4 ms·

Thunderbirds was made in the 60's?? How come it was such a hit when I was a kid in the 90's? I had their fortress as a toy.

MrVandemar 2y ago
Maybe there was a revival around that time? Otherwise I'd guess nostalgia from parents?
huesatbri 2y ago
From wikipedia: ” In the early 1990s, Matchbox launched a new range of toys to coincide with the BBC2 repeats. Sales figures for Christmas 1992 surpassed those achieved by Star Wars merchandise in the 1970s and 1980s.”
hi_hi 2y ago
There was also an episode of the popular kids TV show Blue Peter, where they showed you how to make Tracy Island. I believe that helped boost it's popularity.
- ChrisKnott 2y ago
  I think that was downstream to deal with the fact the real toy was expensive and hard to get due to demand. IIRC it was Blue Peter's most requested instructions ever. Quite a signficant public service by whoever designed that when you think about it.
  - Symbiote 2y ago
    The original instructions are online! https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/makes/tracyisland.pdf https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/makes/tracyisla... Via https://www.bbc.com/videos/c511wey54g4o https://www.bbc.com/videos/c511wey54g4o ("1993: Tracy Island - Blue Peter") The next video in the archive is about "this new thing called the Internet", from 1994 https://www.bbc.com/videos/czv20818q2no https://www.bbc.com/videos/czv20818q2no
- simonjgreen 2y ago
  This was huge. Everyone in my class was trying to build it! It occasionally gets talked about to this day
- _joel 2y ago
  With Anthea Turner, no less... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_iV7R8rTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_iV7R8rTM
  - hi_hi 2y ago
    Back in the good old days, when kids had attention spans!
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- hi_hi 2y ago
  For all those who didn't have the privilege of growing up as a kid in the 90's, this went viral before going viral was a thing :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzWkEHOdZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzWkEHOdZA
dfawcus 2y ago
Yes. Probably because Terrahawks (80s) was such a flop, and so there was scope to repeat Thunderbirds. Not that the others: Joe 90, Supercar, etc got much in the way of repeats. That said I did enjoy Captain Scarlet and Stingray as a kid.
- Mindwipe 2y ago
  There was about eight years between Terrahawk's failure and the BBC deciding to repeat Thunderbirds to great success so the two things are probably unrelated.
noneeeed 2y ago
There were a lot of repeats when I was a kid (80-90s). Shows like Thunderbirds and the like were mainstays of my TV watching. They were really good for their time, and hadn't really aged too badly by the 80s and 90s, so it made good financial sense to repeat them. Combine that with the money to be made from toys and it was a much better deal than forking out for new programmes.
simonjgreen 2y ago
Because it was really well produced, and brilliantly written and directed! Even now it looks great.
_joel 2y ago
Yep, here's Peter Cook and Dudley Moore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMi_Hv3Sws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMi_Hv3Sws full version https://www.facebook.com/WeirdHollywood/videos/2021-march-peter-cooke-and-dudley-moore-sketch-on-thunderbirds/437473894029517/ https://www.facebook.com/WeirdHollywood/videos/2021-march-pe...
postexitus 2y ago
There was an even a (quite crappy) Amiga game! Coincided with re-runs on Turkish (newly formed) cable TV - such good (or not) memories. https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1056 https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1056
- AdammadA 2y ago
  There was a really good Thunderbirds game for its time on the inferior Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k. I was amazed all those years ago by its puzzle gameplay design. You can play it here. https://archive.org/details/zx_Thunderbirds_1985_Firebird_Software https://archive.org/details/zx_Thunderbirds_1985_Firebird_So... Edit : to set up controls since it's not noted on that page, you'll need to press R ( Redefine keys! ) and that'll get you started! How to play : you swap between thunderbird 1 and 2 each ship by pressing spacebar ( default ) or whatever you configured it to. You'll notice the ship selected in the bottom left corner of the screen.
ragebol 2y ago
I still have that island fortress thing somewhere in a closet, or maybe my parents. With the pool that could swivel out the way, the trees that fold down and some sound effects IIRC. Was all the rage in my class when I was a kid (in the 90s).
- worldsayshi 2y ago
  Yup, same. I don't still have it though. :(
ccppurcell 2y ago
I also had the toys in the 90s and possibly attempted the blue Peter make of the fortress. I even had a duvet cover and lunchbox. These things were of course bought by my parents who watched the show in their childhoods. In turn my kid loves sonic and I have bought him hats and jumpers etc. I think these revivals intentionally capitalise on nostalgia.

