Thunderbirds merchandise

This is a list of tie-in merchandise and non-televisual media associated with Thunderbirds, a British science-fiction series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by their production company AP Films between 1964 and 1966, and distributed by ITC Entertainment.

Books

Between 1966 and 1967, eight original Thunderbirds novels were written by John William Jennison (four under the pseudonym "John Theydon") and Kevin McGarry; three focus on the character of Lady Penelope. In 1992, Corgi Books published four children's novelisations, all written by Dave Morris. In 2008, FTL Publications launched a new series of original novels, written mostly by Joan Marie Verba, and with artwork by Steve Kyte.

Verba had attempted to obtain the licence as early as 2004, while Carlton Television was in the process of merging with ITV Granada. After waiting several months, she contacted Granada, and after three years of discussions FTL Publications was finally granted the licence in 2007. It was the first licence for Thunderbirds titles to be given to an American publisher, and the books constitute the first new, official series of Thunderbirds novels to be written since the 1960s. 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. The other books highlight the individual Tracy brothers, as well as Brains.

Year	Title	Writer	Publisher	Notes
1966	Thunderbirds	"John Theydon" (John W. Jennison)	Armada Books	When a mysterious meteorite lands in the Gobi Desert, Scott Tracy and the Hood are overpowered by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Re-printed as Thunderbirds 1: Thunderbirds in 1989 by Titan Books.
1966	Calling Thunderbirds	"John Theydon"	Armada Books	Lady Penelope and her cousin are kidnapped by a Peruvian explorer and the Hood, who are both seeking to recover ancient Inca treasure. Re-printed as Thunderbirds 2: Calling Thunderbirds in 1990 by Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-852861-61-2.
1966	Thunderbirds: Operation Asteroids	John W. Jennison	World Distributors	A rescue mission to the Moon is hi-jacked by the Hood; he returns to Earth in Thunderbird 3, holding Lady Penelope, Brains and Tin-Tin hostage and plotting to attack major cities from orbit with nuclear devices.
1966	Thunderbirds: Lost World	John W. Jennison	World Distributors	On New Guinea, Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Tin-Tin are abducted by descendants of a lost but scientifically advanced tribe allied with the Hood, who intends to wreak havoc with the natives' anti-gravity technology.
1966	Lady Penelope: Cool for Danger	Kevin McGarry	World Distributors	Lady Penelope and Parker are embroiled in the initial stages of a coup d'état in the European state of Revonia, in part triggered by Penelope's arch-enemy Mr Steelman's desire for world domination.
1966	Lady Penelope: A Gallery of Thieves	Kevin McGarry	World Distributors	Mr Steelman's latest scheme is to hold the galleries of the world to ransom by stealing unique works of art and replacing them with counterfeits.
1966	Thunderbirds: Ring of Fire	"John Theydon"	Armada Books	Following a rescue at a disintegrating nuclear power station, Thunderbird 1 is caught in a volcanic eruption; the nuclear explosion has furthermore opened a fissure in the Earth's crust, threatening widespread destruction.
1966	Thunderbirds Are Go	Angus P. Allan	Armada Books	Novelisation of the film Thunderbirds Are Go (1966).
1967	Lady Penelope: The Albanian Affair	"John Theydon"	Armada Books Century 21 Publishing	Lady Penelope's mission to pursue a reporter who has photographed the Thunderbirds machines is complicated by the involvement of a criminal organisation intent on selling the images to a rogue Balkan state.
1992	Sun Probe	Dave Morris	Young Corgi	Novelisation of the TV episode "Sun Probe" (1965). ISBN 978-0-552527-65-1.
1992	The Uninvited	Dave Morris	Young Corgi	Novelisation of the TV episode "The Uninvited" (1965). ISBN 978-0-552527-63-7.
1992	Brink of Disaster	Dave Morris	Young Corgi	Novelisation of the TV episode "Brink of Disaster" (1965). ISBN 978-0-552527-64-4.
1992	Atlantic Inferno	Dave Morris	Young Corgi	Novelisation of the TV episode "Atlantic Inferno" (1966). ISBN 978-0-552527-66-8.
2008	Countdown to Action!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: Jeff Tracy. ISBN 978-8-9653575-7-9.
2008	Action Alert!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: Scott Tracy. ISBN 978-0-9653575-8-6.
2009	Deadly Danger!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: Virgil Tracy. ISBN 978-0-9653575-9-3.
2010	Situation: Critical!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: John Tracy. ISBN 978-098252322-3.
2011	Extreme Hazard!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: Gordon Tracy. ISBN 978-193688101-7
2012	Danger Zone!	Joan Marie Verba	FTL Publications	Central character: Alan Tracy. ISBN 978-1-936881-08-6
2012	Arctic Adventure	Anthony Taylor	FTL Publications	Central character: Brains. ISBN 978-0-9825232-5-4.

