Monday, April 22, 2013

Power Prop Flying Gliders - Introduction

This is one of my collections of planes known as "Power Prop Flying Gliders."  The wings are 19.5 cm long and the fuselages are 16.5 cm long.  I have a few different variations of this collection.  I will post pictures of the different variations at a later time.  I bought a box of 4 dozen of these planes off of E-bay from a lady who said she was clearing out old stock from her mother's former store.  I don't know if her mother had passed away or if the store was closing down, but I was thrilled to find these.  It appears to me that these planes have changed over the years.  I think that the earliest versions had a P38 Lightning, the next oldest version (pictured immediately below) has a Supermarine Spitfire and the most recent version has a Grumman F6F Hellcat.  Pictured below are scans of the reverse side of the different packages.

Power Prop Flying Gliders
Power Prop Flying Gliders - with P38 Lightning
Power Prop Flying Gliders - with Supermarine Spitfire MK II
Power Prop Flying Gliders - with Grumman F6F Hellcat

27 comments:

  1. I loved these when I was a kid - but I was always a Spitfire pilot!!

    I managed to bag a couple recently from a shop in Edinburgh. They appear to have changed quite a bit, though!

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  2. The Spitfire and the Hurricane were my favorites when I was young. The gliders available now are pretty awful. Sometimes good ones can be found on eBay. Thanks for your comment and check back in a few weeks for more updates.

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    1. I think they still do this series of gliders, when I was young, I liked the Zero and the Mustang best, I didn’t understand why toys couldn’t fly at first, but I enjoyed the flying gliders very much until I moved on to rubber band powered planes, especially David Eckold's Ultimate Flight Kit, which inspired Mars the Aeroplane and Friends, along with Thomas the Tank Engine. You will find Captain Murphy's productions in another dimension, everything about me, my family tree, my DNA, and my personal hygiene will be different, but everything else will be exactly the same, you will still exist, so there’s nothing to be alarmed about, don’t panic everyone, Eddie Stories to the Limit! 😉

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  3. My childhood favourite, and current collectors item, they bring back so many memories going home after school, buying them and just enjoying them for what they were! This set will always be the ultimate favourite of current times, and past times for me! Fw-190 A-4 to the Tri Pacer, loved them all and still do!

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    1. It's a good thing they're still making them like this, I'm trying to be honest but I'm not joking.

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  4. When I was young I had this entire set, although the packages did not have the propeller logo on them. I spent a lot of time playing with them and had to tape some of them back together when they broke! I still have that set today and will post pictures of them sometime soon. The Hurricanes from my original set are interesting because they are more of a dark purple color.

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  5. It was fun being young with these aircraft around!, these days they are on ebay and I am finding them left right and centre, I have a complete box of these coming from America and also some seperate ones too! Thankyou for actually putting these up on this brilliant blog!

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  6. You are welcome! I do need a Hellcat yet with the propeller logo on the package. I already the Lightning and the Spitfire from this line that have the propeller on the package.

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  7. The Hellcat I think will be like the Lockheed from the Shen Shin set....RARE!, because the Hellcat came in when China was starting to buy out the Power Prop franchise, but I hope to get a Lightning, and maybe one of these days....the Lockheed...

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  8. I just found someone selling groups of 10 of the 12 gliders in the set that is pictured 4th down on this page. Their pictures show a Hellcat package with the propeller logo on it. Their listing says that they will randomly select 10 gliders. I told them that I really need a Hellcat and asked if they would send one to me. I guess I'll see what their response it.

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  9. Ah, before you start jumping in there, they are very likely to be the new counterfeit ones, because they have been getting very sneaky in recent times, and they are using the original logo and packet to fool collectors!

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  10. I'll ask for a picture of the Hellcat if possible. I've only been burned once by counterfeits from a set of gliders that came in the red & yellow envelopes with a propeller logo on it. I got the whole set of 12, but then the gliders from the set of red & blue packages came in the red & yellow envelopes. It was really strange. I'll post pictures of them sometime soon.

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  11. Can I ask where is this Hellcat? because I would like to have a look myself buddy :)

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  12. Search for "Styrofoam Flying Glider" on Ebay USA. You should see it for sale in a set of 10.

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  13. My friend, they are counterfeits! look at the Mustang Mk.II lettering, it has a 1 after American.....and the second photo if you zoom in it does say China...

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  14. You're right. The seller hasn't responded to me with pictures either.

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  15. i buy this for .25 cents at the ice cream truck in the 1980's, very greatful memories. my older brother hates it when I buy it, even my dysfunctional family and so he breaks it I miss the old times very much. :(

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    1. That's too bad that he broke them! Maybe you can buy some online and relive your memories.

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  16. You can buy a complete box from the US for about £66.45 ($110) but it is a deep shame that your collection did suffer the same as mine, but happily I found them again, and I hope you do too!

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  17. The p38 was allways my favorite, unfortunately it was replaced :( hopefully i will find one again :)

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    1. Every so often they pop up for sale on EBay. You just have keep checking. Hope you find one!

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    2. I miss it too. As a child it annoyed me there was only one prop supplied. When I could I attached one from another plane.

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  18. Hello, I was cleaning my dad's garage and found some of these. They say made in Taiwan, there is Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk, mitsubishi zero, thunderbolt F-470, type 4 fighter Hayate and a Focke Wulf 190 A-4 can anyone tell me if they are anything someone may want to buy?? Email evajones83@yahoo.com

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    1. If they are made in Taiwan they could sell for a few bucks on E-bay. Could you send me some pictures? I tried to email you at the address above for pictures but you didn't respond.

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  19. Some people think they’re only outside toys because they have rules about them in their homes but they should be safe to fly in small rooms, what do you think conscience?

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  20. Lol I thought i was the only one collecting them (i see them pop up in stores here from time to time the original ones, but the fake ones are taking over) i have the whole collection from the packet including the hellcat but i need the lightning the B17 and Lancaster

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    1. Cool, thanks for stopping in. Feel free to join our group on Facebook to check out more planes.

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