Processed Plastic No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile v2 (red-white-blue-white)

Okay, sorry, can't get this Processed Plastic stuff outta my blood. So here's what's been happening. When gathering my PP rockets for a group mug shots I noticed how the No. 920 USAF Missile had two different heights as well as coming in flip-flop colors. The ones I've posted so far have been what I call Version 1 (v1) which are the slightly taller missile's while I've labeled the shorter ones Version 2 (v2) which measures 10 1/2" (26.67cm) H. This is simply as a way to keep things straight in my head, certainly not an official designation. The second version missiles are made of a slightly more softer, more pliable type plastic the their taller brothers. So anywho, that being said, here's the photo rundown of (starting from the bottom stage) the red-white-blue-white missile. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The four missiles on the right are the No. 920's. The 3rd and 4th from the right are the taller version 1 types while the 1st and 2nd are the shorter version 2.

Processed Plastics Co. No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile - Or Not

Uh-oh, what happened? Waaaay back on 16 Oct 2010 I posted the photo below as an MPC Rocket Ship. This was one of my first posts after starting the blog. At the time I had no idea who actually made it but it was one of those toys I had as a kid and fondly remembered. My faulty memory, along with no reference books to help in my endeavors, made me attribute it to MPC of which I had many toys as a kid. Well, since then of course that error has been rectified and now know it to be Processed Plastics.

Okay fine. So the other week I was taking photos of the Processed Plastics fleet and after digging out all the No. 920 missiles/rockets I could find this is what I came up with: two each missiles that match in size and proportions to the mint-on-card sample I have, and two each missiles which are shorter!

Okay, what's up wit dat??

This begs the question: Are the shorter missiles later production modified to cut down on materials used, or are they knock-offs? 

Oh good grief. 

Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Processed Plastics No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile - S'More

Got some more (S'More) pics for you of Processed Plastics No. 920 Surface to Air Missile. You'll notice the colors are the same but applied differently on each stage of the missile as the one shown in yesterday's post. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

This was a quick-&-dirty photo set-up using the backdrop I painted several years ago and a B&W print-out of the Moon's surface (a pic I culled from the Net) that I simply cut-out and placed on top of a sheet of black foamcore. The figure is an MPC astronaut.

Processed Plastics No. 920 USAF Surface to Air Missile

I got into toy collecting as a way to re-connect with my youth and get back some of the toys I had back in the day. They recall days of playing in the bedroom or outside in the backyard with my friend's, waging wars and setting up camp or building roads. With a Roundy's supermarket ( small by today's standards, more of a corner store than anything else) and a Rexall drug store kitty-corner from the house there were enough opportunities for mom to buy cheap bin toys or rack toys. During the Christmas season the Roundy's would carry Deluxe Reading and other brands playsets and I had several awesome sets as a kid! Then there were the shopping trips by bus to the downtown area: Woolworth's, Walgreen's, W.T. Grant's, The Boston Store, Gimbels - I'm droolin' here thinking of all those toys hahahahaha

All that being said, one of the toys that stood out in my memory was this rocket from Processed Plastics Co. which came out around the mid-'60s. I finally latched on to a carded piece to add to the collection and after all these years of remembering this as a 'spaceship' I now realize PP marketed it as a 'Surface to air missile'! hmmm, it's still a spaceship to my 12 year old mind :-). It has three stages topped by a spring loaded missile. The missile gets pushed down onto a spring loaded plunger in the top section which latches on to those two trigger arms. When released it takes off with a vengeance! whoopeeee  The whole thing measures 11 3/8" (28.89cm) H. I'll be settling in for a few days with Processed Plastic stuff so stay tuned to this station :-) Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina