Space: 1999 Eagle Transport

Many of you were not even born when this toy was produced. There are more than likely a large number of you who have not ever watched an episode of the Gerry Anderson classic, Space 1999, but for those who have, this ship is unforgettable. The toy of which I am referring to is the classic Space: 1999 Eagle One Transport produced by Mattel in 1976. Measuring approximately 32 inches in length, this toy was one little big ship.
For those of you who are not familiar with Space: 1999 this show premiered in 1975, in syndication on American television. This series starred Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse and in the second season Catherine Schell as members of the crew of Moonbase Alpha. According to the story line, on September 13, 1999, an accident at the nuclear waste storage facility on Earth’s moon caused the satellite to be ripped from the Earth’s orbit and sent hurtling through space. Often thought of as a sequel to Anderson’s other series, UFO, Space 1999 lasted only 2 seasons (48 episodes) but has stayed popular amongst its loyal fan base for the last 24 years. The main source of transportation on the show, with the exception of the moon itself, was the extremely cool Eagle transport.

The Eagle was the true workhorse of the show. The main section of the Eagle could be swapped out with different modules as needed, such as a science module or cargo module. The ship was equipped with space to space missiles and lasers for combat, and could perform in both planetary atmospheres and space. The design of the ship was simple, functional and above all, believable. Moonbase Alpha seemed to have an unlimited supply of these ships, much like the shuttlecraft on the U.S.S. Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager, but the moonbase had a factory to repair and rebuild these ships as needed so that was at least plausible.

The toy Eagle transport was released in the fall of 1976 and came with three 3 inch figures. The figures were, Commander John Koenig, Dr. Helena Russell and Dr. Victor Bergman. The figures were quite lackluster compared to the ship itself. The figures had 3 points of articulation, both shoulder joints and the waist joint. Two of the figures came in permanent standing position and one in a seated position. The legs could be swapped out to change which character was piloting the ship. Also included were 4 stun guns (which the figures could not hold), a laser rifle (which could be attached to a figure), 3 space helmets and 3 backpacks. The head sculpts of the characters were pretty dead on; you could tell that the Koenig figure was Martin Landau. Aside from the figures the ship came with many parts that could be lost over time. There were four maneuvering thrusters, four retro-rockets, four thruster rockets, eight landing struts, two chairs, a winch, hatch cover and a weapons rack. It is amazing that any of these have survived 33 or so years complete or close to complete.

This brings me to the reason for this article, for me the Eagle has landed. Sitting in my living room, a mere foot away from me sits an almost complete Eagle transport. I had one as a child and back then I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and all these years later I still think it is pretty hot! I remember playing with 3 ¾ inch figures with it, such as GI Joes and Star Wars figures and taking them on adventures to distant planets. My brother Dominick got the Millennium Falcon for Christmas that year and I received Eagle One so it made it perfect for space adventures and dog fights. I never would have thought that I would be a proud owner again of one of these sweet ships, since my mom launched mine into the trash those many decades ago. All I can say is that Ebay can be a wonderful place when it comes to reconnecting with those lost playthings from your youth. This ship that is now in my possession is almost complete, missing only the four stun guns, one figure, one backpack and two helmets. The winch that came with it is broken so it can not be attached and there is no string or hook with it either. Though I do care about the missing parts, I am so ridiculously happy that it is in such good shape. I have written this to share my joy; share a part of my youth with a new generation.

The Eagle was one of the coolest things on Space: 1999, aside from the Hawk, which was a kick ass fighter. It is a shame that they had never produced any large toys from UFO, such as the Interceptors or the Mobiles, but this ship is just awesome. One of the coolest things about this ship is the fact that you can take the main engines off the body of the Eagle and the cockpit and connect them to make a fighter or scout ship. This toy has hours of playability associated with it only limited by a person’s imagination. I think that I will load up the main section and transport a squad of GI Joes to some far off battle field. “Attention Eagle One you are cleared for take off!”