Agent 21 Birthday Mystery 1

Agent 21 here! Last year I blogged about these three prototype Thunderbird 6 models seen in the movie of the same name. Brains sweated day and night only to have 'em trashed! That Tracy boss was a tyrant!

We discovered then that my orange Nova III toy rocket shown below was most likely based on Brain's red Six [above and below - bottom models].

Well I was chuffed to find this original Lobby still for the 1966 UK film release amongst a pile of paper memorabilia I acquired last year. You'll see straight awy that it's the T6 in the screen grab at the top of this bloglet. The very same with it's highly unusual shape and victorian brass street lamp on top! But they're different colours? Are there white and yellow versions in the movie?

And lo and behold a further Thunderbird 6 mystery surfaced this week when I noticed the following entry on an old online Thunderbirds collectables list:

Tiger Moth [Thunderbird 6] battery operated, #B44/780 Century 21 Toys, UK

Well, you know my passion for obscure Century 21 and JR21 toys! I was thrilled as I'd never heard of this toy. I asked blog contributors and fellow Century 21 toy enthusiasts Jim Lewis [guest correspondent on this blog as we speak] and Steve [creator of the fab Vintage Thunderbird Toys] their opinion.They were both sure the list entry was wrong and that the toy was in fact by Japan's Bandai [ Steve added that there is also no friction-drive JR21 TB4 or JR21 Tracy Island either - damn shame!]

I consulted my Gerry Anderson Memorabila Guide [The C21 'Bible'] by Dennis Nicholson and yes, Dennis confirmed that Bandai did indeed release a Thunderbird 6 bi-plane as shown below. Dennis kindly provides it's model number too, B44-780 [see his book entry below], which is the same one in the online list. This nails it, the list is incorrect and Jim/Steve/Dennis are right. It's not Century 21 but Bandai! [anyone got one?]

PS. Such a pity that the film makers opted for a Tiger Moth as TB6. Any of the three rejects would have been so much cooler and made great JR21 toys! Views welcomed! Agent 21 out.

Second Blogday Special Report: JR21 THUNDERBIRD 2 By Correspondent Jim Lewis

"I guess for many followers of the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson shows there is one which stands above all other, THUNDERBIRDS. For collectors of the related paraphernalia the Rosenthal line of toys is a must have and as it is arguably one of Derek Meddings most stunning designs the plastic friction drive toy of Thunderbird 2 has to be owned by any self respecting enthusiast. As a child I had perhaps three or four of these over a period of almost a decade from near infancy to the age of about ten. Such was the popularity of THUNDERBIRDS and the volume in which these were produced many shops and market stalls local to me had these way into the mid 1970s.

This one above is a more recently purchased example that I added to my small but growing collection back in the early 1980s. What you see is what you get with this toy. As in the show a vehicle containing drop-down pod, in this instance a small jeep, fold down legs and of course the friction drive. This is an earlier version featuring white plastic parts, later replaced by red. Painted markings with water slide numbering as opposed to the later Letraset type text and lines and proper 'dotted' engine exhausts rather than latticed. Although some later toys offered more in terms of play value and sleek styling to me nothing says "A Gerry Anderson toy" more so than this."

Second Bloggiverary - Box Art to the Stars

The darker evenings closing in as Autumn kicks in begin to remind me of Christmas as a boy and the excitement of opening presents to find my favourite toys hidden inside. Even today, I eye retangular shaped presents with eager anticipation, but am invariably disappointed when it turns out to be more deodourant and talc and not a vintage space toy.

Back in the day though, I distinctly recall three instances when I was absolutely overjoyed at the contents of the wrapping. Spacex toys were always a regular staple on the Xmas wishlist, but the 3 larger Spacex Major toys were meted out to me during the year of release as a substitute for chocolate at Easter and fireworks on Bonfire night, culminating with the Nuclear Pulse on Xmas morning.

