ONE!

During a trip to China back in 2000 a friend and I were visiting a factory and as we were taking the usual tour of the facilities we saw a prototype of this actual toy. I say prototype because they were still in the process of fitting parts and electronics, and testing some of the features. I made a comment that I loved that show when I was a kid, but we didn't have toys like this when I was a kid. The lead engineer on the project told me they would send me a sample when they went into production and a few months later this bad boy showed up on my doorstep.



So to end Thunderbird Week on a bang and have a Freebie Friday Feature I couldn't think of a better item. This is from Carlton Toys and was released in 2000 - 2001. Standing at about 15", Thunderbird 1 is full of awesome detail for a child's plaything. Besides hosting sound F/X and phrases from the show, Thunderbird 1 has working wings and landing gear, opening canopy and cockpit side hatch, plus an opening equipment storage bay. Included with this "playset" is Thunderbird 1's pilot, Scott Tracey, his hover bike and on location Mission Control Computer (remember laptops were not exactly around at this time).


If you are or were a fan of the show you will appreciate the little detail of the pilot seat that rotates as the craft assumes it's standard flight attitude. Thunderbird 1 takes of like a rocket and once in the air it levels out to fly like a plane. Words can't describe the effort that went into this toy, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.



Could you imagine getting this as a child? Carlton also released a Thunderbird 3 and Thunderbird 2 playset! How cool is that?!?

TWO!

Now we're talking this is my favorite Thunderbird, Thunderbird 2. This, to me, is the backbone of International Rescue. This is another part of the Carlton toy company, 2000, Electronic Box Set, and the main reason I purchased the set. I loved the Dinky Toy version of this ship, but for some reason I only found blue ones here in the States when I was a kid. For those that don't know, in the show Thunderbird 2 was this big, green machine. So when I saw this set I had to get it to finally get a green Thunderbird 2.

Thunderbird 2 is the "Cargo Plane" of the Thunderbirds. It's main mission is to get equipment where it is needed fast. Once on the location it hovers in for a landing and these giant legs raise the craft so the pod door can drop and the equipment can roll out. Why the pod? Simple, at Thunderbird Headquarters there are a few different pods lined up on a conveyor, so when an emergency comes across the wires for say a fire, all you do is load the firefighting pod and everything is ready to go. Need to rescue miners trapped underground, you load the Mole's pod, a tunneling craft, water calls for the Thunderbird 4 pod, and so forth. Thunderbird 2 is the ultimate in organization.


Along with phrases from the show, this Thunderbird 2 comes with one pod,Thunderbird 4, and the Mole. Working landing gear and pod door finish of a pretty nice toy. This was my first experience with Carlton toys, they do make a pretty solid toy that has good amount of play value, plus it's a cool reminder of my old, long lost Dinky Toys Thunderbird 2.

THREE!

Thunderbird 3 is another of the Carlton toy company electronic boxed set. Again released in 2000, this little rocket is the Thunderbird used for space travel and rescue missions. It is also the vehicle used to supply and change out the personnel on Thunderbird 5.

I was always amazed at how easy it was to jump in Thunderbird 3, blast off without being detected, and make orbit (a secret orbit at that) all in under 5 minutes time. Ah, the miracles of Television. Thunderbird 3 was a cool enough looking craft, but really never was my favorite of the group, maybe because I always liked how Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 4 were always in the thick of things. Thunderbird 3 just seemed to just blast off and sit back at the Thunderbird 5 Space Station the rest of the episode.

Now, I'm not trying to play down anyone's role on the team, I'm well aware that they all have important roles to fill, but when you are trapped under two tons of concrete and steal you don't want to hear that Thunderbird 3 is on the way unless you're on the moon.

FOUR!

Thunderbird 4 is a part of the Carlton toy company electronic boxed set. While this vehicle does not make any sounds itself, the others in the set each play phrases from the show. This line of Thunderbirds toys are somewhat new, being released in 2000.

If you where like me, you where first introduced to the Thunderbirds through Dinky Toys, a die cast toy line that was imported to the U.S. from England. Thunderbird 2 was one of many English properties that made the rounds, and Thunderbird 4 was included with number 2. Now it would be a little while before I would actually see the show (It would air here back in the day about 5:00 AM at first, later it would move to 6:00 AM and then in the evening during a children's cartoon show), but being a kid with a pretty active imagination, I always thought Thunderbird 4 was a shuttle craft , and Thunderbird 2 was the mother ship. I was also kind of confused as to why they were not called Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2, being they were the only two that were released then.

Well upon seeing the show I learned that thunderbird 4 was actually a submarine used by International Rescue for all it's ocean rescue missions. The craft is one of a number of vehicles carried by Thunderbird 2 into action. I guess it was the most used out of all the little crafts that it actually received the Thunderbird designation and a number.

The Dinky toy version of this craft was far less detailed, so I was happy to find that this Thunderbird 4 actually looked like it's television counterpart.

FIVE!

This is International Rescue calling... we are on our way! Thunderbird Five could be considered the the eyes and ears of International Rescue. An orbiting space station whose mission is to monitor the communications of the entire world, filtering out the most dangerous of situations and dispatching the Thunderbirds to the proper coordinates.

These Illustrations come from the Ravette Books Thunderbirds in Space title published in 1992. The cover artist is Steve Kyte, who not only gives us a cool view of Thunderbird 5, but a beauty shot of Thunderbird 3 as it passes the station. Other artists that worked on this collection of Thunderbirds stories were Fran Bellamy and Graham Bleathman. Which brings me to one of the great centerfold specification pages by Graham Bleathman that are present throughout the book.


This view of Thunderbird 5 gives us a wonderful cutaway shot of the space station complete with an item list and descriptions. Another cool bit of information is that while checking Mr. Bleathman's website out, there is a link to purchase some of his original work for this series of books, as well as some of his other work on some of the other Gerry Anderson properties.

I came upon this book when our local comic shop was clearing out it's back issue bins and had several tables on the sidewalk with all issues marked at 50 cents each. I found this title buried in with some Star Trek and other Sci-Fi titles and picked up mainly for the great illustrations.