Home video

In the 1980s and 1990s, PolyGram released a limited number of Thunderbirds episodes on home video in the "Super Space Theater" format. Channel 5 Video released 14 volumes of episode pairings in the late 1980s; the final volume, billed as a "special edition", included a black-and-white "making-of" feature that has since been re-published on DVD.

Upon its acquisition of the brand in 1999, Carlton International Media commenced work on re-mastering Thunderbirds for the first Region 2 DVD releases. Dolby 5.1 surround sound was introduced, and the existing picture and mono sound cleaned up with the aid of digital restoration and noise reduction systems. The new mix was enhanced with additional sound effects and background foley (mostly explosions, aircraft and other mechanical noise, as well as vocal echo) inserted on top of the original track at appropriate points. Gerry Anderson, who had received no royalties from the series' distribution since relinquishing his rights in the 1970s, was hired as "re-mastering consultant".

Region 1 DVD counterparts 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 slim packaging in 2008. Thunderbirds has since been released on Blu-ray Disc: the region-free version marketed in Region B presents episodes in a vertically panned and scanned, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. A Japanese Blu-ray set, released by Geneon Universal in 2013, restores the original 4:3 picture.

Title	Format	Country	Region	Release Date (*DVD only)	No. of Discs	Picture Format	Special Features (DVD/Blu-ray only)
Thunderbirds – The Complete Series	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (slim packaging)	9	4:3	"The Thunderbirds Companion" FAB Fact Files Printable CD-ROM cross-sections Featurettes, original artwork and memorabilia, TV advertisements
Thunderbirds – Volume 1	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (digibook) *2008	1	4:3	Characters FAB Fact File Quiz with behind-the-scenes extra
Thunderbirds – Volume 2	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	Machines FAB Fact File "Vehicles" featurette
Thunderbirds – Volume 3	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	Tracy Island FAB Fact File "Characters" featurette
Thunderbirds – Volume 4	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	Gerry Anderson FAB Fact File "Lady Penelope and Parker" featurette
Thunderbirds – Volume 5	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	TV Century 21 Records and Mini Albums FAB Fact File Making-of featurette
Thunderbirds – Volume 6	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	TV Century 21 Comics FAB Fact File TV advertisements
Thunderbirds – Volume 7	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	Novels FAB Fact File TV advertisements
Thunderbirds – Volume 8	VHS DVD	UK	2	2000 *2004 (new cover)	1	4:3	Production Crew FAB Fact File "Secrets" featurette
The Brains Behind Thunderbirds	VHS	UK	N/A	2001	N/A	4:3
Thunderbirds – The Complete Series	Blu-ray	UK	Free	2008	6	16:9
Thunderbirds – Blu-ray Collector's Box	Blu-ray	Japan	Free	2013	9	4:3	Collector's booklet "The Thunderbirds Companion" FAB Fact Files, featurettes, others TBC

Music

The first Thunderbirds-exclusive music record was the mini-album Great Themes from Thunderbirds (MA 116; originally titled Requested Themes from Thunderbirds), published by Century 21 Records in 1967. Two soundtrack albums were released by Silva Screen Records in 2003 and 2004. The 40th-anniversary release The Best of Thunderbirds, a double album featuring music from the first two CDs in addition to three previously un-released tracks and exclusive CD-ROM content, was released in 2005.

Untitled

All tracks are written by Barry Gray

Side 1

No.	Title	Notes	Length
1.	"That Dangerous Game"	From "The Cham-Cham"
2.	"Joie de Vivre"	From "The Perils of Penelope"
3.	"Let's Play Ad-Lib"	From "The Cham-Cham"

Side 2

No.	Title	Notes	Length
1.	"The Man From MI.5"	From "The Man From MI.5"
2.	"San Martino"	From "Path of Destruction"
3.	"Jeremiah"	From "The Impostors"