Of all the boxed space toys iv'e seen over the years, the simple, colourful artwork on these three toys has always remained a firm favourite of mine. Sword boxes all look great and dramatic, but the Spacex brands clean lines echoed the simple nature of the toys and for once, you really did get what it said on the tin. Well almost, my one gripe with the artwork was the Nuclear Pulse. The box shows a rocket launching from the bay on the back and the actual toy came with a rather insignificant 'space plane'. Also the toy didn't reflect the colours on the box, or even more annoyingly - the colours on the card back where the craft was depicted in a handsome blue and red livery. The toy came in a hideous yellowy orange with two different coloured spinners, unlike the MLP and Moonbase, which were accurately displayed in all their colourful glory on the box.

But all moaning aside, these boxes represent a real milestone in collecting for me and will always take me back to those heady days of boyhood.

 

SWORD Summer SOLO Comic Strip Issue 31 - The Last One

It's a bitter-sweet post this morning. We're celebrating two years of blogdom and mourning the end of the SWORD Summer and the demise of the SOLO comic SWORD strip. The strip ended on the 16th September 1967 with the prophetic boxed end line 'Time for Decision'. The artist[s] and author[s] still remain unknown [GACCH 2005]. It would be another six months before those first Swordheads got more of their favourite story when it re-surfaced in TV21 in 1968 with the innovation of  Angus Allen's writing and Ron Embleton's art to kick it off!

Thanks for following the strip over the Summer Swordheads

and a big thank you to the Philosphic Toad for scanning and sharing them.

We salute you!

If you haven't had enough of Sabre, Vargans and SIBOR for now, you can read Toad's own superb SWORD online research [with Shaqui Le Vesconti] at GACCH into SOLO, TV21, the ANNUAL and the two MAKE A MODEL Books.

Birthday Bash: Blade Runners

I've been celebrating the bloggibirthary with an extra big bowl of Frosties tonight. There's nothing quite like late night cereals [Mad Men is OK too!]. Speaking of which here's round two of my tour round the fleet of vehicles found in the S.W.O.R.D Annual and nowhere else [well certainly not the Anderson toy factory]. So let's open the hanger doors and see....

First up is the ANT with its curious Bendix wheels. This one has trailers too! It's likely that SWORD creatives first came across it in Look and Learn comics. It sort of reminds me of the similarly artic Spacex MEV. Would have made a great large toy.

Next up is this six wheeled rover parked next to a reactor of some sort.

I had a Roxy toy moon rover that looked a bit like it.

Two views here of what appear to be tube-wheeled diggers clearing up.

Above are two rough sketches of what seem to be another six-wheeled rover and a low dozer.

Above is a detail from a more finished Prospector rendition.

This is part of the Moon Base, a LESA Unit 7 and maybe a LEM?

Here's another simply drawn squat car heading for the fuel depot.

A far more accomplished craft is this Trans-Oceanic SWORD Vessel, which would have made a fantastic C21 toy!

In fact, discounting Stingray and TB4, I can't think of a single Anderson toy boat. Or?

Which leads nicely to the SWORD Sub, Diver 1.

Could it remind me of an Action Man sub I had in the Sixties?

Nearly at the end now with this four-wheeled van and its Deora looks.

A similar van featured in Thunderbirds on TV.

And finally, at the rear of the Moonbus double-pager, at the end of the Annual is this cool pair of Moon Units numbered 4 and possibley 1.

Lots has been said about the mystery of the Moon Base set.

It's never been seen.

Or?

Woverine Growls Happy GRRRDay!

LP?

Let's Party!

Second Birthday Party Caption Comp

What's this young space dude thinkin'?

Birthday Double Take

PROJECT SWORD GAME! Blimey, I had to look twice at this when I first saw it! I thought one clever reader had invented a S.W.O.R.D game for our 2nd Birthday! Makes for bizarre reading until you know what they're talking about! Imagine, a real SWORD game full of our favourite ships, the Rejects and the Casuals and the end of the world as we know it!