UFORIC

I was so chuffed when Rocket Punch identified that mystery tank the other day, the UFO Lunar Missile Tank [or Rocket Launcher?] . Toadlarone even identified the UFO episode, the Cat with Ten Lives. Through the invisible force of You Tube we can all watch the missile tank in action on the moon here from the opening scene to around 2mins 40secs where it swiftly terminates marauding UFO's. It's such a simple yet successful design, basically a block with a laser gun on top yet done with such style. Is it a Mike Trim design I wonder? It's certainly popular with scratchbiulders as you can see on the cool Eagle Transporter Forum. It may even be the same model, which appeared at TV21 last October?

It would have made a great toy and would have sat brilliantly in the SWORD fleet. Not  to be confused with the unlicensed UFO MISSILE TANK.

Quizzoid: What's the SWORD link with the aforementioned unlicensed UFO Missile Tank?

Throw Down

Ladies and gentlemen, just a quick note to ask for permission to 'borrow' a few photos from the blog to use on the projected SWORD Trump set. Obviously, fellow bloggers collections will include items which I don't have access to and we have featured some fabulous pics on the blog from contributors, which would be ideal to use on the card set. Just to clarify, the Trump card set is purely for fun and will not be used for any financial gain or be distributed beyond the blog fraternity.

If its ok, I would like to borrow the odd photo here and there from Mike Burrows, Arto, Rocket Punch, Jim Lewis, Sean, Emily, Andy B, Toad and of course Woodstock. If anyone has any objection, just leave me a comment or drop me a line please. I will make sure anyone who has there pics used is fully credited. Ta!

Driving Me Up The Wall: The Century 21 Hurdler

I posted pictures of the wonderful Century 21 HURDLER earlier in the year on the main blog. I've still not worked out what it is that the Hurdler is driving over? Bright orange glass? Lava? Since getting it I have come across similar if not identical versions by Marx, all HILL CLIMBING and in civilian and military styles.

Marx also did a realted range of HILL CLIMBING trucks such as the DUMP and the WRECKER (below). This naturally begs the question, as hinted at in Project MOON toy ads, whether Century 21 did too?

Mystery Tank

Browsing my archive of snaps from the 2010 Bristol TV21 con I've come across this model pic. I've realised that I've no idea what this vehicle is from? Very SWORD though! Is it Captain Scarlet? UFO?

All Hands on Deck

Im really taken with the idea of the SWORD Top Trumps idea and am busily working up a set based on the main ships, plus one or two 'expanded universe' ones as they say in Star Wars. Heres the deck so far.

Update: the project has stalled at the moment as im missing clean artwork for some of the ships. If anyone can scan just the front panel of any of the SWORD C21 boxes (just the illustrated ones, not the Tarheel photographic ones) and send the scans to Wotan, i'd be very grateful. Im missing the Probe Force and Task Force series and the Moon Ranger.

Coming to a Cinema Near You...

OK, we've got the posters. Now we just need the film!

But who else would be in it?

Shoot the Moon

As a kid, I always had a moneybox on the go, somewhere to drop the odd sixpence or threepenny bit into. These days cash slips through my fingers before I even knew it was there. One of the biggest drains on my dosh is ebay. However, it can be an absolute delight sometimes to pick up a real bargain. One such item is this wonderful Duramold 'Shoot the Moon' Rocket Bank.

Metal with a gold finish, its an impressive 10 or so inches high, the rocket has a spring loaded mechanism that shoots pennies into the Moon via a slot underneath. It's been through the wars and is missing a small hatch at the back and has lost a lot of plating and would originally have had a circular ring around the moon like this complete silver example below, but for 99p who cares!

Hot Shots

These are photographs of the Sears and Tomy Apollos and the Tarheel Space Glider, which recently appeared in part in the latest edition of Fanderson's FAB, 68. These pictures were especially taken for the occasion by reader Darth's daughter Emily Godwin, a photography student. I'm sure that you'll agree they are really excellent!