Konami Thunderbirds Toys

At last! A range of accurate, fully detailed scaled models of Thunderbirds vehicles.
No gimmicks, no bad voice impersonations of characters, no corner cutting.
These Konami models are the best Thunderbirds models/toys we have seen to date.
They are between 3 and 4.5 inches in length so they won't take up a lot of space but every inch is packed with detail. These 'toys' were produced for the Japanese market. They were sold like trading cards, complete with some candy. Boxes were identical so customers didn't know which model they'd get. One effect of this strategy is that the company could produce equal numbers of each vehicle and guarantee they'd sell equally well. This meant they could make some of the less well known items, like the Helijet and Firefly.

There were two 'volumes' of Thunderbirds candy toys issued in 2002
Thunderbirds Volume 1 consisted of: Thunderbirds 2,3,5, Fireflash, Elevator Car and Recovery Vehicle.
Lady Penelope was the rare model - I gather it was 1 in 40..
Thunderbirds Volume 2 consisted of: Thunderbirds 1,4, Mole, Firefly, Helijet and FAB1.
Parker was the rare model in this set.

There have subsequently been several re-releases of the Konami Thunderbirds models.

All photos by Robin and Pauline at Space City

	Konami Thunderbirds FAB 1 This is a model of FAB 1, Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce. There are figures of Lady Penelope and Parker in the car.
	Konami Thunderbirds Firefly Firefly is one of the vehicles carried in Thunderbird 2's cargo pods. Firefly is used for fighting fires. The 'dozer blade' on the model is poseable.
	Konami Thunderbird 1 International Rescue's swing-wing scout vehicle. Unlike toys by other manufacturers, the wings on this model fold properly.
	Konami Thunderbirds Fireflash A very futuristic atomic powered airliner. The aircraft 'guested' on the show several times. In the first episode it had to land on 'elevator cars' driven along the runway by Virgil Tracy as the landing gear had a bomb attached to it. Konami have very thoughtfully provided three tiny elevator cars with the model. Those guys at Konami must actually watch the show!
	Konami Thunderbirds Master Elevator Car This is a model of the Master Elevator car driven by Virgil when he saved the Fireflash - the other two vehicles were remote controlled. An impressive twelve wheeled model.
	Konami Thunderbirds Mole Another pod vehicle. The Mole is I.R.'s manned drilling machine for underground rescues. The model Mole can be removed from it's tractor unit and can be posed horizontally or in a raised drilling position with a plug in support piece.
	Konami Thunderbird 2 International Rescue's freighter. This is a perfect miniature of perhaps the most popular Thunderbirds vehicle. The central container pod is removable. The four legs are detachable.
	Konami Thunderbird 3 International Rescue's spaceship. A nice model, though one of the large number 3's is missing.
	Konami Thunderbird 4 The Thunderbirds yellow submarine. The smallest Thunderbird craft, carried in Thunderbird 2's cargo pod. The model includes Gordon Tracy at the controls.
	Konami Thunderbird 5 This is International Rescue's spacestation. An incredibly detailed little model.
	Konami Thunderbirds Helijet This is another 'guest craft' from the Thunderbirds series. Helijets are used by both civilian and military organisations. Helijets appeared in several episodes of the show but it's rare to see models of them.
	Konami Thunderbirds Recovery Vehicle A rescue vehicle carried in one of Thunderbird 2's pods. International Rescue's Recovery Vehicle is designed to fire magnetic 'harpoons'. An excellent little model.
Here are Parker and Lady Penelope. These are the two 'chase' models from the Volume 1 and Volume 2 releases in 2002. They are very nicely sculpted and painted figures and are about 4.5 inches tall.