TRANSPORTS OF DELIGHT by WOTAN

American oil company Humble (Esso) had connections with the space industry in the sixties and during the run up to the first moon landing and as rockets were lighting up the skies over the US, it came up with an especially fine promotional gift for motorists and their children.

The Energy rocket was presumably a mail away item as most of the examples ive seen are still tucked away in their cardboard box. Theres actually one available on ebay just now : Item no.330338460633 - Its not mine, but does qualify the previous statement nicely. I picked mine up on ebay recently and the model seems to date from the early sixties. I was lucky to find a complete one, including all the parts and paperwork intact and pristine. The model comes in quite a complex little kit and was probably intended as more of a 'dads toy' as some of the fixings are tiny and require tools. Skipping past the building, the vehicle is motorised and runs along a trackway made of plastic 'drinking straws'. Along the track is a buffer section, and as the transporter runs into this, a switch at the front releases the rocket from its horizontal transport mode, flicks it upright into launch position and a powerful spring blasts it off into the (virtual) stratosphere! Its quite powerful too, as I found out to my cost after building it, accidentally letting the switch go, I ended up looking like the shot from Georges Melies 'Trip to the Moon' where the moon grimaces as a rocket plunges into its cratered eye!
Made from sturdy plastic and a good 18 cm long, this is a really fine piece of space memorabilia and i'd encourage any fan of space toys to look out for one. Humble also did some gorgeous press ads later in the companies history such as the one pictured from a magazine featuring a beautiful painting of a proposed Molab. The little Esso keyring figure did not come from the Humble kit, but is shown as part of the advertising on the paperwork and is another survivor from my childhood!

Inner Space! by WOTAN

Fellow collector and submarine afficianado Ferryman has kindly provided some glorious pictures of another plastic rarity from the golden days of toy collecting, the Sub-Tank!

Clearly based on the sea scooter from the James Bond classic, Thunderball, this small toy also graced my paddling pool as a child and although it is very clearly presented as a submarine, it has distinctly 'space' overtones. The toy was available in an orange version as well and is made by another mystery maker, known only as F.E. The sub features removeable tail fins and working rear flaps. The armament consists of a formidable chrome torpedo with two other large 'bombs' molded into the hull itself. Fans of Bond will recall the scooter was used to recover the H bombs from the sunken Vulcan bomber in the film and featured in a dramatic underwater battle with frogmen (aquanauts or scub divers for anyone born after 1970!) and these are clearly shown on the box.
The two pilots are very like astronauts too and the main engine has a very nicley made transparent cover with chrome turbine nestling inside.

Walker! by WOTAN

In 1971, long before the famous Walkers or AT-ATs stomped onto the screen in Empire Strikes Back, Cragstan decided it would be a great idea to combine the typical walking robot concept with a space vehicle. Just two years after man had landed on the moon and taken his first walk on the moon, the Americus Moon Bug stepped out across rugs and carpets across the world.

Disdaining the usual balloon tyres or caterpillar tracks of its fellow moon buggies, the Americus looks like a true 'bug' with beetle-like walking action. A clever mechanism enables the vehicle to lift alternate sets of cushioned feet and amble along, radar scanner whirling madly on top.

Vaguely reminiscent of the SWORD family of vehicles and very close to a small illustration in the Moon Crawler story in the annual, of a vehicle in the background of a garage shot - called the Toad. This was a four legged, square craft with a similar cockpit arrangement that sits patiently in the rear of a panel in the strip.

Another remarkable and interesting aspect to the toys design is its registration with the US Patents Office, Cragstan were extremely thorough in their depiction of the vehicle for the patent and included several wonderful illustrations of the design, along with a comprehensive description.

Although I do have an Americus in my collection, this boxed version is courtesy of Ebay and the drawings from the US Patent Office.

A is for Airfix, E is for Eagle by WOTAN

Star Wars revolutionised sci-fi films and also in turn, it revolutionised toys. Gone were the days of little plastic soldiers and golden astronauts and in came a vast army of action figures, in all guises and roles, toting all manner of weapons and equipment and ready to take over the world - which they very quickly did.

