Well, I've been kinda busy this week and Bettina has been good enough to take over the blogging duties while I sorted through what must have been a million Kinder Surprise Egg toys by Ferero that I had gathered in Germany and Hungary. Man was I ever hooked on those, they were just fascinating little things but after 20+ years most of them had to go. I spent nearly a week sorting, re-assembling, matching up with their instructions, and bagging a big box full. I did keep a bunch aside for myself and perhaps will blog them some day but the rest went to the thrift store. I'm not even going to attempt to sell them - way too much of a hassle. Now, on to our vintage nifty '50s space ship.
The Pyro X-200 Space Ranger was one of those iconic space ship designs of the 1950s. So much so that copies were made by Kleeware, Tudor Rose, Moldex, and Dimestore Dreams. While today's toy isn't marked as Kleeware I believe it is for a couple of reasons. Kleeware (of England) made its copy under an agreement with Pyro and retained the 'X-200 Space Ranger' markings on the fuselage, while the Tudor Rose 'Space Patrol Ship' had fancier rear wings. Moldex of Australia made a copy but it was quite large - about 12" long. The Dimestore Dreams version was much smaller and didn't come out until 2000.
The Pyro X-200 Space Ranger was one of those iconic space ship designs of the 1950s. So much so that copies were made by Kleeware, Tudor Rose, Moldex, and Dimestore Dreams. While today's toy isn't marked as Kleeware I believe it is for a couple of reasons. Kleeware (of England) made its copy under an agreement with Pyro and retained the 'X-200 Space Ranger' markings on the fuselage, while the Tudor Rose 'Space Patrol Ship' had fancier rear wings. Moldex of Australia made a copy but it was quite large - about 12" long. The Dimestore Dreams version was much smaller and didn't come out until 2000.
The Kleeware copy presented here today differs from the original Pyro version (blogged on Oct 6, 2012) in that there is no maker's mark under the rear port wing and there is a guide pin at the top of the fuselage which probably allowed the space ship to be attached to a tower by means of a vinyl tube. Being a direct copy the Kleeware X-200 also measures 7 1/4" (18.4cm) L x 3 1/2" (8.9cm) wingspan. Enjoy!
An original Pyro X-200 with the Pyro mark under the rear port wing.
