Thursday 28 March 2019

HEY, CRIVS - DID YOU EVER OWN A JR/CENTURY 21 THUNDERBIRD 2 TOY? (UPDATED A FEW TIMES)...



Regular readers of this blog may be forgiven for labouring under the impression that I was a spoiled child in my younger years.  After all, I've previously related a few reminiscences about looking into shop windows and asking my mother to buy me a particular toy, only for her to acquiesce to my earnest pleas.  However, this is a totally false impression, as the number of times I was refused far outweighs the few times I got a result.  On two separate occasions a couple of years apart, my entreaties to my parents to buy me a CECIL COLEMAN SUPERCAR were rebuffed in no uncertain terms (as were my requests for various other things in between).  I'd first spied this very desirable toy on an end-of-aisle display in my local SAFEWAY, but my mother was resolute and declined to buy it for me.

The second time I laid eyes on it was in Glasgow's famous BARRAS market and, despite costing less than its Safeway doppelganger, the answer was still a resounding no.  When I eventually managed to obtain one decades later, it cost me a whopping £350.  So rest assured, I didn't always (or even nearly always) get what I wanted whenever I asked, it's just that, in relating these tales from childhood, I've chosen the few-and-far-between instances when the answer was yes, but taken out of context, it looks like "yes" was the answer a disproportionate number of times.

Which brings me to a day trip to Ayr with my family in 1967 or '68.  We were sitting on a bench in a park near the seafront, when I spotted a fellow youth running over the neatly-kept lawned areas on either side of the pathway, holding aloft an actual THUNDERBIRD 2.  I immediately coveted it and drew my mother's attention to the wondrous toy.  Maybe she was feeling guilty about all the things my brother got and decided to redress the balance a bit by purchasing a toy for me.  (Now he was spoiled; cycles, cycle accessories, all sorts of stuff, you name it - if he wanted it, it seems, in the distant caverns of memory, that he got it.)  She asked the boy where he had obtained the TB2 and he pointed to a shop across the road, and faster than a fart from The FLASH, I was the proud owner of a JR21 Thunderbird 2.  It was a magnificent toy to someone of my age, and I have many happy memories of it.  I even took it in to school with me one day and the teacher put it on display on top of a waist-high cupboard next to the blackboard, as I looked on proudly at the apple of my eye.


I remember playing with it in bed (right, any more of that, you smutty lot, and you'll be ejected), and it was probably my favourite toy - at least, it was until another favourite toy came along.  It was quite fragile though, and one of the 'pegs' which kept the pod door in place eventually broke, and I had to fashion a replacement peg out of cardboard in order to maintain the door's functionality.  Eventually, TB2 must have been sent to the place where all the other discarded toys of my childhood went to (toy heaven), where they doubtless sat around moaning about what a careless, fickle, cruel and heartless owner I'd been.

Anyway, today I received a long-overdue replacement for that JR21 TB2.  If you had one of these toys as a kid, you may remember experiencing a slight sense of disappointment when you opened the box and found an out-of-scale plastic jeep in place of an actual Thunderbirds vehicle.  (That's the one I had also.)  However, take a look at the photo above and seethe with jealousy.  What you're looking at is one of the rarer versions that contained a TB4, which makes it immensely rare, hugely collectable and ridiculously expensive.  There were only a few hundred ever produced with the TB4 and I've got one.  Or at least I would have if I wasn't lying through my teeth in order to induce feelings of envy, frustration, and lust in your heavily-palpitating breasts.  Yes, that's right, I'm kidding - the TB4 is one that came free with packets of KELLOGG'S SUGAR SMACKS back in the '60s.  (Had you going there for a moment, eh?)  Looks the part though, doesn't it?  This is the way the toy should've been issued back then, instead of with a poxy little jeep, don't you agree?

And yet... and yet... that wee jeep was part of my childhood and I'd like to own it again.  My newly-arrived TB2 came in its original box but sans jeep and I won't be completely (but temporarily) fulfilled until I can once more place it in its pod where it belongs.  If I'd been prepared to spend around £120 more, I could have bought one with a jeep, but it's not quite worth that (or anywhere near it) - not in my view anyway.  So, dear readers, do any of you have a spare JR21 jeep you'd be prepared to sell me at a reasonable price?  If so, get in touch via the comments section and help me reunite my TB2 with its little green vehicle.  Then we can all live happily ever after.  (Wouldn't that be nice?)




