In early 2003, Japanese company Konami released their fifth set of miniature vehicles from the Gerry Anderson shows. Having already produced two excellent sets from Thunderbirds, and one each for Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and UFO, their next project encompassed almost all of the rest of the sci-fi based Anderson shows.

The concept is a little bizarre. You buy a box with a small packet of sweets inside, together with a vehicle. The snag is that you don't know which vehicle you're getting until you open the packet. The other snag is that the complete set features seven pieces, and the seventh is a bit elusive. Actually, you have a one in forty chance of finding one (only one is included in each box sent to shops, each box contains four smaller boxes, and each of those contains ten of the actual toys themselves. Do the maths.)

The six "regular" vehicles are:

• Stingray from Stingray

• Terrorfish from Stingray

• Mac's Car from Joe 90

• U59 Explosives Truck from the Joe 90 episode Colonel McClaine

• Eagle from Space:1999

• Mark IX Hawk from the Space:1999 episode War Games

with the rare "chase" vehicle being Supercar from Supercar.

Each vehicle is already painted and some require a small amount of assembly. The results are quite amazing, particularly as each vehicle is between three and four inches long. Small but beautiful!

These vehicles sell out almost immediately, but you can still buy sets on auction sites such as eBay. A six-piece set can be bought at a reasonable price, but expect to pay considerably more for a set of seven.

A word of warning: don't buy an unopened box of ten models hoping you've got a one in four chance of finding a Supercar - dealers aren't stupid and know exactly which box of ten has the rare vehicle in, as they are always packed in the same way.

Last modified 01 April 2004