Everyone wanted a piece of the 3.5 inch action and toy companies everywhere copied George Lucas and Kenners shrewd marketing ploys and churned out figures for every show and theme. Even model kit stalwart and sometime toy maker Airfix decided to get on the bandwagon and around 1978 they rolled out a rather odd range of action figures themselves. Eagles were a bunch of 'rescue heroes' comprising of a medic, military policeman, deep sea diver, frogman, paratrooper, solider and the leader - Captain Eagle. Each figure was a characterless mannequin with a solid pvc chest piece and arms, grafted onto a pair of stiltlike legs clad in bizarre rubber trousers. Every figure, irrespective of role had an odd, slightly vacant expression and as much poseability as a rock. The one saving grace for the line was the range of accessories and gorgeous comic style artwork on the boxes - dramatic, colourful and bold - the exact opposite of the toy. Released in Germany also as Action Stars, the line was much larger and included cowboys, indians and the rather much improved inclusion of two space figures - the orange Cosmonaut and yellow Astronaut. The suits and large helmets for these figures are very reminiscent of the bulky environment suits the Nostromo crew wore in Alien. Captain Eagle from the british line was gifted with two vehicles, a weird chair based interceptor arrangement and the unusual 'Fighting Machine' a large rescue copter with winch and integral grab on the front. You could almost see the copter gracing the pages of a Sword strip!

A few of my favourite things...by WOTAN

Right, just to ease us gently into a parking orbit around Planet Ygdrassil, and to let me familiarise myself with the controls, i'm going to flag up a couple of toys that could be considered part of the Sword 'expanded universe'.

First up is a hot contender for the Sword All Terrain Vehicle seen in the Annual, making its way across the dried riverbeds of New York state. This battery powered six wheeler, here ably demonstrated by Commander Bill Janson, is a mid 1980's toy by Buddy L. Generally seen as a close competitor to Tonka and making a lot of heavy duty, pressed steel models, this is an all plastic vehicle with a stick shift gear system in the back. Attempting to capitalise on the sudden influx of 3.5 inch action figures in the wake of Star Wars, Buddy L made the vehicle to fit these figures and therby grab a slice of the figure market as well.

A solid and heavy vehicle, with powerful climbing action and full reverse gears, the ATV originally arrived in garish orange and white livery. Seeing an opportunity for a retro makeover,I piled in with airbrush and masking tape to try and give the vehicle a more NASA-like feel as I felt it was a little too 'modern' for the classic Sword fleet.

Woodsy signing off for my hols. WOTAN, you have the comm!

UFO MOVIE

There's talk of a new UFO movie! What are the chances of UFO/SWORD crossover (a la Imai kits) vehicles like the Moon Crawler, Scramble Bug or Moon Prospector appearing?

Woodsy

So Near, So Sea Sword by WOTAN

One area that is sadly missed out in the SWORD range is the submarine, despite the annual covering the deep sea recovery vehicle, Diver 1 and the Hovercraft Sea Sword, there were never any toy manifestations of these designs.

A little known company Europa, came up with a rare toy called the SF Jet Boat Mk1, possibly in the late sixties, but probably the early seventies, judging by the box artwork. Theres an Art. 7220 number featured on the box and Patent pending - Hong Kong on the wing.

The toy itself is a really unusual design, resembling a jet fighter, but functioning as a hydroplane using a propellor mounted inside the hull, drawing water through two large vents at the front. Unfortunately, although the engine nacelle lights up, the motor refuses to run. As the build is especially good, I cant get the hul lopen to fix it! Cosmetically, the model is very reminiscent of a SWORD toy in terms of basic design and also in the gorgeously illustrated box art. I havent been able to find any other toy by Europa or if there were ever any other toys in this series - although I do remember seeing something very similar in a box/blister pack in deep blue and silver plastic, called an X-20 or similar which had a vaned engine and sleek fins.

WOTAN