And, in answer to PS's request (see comments section), below is someone else's TB2 along with the original jeep.  Shame its wings are on backwards, eh?  (The TB2, not the jeep.)


Update: And below, in a photo taken nearly 50 years after the event, is the very classroom in which my TB2 was displayed back in the '60s.  In my day, it had more traditional desks (ones with lids and inkwells) and wooden seats, and my toy sat on the left (as we look at it) of the blackboard, on top of the shelf.  Can't quite recall if that smaller, narrow bookcase just under the clock was there in my day, but it could well have been - in which case (and if there was space) my TB2 would've sat in front of it.  I do remember books on top of the shelf though (one of which was MARY POPPINS, and another, one of the OZ books I think), so they may have sat in that bookcase.

I took this photo, amongst many others, towards the end of 2013, and the school was demolished at the beginning of 2014.  I wish I'd obtained my replacement toy back then, as you can bet your boots I'd have placed it on the shelf before taking the photo, just to re-create the moment.  Never mind, at least the two images co-exist in the same post, which is the next best thing. 


Another update: Still haven't managed to track down an original jeep, but I was able to secure a 'stand-in', though it isn't an exact double.  However, for display purposes, it looks pretty good - and I reckon that if you had this toy as a kid but hadn't seen one in years, you probably wouldn't know the jeep was an 'impostor'.


Yet another update: Success!  Finally managed to obtain an original jeep.  That's it below.  It took years, but I got there in the end.


25 comments:

AirPiratePress said...

I've got a Dinky one (Thunderbird 2, ye mad mental, ye) ...

Alan

Kid said...

Phew! Thank goodness you were talking about a TB2, Al. This isn't the Jeremy Kyle show you know. Talking of Dinky TB2s - I've got four. Always was a greedy buggah, me.

Phil S said...

I absolutely had TB2! Alas I don’t recall a Jeep. Have you got a pic?

Kid said...

I've got a pic somewhere in my files, PS. I'll add it shortly. This is a large plastic toy of TB2, not the Dinky diecast that Al mentioned.

WOODSY said...

You're a full on vintage toy collector Kid! Supercar and now a JR21 TB2! Superb! Its a gorgeous toy and I love the depth of your memories about it. You really have got a clear memory generally of your childhood, which I'd love to have but sadly I'm all fogged up. I had the JR21 TB2 as well but that's all I can say on the matter. I did a post about a collectors rare sweet filled JR21 TB2 years ago. I think it was Somportex that teamed up with JR21 for a few models. As for the Jeep [is it a Land Rover?] I've come across the red one more often than the green but I shall keep my eyes peeled and alert the Tracy brothers should I locate one. Congrats on an ace toy and enjoy the second childhood!

Kid said...

I think it's a Land Rover, Woodsy, but I wouldn't know one vehicle from another (not counting Bubble Cars, Batmobiles, AM DB5s, Chitty, and such like). I've seen it referred to as a Land Rover so it probably is. I think I saw the post you mention. That's when manufacture of the TB2 was switched from Hong Kong (Empire Made, which is the one I've got) to Britain. The theory is that the moulds for the friction-drive part weren't shipped with the rest of the moulds, so the toy was issued without it for a while, with sweets instead. A sticker was placed over the box where it said 'Friction-Drive'. Or maybe it isn't a theory, but actual fact. Incidentally, it's not my second childhood, I just never left my first one.

Lionel Hancock said...

I'm like everybody else and have the Dinky version. I thought that was best of all...Looking at the photos you have posted a JR21TB2 looks great. Was it the same size or larger. I do have a terrific plastic Thunderbird 3 though which is about 18 inches high

Kid said...

The JR21 TB2 is 10 inches long, LH, and is a more accurate representation of the overall shape of the craft. The pod is slightly shorter than it should be, but it needs to be to allow for the friction-drive motor at the back of the base of TB2. (The pod's visually divided into five 'slices' rather than six.) I was actually quite surprised at just how good it actually is, looks-wise, and it compares favourably to more recent models (as in over the last 25-odd years) of Thunderbird 2.

