Left to right: "Space: 1999" Eagle Transport (1976), Zee Toys Firebird 1, Firebird 2, "Space Missile" and Hot Wheels' "Spacer Racer" (1978). Have had that Eagle since at least my 10th birthday, the Spacer Racer and the Firebirds ships all obtained within the past year.
"Dirigible Mooring Station" painting from 2018.
Marked "Thunder Bird" Made in Taiwan in 1978. Have seen variations on this model's sticking & also painted white. Rare shot of its wings neatly folded in as the spring clasp is either shot or never quite worked right in the first place. Note the super chinsey Dollar Store or worse wheels. That thing won't roll anywhere. It will skid like skates on ice, then flop over on its side.
More impressive as a static rocket. In fact, badass.
"THUNDER BIRD / MADE IN TAIWAN"
"Thunder Bird 3" with busted upper pylon from having been fired out of their Rocket Launching accessory & gone into an uncontrolled skid and resultant collision. I am convinced that the real purpose of the thing was to destroy the toys and force parents to purchase replacements. Brilliant marketing ploy though the toy line flopped, accounting for its current scarcity + competitive pricing on even compromised examples like this.
"THUNDER BIRD 3 / MADE IN TAIWAN"
"Space Missile" ... Right. Derived from Thunderbird Two's "Mole" vehicle, but I guess that would have been confusing, so just package it as a US Air Force buzz bomb. Also came in blue and accounting for the fourth vehicle in the line. Pretty sure that's the entire range, with variations on their coloring or stick-on labels as further reason to spend more money on them. Not many people did, and sealed examples fetch quite the respectable sum.
Gorgeous. Definitely the most impressive of the group and if I dare say, this example has just the perfect amount of surface wear. And I am pretty sure this is the only one of the three with actual tampo printing. The rest are all just cheap stick-on decals. So this is the one to score.
No markings on "Space Missile". Dig the wheels. Just ... awful.
That screw is curiously placed ... Likely connecting the device on the rear which turns it, I would imagine.
Yeah that is.
And the strangest part about it all is that I have absolutely no interest in the better known licensed "Thunderbirds" toys. Maybe a "Thunderbird 3" cos it's a cool rocket, but nah. I'd rather have the cheapo knockoffs & Hong Kong made derivations on other Gerry Anderson properties -- Pirated Toys, and these count even if they were licensed. Exception being my elite die cast Eagle Transport, which turned up in a drawer unlooked for back in March to help spur me on to ditching Hot Wheels for vintage Space Toys.
Got it for my 10th birthday in January 1977 (childhood toys and the significance of their gifting a heavy point on this Toys as Art project). Also got the utility belt with the disc shooting Space: 1999 hand weapon, which actually lasted into my teenage years.
Thing has been everywhere with me, and apparently sat bagged up with an old battery for a few years, providing the battle damage on that forward starboard pylon.
The thing went everywhere with me, likely because it was small enough to sneak along in whatever was going to school or on a trip. Even just out riding bikes. That it survived at all is a miraculous gift from someone who got bored quick with CNY retailers not keeping up with current Hot Wheels & Matchbox releases. Decided I wanted more of these, and Walmart won't have em.
They won't have a Spacer Racer either. I would have been all over this when I was 11, never heard of it prior to last winter. Example believed to be complete and I waited to find one which had near mint but out of the box condition. Been meaning to pick up a still carded unit, and it was also made in yellow but without the gun mount.
Gun will rotate 360 degrees. In fact ...
Very interesting, and I like the ball joint. Pops right back in, the ease of removal and subsequent loss by little fingers likely explaining so many incomplete units going around.
Vaguely anthropomorphic design with that yellow tongue hanging down but definitely not a dino kid car. You can find em loose for $10 - $15 shipped (US), carded about the same on a good day. Double that for the yellow variant, which missing its gun just isn't quite the same.
Excavation Site Four, Iapetus Research Colony.
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