Author: Parker

Are you a winner in our 2025 Advent Calendar?

Posted on by Parker

Are you a winner in our 2025 Advent Calendar?

Thanks to everyone who took part in our 2025 Advent Calendar. We ran a series of daily auctions, raffles and items for donation to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. Thanks to your generosity we’re off to a great start in this year’s fundraising – beating the total from last year’s advent calendar already!

Are you one of our winners?

Auctions

  • Robert Harrop Sidewinder model – Robert Hill
  • Robert Harrop Virgil Tracy figurine – Keith Campbell
  • Robert Harrop Recovery Vehicles model – Ian Haworth

Raffles

  • Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons T-shirt – Keith Campbell
  • Cards Inc Thunderbirds ‘countdown’ cards – William Squires
  • The Day After Tomorrow/Space Police DVD – William Squires
  • Destination Moonbase Alpha brochure – Keith Jones
  • FAB Yearbook 2 -David Bird
  • Fanderson 82 brochure – Jose Perez Torres
  • International Concerto soundtrack sampler CD – Nigel Prebble
  • Joe 90 The Most Special Agent dialogue continuity script – Michael Vincent
  • Silva Screen Space:1999 Year One soundtrack CD – Mark Wrighton
  • Stingray 2CD soundtrack – Ian Haworth
  • Straker’s car artwork signed by Ayshea Brough – Stephen Carson
  • Robert Harrop Excavator model – Paul Sutton
  • Robert Harrop Parker figurine – Ian Haworth
  • Robert Harrop Zero X model – Ian Haworth
  • TV21 issue 243 – Jose Perez Torres
  • UFO artwork, signed by Ayshea Brough and Keith Alexander – Chris Drake

We’ll be in touch with our auction winners in the next few days to arrange payment, then the auction lots will be mailed as soon as possible, along with the raffle prizes etc.

Thanks, for the generosity of their donations, to Keith Alexander, Najmie Allette, Stephen Brown, Dan Buckley, Matt Buckley, Maggy Harris, Simon Harris, David Leach, Christina Lima, Andrew Staton, Michael Shefford, Lynn Simpson and Nick Williams.

If you have something that you’d like to donate for our future fundraising efforts, please get in touch at fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com with details.

Fanderson members have an amazing track record for raising money for good causes. You’ve dug deep and over £61,000 has been donated to a variety of good causes, including Actors’ Benevolent Fund, Alzheimers Society, Baby Lifeline, Children In Need, Demelza, Diabetes UK, The Film And TV Charity, Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, Macmillan Cancer Support, Orchid, The Silver Line, Terrence Higgins Trust, Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal and many more.

Remember, you can always help our charity of the year – Prostate Cancer UK – by buying from our selection of charity donation items in the online Shop.

15% off Anderson products at Corgi!

Posted on by Parker

Great offer for Fanderson members this Christmas!

What better way to spend some of that Christmas money from Granny than completing your Corgi collection? And with Thunderbird 5 back in stock, Corgi have a great offer exclusively for Fanderson members to make your money go even further.

Corgi are offering Fanderson members 15% of everything in their range of die-cast vehicles from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s productions. So, you can pick up Thunderbirds 1 and 3, TB2 and 4, TB4, TB5, FAB 1, Thunderbirds Ultimate Collection, Stingray, Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and Angel Interceptor at a great price.

To get money off your order just apply the coupon code GERRYXTRA15 when you go to checkout. Offer ends 31st January 2026.

The last post

Posted on by Parker

With the last recommended posting date for Christmas behind us, the Fanderson committee are now putting our feet up for a few days’ well-earned break and to enjoy the festive season.

As you know, we’re a not-for-profit club run by volunteers, and we’ve done our best to mail as much as possible so that it should arrive by Christmas.

We’ll be back in action again from 5th January:

  1. getting as much underway that was ordered too late to be mailed before Christmas
  2. posting the various goodies from our 2025 Advent Calendar (of which many offers are valid to the end of December)!

Thanks to everyone who has supported Fanderson this year by joining or renewing their membership, by buying any of our exclusive merchandise, registering for one of our events, or supporting our 2025 charity Demelza, or Prostate Cancer UK for 2026.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Keep an eye out for the postman!

Posted on by Parker

 

The postman’s on his way with your winter mailing

FAB Express 111 was posted today to all Fanderson members. As well as all the Anderson news and your views, this issue takes a FlashBack to Titan Goes Pop, the perennially popular episode of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Stingray.

Unfortunately, we are extremely sorry that FAB Annual 2026 is not included in the winter mailing. Editor/designer Mike Jones has been unexpectedly distracted by some personal issues recently, and the team felt it was better not to rush to get an annual finished that we’re not happy with. We know many of you will be disappointed to not have an annual to open on Christmas morning, but hope you agree that it’s better that the book is the quality you expect, albeit coming to you in the spring. We’re all working to support Mike to get FAB Annual 2026 finished so it can be with you alongside FAB Express 112 in the spring mailing.

As we mentioned in issue 110 this summer, we’re now reviewing our merchandise pricing on the website. As well as postage prices going up recently, we’ve aligned ourselves with Royal Mail’s world postal zones to ensure you’re paying the right postage.

Meet Ross, your new editor!

Posted on by Parker

Ross Ironfield is your new editor of FAB Express

Hi everyone,

I’m delighted to be joining the Fanderson committee as the new Editor of FAB Express. As a lifelong fan of the fabulous futuristic worlds created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, it’s a real privilege to help shape the magazine’s next chapter. 

