UFO Space Tank

I just love a good tank and especially if its a space tank, too! I was lucky enough to win this green UFO tank on ebay recently, even though it was advertised as being in damaged condition. It has lost the missile rack from the back of the turret and the four missiles it presumably contained, but it did arrive with the great 'fly-swatter' radar screen and two missiles still in place. Havent managed to get it going yet, but as the mechanism is pretty simple, i doubt that will be a problem.

The UFO Tank has graced the blog before, courtesy of collector Arto who provided the shots of the orange boxed version shown here. Whilst the tank has no direct relation to the UFO tv series, the makers have plundered the show for artwork for the box which clearly shows the Shado Interceptor, Lunar Module, the helijet and also the SWORD Moon Crawler!

The toy itself seems to be based on a standard army tank chassis, possibly designed around the US Army M60 Medium Tank. The real life similarity ends there as a large rocket launching turret has been placed on top. This bears a close similarity to a robot head, having two large square 'eyes'. Its easy to imagine the maker GT7 taking a stock tank body and borrowing a few ideas from a robot production line to create a space tank. I first came across this toy in the mid seventies, just prior to the onslaught of Star Wars.

Raketoplans Red Glare

While cruising the net today, looking for something else in the space vein, I came across the great soviet space site: www.russianspaceweb.com/raketoplan.html.

A fantastic resource in itself, Anatoly Zak has complied a comprehensive look behind the scenes of the veiled russian space program.

What struck me almost immediately though was the section on reuseable orbiters. Paul flagged up the 'Spiral' project earlier in the week, but I spotted another close contender for the Task Force 1 inspriration - the Raketoplan R-2. Although it doesn't appear anywhere in a larger format picture, the small shot of the scale model bears an uncanny resemblance to the SWORD craft. A later design, the P-2 has a rear configuration similar to the Dyna-Soar, with similar hull shape and engine layout. These designs would have pre-dated SWORD by some 8 or 9 years, and were suggested as potential satellite killers or even kamikaze style cruise missiles. Given the veil of secrecy thrown over all soviet dealings during this time, its unlikely that these designs would have been available to the West, but its interesting to note the definite similarity!

GET THE HOOVER OUT!

Blog reader and Sword collector Arto has sent in these cool pictures of his HOOVER SPACE GLIDER model (Art) #803. Note the unique orange window box, the plastic 'jewels' instead of a nose antenna, the NASA livery (two types) and the arrow-shaped logo of Hoover ( odd, I'd have expected a H rather than an arrow). On the toy's undercarraige is the model number. 'Made in Hong Kong' and the arrow logo, but not the company name. Like me, you may have one of these loose and not know its a Hoover! As far as I know Hoover was a Thai toy company. It probably deserves it's own toy checklist soon.

It's funny, in the UK the word Hoover means a vacuum cleaner. Basically the Hoover Company name has taken the place of the more cumbersome general term Vacuum Cleaner. Some people also say Vac (or Vaccy) as in 'Shake and Vac', the 1970's magic powder for carpets just prior to hoovering! I keep expecting Hoover toys to have some form of mild suction unit! Hee hee.

Posted whilst listening to the LP Highway by those gargantuans of British rock who were Free.

Addendum:

HOOVER AUSTIN and CARAVAN, Ebay, April 2010

Ebay description as it appeared:

"A superb example of a vintage HOOVER No 323 plastic AUSTIN 1800 & SPRITE MAJOR CARAVAN, made in HONG KONG, circa 1960-70s.This I would say is in MINT CONDITION, although there are some slight surface scratches to the plastic of both the car and caravan from being stored in the box. Light blue plastic Austin 1800 friction powered car, with white interior, clear windows, silver plastic grille, bumpers, headlights and hubs, black tyres and tow hook.Measurements of this super car are approx: 8" x 3.25" x 2.50". Red & white plastic Sprite Major Caravan with removable roof to reveal flimsy all in one plastic 'furniture' (not removable), opening door, & black tow hook which attatches to the car, silver hubs, black tyres. I haven't removed the roof as it still has the ORIGINAL sellotape. Measurements of this is approx: 8.50" x 4" x 4.50". The colourful yellow box is in VERY NEAR MINT CONDITION, general wear to edges/corners, tear of approx 1" to side and a tear to end of approx 2", & slighty grubby, it still retains the inner cardboard packing. The box measures approx 9.50" x 8" x 4.25"." Sold for £99.

Also HOOVER ROMAN CHARIOT

I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwww!

