Processed Plastics Apollo Moon Rocket

Processed Plastics made some really cool toys back in the day and I've already said that I had the missile featured this past few days. Here's one I don't recall having back then - but I do now! :-) They marketed this as an 'Apollo Moon Rocket' but obviously that is a toy maker's fantasy because as you well know, the Apollo capsules carried three astronauts, not two as in the toy and of course the capsule itself is clearly a Gemini outline. The capsule sits atop the last stage of the rocket, and like the missile on the USAF Surface-to-air Missile featured this week, when the release levers are pressed the spring-loaded capsule goes shooting off. Each stage separates (by hand) so a young 'un can make believe his rocket is flying into orbit releasing each stage just at the right moment. The toy measures 13 1/4" (33.65cm) H and 2 1/4" (5.71cm) diameter overall. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Pic culled from the Internet which in turn was culled from fleaBay but shows the original packaging

Attribution unknown

Here's the Processed Plastics space fleet as it stands today

Processed Plastics Co. No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile - Or Not

Uh-oh, what happened? Waaaay back on 16 Oct 2010 I posted the photo below as an MPC Rocket Ship. This was one of my first posts after starting the blog. At the time I had no idea who actually made it but it was one of those toys I had as a kid and fondly remembered. My faulty memory, along with no reference books to help in my endeavors, made me attribute it to MPC of which I had many toys as a kid. Well, since then of course that error has been rectified and now know it to be Processed Plastics.

Okay fine. So the other week I was taking photos of the Processed Plastics fleet and after digging out all the No. 920 missiles/rockets I could find this is what I came up with: two each missiles that match in size and proportions to the mint-on-card sample I have, and two each missiles which are shorter!

Okay, what's up wit dat??

This begs the question: Are the shorter missiles later production modified to cut down on materials used, or are they knock-offs? 

Oh good grief. 

Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Processed Plastics No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile - S'More

Got some more (S'More) pics for you of Processed Plastics No. 920 Surface to Air Missile. You'll notice the colors are the same but applied differently on each stage of the missile as the one shown in yesterday's post. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

This was a quick-&-dirty photo set-up using the backdrop I painted several years ago and a B&W print-out of the Moon's surface (a pic I culled from the Net) that I simply cut-out and placed on top of a sheet of black foamcore. The figure is an MPC astronaut.

Processed Plastics No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile

I got into toy collecting as a way to re-connect with my youth and get back some of the toys I had back in the day. They recall days of playing in the bedroom or outside in the backyard with my friend's, waging wars and setting up camp or building roads. With a Roundy's supermarket ( small by today's standards, more of a corner store than anything else) and a Rexall drug store kitty-corner from the house there were enough opportunities for mom to buy cheap bin toys or rack toys. During the Christmas season the Roundy's would carry Deluxe Reading and other brands playsets and I had several awesome sets as a kid! Then there were the shopping trips by bus to the downtown area: Woolworth's, Walgreen's, W.T. Grant's, The Boston Store, Gimbels - I'm droolin' here thinking of all those toys hahahahaha

All that being said, one of the toys that stood out in my memory was this rocket from Processed Plastics Co. which came out around the mid-'60s. I finally latched on to a carded piece to add to the collection and after all these years of remembering this as a 'spaceship' I now realize PP marketed it as a 'Surface to air missile'! hmmm, it's still a spaceship to my 12 year old mind :-). It has three stages topped by a spring loaded missile. The missile gets pushed down onto a spring loaded plunger in the top section which latches on to those two trigger arms. When released it takes off with a vengeance! whoopeeee  The whole thing measures 11 3/8" (28.89cm) H. I'll be settling in for a few days with Processed Plastic stuff so stay tuned to this station :-) Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Bulgarian Dan Dare 'EAGLE' Outline Tin Spaceship

I've seen a lot of stuff from Bulgaria hit the market this past year or so and one of the most interesting - for me at least- are these Dan Dare 'EAGLE' spaceship outline pieces. They're not tin-litho but rather painted tin (or steel). When you look at them it's easy to tell they were masked off and painted vs. having the design lithographed on the metal. From what I've seen there are a variety of patterns with blue fuselages being common but varying detail colors and the paintwork is neatly done. Painted vs. litho is nice because it adds to the overall availability of space toys. The ship measures 9 1/2" (24.13cm) L x 4" (10.16cm) wingspan x 2 1/2" (6.35cm) H. My example was reasonably priced probably because it's a little wonky in the rear :-) with the tail end being twisted somewhat, but generally you can expect to pay around $60 (okay) - $180 (w-a-y too much) for one of these. Enjoy! 

Technofix GE-268 Space Ship - Dan Dare 'EAGLE' Outline

Here's another Dan Dare 'EAGLE' outline spaceship but this one is from Technofix a German company founded in 1922 by brothers Georg and Johann Einfalt in Nuremburg which lasted until 1977. Again, if you want a real Dan Dare 'EAGLE' spaceship you'll have to search out the Mettoy version which also is lettered "Earth-Mars-Venus Express'. But be forewarned: mortgage the house and sell your firstborn cuz they cost oodles of noodles ($$$). I got this for far less than oodles LOL but it looks close enough to get the job done. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina