Spotlight Talks as part of 54321 FAB! The Future Was Fantastic!

Join two special guests for Spotlight Talks as part of 54321 FAB! The Future Was Fantastic!

As part of their upcoming exhibition 54321 FAB! The Future Was Fantastic!, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum has announced two Spotlight Talks with special guests.

On Saturday 18th July 2026, Graham Bleathman, one of the country’s leading illustrators, will be talking about his work featuring scenes from Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and Stingray. Graham is best known for producing cross-section, ‘cutaway’ illustrations of spacecraft, vehicles and locations from these shows, as well as Dan Dare and Wallace & Gromit. He started illustrating for fan magazines in the 1980s, and since then has his illustrations have appeared in a number of books, magazines and comics. Graham’s other work includes historical subjects, alongside production art on animated releases of Doctor Who and Dad’s Army episodes.

A master of the technical illustration, join Graham for a fascinating insight as he talks about his experiences working on these amazing projects and his fantastic new work Worcester: 2066, specially commissioned for our summer exhibition!

Graham’s talk will be 11:00-12:00. It will be followed by a meet and greet with Graham in the exhibition, where he will be autographing, sketching and meeting fans.

On Saturdays 1st and 29th August 2026, renowned British voice actor Marc Silk will talk about his voicing numerous characters in cartoons, games and films. Marc specialises in character creation and performance across all media, bringing some of the world’s most celebrated characters and stories to life.

Marc was the voice of Global Defence Force agent Captain Wayne Rigby in Thunderbirds Are Go as well as the voice of several guest characters in the show. Best known for his roles as Aks Moe in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Bob in the US dub Bob The Builder and Nero in Danger Mouse, Marc has collaborated with a vast array of major entertainment and gaming studios over his 30-year career. These include Lucasfilm, BBC, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros.

He’ll take you on a journey through his fascinating career, with a plethora of anecdotes as we meet the voices of our comic heroes.

Marc’s talk will be 11:00-12:00. The talk will be followed by a meet and greet with Marc in the exhibition, where he will be signing autographs and meeting fans.

The Spotlight Talks are £10 each, though there’s free entry to the exhibition.

A big offer on our little picture cards

Great offer on exclusive picture cards sets!

Picture cards, as offered inside packets of sweet cigarettes in the 1960s/70s, were an easy and inexpensive entry to Anderson merchandise. Now we’ve got a great offer to help you get into the habit or add to your collection by buying our exclusive packs of cards.

We’ve created two sets for those Anderson productions that weren’t blessed with them back in the day – Doppelgänger and Space:1999 Year Two – plus the multi-series The Future Is Fantastic! set. Buy them all in the same transaction and you can save a whopping 40% off the total price. Just apply the coupon code CIGGIES at the checkout before you pay.

And whilst you’re buying those picture card packs, why not add The Future Is Fantastic! booster pack to your order? You’ll be helping us raise funds for our charity of the year – Prostate Cancer UK.


OFFER TERMS AND CONDITIONS (in addition to our standing Ts&Cs)

  • This offer is for Fanderson members only.
  • Members must buy at least one each of our The Future Is Fantastic!, Doppelgänger and Space:1999 Year Two picture cards sets in the same transaction.
  • The Future Is Fantastic! booster pack is available for a charitable donation and is not part of this offer
  • Apply the coupon code CIGGIES before you pay to get the discount. You can use more than one code in the same transaction
  • Members must apply the coupon code themselves to get the discount. It cannot be applied after you have paid, and we cannot apply it retroactively.
  • This is an online-only offer. It cannot be redeemed via the post.
  • Offer available whilst stocks last

Spring has sprung, and with it comes our spring mailing!

Spring has sprung, and with it comes our spring mailing of FAB Annual 2026 and FAB Express issue 112!

As promised back in December, going in the post today is our spring mailing to all current Fanderson members.

Our new FAB Express editor Ross Ironfield’s first issue (112) takes a peek at Century 21 Toys marketing, club members FlashBack to Fireball XL5 Trial By Robot, read about the making of the club’s Super Space Theater soundtracks, our first new FAB Fans feature, as well as all your news, views and reviews.

The mailing also includes the much-anticipated FAB Annual 2026, delayed from November. This 100-page hardback book shines a light on Torchy, plus an exclusive 8-page Thunderbirds picture strip, the nostalgia kick of being in Another Time, Another Place, an examination of making Worlds In Miniature, UFO‘s Royal Navy connection, how Century 21 Toys promoted their Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons lines, a look at the work of the much-loved actor and voice artist David Healy, the full story behind comic hero Agent 21, the books of John Theydon, a look back to everything that was happening in AP Film’s heyday in FAB Diary 1966, plus Graham Bleathman’s cutaways of the TV21 Building and the President Roberts.

The mailing’s been sent to all current club members, and new members will also get it shortly in their welcome package along with issue 111.

And, whilst we’re here, a reminder that the offer on our brand new Thunderbirds In Outer Space soundtrack double-CD, and free Stingray EP when you buy our exclusive FAB Grooves double vinyl LP, run until the end of this month!

Fantastic free exhibition this summer!

Fantastic free exhibition this summer!

Building on the huge success of the 2024 exhibition 54321 FAB! The Art of Supermarionation in Lichfield, Chris King is assembling an expanded version of the display in Worcester this summer.

Retitled 54321 FAB! The Future Was Fantastic!, this new iteration will introduce fresh exhibits, including an impressive collection of original puppets, studio models, artwork and memorabilia from across the Worlds of Supermarionation and beyond.

54321 FAB! runs at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum from Saturday 4th July to Sunday 6th September 2026. Visitors can explore the exhibition Tuesday to Saturday from 10am–4pm, and Sundays from 10am–3pm, with last entry one hour before closing. Entry is free, making it an ideal summer outing for fans of all ages.

Fanderson is proud to confirm that the club is sponsoring the exhibition in partnership with Chris King, helping to bring this remarkable celebration of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson to a wider audience.

Ghost Stands display your models in an action pose!

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.

Recognition for Honorary Members at Project Ford

Puppeteer, sculptor and director Mary Turner and actor, voice artist and writer Keith Alexander were recognised for their contributions to the Anderson productions, and to Fanderson, by becoming Honorary Members of the world’s only official Gerry and Sylvia Anderson appreciation society.

Mary and Keith were presented with certificates at the Project Ford event on 31st October 2025 and will receive free membership of the club.

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.

Bonus Captain Scarlet 7″ vinyl with Electronic Sound magazine

Accompanying issue 124 Of Electronic Sound magazine is a 7″ vinyl disc of Barry Gray Music

Captain Scarlet’s on the cover and inside the magazine there’s a deep dive into the music of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s sci-fi TV shows, much of it the work of cult British composer Barry Gray. Gerry and Sylvia produced some of the most exciting children’s television of the 1960s and 1970s, and Barry Gray’s music, which was initially orchestral but later increasingly electronic, was crucial to the success of them all. The former RAF pilot was responsible for the sonic magic of both the Andersons’ puppet shows and their live action dramas like UFO and Space:1999.

Accompanying the magazine is a cool white vinyl EP featuring six musical excerpts from three of the Andersons’ shows:

  • side A ‘Spectrum Of Sound’ is dedicated to Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons, starting with the footsteps and gunfire of the opening credits, before sliding into the eerie The Power Of The Mysterons and ending with the memorable main theme.
  • side B has the theme tunes of both Thunderbirds and UFO, plus a dramatic incidental segment from Thunderbirds called Heading For The Sun.

See more and order your magazine and/or disc here.