Saturday, February 23, 2008

Space 1999 - Eagle Transporter

Space 1999 was a British TV series produced by Gerry Anderson, famous for the TV series Thunderbirds. Martin Landau (Commander John Koenig, leader of Moonbase Alpha) and Barbara Bain (Doctor Helena Russell, head of Medical Section) were the two leads in the series. Choosing American actors as leads made me think that this was an American production when I was watching it in the 70's.

13 September, 1999 - The Moon is blasted out of Earth's orbit by a nuclear explosion, causing it to be sent hurtling out into deep space and taking the stranded inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha on it on a fantastic and perilous journey. Key to the crew's survival is the Eagle Transporter, the primary spacecraft of Moonbase Alpha.

Released in the UK (Product Enterprise) in January 2004 and Japan (Aoshima version) in February 2004, this Eagle Transporter was the first in a series of Gerry Anderson vehicles for collectors. Subsequently other versions of the Eagle appeared. This was a Diecast metal model with a detachable Pod (secured with two spring latches).








Eagle Transporter without pod; showing only the command module and the superstructure - containing the landing gears, access corridor, aft compartment and the main propulsion system.



The service pod - the Eagle could be outfitted with different pods for different missions


Next up: Space 1999 Laboratory Eagle with Booster Rockets

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do I get my hands on one of these (Eagle Transporter) in Singapore?

alex teo said...

These were on sale sometime ago and it might be hard to find one in the shops now :( but you can try China Square Central where there are a number of shops still selling older stuff. Try Vincent Ng's vintage toys shop on the first floor.

Anonymous said...

Alex, thanks for the info. Will find time to stop by.

alex teo said...

No problems :) hope you find what you are looking for CHEERS