ATOMIC POWERED CARRIER

WOTAN and I have been chewing the fat about a toy he saw in toy shop window back in the 60's. Next to a Probe Force ship was a submarine streamlined like the SWORD liner in the annual. Googling the night away I've come across a great oldish article about Captain Scarlet kits by Darkstar2. There's a cool old kit in there, Paramount's Atomic Powered Carrier. (no. 1260).

Although not the toy WOTAN saw as a wee boy, it is intersting. The site says 'Paramount Industries produced a final kit based on Spectrum craft, their No. 1260 ATOMIC POWERED CARRIER. Box artwork shows the ship launching two Angel Interceptors from one of its three decks, as it churned through ocean waves. Though obviously a gigantic craft, its kit form measured only 5 inches. To the hull was attached an elastic band powered water screw and variable-position rudder. Though it was finely detailed, its accuracy is unknown as I have never seen this craft anywhere other than in its box painting' ( darkstar2).

To see the full article check out:

http://www.darkstar2.demon.co.uk/models/andermod.htm


I've even found a forum discussion that's discussed the very same kit!

http://spectrum-headquarters.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=608

So just what did WOTAN see in that toy shop window?

Goodnight all.

AMERICAN SWORD

US Space author Rob Godwin has sent me these fabulous shots of his American Project SWORD ships made by Tarheel in the 1960's. Absoluteley fabulous. There are a couple of Spacex boxed toys in the top pic, together with a NASA Probe Force 3 and a Day Fran Space Glider. I love the photo box art, it has a completely different feel to the painted artwork of the UK Century 21 boxes. hard to belive the mighty Moon Ranger was just $2 something back then! More American SWORD ( sounds like a ninja film!) to come!

SUB SPACE by WOTAN

Fellow Space toy fan WOTAN is on the blog: 'I have a number of toys that look like they could have fitted neatly into the Project Sword range. In the SWORD Annual there are a couple of vehicles that travel over or into water: the SEA SWORD* Hovercraft, DIVER 1 Submarine and the OCEANIA - a large transport vessel. This bears a striking resemblance to the Submarine Aircraft Carrier from Stingray (pic courtesy Kim Stevens). Did this ever make it into a toy ? I'm almost sure I have seen a toy version in dark blue plastic with a white upper hull and tiny silver planes?'

'Meanwhile, I have discovered a very real candidate for inclusion into my Sword fleet - the Atomic Submarine by Ranetta. This beauty is about 11 inches long and weighs a ton with the batteries in! Ive added paper sword decals and a little photoshoppery for effect!'

Nice one Wotan!

*SEA SWORD appears on pages 7 to 9 in the Project Sword Annual 1968, SWORD 2 appears on page 7, TRANS OCEANIC SWORD JET SHIP ( OCEANIA) appears on pages 89 – 93 and DIVER 1 on pages 90 to 93 of the Annual. Ed Blog.

TAKE US TO YOUR LEADER by WOTAN

After the positive response for the Moon Platoon alien, I thought i'd flag up another mystery alien! Posing on this shot with him are King Crater (sadly minus crown) from the R & L Kelloggs 'Crater Critters' series which came in UK Sugar Smacks cereal in the seventies and known as 'Kingly' in the states and Oz. Sat on his royal right is a the mystery figure, 'Man from Mars'. This little fellow is what appears to be a gumball premium and has pop out eyes! On his round, green back are the words 'Made in Hong Kong' (no surprise there) and 'MAN FROM MARS', which leads me to believe he may have other relations in the galaxy.... can anyone identify him ?

FIRST CONTACT by WOTAN

Following the initial post of Wotan's Favourite Martian, heres a shot of the rest of his force with the Apollo Moon Exploring set chrome figures and later 1980's greyish knock offs. In the back are three 2.5" jumping figures, each mounted on a suction cup and spring mechanism.