Incidentally, you'll probably know this, but there was more than one version of the Dinky version. There was the first green one, then a metallic blue one (as well as the early ones being riveted, and later ones held together by screws), then there was a larger metallic blue one in the '70s, which was initially all diecast metal (apart from the exhausts). Then Dinky changed the base to plastic, which came in black and also white. I'm not 100% sure, but perhaps there was also a plastic base in metallic blue to match the upper chassis.

I've got two small green ones, one small blue one, and one larger blue one (with metal base). I'm not really interested in the plastic-base ones. The Matchbox version from the early '90s is a more accurate shape, and Corgi based their version on the Matchbox one, but with very minor revisions as to detailing.

Kid said...

Oh, also meant to say, if that large TB3 of yours is the Vivid Imagination one, I've got it too, as well as their TB1 and TB2. Matchbox also did a large TB2 'playset' in the early '90s which is very nice.

Lionel Hancock said...

Yep its the Vivid Imagination one

Kid said...

If I recall correctly, I got mine from Woolworths in Rutherglen sometime in the late '90s or early '00s. A nice reminder of childhood and a much-missed shop.

Lionel Hancock said...

I bought mine off Ebay around 2005

Kid said...

The TB1 is very nice, LH. One to add to your collection perhaps?

WOODSY said...

Kid. You've probably seen all these already but I've got time on my hands! I've had a look round for JR21 Landrover lookalikes on Ebay. There's a Norwegian toy outfit called Tomte who released small red LR's, the downside being the two people sat in the front seats. Matchbox Lesney issued a small green Landrover No.12, often misnamed as a Jeep on Ebay so check Lesney jeeps too. There's a couple of cheap Lesneys on Ebay now. The best lookalike I've found is a plastic red one, unfortunately in the States, but pretty damn close. 2 inches in length and a similar windscreen! See what you think https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1960s-Land-Rover-Trailer-Made-in-Hong-Kong/133378324160?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

Kid said...

Thanks, Woodsy, I'll take a look. The Matchbox Lesney ones are diecast, so I couldn't use one of them seeing as how the original JR21 jeep is plastic. I'll have a look at that Stateside one. Thanks for your efforts.

Kid said...

The jeep does look similar, but I think it's soft plastic rather than hard like the JR21 one, and the windshield isn't a separate piece like the JR21 version (and it's broken). I'd buy it though if it were green, 'cos that's the colour my original one was. Thanks again for all your time and effort.

WOODSY said...

No probs Kid. Gives me something to do in solitary!

Kid said...

I find that I just sleep a lot - at least it passes the time.

WOODSY said...

I doubt it will help in your search for a green landrover Kid as you've already got the TB2 but have you seen this coming up in 2 days? Sadly no windscreen [repro's available] https://www.vectis.co.uk/lot/jr21-j-rosenthal-thunderbirds_537589

WOODSY said...

Ignore that Kid! Just seen its 2014! Doh! Lockdown is addling my brain, soz!

Kid said...

Nevertheless, your efforts on my behalf are greatly appreciated, Woodsy. Thanks.

Neil7 said...

I've failed to find any picture/information about the little TB4 that came with TB2. Did this really exist? Can anyone point me to any picture or info please. The TB fandom page doesn't mention it: https://thunderbirds.fandom.com/wiki/JR_21_Toys_(J.Rosenthal)
I do have the little green Jeep & the Mole and would appreciate any help you can give.

Kid said...

For a full explanation, read again the 5th paragraph down - I think you must've missed a bit.

Neil7 said...

Thanks for the post Kid, the 5th paragraph & pictures (all taken at the same time) all appear to be of the Kellogg TB4. Am I misinterpreting it? Are the pictures the real TB4 from JR21.
I have recently purchased the Kellogg 1966 version (stamped on the underside) and wonder, did JR21 see this and decided to reproduce it themselves later at the end of the run of their TB2s?

Kid said...

I get the impression that you haven't read the blog post properly, N7. As clearly explained in paragraph 5, I was 'lying through my teeth' (as in kidding) about the TB4 being part of the JR21 TB2. I think you need to re-read the post from the beginning, slowly and carefully, and all will be revealed.



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