Monochrome marvels in October’s FAB Monthly offer!

Monochrome marvels in October’s FAB Monthly offer!

Thanks to our monthly offers, more members are discovering the club’s FAB magazine and telling us “It’s an amazing magazine” or “I never knew how much there is in each issue”. Although a large number of members have been with Fanderson for years, and so may have received FAB as part of their membership package, there’s a significant number who have joined since.

To encourage that latter group to take a punt on ordering some copies, our monthly series of discounts are focussed on a specific series. For October, it’s the turn of magazines featuring monochrome favourites Supercar and/or Fireball XL5. Since we started these monthly offers in January, quite a few issues have sold out. Get your order in now as stock on many issues is quite low – don’t miss out!

Buy any five or more issues of FAB magazine that contain Supercar and/or Fireball XL5 content (conveniently, you can see them all by clicking on Supercar or Fireball XL5) in one transaction, apply the coupon code FAB-OCT-MARVELS at checkout, and you’ll get a whopping 50% off those issues.

A Celebration of Sci-fi Toys and Collectibles at Museum Of Brands

Childhood memories return in major exhibition of Thunderbirds and Space:1999 collectables

The Museum of Brands is proud to announce the opening of “Thunderbirds & Space:1999 – a Celebration of Sci-fi Toys and Collectibles“. This special exhibition marking the anniversaries of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s seminal shows Thunderbirds and Space:1999. The displays celebrate the enduring legacy of the Andersons’ iconic television shows through the toys, games, comics and memorabilia that captured the imagination of generations. The exhibition is co-curated by acclaimed designer, Thunderbirds superfan and Fanderson member Malcolm Garrett MBE, and the Museum of Brands.

“These weren’t just toys,” explains exhibition co-curator Alice Kain “For children of the 60s and 70s, these objects were the connectors to the Andersons’ futuristic worlds. Each figure, board game and annual represents hours of imaginative play where ordinary bedrooms could be transformed into International Rescue headquarters or Moonbase Alpha.”

The exhibition features over 400 carefully preserved items, many on public display for the first time. Objects have been loaned from the Robert Opie collection and several private collectors who have treasured these pieces for decades. The exhibition showcases an unprecedented display of Anderson collectables from major TV shows including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Supercar, Fireball XL5, UFO and Space:1999.

Highlights include die-cast Dinky Toys vehicles (still with their packaging), rare promotional items from confectionery tie-ins, original sets of cherished annuals and comics, vintage jigsaws and board games that brought the shows into family homes.

Malcolm Garrett, curator of The Malcolm Garrett Collection, said: “My earliest memory of Gerry Anderson’s remarkable TV shows is watching Supercar when I was just five or six years old. My first toy was a red plastic Supercar with clear roof and yellow pullout wings, which I played with endlessly. I was an avid follower of all things Anderson from then on, subscribing to TV21 comic when it was launched in 1965, just ahead of Thunderbirds first broadcast, and demanding my parents bought all the Dinky toys for me. It was perhaps inevitable that much later I began to collect all those toys, annuals and books that I had either owned as a child, or wished I had. To be able to loan them now to this very special exhibition is something I couldn’t have dreamed of.”

The Museum Of Brands is at 111 – 117 Lancaster Road, Notting Hill, London W11 1QT.

FAB Book Of Free Gifts… with a free gift!

Lucky for some – our 13th FAB Book Of… comes with its own free gift – a reproduction Captain Scarlet file from TV21!

The FAB Book Of… series has been incredibly popular since the book of Dinky toys started it way back in 2010.

Now, we’re delighted that the 13th book is being added to the series – the FAB Book Of… Free Gifts And Promotions. This new 60-page book takes a look at all the wonderful gifts that were given away in comics such as TV21, Lady Penelope and Countdown. For many of us, this will be our only chance to see some of these items – as giveaways, many weren’t designed to last for long, or were simply thrown away after a short while. This book features not just the gifts themselves but also the comics they were offered in, as well as advertising in other publications.

Our new book comes with a free gift of its own – a reproduction of the Captain Scarlet file originally given away with TV21 issue 155.

Click here to order your copy now!

Don’t forget, although Sweet Cigarette Cards Volume 2 has sold out, we still have 11 other titles in the series available. Buy any three or more in the same transaction (excluding FAB Book Of Free Gift And Promotions) and you’ll get 20% off! And we still have stock of FAB Books binders to keep your books safely in.

Save big on soundtracks this spring

Get a great deal on some of our exclusive members-only soundtracks!

To celebrate the arrival of spring, we’ve got some great offers on our soundtracks – just for Fanderson members:

  • Put either Supercar or Fireball XL5 in your basket and you’ll get the other title free, plus a free Fireball XL5 sticker
  • Put Stingray 3CD boxset in your basket and you’ll get it a special price (UK £36.50 £27.35, E £40 £30, RW £43 £32.25), plus a free WASP sticker
  • Buy Joe 90 4CD boxset in your basket and you’ll get it a special price (UK £30 £22.50, E £33.50 £25, RW £36.50 £27.35), plus a free WIN sticker

You don’t need to do anything special to get these offers (other than add anything else you want, checkout and pay!). The special prices are already in the Shop and we’ll put any free items in your package when we mail it to you.

