7 replies to this topic

[Redshirt#7]

While I realise it's a Star Trek forum, I know a few members around are fans, so I thought I'd post a celebratory topic.

 

Today, the supermarionation series "Thunderbirds", telling the story of a family run rescue organisation in 2065, turns 50 today, having being first broadcast on the 30th September, 1965. Lots of new stuff is going on for the 50th, new books such as the Vault (in the same vein as the Trek one, and as good personally) and a re-release of a cross section book, new toys coming from Corgi, a special (and somewhat elusive) magazine, loads of miscellaneous goods (chess, postcards etc), and moreover, three new, classic, episodes!

 

For those that aren't aware, back in 65 they got the original cast to do three, fifteen minute vinyl records, brand new stories, but audio only. Enter Stephen La Riviere and his team in July this year, the folks behind the documentary "Made In Supermarionation". They proposed to make footage, 100% authentic as possible, to the vinyl records.

 

£218,412 later, via 3,378 backers on Kickstarter, and against the odds, they started production, and today, the intro for one of the new episodes, "The Abominable Snowman", has been released by them:

 

 

So I have to ask to the fans here, what was your favourite scene, or memory you have of Thunderbirds?

 

For me, it's a close call between the atomic airliner Fireflash landing on the Elevators Cars, road builder Eddie Houseman and his explosives tractor being lifted from a crumbling mountain with the magnetic grabs, anything with the Firefly in, or moreover, Thunderbird 2 being shot down by the USN Sentinel. That last one really showed, for me at least, that even the heroes weren't invincible and weren't above being shot down, even if it were in this case accidental friendly fire. 

 

Hope no one minds this being posted!

 

 

[robster]

Absolutley FANTASTIC! LOVE Thunderbirds! Even enjoy the new series. And yes,I'm one the three who liked the live action movie. I took it for what it was,a very entertaining kids movie,and the 8 year old in me loved it! And the Trek connection is of course there,as it was directed by Jonathan Frakes. I really wish they had Patrick as the Hood and not Ben K though.

 

And this looks just BRILLIANT! Can't wait for the full episodes.

 

My fave episodes or moments are plentiful. I love both movies from the time,Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6. I like a lot of the episodes. Let's see....Trapped in the Sky,Move -And You're Dead,Cry Wolf,Attack of the Alligators,Martian Invasion,Terror in New York City,Vault of Death,Give or Take A Million,and a few others. I sometimes get my box set out and watch a few episodes. Yes,it's the same every week......some kinda rescue,and some fun.....but it's just so great to watch,and through the years I've just come to love it even more. As a kid it was the said rescues and all the cool tech,later years it's still that but also how much work went into making this such a great show.

 

And the merchandise! OMG! LOVE it! I still have some of it,not much of the old stuff though. My fave was always the Dinky Toys version of FAB 1,Lady P's RR,and STILL the best version ever made,IMO. I still have my Tracy Island Powertech transforming playset. Never got round to getting the BIG TI playset though,should probably get the new version,lol. I also have a few versions of the vehicles,TB 1,2,3 and 4. Only TB5 I have is the movie version. They don't really do TB5 much,lol. Also have movie version FAB 1. Looking forward to seeing what Corgi bring out.

 

So in my retro mode......where Six Million Dollar Man and Greatest American Hero are on top of the list,lol......Thunderbirds is right up there with'em. Can't beat a good,fun,exciting,well made,family show.

 

J-R!

[robster]

And thank you Redshirt,for starting this thread.

 

J-R!

[Jay K]

http://www.itv.com/n...ake-a-comeback/

AMAZING news about the Vinyl stories, I really can't wait! In a way, this is like CBS turning round and saying, "Here's a few episodes more of TNG and DS9.

My favourite moment is definitely Fireflash landing on the cars. Also, seeing the show turn 50, it allows me to see I've now been alive longer than the show was on the air before I was born (20 vs 30). Insane. lol

[Redshirt#7]

Thanks both!
 
robster
Glad to see a fan of the new series, lots of people have been giving it a hard time, and while I definitely think there's room for improvement, I still very much enjoy it and think it's a worthy successor. I must admit, I didn't like the 04 film, but in no part was that because of Frakes like so many people paint it as. It had so much potential...still, I liked most of the redesigns, TB1, 2, and 3 in particular were nice takes on the original's for me.
That would've been brilliant, Stewart as the Hood.
 
100% agree. Christmas can't come sooner!
 
So many great episodes you've named there, though I was never a big fan of the two films, I guess when compared to lots of the superb series episodes, the stories drew short with me. And in some ways, I'm biased in liking the look of Season 1 over the films/Season 2's look, the Tracy Villa for instance with it's bright red's, green's, and beige's compared to the gold and black finish they had for the films. That may sound silly or petty, but as a kid it was a big thing to have such differences. 
 