THE WOLFMAN starts here in the UK this week. GRRRRReat!. It'll be interesting to see what Benicio del Toro does with the title role as it's the first serious re-make of the 1941 Universal classic when the iconic Lon Chaney Jr. played Laurence Talbot and His Hairiness. Lon's film wasn't the first proper bite at the story though, that accolade goes to Werewolf of London starring Henry Hull in 1935, a film which dived and didn't make Hull the star as they had four years earlier with Bela Lugosi in Dracula. Although I'm a huge fan of the Lon Chaney original, which created the werewolf mythos we know and love, it's not my favourite Wolfman film. That particular morsel is 1961's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF starring one of the UK's original bad boys, Oliver Reed, in the title role. This spawned another of my top 'dogs', the less well-known but immensely entertaining LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF (1975) where a young wolf boy works in a zoo and stars the wonderful Ron Moody as the Zookeeper. At Christmas I watched a film I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the first time round in 1984 (is it really so long ago!), A COMPANY OF WOLVES. Its haunting score and fairy-tale setting are mesmerising. As an aside, I've always been surprised that a 'werewolves in space' sub-genre never took off in the way that vampires have - I imagine that werewolves on the moon would always be in hairy mode but something tells me this is 'scientifically' wrong. There's no moonlight!

SUGAR PUFFS MOONSHOT - MISSING SLIDES REVEALED

Last year the Philosphic Toad and I posted a piece about the SUGAR PUFFS MOONSHOT slides, which had been kindly donated by Steve of Thunderbirds Vintage Toys. Blog reader Kevin saw that we had three of the pictures missing from the article - numbers 3,5 and 6 - and sent in the above three photographs of them. Kevin's full set is as follows: 1 Rocket launch, 2 Separation, 3 Moon landing, 4 Moon craft rejoins rocket, 5 Re-entry and 6 Splash down. Cheers Kevin, we're grateful. I have also recieved the following similarly generous message from blog reader Viv:

"I have recently been sorting my late fathers slide collection and I have one slide Sugar Puffs Moonshot No 6 splashdown. Was going to bin it but happy to send it to you if you want it".

Thanks ever so much Viv and the slide has landed safely at the Yorkshire Moonbase. Very kind of you.

SKK TOP WITH SPACE GLIDER - MADE IN JAPAN

Last year I stumbled across the above petite and rather cool SKK tin spinning top made in Japan with a juicy little Nuclear Ferry cab on the side. Needless to say I purchased one from the fine Minneapolis stockist Main Street Toys. Well, amazingly there's a different SKK top on Ebay at the moment pictured below. Not as clearly SWORDesque but it does have a rather tastey Space Glider illustration - see bottom. Wonder if SKK made more?

DOME SWEET DOME

I've just updated my LOVEFILM dvd rental list with a few space films and monster movies. I'm really looking forward to seeing 1972's SILENT RUNNING for the first time again in probably 30 years. When looking it up I was amazed how the robots HUEY, DEWEY AND LOUIE paved the way for R2D2 and the like in Star Wars seven years later. The ship, pictured above, is a huge 'space freighter' called the Valley Forge, a rather mundane name for such a huge spaceship. Again scale is difficult, it's certainly bigger than anything in the SWORD fleet I think and about the same size as the Event Horizon and the black ship in Lifeforce? The wikipeadia entry says it inspired a TV series called the Starlost? Never heard of it!

BTW I am having problems getting my Australian VHS video tape of 2001 Space Odyssey to play. Are they UK VCR compatible?

GAZE UP

Sunday morning and the Space Shuttle Endeavor is on the launchpad ready for countdown in a few minutes. There's even a Yorkshire-born astronaut on board, Dr. Nicholas Patrick who hails from Saltburn, where we were at Christmas! Small world. It's the last night-time adventure for this shuttle and for me a symbol of a waning space programme and it's fading from modern life and popular culture. A friend of mine says we should look inward to Earth rather than outward in space. Barack Obama must feel the same as he puts the space programme in the attic. Maybe its human nature to look down when we are under the economic kosh. Perhaps the Space Race was after all a glorious fluke, the white-hot child of superpowers embraced in a cold war. The pundit on the TV says it's down to the Chinese now, which is ironic considering that virtually all our baby boomer space toys were made in Hong Kong anyway!

I for one am looking up and still humming Bowie's seventies song that starts 'It's a God-awful small affair, for the girl with the mousey hair.......'

PS. Endeavor launch cancelled until Monday!