American Tarheel Taskforce Rockets

Astronit, another US space toy fan, has sent these amazing pictures of his American Tarheel Taskforce space rockets. Just check out his fantastic space display too! If you want to see more of these fabulous toys and much more have a gander at astronit's photostreams:

1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astronit/2334969421/in/set-72157601365618642/
2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astronit/2406787753/in/set-72157601365618642/
3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astronit/2407631186/in/set-72157601365618642/
4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astronit/2407627908/in/set-72157601365618642/
5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/astronit/2335807108/in/set-72157601365618642/

You can see more of astronit toy collections too at:

#1 Love http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/sets/72157602623526384/

#2 Intarsias http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/sets/72157602498233670/

#3 Ecology Premium Collection http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/sets/72157600005120723/

#4 Cereal Collection http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/sets/72157601545847548/

#5 My favorite Toy Collection http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/sets/72157601365618642/

#6 My Collection Site All Pictures http://flickr.com/photos/astronit/

APOLLO SATURN ROCKET - SEARS AND SWORD

US Project Sword enthusiast Rob Godwin has sent these fabulous pictures of the US Sears Apollo Saturn Rocket and Base, together with the amazing box. The bottom picture shows the Century 21 Rocket next to the taller Sears. I find it fascinating how the Sears set is like a mix of the Century 21 Cape Kennedy set and Apollo Saturn Rocket. Rob says that the SWORD Saturn V was modelled on a 1964 Sears rocket. It is almost identical but smaller (i.e. the mold was cast from the Sears one). The original Sears vehicle actually emitted smoke and came with a launch tower. It is extremely rare! enjoy!

Rob Godwin, keen US Project Sword collector and NASA author has written a cool book 'The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook' ( see link below). About the pictures supplied by my good friend Wotan for the blog, Rob says 'The picture at the top is the Grumman Mobile Base Simulator. There is three pages about it in my book. It is currently at the Cradle of Aviation museum in Long Island. I actually created a full texture mapped 3D wireframe of it for my book and then animated it to show how it would have been deployed on the moon.

'The next picture is an artist's rendering of Krafft Ehricke's design for a nuclear deep space ferry. I am about to publish a whole book about him in the near future in conjunction with his estate called "Krafft Ehricke's Extraterrestrial Imperative".

'The third picture is also in my book and is the General Motors MTA (Mobility Test Article) GM-1. It was tested at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1967 (where the picture was taken). It is one of dozens of rovers pictured in my book that were tested. However, the Scramble Bug was based on a Boeing design called the MOLAB Model 25-52106 (also in my book along with ten other Boeing designs.)'.

There'll be more from Rob and pictures of his stunning American Tarheel Project Sword collection this week!

Thanks a bunch Rob!

The link to Rob's Lunar Exploration Scrapbook on Amazon UK is http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lunar-Exploration-Scrapbook-Apogee-Books/dp/1894959698

PROJECT SWORD and SPACE DESIGN

It's now late on Friday, there's nothing on the box so I'm posting some thoughts and pics from fellow UK fan Wotan on the possible origin of the SWORD designs:

' The Prospector is based on a NASA concept and I've also come across other designs from the NASA stable such as the Grumman Molab, which is clearly the ANT from the Project Sword Annual - this now resides in the Smithsonian. The Booster Rocket crops up as an early nuclear Mars vehicle, but info is thin on the ground now as these designs come from pre-1969 and sometimes much earlier'.

Hatchett's Playground Club PROJECT SWORD / 2001 Promo!

Well it's Friday evening in the UK and the end of the working week. I've got that Friday feeling and plan to go to the local IMAX and see Batman the Dark Knight on the big screen with my mate Mark. And then I was sent this fabulous 1960's article (bottom of the two) from fellow enthusiast Kim about Project Sword Toys being displayed in a London nightclub and in cinemas to coincide with showings of Kubrick's 2001 A Space Oddysey. What a great story! Click on the picture to read the article and see how many different SWORD vehicles you can spot! It's amazing just how hard Century 21 were marketing Project Sword and yet not that many people remember it. The picture - bunny girls having fun with sword toys - is more than a grown man can take!

PS. The top pictured text is another article - from a trade journal at the time - about the Hatchett's event courtesy of Darth. See also the Philosophic Toad's comment to this piece for more.

The whole link between SPACE ODDYSEY 2001 / SWORD and real Spaceship design is one to watch out for on the blog.