Thunderbirds merchandise
This article discusses tie-ins for Thunderbirds, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films (later Century 21 Productions).
In 2008, Minnesota-based FTL Publications, in association with Diamond Comic Distributors, launched a new series of original novels by Joan Marie Verba.
[8] Countdown to Action, published in June 2008, reveals the founding of International Rescue, exploring the establishment of the organisation and the construction of its machines.
[17] Originally written by editor and Thunderbirds TV scriptwriter Alan Fennell, this mostly replaced the "Lady Penelope" strip, which moved to a sister comic of the same name.
[20] Starting in October 1991, the Bellamy-illustrated strips, as well as some that had first appeared in Lady Penelope, were reprinted in Fleetway Publications' fortnightly Thunderbirds: The Comic.
[22] In 1989, Grandslam Entertainment released a game for the Commodore 64 and Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.
[25] The following year, it released a collection of Microsoft Windows themes and screensavers titled "F.A.B Action Pack", as well as Thunderbirds: International Rescue for the Game Boy Advance.
[1] In addition, the original soundtrack was enhanced with the insertion of new sound effects and background foley (mainly explosions, aircraft and other mechanical noise, and vocal echo).
[1] Region 1 DVDs were released by North American distributor A&E Home Video in 2001, with a "Complete Series" box set following in 2002; it was re-released in slimmer packaging in 2008.
[34] The region-free version distributed in Region B presents episodes in a vertically panned and scanned, 16:9 aspect ratio; a Japanese set, released by Geneon Universal in 2013, restores the original 4:3 picture.
Factory (through their deal with ITV) released the complete series on DVD and Blu-ray in the US with the episodes in their original full-screen ratio).
[50] When Thunderbirds was first broadcast, AP Films Merchandising awarded licences to companies including Matchbox and Dinky to manufacture plastic and die-cast toy vehicles.
[56][57][58] Among Dinky's first releases were a six-inch-long (15 cm) FAB 1 (of which more than two million were made) and Thunderbird 2 (some of which were blue instead of green);[59][60][61] these two toys continued to be produced until 1976 and 1979, respectively.
[18][64][65] Matchbox's Tracy Island playset quickly became the UK's most sought-after toy, resulting in stock shortages, fights in shops,[66] and a black market for the item;[64] the story was reported in the national press.
[63][67] The 1991 Matchbox range included: In 1993, the BBC children's programme Blue Peter broadcast a making-of showing viewers how to build their own Tracy Island out of "old newspaper, pipe cleaners, yoghurt pots, cereal packets and bits of sponge".
To mark the event, the InterContinental London - The O2 hotel offered a "Lady Penelope Afternoon Tea" from 15 September until 30 October at which the pop art prints were exhibited.