My favourite series has to be Thunderbirds, it was a huge part of my childhood growing up in the 1990s – along with Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90. I proudly collected all the comics, videos and toys released at the time – and later the many DVD and Blu-ray releases, not forgetting of course, the wonderful soundtrack releases and exclusive merchandise produced by Fanderson.

More recently I’ve been enjoying Thunderbirds Are Go, the 2015 series, with my six-year old son, who has cheekily pinched all my Thunderbirds models and action figures!

I look forward to working with members to continue the club’s proud tradition of high-quality, well-researched features and articles, starting with FAB Express 112 early next year. If you have any ideas, suggestions or would like to contribute – or even just to say hello, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me, or I’m on most social networks and you’ll find me on the Fanderson Facebook group.

FAB! 

Ross Ironfield 

[UPDATED] Growing up with Thunderbirds – Gerry and Sylvia’s daughter Dee Anderson on tour

Posted on by Parker

Dee Anderson is embarking on a tour of the UK, sharing her memories of ‘growing up with Thunderbirds‘

 

As the daughter of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, Dee Anderson, lived and breathed the magic of Thunderbirds and all the other Supermarionation programmes as a child. In this show, Dee presents a heartfelt tribute to the boundless imagination and thrilling adventures that defined a generation.

Gerry and Sylvia’s extraordinary legacy comes to life on stage like never before, inviting you into the world of a child who grew up with Thunderbirds. In her words “It was simply FAB!”

Dates/venues being added as confirmed and tickets become available:

Anton Phillips to attend The Eagle Obsession UK premiere on 11th December 2025

Posted on by Parker

The Eagle Obsession, UK premiere on 11th December 2025

The Eagle Obsession is Jeffrey Morris’ love letter to the iconic craft from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Space:1999. Jeffrey’s been obsessed with the Eagle’s beautiful and functional design since childhood. At that time, he discovered a link between his favorite fictional spacecraft and his favorite real one—NASA’s Lunar Module. Now, he’s ready to explore that connection, and more, with you! Join him as he talks all things Eagle with Space:1999‘s Barbara Bain, Nick Tate, Brian Johnson, Star Trek‘s William Shatner, engineers, fans and many more who share his passion.

Special guest at the UK premiere is Anton Philips (Dr Bob Mathias). The premiere is at 18:00, including a live Q&A with Jeffrey Morris on Thursday 11th December 2025 at The Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland Road, London E8 2PB. Free tickets are available here.

Our 2026 charity of the year is… Prostate Cancer UK

Posted on by Parker

Fanderson to support Prostate Cancer UK in 2025/6

Thanks to our members who nominated and then voted for Prostate Cancer UK to be our charity for 2025/6.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. 1 in 8 men will get it, and if you’re Black, your risk is double. We’re standing together with Prostate Cancer UK  who support our dads, brothers, partners and friends – by raising awareness, funding lifesaving research, campaigning for change and providing helpful support and information.

We’ve started raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK now, with some new items in our Shop for which you’ll be making a donation to the charity. In December we’ll have our now-traditional advent calendar too, with raffles, auctions and other ways to do your bit to support Prostate Cancer UK.

Prostate Cancer UK was chosen by Fanderson members from six charities, also nominated by club members.

Fanderson members have a fantastic tracks record of raising funds for charities. In our 44 years, over £61,000 has been donated to a variety of good causes, including Actors’ Benevolent Fund, Alzheimers Society, Baby Lifeline, Children In Need, Demelza, Diabetes UK, The Film And TV Charity, Guide Dogs For The Blind, Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, International Rescue Corps, Macmillan Cancer Support, Orchid, Silverline, Terrence Higgins Trust, Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal and many more.

 

Ghost Stands display your models in an action pose!

Posted on by Parker

Displaying iconic toys, figures and models with the illusion of levitation!

Ghost Stands was established in 2024 by toy designer and collector Matt Jones from Lunartik. They’re designed to be the most inconspicuous toy display stands in the world, enabling you to display your toys and models with the illusion that they’re flying!

Matt says “As an 80s child I was lucky to have many toys, especially Star Wars and He-Man figures. A lot of them were sadly given away by my parents, but since starting Ghost Stands, it’s definitely helped me reconnect to my past and I know with all my toy design knowledge and appreciation, I can finally add value to the toys I played with all them years ago while building a beautiful private collection.”

The range currently features bespoke stands designed for Dinky and Corgi models from Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Joe 90, UFO and Space:1999. You can see these and more in their Ebay shop. Stands for Vivid Imaginations, Matchbox and Product Enterprise products are coming soon too.

Ghost Stands are produced from a special highly durable and flexible, thin crystal clear plastic material. Every stand has had hours of engineering dedicated to its development, especially as each toy or model is positioned into a particular dramatic pose when designing. This affects the centre of gravity of the piece and the challenge is to make a Ghost Stand that is well hidden, stable enough to display and easy to clip on to the piece without marking it, damaging stickers or paintwork.

Order in good time for Christmas

Posted on by Parker

We know, it’s not even December yet, but for some countries we’ll need to get merchandise orders on their way as soon as possible if they’re to arrive before Christmas!

You can see Royal Mail’s full details of last posting dates here, but to allow us time to package your order up and get it in the post, here’s a summary of ‘last order’ dates that will apply to the majority of Fanderson club members:

  • Wednesday 3rd December – everywhere outside the United Kingdom
  • Monday 15th December – UK (17th December if you add the optional Special Delivery payment to your order)

We’ll do our best to fulfil orders as quickly as possible, but we cannot guarantee orders will arrive by Christmas. If in any doubt, please place your orders as soon as you can. Remember, they’ll show as ‘complete’ in your online account once they’re in the post. Of course, we’ll save up any packages we haven’t been able to mail in time for Christmas and send them as soon as possible afterwards.