Thunderbirds - KAYO KYRANO!

Thunderbirds Are Go - 3.75" Series 01 - Kayo Kyrano - Vivid Toy Group 2016

After the success of the rebooted Captain Scarlet franchise, 2006's The New Captain Scarlet, work began on a reimagining of another great Gerry Anderson property, Thunderbirds. And nine years later, the CGI-animated series Thunderbirds Are Go premiered and ran for three seasons. The original Thunderbirds series debuted in 1965 and was very popular. It inspired films, an anime series, comics, and radio. The 2015 reboot, Thunderbirds Are Go, continued the unfortunate trend of swapping the puppets for CGI models, but at least this series retained a very puppet-like quality to the character design. Kyro Kyrano is a reimagining of Tintin Kyrano, a character from the 1965 series (played by Vanessa Hudgens in the 2004 live-action film). The new version plays a much more prominent role as a co-pilot and head of security - as opposed to a simple love interest character. I bought this toy in Toys R Us sever years ago but never got around to reviewing her until now. Let's check out Kayo below!

The Women of SPACE PRECINCT 2040!

Officer Took & Officer Castle - Space Precinct 2040 - Vivid Imaginations 1994

Gerry Anderson was the puppeteering genius behind the classic sci-fi series' Thunderbirds, Stingray, and Terrahawks (to name a few).  Space Precinct 2040 was one of his last big endeavors but was unfortunately plagued with problems.  The show began airing in 1994 and was cancelled after its first season.  Space Precinct was created for both US and UK distribution but was unable to find a tone to satisfy both markets.  It seems that there was a lot of sub-par work, exaggerations about funding, and inappropriate timeslots adding to its early demise.  There was even a documentary about the behind-the-scenes antics produced last year titled Space Precinct Legacy.  It's really a shame because underneath all the drama, there was a cool premise for a show that could have been a hit.  The series focuses on an NYPD Officer Patrick Brogan who is sent (along with a handful of other human officers) to serve as an officer on the far away crime-riddled planet of Altor.  They serve with other alien officers and solve crimes committed by aliens and humans alike.  Simple, weird, and Entertaining.  Think NYPD Blue meets Farscape.

The Ladies of CAPTAIN SCARLET!

Destiny Angel and Harmony Angel from Vivid Imaginations 1993

Captain Scarlet and Mysterons is a classic British Supermarionation series produced by Gerry Anderson in 1967.  Younger generations are familiar with Supermarionation as the retro-looking puppetwork in movies like Team America: World Police and MTV's Super Adventure Team series.  However, the genre was a well-established sci-fi/adventure artform all throughout the 1960s.  Thunderbirds, Stingray, and Terrahawks were all very popular in their time and featured a similar stylized "puppet" look.  Captain Scarlet, however, featured very humanlike puppets with correct proportions and almost mannequin-like visages.  The series focused on the conflicts between the extra-terrestrial Mysterons and the international defense team Spectrum.  Spectrum's headquarters were an airborne ship called Cloudbase, and protecting Cloudbase were five female pilots (the Angels): Destiny, Harmony, Melody, Rhapsody, and Symphony.  Unfortunately only Destiny and Harmony got the toy treatment.