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic website
Uncut magazine

No.	Title	Notes	Length
1.	"Main Titles"	Stock track	1:36
2.	"Sun Probe"	From "Sun Probe"	2:05
3.	"Tracy Island and International Rescue"	Stock track	1:10
4.	"Monorail to Disaster"	From "The Perils of Penelope"	2:10
5.	"Thunderbirds Are Go!"	Stock track	4:28
6.	"Dangerous Game – Latin Rhythm Instrumental"	From "The Cham-Cham"	2:08
7.	"Suite from 'Vault of Death'"	From "Vault of Death"	8:47
8.	"The Man From MI.5"	From "The Man From MI.5"	4:28
9.	"Suite from 'Desperate Intruder'"	From "Desperate Intruder"	7:27
10.	"Commercial Break"	(With stings and music to Thunderbirds-themed Lyons Maid advertisements)	2:46
11.	"Dangerous Game" (Lyrical)	From "The Cham-Cham" Performed by Sylvia Anderson (as Lady Penelope)	1:51
12.	"Let's Play Ad-Lib"	From "The Cham-Cham"	2:20
13.	"Lady Penelope on the Move/Suite from 'Pit of Peril'"	From Thunderbirds Are Go (first part)	1:37
14.	"The Fate of the Sidewinder"	From "Pit of Peril"	2:01
15.	"Pit of Peril"	From "Pit of Peril"	2:49
16.	"Rescue!"	From "Pit of Peril"	2:04
17.	"Jeremiah and Lady Penelope"	From "The Impostors"	2:06
18.	"Deadly Plot – The Hood and the Fireflash"	From "Trapped in the Sky"	4:09
19.	"Fireflash Landing"	From "Trapped in the Sky"	1:15
20.	"FAB 1 Pursuit"	From "Trapped in the Sky"	1:00
21.	"The Tracy Lounge Piano"	From "Trapped in the Sky"	2:00
22.	"End Titles"	Stock track	1:09

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic website
Starburst magazine
Uncut magazine

No.	Title	Notes	Length
1.	"Main Titles"	Stock track	1:25
2.	"Danger At Ocean Deep"	Suite from "Danger At Ocean Deep"	2:17
3.	"Spoke City Jazz"	From "30 Minutes After Noon"	1:39
4.	"Easy Listening Radio Music"	From "30 Minutes After Noon"	1:17
5.	"Drama on the South East Asia Pass"	From "End of the Road"	5:22
6.	"Taking a Desperate Chance"	From "End of the Road"	3:25
7.	"Thunderbirds To The Rescue"	From "End of the Road"	2:40
8.	"Penelope in France"	From "The Perils of Penelope", "The Duchess Assignment" and "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker"	4:02
9.	"Elegance, Charm and Deadly Danger"	From "The Perils of Penelope" and "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker"	2:52
10.	"Dangerous Game" (Lyrical)	From "The Cham-Cham" Performed by Jack Clegg	1:39
11.	"Century 21 March"	Stock track	2:01
12.	"Space Observatory 3 Space FX"	From "The Impostors"	2:02
13.	"San Martino"	From "Path of Destruction"	2:47
14.	"The Noon Day Sun"	From "Move – And You're Dead"	1:15
15.	"New York City Lights"	From "The Duchess Assignment"	0:56
16.	"The Duchess"	From "The Duchess Assignment"	0:35
17.	"World Exclusive Foiled"	From "Terror in New York City"	1:38
18.	"Moving the Empire State Building"	From "Terror in New York City"	3:31
19.	"The Rescue of Ned Cook"	From "Terror in New York City"	2:33
20.	"Dangerous Game" (Piano)	From "The Cham-Cham" Performed by Barry Gray	2:08
21.	"Lady Penelope and the Mouse"	From "The Mighty Atom"	1:11
22.	"Journey of the Martian Space Probe"	From "Day of Disaster"	1:32
23.	"Coralville Surprise/The Bank Job"	From "Give or Take a Million"	3:41
24.	"Christmas on Tracy Island"	From "Give or Take a Million"	4:01
25.	"Sleepy Time"	From "Security Hazard"	0:46
26.	"End Titles"	Stock track	1:07
27.	"Flying High" (Bonus track)	Un-used end titles theme Performed by Gary Miller	1:25

Toys

When Thunderbirds was first broadcast, AP Films Merchandising awarded licences to companies such as Matchbox and Dinky to manufacture plastic and die-cast metal Thunderbirds vehicle toys. The subsidiary issued approximately 120 such licences, even buying a company (J. Rosenthal) to keep up with demand. Among the first items released by Dinky were a blue (rather than green) Thunderbird 2 and a Template:Convert/spell-long FAB 1, of which more than two million were manufactured. By 1966, British commentators had dubbed the end-of-year shopping season "Thunderbirds Christmas", in the light of the series' popularity.

Themed birthday cards for children, for ages 6 to 10, were available in Australia in the mid-1960s. Japanese model kits of the vehicles continued to be marketed into the 1980s. Bandai manufactured toys to coincide with the release of the live-action film in 2004, while fellow Japanese companies Aoshima, Konami and Takara still manufacture Thunderbirds toys today from the original schematics – for example, Takara's Thunderbird 2 (with functioning lights and landing struts).

Matchbox launched a new range of toys to coincide with the BBC's Thunderbirds revival in the early 1990s. Despite poor sales in the weeks leading up to Christmas 1991, after demand overwhelmed supply, by the following December the series had provided manufacturers and retailers with the most successful British tie-in merchandising campaign since Star Wars. Matchbox's Tracy Island playset quickly became the UK's most sought-after toy, resulting in stock shortages, fights between customers in shops, and a rising black market surrounding the item; the story was reported in the national press.

In 1993, the BBC children's programme Blue Peter broadcast a "making-of" showing viewers how to build a Tracy Island of their own using – as descrived by the show's publicity – "old newspaper, pipe cleaners, yoghurt pots, cereal packets and bits of sponge". So high was demand for a free instruction sheet detailing the process that the BBC was forced to withdraw its giveaway offer and release Anthea Turner's demonstration, Blue Peter Makes a Thunderbirds Tracy Island, on VHS.

The 1991 Matchbox range included:

• Tracy Island Electronic Playset – with electronic sounds and moveable palm trees, swimming pool and Thunderbird 2 launch pad. So rare was the item in the run-up to Christmas 1991 in the UK, that the shortage was reported on BBC News.
• Electronic Thunderbird 1 – with mechanised opening wings, electronic firing light and sound
• Electronic Thunderbird 2 – holds two action figures, and with electronic sounds and miniature Thunderbird 4
• Die-cast Thunderbirds 1–4 and FAB 1 – available separately, together as a rescue pack, or in commemorative packaging (exclusive to Radio Times)

• Pullback-action Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4
• Thunderbird 2 Pod Vehicles – Mole, Firefly and Recovery Vehicle; all compatible with electronic Thunderbird 2
• Action figures – Tracy brothers, Jeff Tracy, Brains, Hood, Lady Penelope and Parker (Alan Tracy initially released with cream-coloured sash, later corrected to white)
• 10-inch dolls – Tracy brothers

Matchbox Thunderbirds TV advertisement, displaying Tracy Island toy

Following the success of the Thunderbirds repeats and merchandise, the BBC scheduled Stingray for repeats, for which Matchbox again issued a small toy line. When the BBC revived Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons in the early 2000s, the licence was re-issued to Vivid Imaginations, who later produced a similar range of Thunderbirds toys for the series' second BBC revival in 2000.

The 2000 Vivid Imaginations range included:

• Tracy Island Soundtech Electronic Playset – similar to Matchbox design, capable of holding Thunderbirds vehicles, and with 12 sounds
• Tracy Island Powertech Transforming Playset – miniature containing vehicle hangar interiors with various sounds and features
• Action Adventure Set – to scale with Thunderbird 2 playset, featuring Mole, Firefly, Hood's submarine (from episode "Desperate Intruder") and six figures

• Thunderbirds 1–4 Soundtech Electronic Playsets – with miniature figures and sounds
• Thunderbirds 1 and 4, FAB 1 and Mole – available separately or together, made of plastic and larger than Matchbox's
• Thunderbird 5 – withdrawn due to unsuitable electronic sounds, later re-issued but no longer capable of docking with Thunderbird 3
• Action figures and dolls

Vivid Imaginations' Tracy Island electronic playset TV advertisement

A limited-edition Thunderbird 2 manufactured by Virgin Group was also available, albeit in red as opposed to green. Selected items from this collection were re-released in different packaging for the series' 40th anniversary in 2005, with the Tracy Island playset being advertised as having "new, interactive launch stations". Vivid Imaginations went on to produce toys for Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, and will market a line for the 2015 Thunderbirds re-make.

Video games

In 1985, a Thunderbirds video game was released for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum; in the game, the player was required to explore an Egyptian-styled labyrinth using Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2. In 1989, Grandslam Entertainment released a title for the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MSX and ZX Spectrum; Activision released a NES version the following year. In 1993, a title by Super Famicom, subtitled Kokusou Kyuujotai Shutsudou Seyo!, was released in Japan only.

SCi Games published a Game Boy Color title in 2000. 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 Game Boy Advance. In 2004, a second Game Boy Advance title was released by Vivendi Universal Games. A new Thunderbirds video game was released in Europe for the PlayStation 2 in July 2007; the North American release was cancelled.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563534-81-5.
• Bentley, Chris (2005) [2000]. The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2 ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-844424-54-2.
• Bentley, Chris (2008) [2001]. The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (4 ed.). London: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 978-1-905287-74-1.

External links

• Thunderbirds Comic History