Last updated
9 April 2009

Sylvia's three puppets could be seen for a number of years on display at the Museum Of The Moving Image (MOMI) in London. Unfortunately, both Joe and Scarlet had been the recipients of rather slapdash paintjobs; their faded eyes had been overpainted with a much too gaudy shade of blue (and Joe's should have been brown anyway).

The Lady Penelope puppet was originally the 'blinker' version, but at some point the blinking eyes had been replaced with ordinary ones. Sadly, the eye sockets for blinker heads tended to be oversized to accommodate the mechanism, so Penny continually looked as if she'd just been startled.

The Joe 90 puppet seemed to have a 'normal' head, but this may even have been a cast and not an original. The eyelashes are missing and there seems to be no leather insert underneath the bottom lip...

Even if it was original, it may as well have been a cast as it had been completely repainted and any trace of the original paintjob had long ago been obliterated. And as for those eyebrows... oh dear.

Well-known Anderson collector Phil Rae had often displayed his original puppets at Fanderson conventions, as well as exhibitions in Blackpool and Wolverhampton. Usually  included in his displays was the "original" Sam Loover; the one which started as revamp puppet #19 in Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons, although it has the wrong back-of-head (marked as 'Under Control'; which it isn't, as that particularly head is quite distinctive).

The puppet appeared on eBay several times in 2005, eventually selling in December for £4,995.00.
 

On September 19th 1995 there was an auction at Phillips in London. The lots included Sylvia Anderson's Lady Penelope, Father Unwin, Joe 90 and Marina ('smiler' version from Stingray). These were set to achieve extraordinary prices. For the rest of us mere mortals with mortgages, there were around eighty disembodied puppet heads (mostly from the Scarlet/Joe/Service era) which were listed in the catalogue at more realistic and affordable prices.

The back cover of the catalogue revealed an extraordinary collection of heads in various states of disrepair. Some were near perfect, others would need a considerable amount of work to restore them to studio quality. All of them would need bodies for a start!

Fortunately, amongst the bidders were several fans who would go on to restore and display some of these wonderful puppets.

The director did however gave us a nice shot of the four Professor McClaine heads that were to appear in the auction. From left to right: 'blinker', 'smiler', 'frowner' and 'normal' heads. I think. The problem with the Joe 90-era puppets is that the expressions are subtle, and they can be difficult to tell apart unless you can see them up close.

The item is now available to view on BIG RAT's YouTube channel here.

"Lot 3   JOE 90 from Joe 90 (1968) dressed in red collarless four button jacket with black trim and two breast pockets over a cream pullover, red trousers and red/black zip-fastened boots. The puppet is wearing his famous glasses the leg joints are fixed to allowed [sic] the puppet to be mounted on a wooden stand (43cm,17"high)   £12000-15000"   

The bidding for Joe only reached £9,000 (£10,586.25 including 15% premium and 17½% VAT on the premium), and so was withdrawn from the sale, although it apparently sold later. If you're the current owner please get in touch; we'd love some decent images for this site!

"112   SAM LOOVER from Joe 90 with working eyes and mouth, mounted on under-control (G)   £300-500"

Lot 112 sold for £620 (£729.29 including 15% premium and 17½% VAT on the premium). If this lot had a back-of-head included, it's the wrong one. The back-of-head that belongs with this puppet is currently with the original revamp head used in Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons. Click on the picture for a larger image.

"114   JOE 90 under-control puppet consisting of half torso dressed in cotton shirt and dungerees [sic] mounted on control stand, head has working mouth and eyes (lacks back of head) with glasses, jacket and trousers, complete dungarees and two of Joe 90's feet   £1500-2000"

Lot 114 sold for £2,500 (£2,940.63 including 15% premium and 17½% VAT on the premium). After the auction the puppet had the under-control mechanism removed and now has a complete body. In June 2004 it was sold on to another collector and was recently restored. Click on the picture for a larger image.

"106   Professor Ian McClaine's glasses from Joe 90   £40-60"

Lot 106 sold for an incredible £300 (£352.88 including 15% premium and 17½% VAT on the premium). That's what happens when you auction four Mac heads but only one pair of specs...

"47   Revamp female character with long grey hair, working eyes and mouth, mounted on solenoid (G)   £200-300"

Lot 47 sold for £300 (£352.88 including 15% premium and 17½% VAT on the premium). Revamped as Lady Martha Hazlewell for the final episode of The Secret Service More Haste Less Speed, this character began its Supermarionation existence as revamp puppet 5A... Ada Harris. Click on the picture for a larger image.

So... where are they now?

Well, since the auction several of the heads have made it back into the public eye; lots 73 (Mac 'normal'), 76 (Mac 'smiler'), 77 (Shane Weston), 78 (Sam 'normal'), 81 (Joe 'frowner') and 114 (Joe 'under-control'). Lots 73 & 78 are pictured on the right, as they looked immediately after the auction. Note the eyes had gone off colour; this seems to have happened to all of the Scarlet/Joe/Service era puppets, whose eyes were made from photographic reductions of artificial eyes (and not photographs of actual eyes, as has been widely rumoured). Over the years, the tiny iris photo cut-outs inside the plastic hemispheres that make up the eyes have gone very pink. Also, the leather insert below Mac's bottom lip had crumbled, because the metal rod supporting the lip had gone rusty, and affected the leather. Some delicate restoration work was needed. Click on the picture for a larger image.

Repairs were carried out to the heads, which were then mounted on new bodies cast from an original. Authentic replica costumes were made, and the (almost) final result can be seen on the left. At this stage, Sam's eyes were not finalised, as they were more brown than blue. Click on the picture for a larger image.

The duo's first public appearance after restoration was at the "Fanderson Gold" convention, held at the Oatlands Park Hotel in Weybridge in 1996. However, it wasn't until August 1997 that Mac and Sam were reunited with a restored Joe at an exhibition at Eastbourne's Wish Tower Puppet Museum as part of the AIRbourne '97 event. In a cabinet containing a veritable treasure trove of original Joe 90 merchandise from the 1960s, the three characters stood together for the first time in nearly thirty years. Click on the picture for a larger image.

The owner of the 'frowner' Joe (Lot 81) has decided not to replace the original faded eyes with a new set of brown eyes. However, this doesn't detract from the fact that the restored puppet looks marvellous. Click on the picture for a larger image.

At Fanderson's "Century 21" convention, held in Coventry in October 2000, there were two Joes, two Macs, two Sams and a Shane Weston! A host of other characters from the Scarlet/Joe/Secret Service era were also on display, including the head of Lady Martha Hazlewell (the revamp of Mrs. Harris); partially restored, but still lacking a body.

Seeing two Macs together ('normal' on the left, 'smiler' on the right) shows the subtle difference in expressions of the Joe 90 era heads.

The 'under-control' Joe made its first public appearance at the Century 21 convention, with his trademark glasses.

As an aside, I've noticed this very picture appearing on dodgy merchandise! An Argentinean "trading card" (No. 43) has appeared on eBay several times, listed as "vintage". I took the picture in October 2000, so I don't really think this can be considered an accurate description. There appear to be more than a hundred of these round cards, featuring everything from The Three Stooges to Walter Lantz (creator of Woody Woodpecker). I wonder how many of the other images are "borrowed" from web sites?