Freighter, There's a Nuke in my Soup

I've always liked the look of the SpaceX Nuclear Freighter [NFII] so I was pleasantly surprised to see a modern toy displaying a similar shape. The toy is by Globaltoys of China and is compared next to my own NFII [courtesy of a recent swap with the mighty WOTAN].

PS. Photographing the NFII I noticed how Thunderbird 2 - like the front arc of windows and 'nose' are! Makes sense as both have their origins in the Century 21/ TV21 organisation.

WOTAN strikes! The Mighty One has ID'd the green toy! It's from the TV show the Tweenies pictured below.

" And i thought Teletubbies was bad!" says Wotan.

And there's even a ride!

A Martian Blink

As Commander Bill Wotan space-walked outside Atlantis to make first contact he stared in disbeleif as a hatch opened at the base of the UFO. There emerged a dark green alien hominid brandishing an obvious weapon of unknown firepower. Borne from an impatience tempered in the brawling bars of SWORD City, Commander Bill fired his blaster as the alien was turning tail. Set on stun he zapped it's posterior before the creature closed the hatch and the UFO zoomed away beyond the Martian zone. Wotan blinked and blew his barrel.

Toys used in the picture: header card of the Maks Venus Space Water Gun and T UFO.

In the Red Shadow of Mars

SWORD Shuttle Atlantis sped across the Solar System en route to the Jovian Sector. On board was stowed Task Force 1, which will carry out the final stage of the rescue-salvage mission on Io.

Passing Mars the Shuttle's Commander Bill Wotan was stunned to see what he could only describe as a UFO heading straight for them. Awestruck he raised the alarm for 'action stations' on his Shuttle. The crew braced themselves for first contact, the first ever recorded, whatever it may bring. Commander Wotan signalled a message of peace to the UFO and held his breath. Time itself seemed to inhale.

Toys used in the picture: T Space Shuttle & T UFO. No toys were harmed in the making of this story.

Roy Scarfo's Dyna Soar

These fabulous paintings of our old friend the Dyna Soar were produced in the golden age of space flight by veteran space artist Roy Scarfo. Roy created them for The New York Times, Major Feature 1962. Roy has kindly given me permission to post them here. You can see them and much more fantastic space art on Roy's own websites: www.royscarfo.com , www.thefutureinspace.com , www.scarfoproductions.com . Enjoy.

Spanish Armada

I've never seen these Spanish versions of this familiar series of space vehicles. I usually associate them with Blue Box or AHI but these boxed gems were made by Pay Va. The red glider is the one that appears in both the Apollo Moon Exploring carded range. You can see them on the Spanish todocolleccion site Anyone got these Pay Va toys?

The Task Ahead

The main rescue mission for the lost ship on Io gathers pace as SWORD's Task Force 1 arrives on an M-Force Carrier. Righted and stowed inside the Shuttle Atlantis, Task Force 1 will begin service once the Shuttle has entered Io's orbit. Commander Bill Wotan, the the most experienced astronaut of his generation, will lead the Shuttle crew and pilot TF1 on it's critical mission to trace the vanished SpaceX Nuclear Frieghter and it's crew. For now the Shuttle's own crew enjoy a breakfast of steak and eggs, orange juice, toast and coffee before heading in the Moonbus to SWORDPAD. Confidence is high. Cmmdr. Wotan looks skyward to the vastness beyond our own Moon and wonders what has happened on the small alien world of Io

The Curse of the Harringtons

Going completely off topic, this week I watched Laura, a US film-noir from 1944. On TV during the late afternoon, I only watched it because Dana Andrews played the lead, an actor I adore based on a single film, the 1950's classic creepy, The Night of the Demon [The Curse of the Demon in the US]. The Demon movie begins with the grisly demise of one Professor Harrington. So I was amazed when the much older Laura also began with mention of a Harrington Murder case. Oh strange serendipity! Anyone else seen either movie?

Custom Cat

I couldn't resist SWORDizing a piccy of this cool Russian TAIGA rover I saw in Cyberspace. The angular shape and pale green plastic screamed out Century 21! It isn't of course and is purely a figment of my over-active imagination! Originally seen on Ebay.