These offers are until FAB Express 110 is published this summer, or whilst stocks last (whichever is sooner).

Get ready Canada – your FAB Annuals will soon be on their way!

We’re getting FAB Annual 2025 ready to mail to club members in Canada

Fanderson members in Canada will be aware that we chose not to mail their FAB Annuals in December along with everyone else, due to the effects of the postal strike there. Although the strike was resolved a while ago, we were advised to wait until the huge backlog of post had been cleared and services were back to normal. Canada Post suggested that we should steer clear of January, so we’ll start mailing again to Canada in the next few days, and catch up with FAB Annuals to those who are owed them as part of their club membership.

Like Ice In The Sun – story complete

It’s fitting that in this, Fanderson’s 43rd anniversary, we bring back an aspect of fandom that was big when the club started but has been largely forgotten over the years.

We’re proud to present the first chapter of a new Fireball XL5/Stingray crossover story by Robin Day and Keith Ansell:

Like Ice In The Sun

Underwater breathing experiments at Marineville start events that could end in a global civil war between the undersea races and the surface world and lead to the destruction of the entire Solar System.

The lives of Steve Zodiac and Troy Tempest along with the crews of Fireball XL5 and Stingray will never be the same again.

This is a crossover adventure set in the Gerry Anderson Universe.

Of this unique project, Keith says:

“Like Ice In The Sun began life as a writing game over 20 years ago with my friend Robin writing the first few pages and sending them to me to pick up where he left off. I then wrote the next few pages and sent the story back to him and so it went on for years gradually evolving into the novel length story. This was a labour of love written by two massive fans of Fireball XL5 and the related comic strips.

“Robin hosted a website called Space City for many years and produced the CGI artwork used by Carlton in their Fireball DVD release. I have been a member of Fanderson since 1992 and have written many short stories and comic strips for their publications collaborating with Shaqui le Vesconte and Richard Farrell. I also used to contribute to Dave Nightingale’s Century 21 magazine in the early 90s, writing the Fireball XL5 Encyclopedia that was published in issues 11 and 12, along with other features.

“Robin sadly passed away on 23rd February 2022 which was a great shock to me and his wife Pauline. We had still been working on Like Ice In The Sun right up to his death and had almost got it finished and ready for publication. I was determined to finish our epic tale and with Pauline’s help I think does justice to the two great TV series it is based upon.”

Download the story from our Fan Fiction page.

Like Ice In The Sun has been formatted as an A5-sized PDF, so it is readable on most devices, or can easily be printed.

Would you like to see more fan fiction here? Leave us a comment, whether it’s about Like Ice In The Sun or fan fiction in general.

FAB Annual 2025 on its way in time for Christmas, for most club members

Finally! We can confirm that FAB Annual 2025 has been mailed to Fanderson members today!

Hopefully, this will give enough time for the majority of members to find their annual under the tree this Christmas – certainly those in the UK should and maybe those in parts of Europe too. Unfortunately, due to ongoing industrial action in Canada we’ve been advised not to mail to members there, but we’ll keep your FAB Annuals safe and post them as soon as the action is over and the backlog of mail has cleared.

Together with FAB Express 108, mailed recently, our winter mailing is complete and we can get on with welcoming all the new club members who have been waiting patiently for their membership packages!

[UK] Fireball XL5 returns to Talking Pictures TV

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1962 series Fireball XL5 is returning to broadcast in the UK on Talking Pictures TV!

Talking Pictures TV will start another run of the black and white classic with Planet 46 on Saturday 23rd November at 14:25. See their full schedule for coming weeks here.

Talking Pictures TV is available in the UK on Freeview/Youview 82, Freesat 306, Sky channel 328 and Virgin 445, with a streaming service at www.tptvencore.co.uk

[UK] Network titles live on, thanks to Spirit Entertainment

Some of Network’s amazing HD restorations of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions are becoming available once again, thanks to Spirit Entertainment.

Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Joe 90 and both Ultimate and Super Space Theater  Space:1999 Blu-ray Discs are available for pre-order now (due 5th August), with Supercar appearing on DVD too.

[UK] All Fireball XL5 episodes and Century 21 Slough now on ITVX

Although most episodes of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s productions have been available for some time on ITVX, free of charge, inexplicably only two episodes of 1962’s Fireball XL5 have been included. Now that’s been remedied, with all 39 episodes available from today on the streaming service.

Also added to ITVX today is the Century 21 Slough documentary:

On the eve of demolition, the former film studios where Stingray, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and Thunderbirds were launched are brought to life one last time. Join original AP Films team members as they say goodbye to the buildings, sharing memories as they tour recreated sets, models, and puppets alongside studio originals.

ITVX is free to view, with most of the Anderson content available ad-free too. There’s a free seven-day trial of the subscription Premium service (normally £5.99 a month/£59.99 a year) which offers even more content, ad-free, from the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Studio Canal.