MPC Playset No. 3002 Battle Front - OOPS! Just One More Picture

Okay, I'm slow. I know that. A few weeks back when I was hot and heavy into posting all the toys that were a part of MPC's Battle Front playset, I should have had the foresight to photograph the whole thing as a set right? Noooo, I just wiped my hands and called it a day. So, to make up for my lack of diligence I finally photographed the whole set for your edification and enjoyment. As I stated in previous posts, with a dearth of unopened mint-in-box examples of these playsets there's a lot of  conjecture as to the number and types of figures and accessories included so what you see here is a 'best guess' scenario. That 'best guess' is based on the feeble recollections I have of this set when I was a kid and observations of multiple sets sold on-line. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

MPC War Games

The most recent spate of posts of MPC military toys from the '60s and '70s got its start a couple of years ago when I s-l-o-w-l-y started photographing the growing herd of MPC toys. The following photos were taken during some free moments and I pulled some saved hills and landforms from prior train layouts to provide a bit of terrain. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

MPC Armoured Vehicle-Launched Bridge (AVLB)

I'm gonna be bantering around from subject to subject for a while \like a bird trying to find a decent place to land in bad weather. Bear with me folks!

In keeping with the most recent theme of MPC's military toys from the '60 & '70s we bring you this really cool Armoured Vehicle-Launched Bridge or AVLB.  I don't have any playsets to associate this toy with so this for now will be a stand-alone post. Some members of the various fb hobby groups I belong to relate that they had it as part of a Combat Engineer set. To-date I have yet to find pictures on the Web of that set, plus I ended up with three of these and not one of them was 100% complete. The closest thing I can find to a real life inspiration for this toy is the M60A1 AVLB which utilized a modified M60 Patton tank chassis to transport and deploy a temporary combat bridge which was hinged in the middle and lowered via hydraulics.  Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

The toy features a spring-loaded deployment mechanism which lifts the bridge up and forward. As the bridge moves forward in its arc it opens up, then slowly plops down on the ground in the deployed position. I believe there was supposed to be some kind of cannon barrel on the front of the piece (totally non-prototypical) as there appears to be a firing mechanism but none of my three samples had a barrel with it. The overall dimensions are: 16 1/2" (41.91cm) L x 6" (15.24cm) W x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) H. The hull measures 10 1/2" (26.67cm) L x 5 1/4" (13.33cm) W x 4 3/8" (11.11cm) H. The bridge is 13" (33.02cm) L. 

The AVLB with bridge

The bridge

Deployed position

Towards the top middle you can just discern the spring

You hold down the connector plate with one hand....

...while inserting the tab on the bridge into the slot in the hull. The bridge is now 'locked and loaded'

On the hull front there is most definitely a place to fit a barrel and a small spring loaded firing mechanism. I have yet to see pictures of a complete AVLB unit on the Web

A perfect match for MPC's line of large military vehicles