For Sale: Thunderbird 3

By John Freeman on January 24, 2008

How would you like to own your very own large Thunderbird 3? Here is one that would even put the Iconic Replicas 18 inch tall model to shame.

Blackpool Illuminations have had a movie version Thunderbird 3 rocket on Blackpool seafront for some years and are in the process of selling it off along with a lot of other old illuminations. The auction will take place on 30 January and TB3 is expected to fetch in the region of £10,000. The details of the auction are here on the Visit Blackpool web site and the auction catalgue is here (PDF).

Potential bidders thinking that Thunderbird 3 might make a nice addition to their collection should be aware that the rocket is 15.5m tall, has a diameter of 7m, and weighs 8 tonnes and so they may have a problem trying to display it between their Dinky toys of Thunderbirds 2 and 4.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.