Hippo Toys Apollo Rocket

When you're working with space toys, nearly every scenario is a 'what if?' Maybe this is the Saturn VI successor to the Saturn V, rocketing astronauts to the Moon! Anywho, using one of Bettina's Moon photos and my photo of the Hippo Toys Apollo Moon Rocket, it was easy to pair these two together in an image. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The Toy House Apollo Moon Team

This delightful carded set came to me courtesy of Paul Woods (aka Woodsy) over at the Moonbase Central blog. Welll, sort of. He sent a link to the auction and I bid on it and won, but without his efforts I wouldn't have it! Many Thanx Woodsy!!! The set is from the World Toy House, a division of Telmont Corp, St. Paul, Minnesota - a firm I know absolutely nothing about. But there you have it - it's a toy from them :-) It's an interesting set with LP clones and what I call 'The Lipstick Rocket'. If you look closely at the tall rocket on the far left, it has all the appearance of a girl's fake lipstick toy re-purposed into an Apollo rocket, complete with red lipstick top!! That rocket measures 4 1/2" (11.43cm) H x 1" (2.54cm) diameter. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Hippo Toys Apollo Rocket - Orange HP with Friction Motor

Here's an interesting rocket I picked up recently. It's a Hippo Toys Apollo rocket in orange HP with friction motor from ca1969 and is 13" (33.02cm) L. I know nothing about Hippo Toys but do know that this was bundled along with other manufacturers toys in a Montgomery Wards space set from that year so at the very least I can narrow it down to when it was made. Other than the friction motor, this is a very simple toy and a wonderful space ship from the Apollo Moon Landing era even if it is a caricature. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

I know, I know, not even close to being historically or technically accurate, but I had a rare few minutes of  'me time' and wanted to play some

Processed Plastic NASA Titan Rocket - Red Capsule

Of late I've been in Processed Plastic mode. Today, and for our next post, we'll take a look at yet another of PP's space race toys. This was one I had hoped to feature for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing but I was waiting for parts. I had only a partial rocket and was lucky enough to find a 'donor' toy I could cannibalize from to make one complete rocket. Like the USAF Missiles posted a week or so ago, this too has a spring loaded 'launch' mechanism. Press down on the Command Module/Service Module assembly and it engages the two latches seen at either side of the rocket. Press the latches inward and the CM/SM flies into the outer reaches of space - or at least about 12' or so LOL. Inside the CM is a removable floor with three astronauts. The toy measures 12 1/2" (31.75cm) H x 2 5/8" (6.66cm) overall diameter. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The Command Module/Service Module - or at least Processed Plastic's version of it