by side. And lo and behold, not only are they different in size and design, but the smaller the vehicle the bigger the missile! The Scout one measures 28 mm whereas the SPC one 24 mm. Also the end seems to be much rounder in Scout 1.
Is anyone able to send me a photograph for the blog of the following two Century 21 plastic toy parts side by side? I have a feeling that they are the same! [I only own the Scouts and not an SPV]
1. Project SWORD Scout white red-tipped missile from either 1,2 or 3 as shown below
2. Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle or Spectrum Patrol Car white red-tipped missile [or any other Century 21 vehicle that has it] as shown below [NOT Dinky but Century 21 Toys]:
This is the first video in another short run of films about repairing the box of my Project SWORD Scout 1 and cleaning the vehicle. It follows neatly on from my videos about repairing the actual toy. As with the previous films, in which toothpicks made a guest appearance, these films star .... wait for it .... a steam iron! Watch if you dare!
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