MrVandemar 2y ago

Maybe there was a revival around that time? Otherwise I'd guess nostalgia from parents?

huesatbri 2y ago

From wikipedia: ” In the early 1990s, Matchbox launched a new range of toys to coincide with the BBC2 repeats. Sales figures for Christmas 1992 surpassed those achieved by Star Wars merchandise in the 1970s and 1980s.”

hi_hi 2y ago

There was also an episode of the popular kids TV show Blue Peter, where they showed you how to make Tracy Island. I believe that helped boost it's popularity.

ChrisKnott 2y ago
I think that was downstream to deal with the fact the real toy was expensive and hard to get due to demand. IIRC it was Blue Peter's most requested instructions ever. Quite a signficant public service by whoever designed that when you think about it.
- Symbiote 2y ago
  The original instructions are online! https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/makes/tracyisland.pdf https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/makes/tracyisla... Via https://www.bbc.com/videos/c511wey54g4o https://www.bbc.com/videos/c511wey54g4o ("1993: Tracy Island - Blue Peter") The next video in the archive is about "this new thing called the Internet", from 1994 https://www.bbc.com/videos/czv20818q2no https://www.bbc.com/videos/czv20818q2no
simonjgreen 2y ago
This was huge. Everyone in my class was trying to build it! It occasionally gets talked about to this day
_joel 2y ago
With Anthea Turner, no less... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_iV7R8rTM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM_iV7R8rTM
- hi_hi 2y ago
  Back in the good old days, when kids had attention spans!
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
hi_hi 2y ago
For all those who didn't have the privilege of growing up as a kid in the 90's, this went viral before going viral was a thing :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzWkEHOdZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzWkEHOdZA

dfawcus 2y ago

Yes. Probably because Terrahawks (80s) was such a flop, and so there was scope to repeat Thunderbirds. Not that the others: Joe 90, Supercar, etc got much in the way of repeats. That said I did enjoy Captain Scarlet and Stingray as a kid.

Mindwipe 2y ago
There was about eight years between Terrahawk's failure and the BBC deciding to repeat Thunderbirds to great success so the two things are probably unrelated.

noneeeed 2y ago

There were a lot of repeats when I was a kid (80-90s). Shows like Thunderbirds and the like were mainstays of my TV watching. They were really good for their time, and hadn't really aged too badly by the 80s and 90s, so it made good financial sense to repeat them. Combine that with the money to be made from toys and it was a much better deal than forking out for new programmes.

simonjgreen 2y ago

Because it was really well produced, and brilliantly written and directed! Even now it looks great.

_joel 2y ago

Yep, here's Peter Cook and Dudley Moore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMi_Hv3Sws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMi_Hv3Sws full version https://www.facebook.com/WeirdHollywood/videos/2021-march-peter-cooke-and-dudley-moore-sketch-on-thunderbirds/437473894029517/ https://www.facebook.com/WeirdHollywood/videos/2021-march-pe...

postexitus 2y ago

There was an even a (quite crappy) Amiga game! Coincided with re-runs on Turkish (newly formed) cable TV - such good (or not) memories. https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1056 https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1056

AdammadA 2y ago
There was a really good Thunderbirds game for its time on the inferior Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k. I was amazed all those years ago by its puzzle gameplay design. You can play it here. https://archive.org/details/zx_Thunderbirds_1985_Firebird_Software https://archive.org/details/zx_Thunderbirds_1985_Firebird_So... Edit : to set up controls since it's not noted on that page, you'll need to press R ( Redefine keys! ) and that'll get you started! How to play : you swap between thunderbird 1 and 2 each ship by pressing spacebar ( default ) or whatever you configured it to. You'll notice the ship selected in the bottom left corner of the screen.

ragebol 2y ago

I still have that island fortress thing somewhere in a closet, or maybe my parents. With the pool that could swivel out the way, the trees that fold down and some sound effects IIRC. Was all the rage in my class when I was a kid (in the 90s).

worldsayshi 2y ago
Yup, same. I don't still have it though. :(

ccppurcell 2y ago

I also had the toys in the 90s and possibly attempted the blue Peter make of the fortress. I even had a duvet cover and lunchbox. These things were of course bought by my parents who watched the show in their childhoods. In turn my kid loves sonic and I have bought him hats and jumpers etc. I think these revivals intentionally capitalise on nostalgia.