I'm a completist, i'll be first to admit it. I love to have 'sets' of things and if I am missing a part or a piece from a sequence, it gnaws away at some deep seated corner of my psyche until I can plug the gap and sleep at night. Well, maybe not that bad, but I do love the feeling I get when I complete a series.
For years, the Sword badge series was a major bugbear for me. As a kid with a handful of Task Force ships and a few blue badges, I was happy. But then, I realised there was also a yellow variant, the 'Captain' badge and my carefully constructed paradise was not so comfy after all. I can't actually recall when I got a Captain badge, or which toy it originally came with. Possibly a Scramble Bug I bought at a comic fair in the eighties.
About a decade later, the internet arrived and the doors of my very limited perception were blown off their hinges, as the full extent of the space toy ranges became apparent and I realised that there were not two, but four badges in the series - Astronaut, Captain, Commander and Supremo.
One of my first tasks was to complete my line of Sword toys, which also brought a Commander badge home too. So now we were three and for a while I was happy. Then I found Woodsy and his ancient SWORD Checklist and saw that the final badge, the Supremo, was only available in the very largest and most elusive sets, the Zero X and probably the Cape Canaveral. Even in the early days of ebay and other online sales sites, these toys commanded serious moneys and loose Supremo badges were like hens teeth.
So it was with grim resignation that I sat back and reminded myself of all the great toys that I did have and that I may not ever have a Supremo badge to complete my set. More decades have come and gone, several Zero X models (with and without badge) have appeared and been snapped up by deep pocketed collectors. Still I managed to console myself with the knowledge that I had a great collection of other toys and was able to gaze wonderingly at Woodsy's own Supremo badge on my frequent trips to Moonbase. More years passed and the deep and irritating itch was salved by finding other interesting items in the same field, such as a new Spacex badge and the strange gold embossed Astronaut badge.
And then, one evening, some months back, a saviour appeared out of the ether! Celtica Radio manager Bill Everratt emailed me and during the course of the conversation we touched on Supremo badges. As usual, I bemoaned my poor defecit collection of three paltry badges and Bill remarked that he was missing the elusive Supremo too. During the course of a sequence of emails, Bill suggested that it might be possible to re-create the original badge using modern materials and 3d printing was suggested. Woodsy in his infinite resourcefulness pointed out that there was a professional 3d print service in Bills home town and shortly after, wheels were set in motion!
To cut a long story short, Bill very generously offered to have a Supremo badge made for me, along with one for himself. He contacted the service, explained what he needed and received a quote and a specification. Within a matter of weeks, a small package dropped on my doorstep and inside was a Supremo badge, almost indistinguishable from the original castings! Made with modern materials and with two pin clasps on the back, instead of the usual safety pin, its a wonderful addition to the set and completes it perfectly. The photographs do not really do the reproduction justice, but as you can see, it is almost identical to the original series. On the last photo you can see the Fanderson Diecast version on the left, the four Sword variants centre and the unknown Astronaut badge above the classic Space Commander badge on the right. Suffice to say, I am very grateful to Bill for his foresight and generosity and I can now sleep soundly at night...
But then again, I wonder if you can 3d print a C21 Zero- X?
