SCI-FI FILM AND TV PROPS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

The recent appearance on Ebay of the original MEV model prop from the Captain Scarlet pilot TV episode and various other Thunderbirds prop vehicles has got us all very excited. Seeing it reminded me of a blog theme I've wanted to kick off for ages but never have. Now seems like the perfect moment so here goes. Where are all those fabulous prop vehicles from UFO, Space Odyssey, Thunderbirds, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Diamonds Are Forever, Moon Zero Two and so on?

 

 

To kick-off here's a before and after of the gyrating Space Station in Kubrick's 1968 opus 2001 A Space Odyssey [thanks to Andy B for pointing this out.]

1968

pic: wordpress.com

1974

pic: trevor parsons/ kubrick FAQ

 

 

You can read about how the model was dumped at a tip and photographed in 1974 in this fascinating account by Trevor Parsons on the excellent Kubrick FAQ website. A sad end to a beautiful model. Was Kubrick right to dump them like this do you think? Did anything survive from the film?

Cavalier Fashion

This photo of a Dan Dare inspired 1958 annual called ‘Step Into The Future’ was drawn by the artist, Keith Watson in the late nineteen eighties as part of an advertising campaign which included TV spots promoting the apparent advanced innovations of the Vauxhall Cavalier. It was part of a four page pamphlet loosely inserted into various magazines - I seem to recall finding this example in the Radio Times.

A ‘Motor-Car of Tomorrow’ which was shown on the inside flaps, remarkably had pretty much the same features as the new Cavalier.

Keith, as many of you comic fans will know, joined the Eagle in 1958 as an assistant artist. He drew Captain Condor in the Lion before returning to Eagle, drawing Dan Dare on the front cover. He worked for City Magazines providing artwork for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons in TV21, and the title character in Joe 90: Top Secret.

His last work can be seen posthumously in the first edition of the Eagle inspired, ’Spaceship Away' magazine published in 2003.

Sadly, Keith died in 1994

Further info on Keith Watson can be found at the Eagle Times blogspot  http://eagle-times.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/eagle-artists-keith-watson.html

ORBITOR OR?

Like many budding space cadets of my generation I loved Mattel's Major Matt Mason toys and the similar Colourforms Outer Space Men. The sheer attention to detail by both companies was stunning and made for great play sessions. It's only in the last ten years, however, that I became aware of Mattel's Major Matt Mason ORBITOR pictured above in 1970. I first came across it in an excellent book by James Gillam called Space Toys of the 60's and was immediately intrigued by the mystery surrounding this toy. Like SWORD's Moon Base Play Set, was the ORBITOR ever made?

 

 

Basically the design appears to be a circular spinning rotor with a central clear dome containing a blue seated alien, who incidentally, is called OR. The spinner is propelled upwards by means of a levered device as you can see in the picture. The rotor and overall concept recalls my favourite Matt Mason gadget as a kid, the Satellite Launch Pak shown below. Consulting what I consider to be the best Matt Mason site, John Eaton's Wildtoys, it would appear that OR and his ORBITOR never left the ground and remained on the Mattel workbench. However, ace modeller Frank May, who has displayed large SpaceX models befire here at Moonbase, has made a mock-up of ORBITOR, which you can see at Wildtoys. 

The concept of domed satellite spinners has been around a while. Below is the PLANET PATROL SAUCER ray gun set with domed rotors that fly from the end of the gun and is from the 1950's.

And finally here os the LUNAR ORBITOR by NP of Germany. Although oit has no dome, the centre is topped with a neat silver radar. I don't know the date of this. There are many more examples of saellite toys with domes and thingies stuck on top. Maybe you have one like the ORBITOR. Or?

JAMES BOND CARS ON TV

For UK OO7 fans there's a special TV programme on Bond Cars this coming Monday: Top Gear Bond Cars 9pm BBC2 29th October: DB5, Lotus Esprit, the list goes on!

The Name's Martin, Aston Martin

Following Woodsy’s spy thread and looking forward to seeing SKYFALL, I thought I’d dig out my meagre James Bond offerings which pretty much amount to some die cast DB5’s and the odd book.

Although I was fond of James Bond as a kid I think it was more to do with the image than the content and at Christmas in 1965 I got a James Bond case which I’d seen in TV21 a month or so before. The case itself was actually folded card board. It contained a working camera, two plastic grenades, a plastic knife, passport and Lone Star cap firing P38 pistol with silencer. It also had a Winchester rifle in two halves which was fun to have but even at the time I reckoned it would have been more at home in a Bonanza set.

 

Later on in the new year my brother and I both each received the smash hit toy of 1966 -the Corgi James Bond Aston Martin DB5. A smashing die cast complete with it’s own display stand and secret messages, not to mention the ejection seat, guns and bullet proof shield.

 

For me, like a lot of people , the DB5 is one of the things that gives Bond his heritage and provides links to his past exploits. Although the Aston made it’s debut in the third Bond film ’Goldfinger’ it set the standard for what would follow. Other cars have tried to take the crown - the Toyota 2000GT from ’You only Live Twice’ was another die cast released by Corgi hoping to mirror the phenomenal success of it‘s DB5, and the Lotus Esprit from ’The Spy Who Loved Me’ - a sports car and a submarine - classic Bond!

These days, every time a new Bond film is imminent a new range of cars are released.

Corgi released a new set of Bond cars in 2002, presumably to coincide with the release of Die Another Day. I got the DB5 included in the set which was taken from Thunderball. The model’s only gimmick was a spring loaded bullet proof shield.

 

 

In 2006, Bond underwent a make over with Daniel Craig taking over as 007 .

A magazine published by Fabbri was released celebrating the James Bond car collection. Each edition came with a model from each of the films. I got the first issue which had a beautifully detailed die cast DB5 from Goldfinger.

 

 

 

 

With the release of Skyfall and the heralded appearance of the iconic Aston I’m already checking the Corgi website - I want to buy, Mr Bond!

 

Rim Rider

The

Moon

Bus

skirted 

close

to 

the

rim

of

Infinity.

The

passengers

wished

they'd

caught

the

52.

Kelloggs Snap Together Kits

Here's some ads for the three send away offers from Kelloggs featuring a Fab 1, an SPV and Mac's Car. Never had one but from what I can gather these polystyrene snap together toys were similar to the Lincoln Internationl Thunderbird kits save for the electric motor.

 

 

 

Code Name Spy Toy Blog

Check out reader Vince Jones' cool CODE NAME SPY TOY blog. It's top secret so tell all your friends!