MATCHBOX AND B.P.

One of my favourite Matchbox toys, the Alvis Stalwart.

I've always been fond of Matchbox toys, especially the ones that came out in the sixties, but one thing I've never checked is how many sported the B.P. logo

Another favourite. the Matchbox Major  Auto Tanker. The  colour scheme is so instantly recognizable.  

Another Tanker, the B.P. Bedford.

The B.P. Dodge Wreck Truck.

Apart from the four pictured here, I'm sure there are one or two others , maybe a tanker, or possibly another pick-up truck, plus a Service Station and Garage. But whatever, there's something quite appealing about having a collection within a collection.

SPANISH MAJOR MATT SPINNER TOY BY PINPLAST

 

 

I saw this recently in cyberspace, an old Spanish rotor spinner toy by Pinplast. It doesn't half remind me of a similar toy I had as a Kid for my Major Matt Mason crew. I just can't think what! Any idea readers?

 

 

Where any of you big Major Matt fans when you were little astronauts on the back lot?

Project sword: The Forgotten Plastic Anderson Rockets of the 60's

PROJECT SWORD HISTORY

by paul woods u.k.1999

 

Project Sword: Long, sleek, curved, big fins, astrodomed, big retros, futuristic shapes, prolific - these are all words describing that forgotten range of plastic Gerry Anderson space-ships and vehicles of the sixties - Project Sword.

 

 

Forgotten, perhaps, but how many baby-boom Xmas mornings were lit up by the wondrous coloured lights of the moonbus or the moon prospector? How many airfix plastic- soldier carpet- battalions were blasted by the Booster Rocket! More than we think I bet. For me, the toys completely eclipsed the other Anderson craft by Century 21, Lincoln et al. For 1 or 2 Christmas's in the late sixties, Project Sword- the ships, badges and space- age boxes- were my only reasons for getting up at the crack of dawn, falling over the dog and raiding the pile at the bottom of the tree!

 

 

Always destined to be in the shadow of their more famous cousins, Thunderbirds, and the other Gerry Anderson TV series, Project Sword was one of the most exciting and futuristic fleet of space toys around, particularly in the UK. Yes, they never made it onto the small screen or even the scriptwriters' desk and some of them were straight out of NASA, but the toys were masterpieces of plastic design and the peak of space- cadet cool.

 

 

The one exception to this lack of fame is, of course, Zero X - the star of the Thunderbirds are Go Movie and a fantastically huge toy to boot, which graced the pages of all the Project Sword publications.

 

 

The 'Sword world of toys was conceived through a mixture of Century 21 Toys purchasing some old Hong Kong/ Taiwan toy moulds and then doing there usual magic on the designs. All this was way back in 1967/68. The full range of 'playthings' consisted of: plastic toys, one annual and comic strips.

 

 

It is unclear who at Century 21 Toys oversaw the Project Sword range, although it is likely that Jack Rosenthal and Keith Shackleton were central. Allen Fennel had a role in creating the concept/ story. The design work will have included Derek Meddings, most likely on Zero X. Other staff included Angus Allen, Richard Curtis and Todd Sullivan. Gerry Anderson will have certainly endorsed the whole Project Sword line.

 

 

The plastic toys were neatly bound together in stories featured in the Annual and the comic and text strips in Solo and TV21respectively. At the nub of the Sword concept is Earth in the year 3031- struck by a meteorite and dying, global civil war and a mass evacuation to other planets- this last challenge being the reason for all the Sword ships and vehicles. Pity it never made it onto the TV!

 

 

As a collectable, Sword has everything: a defined but numerous range, a degree of obscurity and hence is challenging, relatively modest prices, stunning good looks and a few real rare nirvanas like the Nuclear Ferry . A particular area worthy of further exploration is the precise number of different American Sword toys by Tarheel - there could be a whole replica US Sword universe out there (let me know if you find any!)

 

 

They deserve not to be the forgotten plastic rockets of the sixties because they are as good as anything else produced by Century 21 or any other sixties space- toy outfit. Then again, I don't want everyone to start collecting them! I have written a Checklist for collectors and I am always interested in talking Sword, so please email me.

