The Merchandise GuideEagle Models: MPC/ Airfix / Round 2
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise Guide
US 1975-7
Fundimensions Plastic Construction Kit 1-901. Model Products Corporation (MPC) was an American company that specialized in model kits of cars. In 1970 it was acquired by General Mills, who marketed MPC kits under their Fundimensions Division. In 1985, MPC was acquired by Ertl. The brand was acquired by Round2 in 2008. MPC was primarily known for car kits. It cross-licensed some cars from the UK company Airfix, and subsequently re-branded some of their aircraft kits for the US market. Space: 1999 was cross-licensed with UK Airfix to cover both US and European markets.
41 part kit, with water decals (4 Alpha insignia, plus chequer squares for nose cone and fuel pods). Completed length 30.5 cm (scale is approximately 1:96). Side framework moulded. Pod detachable.
Box 28 x 17 x 6.5 cm. Art of rescue Eagle by Moon, head/shoulders photos of Koenig and Helena top right. "For Ages 8 to Adult". There are small photos of the Eagle and Landau on the side of box.
There were two variations of box:
| Side | Version A | Version B |
|---|---|---|
Front cover |
Text by Landau Bain reads: "From The TV Hit Space 1999 Starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain!"  
|
Text reads just: "From The TV Hit Space 1999"  
|
Long side 1 (top) |
Alongside small photos is a large red panel showing an Eagle plan with the pod detaching. "A full 12 inches in length" 
|
Over the red panel, obscuring much of the Eagle plan and some text, is a large yellow circle: "Special Offer! Alpha Moonbase Shoulder Patch! Details inside" 
|
Long side 2 (bottom) |
A large photo of Koenig in helmet, a photo of the Eagle in space, plus smaller photos of astronauts, Bergman and launching Eagle. A red banner has text including "Easy to build!", "Great Detail!" 
|
There is only the picture of Koenig and the Eagle in space. The smaller photos, and smaller text in the banner, are gone. 
|
Short sides |
Eagle cover art 
|
|
MPC also produced The Alien, Hawk and Moonbase Alpha.. All three models included an offer on the instruction sheets for a Moonbase Alpha shoulder patch.
In the UK it was reissued by Airfix (see below). In 1999, it was reissued by AMT. In 2013 it was reissued by Round 2.
MPC Instructions
Model Kit Parts
Decals
MPC 1975 catalog: "MPC is new, MPC is hot". The back of the 16-page catalog features the Eagle (notably, all photos from the series; none of the model or even the art).
Here is a TV show that will set the standards for a long time for outstanding technical production. It is beyond anything ever done. It will be the show of shows in the 1975-76 season. And MPC's got it! Space: 1999 from MPC. The show of the year ... and the kit of the year. MPC's got it!
In every show there is one vehicle that appears week after week after week: the Eagle 1. It is the only means of space transportation and it will be seen by more people than any other star on TV this year. And MPC has it in authentic detail ... a magnificent model and one that is easy to assemble.
UK, Europe £2.50 1976
Number 06174-8 (series 8). Airfix began to produce plastic kits in the 1950s, and in the mid-1970s it was dominant in the UK and Europe. In 1971, it bought Meccano-Dinky, becoming the biggest toy company in the UK. The Space: 1999 kits was cross-licensed with MPC to secure access to both the European and US markets. In 1981, Airfix was bought by General Mills (owners of MPC) via it's UK Palitoy division; subsequent kits were often relabelled between MPC and Airfix brands.
The Eagle kit was originated by MPC in the US. The decal of the Moonbase Alpha insignia had red lettering and black space (both should be blue). The illustration of the insignia on the side of the box was detailed and more accurate to the spacesuit version.
Box 28 x 17 x 6.5 cm. Art of rescue Eagle leaving Moon. Later boxes included title repeated in French.
Instruction sheet 52 x 19 cm in English, French & German, with initial short description of series & Eagle.
Text from instruction sheet:
September 9, 1999: A gigantic nuclear explosion tears the moon from Earth's gravitational field and sends it hurtling through space. On the rocky surface of the planet, Moonbase Alpha with some 300 survivors becomes a human colony destined for solar systems far from the Earth's life-sustaining atmosphere. Such is the dramatic setting of the new Gerry Anderson TV series. Space 1999. Trapped with the men and women on the scientific colony of Moonbase is a fleet of nuclear powered Eagle Transporters - the only means the castaways have of fully investigating anything in their path. Their only means - when the time eventually comes - of leaving their island in space. The Moonbase Eagles have a skeletal framework with nuclear power units aft and in the four lateral lifting bodies. The complex control cabin at the front is known generally as 'the beak' and from here the craft is piloted and the systems housed. Hydraulic landing pads enable Eagle to operate from rough terrain and sensing devices provide a fail-safe operational factor. The Eagle's central area is capable of taking a variety of module pods or units designed to carry stores, personnel, survey equipment etc. For combat use, Eagles can be fitted with formidable laser armament and missile racks. In the Eagles, Moonbase personnel journey to other planets and endeavour to protect the colony from outside forces. Their versatility enables them to undertake hazardous missions in the colony's search for a planet on which to establish new life.
The command module is never known as the "beak" in the series. There are no missile racks on the Eagle.
Airfix also produced the Hawk. A revised version of the kit was produced by Reshape in 1992 and 1994.
Kit parts from the Airfix Eagle were used by Martin Bower on two of his models, seen in Year 2 (although not visible as such on screen). The Ellna buildings in Devil's Planet had clusters of leg pods on them, while the pilot ship from Bringers Of Wonder had the top of a leg pod on the underside.
The kit was promoted in UK children's comics with full-page advertisements, using the box artwork and a short story: "Will the Eagle Transporter escape the green monster?". It features Koenig and Bergman landing on a planet and realising its lush underground is an illusion created by a green monster that wants to inhabit their bodies. Read the full text
USA 1999 $16.75, although widely available for $13.75
In 1985, Ertl, known for their die-cast toys, acquired model kit companies MPC and AMT. In 2008, the MPC and AMT brands were acquired from Ertl by Round2.
Kit number 30066. Reissue of MPC/Fundimensions Eagle Transporter, identical but in grey plastic (the original was white). A smaller box- 9.25 by 6.5 by 4 inches- with dramatic art of an Eagle launching (by H Ed Cox). The instruction sheet includes a black and white version of the original MPC cover painting, and apart from the introductory page (English, French, Spanish and German, assembly instructions only) has notably sparse text.
Box sides:
Instructions and decals:
Resin conversion intended for use with Airfix/MPC Eagle. Beak featuring better verniers and attachment points to the girder structure. See "Collecting Scale Models" May 1991.
Resin conversion intended for use with Airfix/MPC Eagle. See "Collecting Scale Models" May 1991.
UK 1992, reissued 1994. Sold in Comet Miniatures for £50.
30.5 cm long (1:72) modified version of Airfix kit, resin with white metal framework. The 21 x 30 cm instruction sheet is photocopied from the original Airfix instructions. The plain box features merely a photo of the completed model; there is no manufacturers name or text. Although the kit has real framework, it reproduces other inaccuracies of the Airfix kit, such as the solid legs, identical rather than symmetric pods, and engine detailing.
Copyright Martin Willey
