Ferryman's Fantastic SWORD Fleet: The Scouts

Beautiful and complete* boxed examples of Ferryman's Project SWORD Scouts Fleet including the all-too-often missing missiles, badges and specification sheet unique to the 3 Scouts:

Scout 1 - WHITE boat*

Scout 2 - YELLOW rocket

Scout 3 - RED spacecraft [unboxed]

 

 

*Ferryman's SCOUT 1 is missing its original radar and sports a Jimson Firefly YFZ antenna, supplied by yours truly, as discussed recently in my How I Lost It In The Compost post.

 

 

Bottom picture shows a Task Force 1/ SCOUT 2 fleet combo.

The Eagle Has Landed

When my brothers were kids they couldn't wait for their copy of Eagle to land on the doormat. When I was an anklebiter I loved my Look In and remember reading Kung Fu and On the Buses as if it were yesterday. My mate got TV21, which I read avidly at his house. We all had our favourite comics. The quest for exploring the uncharted fathoms of space ran through them like letters through Blackpool rock. Maybe it does in us. Like many other cyberports this blog continues that quest.

 

 

My kids are grown up now so I'm not up to speed with comics. Is there a modern equivalent of Eagle/TV21/Look In in your neck of the woods?

Dan Dare bust in Southport, Northern England.

Anyone seen this in the flesh?

The Real Project SWORD Plan

Just when you imagine you've seen it all and nothing can surprise you, just when you have managed to convince all the skeptics and propellor heads that the moon landings did actually take place and weren't staged in a big Disney backlot and that Roswell film was really a fake, something comes along that makes you wonder.

The Rockwell International Integrated Space Plan is allegedly a real document which was formulated in the 80's and details plans for human expansion into near space and colonisation of exo-planets. Whether this is a real theoretical document or a clever fabrication, ill let you decide, but it does makeinteresting reading as it slightly mirrors the ambitions of SWORD to colonise the displaced population of a dying Earth.

Its a big file and takes a while to download, but worth having a look at!

The Rockwell International Integrated Space Plan 

FAB Cereal

 Of course any mention of cereal premiums can't be complete without some of the most sought after premiums - the Gerry Anderson related toys. Thunderbirds was well starred in the cereal world, with a series of figures and the wonderful tiny kits.

 Andy B kindly provided me with these wonderfully evocative adverts and a photo of the actual kits in his collection. Amazing when you consider the size of the things.

 

Parts as follows:

Thunderbird 4 -single piece casting,

Thunderbird 3- nose, body and angled brackets all separate mouldings

Thunderbird 2- rear jet nozzles, top fin and hull

Thunderbird 1- body and section with fins at base separate.

 

TB3 was the best model of the set, also the most fragile.

Will the Real Zero-X Please Stand Up!





The pilot episode of Captian Scarlet, The Mysterons, showed the MEV from the Zero X traversing [excuse the pun, travers-ing!] the Martian landscape before Captain Black starts hearing voices. Above you can see the initial few minutes courtesy of You Tube. Presumably Zero-X is the only vehicle that connects Thunderbirds and Scarlet not to mention Project SWORD.

 

 

I'm not an expert on Zero-X in Captain Scarlet but there must be sufficient difference for Aoshima to have issued it, as a die-cast model, separately to to the Thunderbirds one. So what are the differences? Does Zero-X's main body feature in Captain Scarlet on TV or in the comics? I'm assuming that the Century 21 SWORD OX toy is based on the Thunderbirds version? Anyone know for sure?

 

 

On Wikipedia there is mention of lifting bodies in the New Captain Scarlet series on TV but I can't find anything on this anywhere else online.

 

 

Is is likely that there are collectors who specialise in the Scarlet Zero-X rather than the Thunderbirds one?

Missing Breakfast

I never eat breakfast anymore. Its a concious decision. Its not that I dislike the choice of cereal, its just that its not fun anymore. Opening a new box of cereal and fishing around in the box for the free gift was always the best part. Kelloggs cereal had Space Age, Totem Tribe and Crater Critters to fascinate me and loads of other small figures and kits in between.  A few years ago, Nestle got together with LEGO and included cool Bionicle figures in the boxes and then later, simple Knights Kingdom sets. Lately, I just keep finding cornflakes.

I'd often assumed that the only space related premiums had been Crater Critters and Space Age, but I recently found a rare Hooty Toot Space Shuttle on ebay, which it transpired had a couple of other space themed premiums to accompany it. The series comprised a number of vehicle which doubled as whistles, generally two part kits, which made a fine looking toy.

The selection included a 'Freight Rocket', 'UFO' and  'Jet'. Box back had a playmat kind of design too.

Somewhat later again came the Space Explorers, a slightly lacklustre series of single piece toys, clearly intended to catch the Star Wars bandwagon.

All photographs kindly supplied by James B.

YEAR FIVE

REJECTS

CASUALS

VARGANS

S.W.O.R.D

 

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Birthday Party Over: The Lights Go Out

It's midnight on Moonbase. Hope you all enjoyed the Blog's fourth Birthday bash - it's been a blast for me and Wotan. Thanks for all your continued zest and gusto, it drives this old creakin' ship. See you for our Fifth Birthday! Keep on Swordin', off for a rest, Woodsy and Wotan [Right to left!]