Pyro Set No. 268-2 49 4 All Plastic Space Ships

I absolutely love '50s era space art or science fiction art and the box art for Pyro's set 268-2 49 is wonderful. The space terminal reminds me of the wonderful Masonite creations made by Johillco back in the '50s. Those were featured in the book 'Blast Off' and are prohibitively expensive were one to become available today. However, Marx's Tom Corbett / Rex Mars playset buildings are a decent enough stand-in.

Ed

Tom Corbett Space Academy Building

Rex Mars HQ Building

Set No. 268-2 49 4 All Plastic Space Ships

Space Art: Pyro X-300 (2nd Version)

When I came across this vintage art featuring what is clearly the Pyro X-300, I knew I had to try and replicate it, so I did one in B&W like the original, and one in color. The background was culled from the Internet, while the Moon was a picture taken by my wife. As with the pic I posted yesterday, I didn't bother to make the broken fins on my sample look longer, leaving the toy just as it looks like in my collection.

Ed

Vintage art

Space Art: Pyro X-300 (1st Version)

I wanted to place the X-300 in a nice outer space setting and this was my first attempt. I didn't bother to Photoshop it and make the rear fins longer as they be on a complete, unbroken example. Instead I kept my broken ship pretty much as is.

Ed

Pyro X-300 Space Cruiser - Silver-gray HP

Over the years, these have shown up in other colors besides silver-gray. Over the years I've been just as broke as I am now and couldn't afford to buy other colors! My sample is a tad rough which could be explained by the photos below. Oh well. It measures 9" (22.86cm) L x 3.625" (9.20cm) wingspan x 2.25" (5.71cm).

Ed

T. Cohn Spaceport with Pyro X-300

Here's a good example of why these are often found broken. They were included with T. Cohn's tin-litho Space Port. In the hangar is a spring-loaded launch mechanism which, when activated, shot the X-300 out of the bay like, welll, a rocket ship. Unfortunately that was hard as hell on the tail fins which are often found broken (as in my example). AND, if Junior shot this thing off close to a wall or cabinet, the clear nose cone could get busted as well (as on my sample)

Here, the X-300 is shown with the Space Port and an Archer spaceman 

Artwork by Will Melchior

Pyro X-300

 

Pyro X-300 Space Cruiser - Vintage and New

The first image I culled off of the Internet (facebook??) but have absolutely no clue where, but it appears to be a vintage image of Pyro's X-300 Space Cruiser - or at least a reasonable facsimile of it. I wanted to see if I could update it a bit using an actual photo of the toy, along with a photo of the Moon taken by Bettina, and a background image also culled off the Internet. BTW, I have two of these Pyro X-300's and both have broken tail fins. Still, I think it turned out pretty good - how about you? Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Pyro (T. Cohn) Space Port

It's Sci-Fi and Fantasy Saturday and we've got a terrific toy from the Golden Age of space toys for your enjoyment - the tin-litho T. Cohn (aka Superior) Space Port. According to the book Blast Off! Rockets, Robots, Ray Guns, and Rarities from The Golden Age of Space Toys (by S. Mark Young, Steve Duin, and Mike Richardson) the Space Port, although made by T. Cohn, was actually sold by Pyro who packaged it in a set as a companion piece for their X-300 Space Cruiser. The Space Port has a spring-loaded catapult which launched the X-300 on its way to the outer reaches of space. Unfortunately the catapult mechanism is quite robust and caused the frail fins of the spaceship to break. The toy's graphics are just superb but sometime in the past someone pasted on a couple of green paper stars. They don't look bad and I'm not going to remove them. There's a spaceship on the side which looks an awful lot like a Gilmark plastic ship while he spacemen look similar to  Archer's. The overall dimensions for the toy are 10" (25.4cm) L x 7 3/4" (19.7cm) W x 7 1/4" (18.4cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina.

That's a pretty strong spring powering this catapult

The release mechanism is on the back wall

This looks like a Gilmark space ship

The Pyro set included the X-300 Space Cruiser and the space port

I've included an Archer space man in these shots because he looks cool!