For me, in addition to the one's you mentioned, I always liked Security Hazard. It was a clip show, sure, but it had some great moments. Another outing of Eddie Houseman's truck, this time as a fire truck for International Rescue (I love that design), the first time you see TB2 return to base in normal conditions (i.e. no ploughing into the runway in a big fireball ala Terror in New York City), seeing what happens when someone hitches a lift to the Island ("Come out or we'll blast you out!"), and the interaction between Jeff and his sons. Even the clips, slightly edited so it looks good on whoever is telling the story (i.e. Alan doesn't mention TB3 almost crashing into the Sun, Virgil doesn't mention the faulty magnetic grabs, Scott doesn't mention the faulty Elevator Car etc), much like most of us do when recounting something, or telling a story, exaggerating it,(like Kor in DS9).
 
I can relate to that, every so often, I take the boxset out and watch a few old favourites, or one I haven't seen in a while. Amazing, watching back as an adult I find, some of the little things you pick up on that so very well add characterization to certain characters. Virgil and Gordon teasing Alan on Houseman running off with his girl, Tin-Tin for instance.
 
I don't have a blu ray player, but I have seen some clips on Youtube of the show in HD, and it's stunning, despite the fact I didn't think you could exceed the already superb detail on the DVD's personally. The amount of detail people like Derek Meddings put in is absolutely stunning, my appreciation only grows when re-watching, you always pick up something new in the picture.
 
Sounds like a fantastic collection! I'd agree with you over the Dinky Fab 1, toy companies like Corgi and Matchbox seem to make it too "squished", whereas others, like Vivid imaginations, make a good body but hideous detail inside. The powertech island is excellent, great to have a Island with interior detail (and I love the mini craft in the set, I've sat most of them on Micro Machine bases to make myself an "unofficial" MM set).
John and TB5 always seem to get left out, in reality it was because the likeness for John was sculpted on a man Sylvia Anderson had a crush on. Gerry Anderson, Sylvia's husband, hated this, and exiled him to TB5. Even in TB5 heavy episodes, like Operation Crash-Dive, John's sitting around the pool doing nothing while Alan's up doing all the work (and getting all the screentime). The bigger classic Island is very nice, but it takes up a lot of space! (the new one is 55cm wide, and about double the height of the classic!).
 
I don't want to seem like I'm bragging here, but I got my Holy Grail of Thunderbirds Merchandise recently, the Hot Wheels pod vehicles. I'm not sure how it goes for you in Norway, but in England we get a TB4 every 5 years, a Mole and a Firefly every 10, and if we're really lucky, and I mean lucky, a Recovery Vehicle every 25. To have things like the Transmitter truck, the DOMO, the Fire Truck and a decent Firefly is just fantastic, and somewhat surreal.
 
I couldn't agree more, and thank you Robster!
 
 
Jay K
Thanks for the link!  It is isn't it, I only hope they make use of the rebuilt sets, the puppets, and the props to make more episodes (in the same vein as "Star Trek Continues").
 
What I'd give to have even fifteen more minutes of DS9...
 
That is pretty insane, I'm in my early 20's, never thought of it like that!
 
 
And we have some news folks, here's the Corgi range:
http://fanderson.org...nderbirds-toys/
 
People have got mixed feeling about this. On one hand, it's new classic stuff, which is always good. On the other, though, Fab 1 and TB2 look to be straight re-releases of the 40th anniversary models, and TB1 and 3 have got a few problems (size distortion, wrong lettering on TB3's boosters etc). What do you think?  

[robster]

Oh I loved it ALL when I was a kid! Anything from Gerry,and of course Star Trek,Lost in Space....also an anniversary this year btw.....,Time Tunnel,Land of the Giants,Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,Dr.Who,Six Million Dollar Man,Bionic Woman,Tomorrow People,Buck Rogers,Flash Gordon,Superman,Batman,Spider-Man,Battlestar Galactica,Star Wars,....and then the 80's came along and I loved it ALL all over again,lol! So many,MANY shows and movies back then. But Thunderbirds and Star Trek was always my first love.

 

Not really liking the Corgi stuff,just the same ones and some with a few tweaks. I was looking at some other site that had pics of the Dinky toys FAB 1,just to make sure I remembered correctly,and I did. Still THE best one. I agree with you on how everyone else made it look. Is it really that hard to get it right?

 

Congrats on getting your holy grail! It truly is a gorgeous set,and I would LOVE to get one at some point. Do you have TB 2 to go with it? Is it a mix of diecast and plastic?

 

Yeah, I heard how Gerry always hated John and therefore didn't give him much to do,lol!

 

The big TI playsets are gorgeous but they do take up a lot of space,and probably one of the reasons I haven't bought one yet. I also want Cloudbase from Captain Scarlet.

 

I don't really have too many holy grails. I have two in the bionics section,which I'm not really into right now....yeah,attention span moved on,lol!.....,a couuple of Trek ones,two Thunderbirds ones,and maybe a Who or three,and a GAH one. I used to have some in the SW department,but that's kinda on and off. It's stuff I used to have,and some of it isn't TOO hard to find,but I want it in mint condition,no missing parts,and not be too faded. My friend who gave me the good deal on some bionic stuff last year at NYCC,usually has good condition stuff but is sometimes way overpriced,but I usually talk him down to a price I can live with,lol. Looking forward to seeing his booth on Thursday. Also hoping to ask Ben from Eaglemoss about a Gerry Anderson vehicle collection,I would LOVE that!

 

Also hoping to pick up the recent Thunderbirds bookazine,by the same two guys who did the Vault. It's out now and looks.....FAB! lol

 

J-R!

[richpit]

I never actually watched the series, but I love the ships.  I actually just found my Thunderbird 2 from when I was around 13.  It's still in OK shape, but I don't have the little Thunderbird 4 that should go with it. 

 

I'll definitely get one of these new ones. 

[Redshirt#7]

robster

So many fantastic shows and films you've named there, I grew up a bit later (born in 90), but thanks to my father and other members of my family, I watched many of them! For me, it was Dr Who (3rd Doctor, John Pertwee), Star Trek (TOS and TNG, but I really got into DS9 as I grew up), and Thunderbirds (I watched Scarlet, UFO, and a number of Gerry's other shows when I was slightly older), but I still have fond memories of watching shows and films like Batman, Superman, Six Million Dollar Man, The Munsters, Star Wars (though I was never a huge fan), Battlestar Galactica, The Tomorrow People, The Twilight Zone, and other shows like The Prisoner, Blake's 7, and the early 80's Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy series as a kid. 

 

I have to agree, it seems very half hearted. FAB 1 and TB2 are essentially straight re-releases from the last anniversary releases, ten years ago, and the new TB1 and 3 seem very half done, wrong proportions etc. While that may sound harsh, I think for the 50th a little more effort would've went a long way, plus, I would've loved some new models as well (a large Thunderbird 5, Alan's red racing car from “Move – and your dead”, the Hood's sub or desert jeep/half track, Fireflash...).

 

Your right about the Dinky FAB 1, no one, except maybe Vivid, has got the flat and wide body shape correct (Vivid's, though good as a toy, is no replica with plastic wheels and dodgy interior).

 

At the moment, I don't have the Aoshima TB2, though it along with the "expansion pack" are things I'm looking for. In the meantime, I bought the large 1990's Matchbox version, and added paint here and there to make it more accurate (the pod ramp, the magnetic locks on the pod, the floodlights, the VTOL thrusters etc).

 

The vehicles themselves are indeed a mix of plastic and diecast, the bases for each of the vehicles and the main body mould are, bar the Mole, all diecast, while the wheels/rollers/static tire tracks and extra detail (like detailing on the Transmitter Truck's front wheels, and the Firefly's blade) are a hard plastic, though some incorporate a PVC-like plastic (the DOMO's lifting arms, the Transmitter Truck's dish, the Fire Truck's rear fire hose). If your interested, here's a picture I took of the Fire Truck with the modified Matchbox TB2:

 

 

(shameless self-plug: here's a link to my flickr gallery of the set if you'd like to see some of the others (the Excavator and Elevator Car 1 are in the repair shop at the moment, though) )

 

I was watching an episode the other day, and found another case of John side-lining, in “The Uninvited”. When Alan replaces John at TB5, and John heads back to the island with Scott, only Scott came up with the Couch in the lounge (sure, he could've stayed to do some repairs on TB3, but I'm more convinced his mysterious disappearance for the duration of the show has something to do with Gerry). It's something I like with the new 2015 series, John's less sidelined and gets more of a role.

 

Cloudbase is beautiful, I'd definitely recommend it. If you do get it, I'd recommend the second Cloudbase from the 2000's. Accurately coloured, and the little playset of the “bridge”, Colonel White's desk and Lt Green's console for micro figures, is brilliant to have I feel.

 

Hope the booth worked out! An Anderson vehicle collection... now that would be something! They were going to do some models for the comic collection Eaglemoss were doing (TB2, Stingray, and an SPV), but it never made it off the ground. Imagine all the stuff they could make, you could easily get up to ninety or one hundred with no effort with all the cool guest vehicles in Stingray, Thunderbirds, Scarlet, Joe 90, and UFO in particular.

 

The book is FAB! I live in the UK, but do you think I could find it? I travelled to all the WHSmith stores in a 15 miles radius of where I live, nothing. In the end, I found out I could get it for a couple pounds more on eBay, suffice as to say, I took it! I'd highly recommend both the Vault and the Bookazine, the content is similar but different enough to make it worth getting both, if you can. In particular, the Bookazine has some superb interviews, and some interesting stuff regarding the scenes added to make the first ten episodes or so an hour long.

 

All this talk of the Six Million Dollar Man at this time of the year, reminds me of this scene from one of my favourite Christmas films, Scrooged.

 

richpit

I bet that was great to find. I think I speak for anyone who had a TB2, of any make, when I say that TB4 has long since sailed off into the sunset! (there must be a fleet of them somewhere)