A couple or so posts back I showed you the JAMES BOND 007 secret agent set and mentioned the REDBOX 707 knock-off - well, here it is. As I said, not exactly the same as the LONE STAR set, but not completely without its own appeal. Incidentally, I still have the box for this - saw it just a few weeks back, but have now forgotten where I put it. When I discover it again, I'll scan it and add it to this post. (Update: Now done.) Apparently this set first appeared in the 1960s, but I bought this one in the late '80s or early '90s - from ARGOS of all places. I think it's a superb wee set, and am gutted that I'm now too old to play with it. Mind you, that can be said for a lot of things about me these days. (Just remember, you're responsible for your own innuendo.)
And below is the version from the 1960s. Did you have either of these sets when you were a kiddie? Tell all.
And as promised, here's the box for the one I have. Don't you wish you owned this great Special Agent Set? Betcha do!
I may be repeating myself here.
ReplyDeleteI had the Captain Canaveral set sometime in the early seventies.
It was a Captain Scarlet copy.
I have searched online for it but never found it,it was crap anyway,
but as you well know there may be a memory trigger when I see it.
I was not too bothered because I also received the SPV that christmas.
My brother had the Joe 90 set,the real McCoy,not Joe 80 or something.
While on holiday abroad with my kids we saw lots of copies of super hero
figures and toys which were hilariously wrong.
One of my boys wanted them regardless of explanation.
He is a transformers freak now (go figure) and recently bought a copy from Japan of a transformer which he
assured me was better than the original!
Why?
Better plastic!
You probably know there is a collectors market for copies and knock-offs,in a recent episode of
Comic Book Men (t.v. show set in jay and Silent Bob's comics shop) a customer brought
in a Robocop figure (from Turkey or Greece,not sure) which was so wrong it now has a value exceeding the real version.
Some of those type of figures turn up in pound shops, Baab, and you can usually tell who they're based on. I've got a keyring attached to a figure that strongly resembles Homer Simpson, but isn't. You'd have to look twice though, to spot the difference. I don't use it, it hangs on a wall in a room somewhere. The same thing happened to Action Man in the '60s - there was no end of AM knock-offs back then.
ReplyDeleteThe addition of the brief case with the shaped compartments for the gear would have made this the far more appealing choice for young me. Even if the component parts were more cheaply made, the "tool kit" case had a high cool factor.
ReplyDeleteAnd, while i may be the source of my own innuendo, i make it a point to never be responsible for it.
Yeah, it's a great wee set, ain't it? Reminds me a bit of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. one I used to have.
ReplyDelete(Comment originally posted 31 December 2017 at 04:48.)
I had the Red Box 707 set from Argos. In fact I think I had 3 or 4 of them over the time they were available in the 80's. They were the first thing on my list, circled in the catalogue, as I always lost the plastic bullets (which packed a lunch with the spring loading if I remember rightly) and the handcuffs soon bent out of shape.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I remember this rightly but they were £7.99 if memory serves (the last set I got at £9.99). Everytime I see a Nerf gun today I tell my wife that this set was the real deal.
Would always watch the James Bond movies with my grandad and have this by my side, pretending to use my passport to fly to Venice and take spy photos with what might be the cheapest fake camera I've ever seen. That backup mini pistol always in my sock.
Great memories.
If anyone's ever selling one Of be interested to buy (definitely the Red Box version though with the black gun, as I never liked the orange one).
Yeah, it's a great wee set, for sure. Hope you track one down. I'd suggest searching ebay every so often, as everything comes up for sale there eventually. Thanks for sharing your memories.
ReplyDeleteJust checked ebay. There's two sets for sale now. However, one is incomplete, and the other, while complete, has the red gun. They're not cheap.
ReplyDeleteI never got over collecting toys, and was a collector of Corgi and Lesney models for many years. Nowadays I am a collector of any toy that interests me, or I can remember as a boy but never had the toy in question. I also have a Redbox agent 707 attaché case which I have owned for quite a few years. I have now decided to sell it on eBay. It does have a badge missing and a few bullets. God, I am going to really miss it when it’s finally sold
ReplyDeleteWhy sell it? And will you be looking for a complete one once it's gone? I've had my Red Box case for many more years than I ever had its childhood equivalent, so I just couldn't ever consider selling it.
ReplyDeleteHi Kid,
ReplyDeleteI have been slimming down my collection for quite a few years as my son and daughter have no interest in what I have acquired over the years. If I don’t sell them myself I think they would just put everything over to an auction house or give them away. My grand kids have a lot of interest in them, but they would have as they are children.
My 707 attaché case has now sold on eBay. I accepted an offer of £100 for it.
Was that the one that had the 707 badge missing?
ReplyDelete