 

 

NB Spacex history page in development.

 

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created by paul woods u.k. copyright 1999.

 

Golden Astronaut

by Multiple Toymakers

The US version of the Triang Spacex 1 series is called 'GOLDEN ASTRONAUT' made by Multiple Toys with 3 sets or phases, each one having 4 craft:

USA

1. Interplanetary Patrol
2. Moon Exploration
3. Space probe

These correspond to the UK sets respectively with the same craft:


UK

1. Outer Space Travel
3. Moon Base
5. Space Station

Unsure if there is a set corresponding to the UK set 'Earth Base'

At todays prices, $79+ for each set of four(courtesy of Toy Shop Newspaper). Check out ebay too

































Top-US Montgomery Ward Advertisement courtesy of John Eaton USA/Paul Vreede Belgium/MarK Maclellen USA.

Bottom and below- Loose and carded US Golden Astronaut and Space Adventure (top right of piccy) craft above and below courtesy of Mark Maclellen USA

Top- Launch Site set-courtesy of ebay

Roxy

 Amongst an assortment of Spacex Prospector and badges ( note the Spacex 2 Triangular badge) is the one of the Roxy line of Space miniatures ( purple and to the left)- courtesy of Bill Bulloch UK

WOULD TV21 BE READ BY TODAY'S KIDS?

Whenever I'm in a newsagents I look over the comics for kids just to see what they're reading now. There's tons of Marvel Super Heroes, Dr. Who, Football and lots of girl stuff, all with free gifts.

 

 

All in all it's much like when we were kids back in the Sixties: super heroes, Dr. Who and football were in comics back then too.

 

 

So do you think a comic like TV21 or Eagle would be read by kids nowadays in your neck of the woods?

EAGLE EYE

Bill from Celtica Radio is looking for a Comand Pod from a Dinky Eagle Transporter. It needs to be complete, but will be resprayed, so paint condition is not important. Can anyone help?

THE AVENGERS GIFT SET BY CORGI

"Mrs Peel, we're needed!"

The Corgi Avengers gift set featuring John Steed and Emma Peel.

Released in 1966, and  continuing production until 1969, this popular set featured a red Bentley Le Mans 1927 from the Corgi Classics range, and a white Lotus Elan S2.

Steed used four different Bentley’s in the series and all were actually racing green.

From time to time The Avengers gift set occasionally crops up with Steed sitting in a green Bentley, the seller using the usual prefix of ‘rare’!

I suspect it’s common knowledge to most collectors that these green Bentley’s being driven by a bowler-hatted figure are actually from ’The World of Wooster’, which was released in 1967.

The driver was gentleman's gentleman Jeeves, played by Dennis Price in the TV series of the time.  A standing figure of Bertie Wooster (played by Ian Carmichael) completed this particular Corgi toy .

Not that there’s anything wrong with using a green Wooster Bentley in the set - it’s exactly the same model with the same figure, although Jeeves’ suit is darker. It’s just not from the original Avengers set. But personally I find it much more attractive than the red one.

Emma Peel  drove a  powder blue Lotus Elan S2 in both the b/w  and  colour series, although it wasn't  the same car. However, Corgi used a white example in the gift set .

It’s still a nicely detail model, with an opening bonnet revealing a chrome engine with ‘Lotus’ embossed across the cylinder heads. There’s a detailed interior with side windows that go up and down, and stuck-on number plates and  tax disc.

Corgi model club news as seen in TV Century 21 featured the real cars.

An advert for the Gift Set. Note the green Bentley.

As a post script, Corgi released a finer detailed version of the Bentley with a white metal John Steed figure in 1998.

It’s a very nice model and the Steed figure does resemble Patrick Macnee, but the packaging, unlike the colourful sixties version is quite minimalist and dull and  not particularly nostalgic.

To me, The Avengers is all about nostalgia and memories of watching classic TV as a kid.  It's also about two iconic cars and a classic gift set from Corgi.