MPC Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower - Yellow-Red Gantry

Here we have another color variation of the Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower. I took 'series' photos of three of my towers and called it a day. Next, I'll post a couple of pics of the different color combinations I have in my collection. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The tower to the left has a Marx missile. This is how I bought the thing a couple of years ago and the missile looks nice but the one on the right is the correct MPC version (and, if that's all you have to play with then by all means use it!). Like other toys in the series, the missiles came in a variety of colors.

 Here we see an intact spring. 

Both the MPC and Marx missiles break down into stages. The pieces are a tight fit so won't fly apart mid-flight but with the MPC missiles you can swap out stages to mix and match  colors to your liking. The Marx missiles were basically only blue and white as shown.

MPC Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower Variations

You can see now why I didn't feel like taking my 'series' shots (my set of anywhere from 8-18 pictures) for these things! Sooner or later I have to get on with other things :-)  Here's what I have currently in my collection and I'm fairly sure there';s more out there. The fifth tower from the right is missing the launch mechanism - someone in the past literally tore it off the base!! So, in any case - Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Here's a nice comparison shot of the MPC and Marx missiles

MPC Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower - Metallic Blue Gantry

Here's the Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower in metallic blue with the actual correct missile. The missile shown in yesterday's post is probably Marx, but here's my take on it: it's great to know which is correct but when you're just goofin' around with your toys anything you've got is fair game, go ahead and use it if you got it! This taller missile measures 7 3/4" H (19.68cm). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

MPC Orbital Missile and Gantry Tower - SP Blue Gantry

Let's get spacey with MPC. I've got some more straight-up military stuff from MPC to post but really, I'm itching to get to my space toys and I have a bunch from MPC. Then I'll follow up with other brands. In the middle of all this I have a special Train Time project to start posting and odds-&-ends of other toys. 

On that note, let's get started. Many people simply call this the rocket gantry or missile gantry or rocket tower or whatever, but the MPC instruction sheets I have call it an "Orbital Missile Gantry and Tower". So, okay, that's what I'll call it in my posts. The assembly consists of a tower with a spring-loaded missile. The missile has small tabs on the bottom that, when the missile is pushed down over the spring, lock into notches in the gantry base. Twist the missile and it flies quite nicely into the air. It has more of a robust launch action than the rubber-band powered missiles/rockets on some of MPC's other units. Over the years I've gotten a couple of different missile designs with these towers, one tall and one short. The missile shown here is the short version and it fits and works just fine but may in fact be Marx. My sample is missing the spring, which is a very common occurrence in these things. In future posts I hope to have a complete unit to photograph. The gantry measures 6 1/8" (15.55cm) H x 2 1/2" (6.35cm) W x 2 3/4" (6.98cm) D. The 'short' missile shown here is 6 3/8" (16.19cm) H. Like many of MPC's toys, these came in multiple color combinations. The one shown here has an all blue tower assembly, but I have towers with red bases and blue tops.We'll be bringing you a couple of variations over the next few posts. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina