Welcome back to another Thunderbirds Are Go review and I’m finally rounding out Vivid Imaginations’ Action Vehicle releases with the Vehicle Super Set 2.0, which includes the later wave releases!

The packaging, design-wise, is much like the original but is a little thicker to accommodate the odd shape and size of Thunderbird 5.

For the sounds and action features in… action, you can check out the demo video below:

First out of the packaging is Lady Penelope’s F.A.B. 1 which I covered previously as a standalone review so for my full thoughts, please check that out because this version is identical.

I finally get the chance to handle my favourite Thunderbird from the show and it’s a whelming experience. It does everything I expect, no neat surprises or anything, just a solid translation into plastic and of one of my favourite designs of the new show.

The action feature is releases the Shadow Bike from below the cockpit canopy. I found it’s better to just tap the release button rapidly to get it to work consistently.

I expected to like Thunderbird 5 the least because I just knew there wouldn’t be a spinning gravity ring but I’m still impressed that the design works well in this scale, especially alongside Thunderbird 3. I think this Thunderbird also features the most voices as opposed to just sound effects which is cool.

The action feature has to do with John’s space elevator and it’s actually pretty poor. I mean, it makes sense but this type of draw string play feature is often accompanied by a grapple hook or claw, which the space elevator does feature in the show but here it’s just a lump of plastic.

Despite any reservations I have about each vehicles’ individual flaws, they’re still fun toys and the much needed final additions to the Tracy family’s arsenal and I recommend picking it up for that reason alone.

You can find the Thunderbirds Are Go Vehicle Super Set 2.0 for £29.99 rrp from most retailers and online.

With the second season of Thunderbirds Are Go finally hitting our screens, Mint in Box is heading off to Tracy Island once more to review the Pod Assembly Set from Vivid Imaginations!

I was reluctant to review this set to start off with because I was already biased against it due to being, on the surface, a less interesting version of the Pod Mech Set by Takara Tomy, a similar set designed to work with Supersize Thunderbird 2 but having gotten to play around with it, it’s a completely different beast.

Here’s a demo of the construction aspect and sound play patterns:

So, first thing I have to mention is that this doesn’t come with an extra pod for the Supersize Thunderbird 2 but I can understand that budgetary restrictions would put a stop to that after producing brand new moulds for everything so I’m not holding it against the set.

The other is how chunky and robust this set is. It’s definitely designed for small hands and rugged play. Sadly, that also means there are a bunch of other restrictions. The treads don’t roll, the safe-for-kids stunted drill and helipod blades doesn’t rotate, the repair arm and dozer blade are static moulded pieces.

It’s designed for a very young children and that’s fine because each vehicle does feel solid once constructed. Vigorous shaking didn’t see parts fly everywhere and they can even survive a drop test.

Being a kit of assembly parts, I also had to see how it held up in the customising aspect and it does pretty well! Sure, some parts are in compatible with most of the ports but you can do a fair bit of Pod building for yourself. I imagine there’ll be a follow-up set with parts for the other Pod Vehicles.

Despite my initial hesitance, the Thunderbirds Are Go Pod Assembly Set is a very fun, very affordable set that makes the most of it’s robust, chunky plastic and bolster the creativity of any young Thunderbirds fan! You can currently get the Thunderbirds Are Go Pod Assembly Set for £19.99 RRP from most good retailers.

The three and a half inch Thunderbirds Are Go action figure line from Vivid Imaginations has already featured all the Tracy brothers and their nemesis The Hood but now they’ve added both Brains and brawn. Eh? No one appreciates quality punnage anymore…

Kayo and the Brains and M.A.X twin-pack run at £7.99 and £14.99, respectively so let’s see if they’re worth the money!

Kayo Kyrano is International Rescue’s chief of security, pilot of Thunderbird S and the niece of series antagonist, The Hood. While she appears to be a new character, she is actually a modernised version of the original series’ Tin-Tin.

Her figure is a pretty faithful translation from screen to plastic and, especially for a figure in this scale, is pretty well-articulated — that is to say she actually has swivel elbow joints and knee joints. A lot of other similar figures recently have skipped this and I’m glad that Vivid hasn’t. Granted, it’s still limited but at least it’s something.

Kayo comes with her signature wrist communicator and her unique helmet which is cleverly moulded to allow clearance for her hair. The head sculpt is a bit muddy but that’s a scale issue more than anything so I can forgive that but there’s something about her placid face and the way her eyes sit that unnerves me. It’s not quite right for Kayo to look so… Placid. Maybe a smirk or something could have improved the look, I dunno…

Hiram ‘Brains’ Hackenbacker is the… well, brains behind International Rescue. His technical knowledge and scientific prowess are one of the cores of the team and he is an invaluable asset and ally.

Brains features much the same articulation as Kayo and the other figures, but doesn’t have any accessories in the traditional sense but, at the very least, he looks rather dapper and you can pose him like his old puppet counterpart.

The real highlight of the two-pack for me is M.A.X, Brains’ awesome robotic companion who assists in the lab and with the repairs of the Thunderbirds. M.A.X is deceptively articulated and by that I mean he has a ton of joints but also a fair number of fake joints that don’t move. Regardless, M.A.X is the only figure in the trio that I had genuine fun with because, for a faceless robot spider, he can be remarkably expressive! He’s an absolute blast and definitely the star of the two-pack.

While Kayo only makes a passing grade for being my favourite character on the show, I would definitely recommend picking up the Brains and M.A.X set for a pair of characters you can have fun with posing.

Much like the other vehicles in Thunderbirds Are Go, Lady Penelope’s signature FAB 1 also got a funky new redesign for 2015 and now joins the ranks of the Vivid Imaginations’ Action Vehicle line.

Much like Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 3, FAB 1 is sold on an open faced card back that offers the same strangely angled shape as the 4 vehicle set I reviewed not too long ago. The reverse features technical specifications and the toy’s actual features in Lady P’s signature colour and a quote from Parker that isn’t included, sadly.

Out of the packaging, FAB 1 looks the business; a faithful representation of it’s onscreen counterpart. The soft pink is contrasted nicely with the sleek silver stripe down the centre. The trendy, minimalist design looks good from almost any angle; though the assembly lines can detract from the otherwise clean lines.

In terms of action features, I feel a little let down. In the sounds department — which are activated by pressing the silver trunk — we have a sound effects for driving, flying, and then one each for Lady Penelope and Parker. The voice clips are recycled from the show, which is fine because its nice to hear Rosamund Pike and David Graham rather than some random soundalike but the line’s themselves are kind of bland and not iconic to their respective characters. Hell, I think both lines are from the very first episode!

Pressing FAB 1’s canopy down will deploy the wings from the underside of the vehicle and that’s it. Don’t get me wrong, they deploy with a very satisfying ‘whishk’ sound but the wheels don’t fold down, the engine doesn’t expand and there are no weapons to be found. For the Thunderbirds answer to James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5, this release is pretty lacking though I can appreciate that there’s budgetary restraints to keep the toy within the £9.99 price point, hence why all the Action Vehicles barring Thunderbird 2 only have one action feature.

FAB 1 is equally on par with the other vehicles in this line (haven’t got my hands on the much anticipated Thunderbird S yet but I can’t wait to review that too) and is a good toy for its price though that mileage may vary depending on your own personal attachment to Penelope.

The original Thunderbirds series was a huge success in Japan, garnering a huge following and the vehicles have been part of the modelling culture there for decades so when Thunderbirds Are Go hit the shores of Nippon, you just knew that they’d take this new show to heart.

And they did! As well as model kits and other merchandise; Tomica, a Hot Wheels/Matchbox style line of die-cast cars produced a number of vehicles for the show and, best of all, included vehicles we hadn’t gotten here in the West! Today’s spotlight is on one such entry – Tomica Thunderbirds 08 Jet Mogura aka The Mole!

Unlike the bubble card packaging we might be used to, The Mole comes this dinky little box that gives it a unique, almost premium, feel that is wholly unique to Japan.

Out of the box and this die-cast digger doesn’t disappoint! Its hefty for it’s size and the details and paint are just astounding. The plastic for the drill and treads along the pod’s shaft aren’t as shiny as the promo photos would lead you to believe but the rubber rolling treads on the bottom more than make up for that. If there was one downside, it would be the lack of a tilting hinge or the pod being detachable but I’m sure if there are any larger versions produced then we’ll see that implemented (Looking at you, R/C Mole)

Size-wise, when compared to the Thunderbird 4 included in the 4-pack of vehicles I reviewed before, The Mole seems massive. By rights, it should be but the new series has The Mole as just on of many modular modes for the pod vehicles

It scales well with Thunderbird 2 at least and can almost fit into the pod but is just a little too big.

Overall, I really dig this little vehicle and I highly recommend the rest of the Tomica Thunderbirds line since it’s the only place you’ll be getting models for Thunerbird 5, Lady’s Penelope’s car, The Mole and even the Thunderbird Shadow. Go digging online and you’ll no doubt unearth a bargain but for now, I’ll catch you guys next time on Mint in Box!

Thunderbirds really are go with the second half of the season coming soon and still riding high from the return of a television legend, I’m proud to showcase the Thunderbirds Are Go 4-Piece Vehicle Super Set from Vivid Imaginations!

The packaging is very oddly shaped. I don’t quite get why it’s this way but then some other companies have been adding flat corners to packaging so maybe I’m just not down with Paul from Marketing. Regardless, the rich blues and variety of colours is very indicative of the vehicles held inside and, naturally, we’ll kick off with:

Thunderbird 1 – The first responder to many disasters and Scott Tracy’s personal craft. The updated design doesn’t do much to improve on the original and the toy reflects that. It’s iconic! It’s dynamic! It’s other words ending in ‘ic’. The action feature involves twisting the thruster assembly to unfold the wings. Simple, neat and effective. The 3-4 seemingly random sounds are crystal clear and, unless I’m wrong, are the actual voices of the pilots, which is refreshing. A solid kick-off point.

Thunderbird 2 has always been my favourite since childhood so the new updated version really tickles my fancy. Being the heavy duty equipment courier, TB2 naturally has the most action features. Fold-up wings, deploying landing struts and the iconic pod are all present. I’m a little disappointed that the pod features no ‘4’ decal but I imagine it would get scuffed over time. Another sampling of 3-4 phrases cycle through randomly but one phrase seems rarer than the others. ‘Copy that, Thunderbird 4’ plays very seldom and I don’t think there’s a knack to triggering it.

Thunderbird 3 is the space exploration vehicle and was always my least favourite as a kid, probably because it did nothing but be a rocket but the 2015 edition comes with some extra bells and whistles. The grey fuselage can be rotated to activate the sounds and pressing the main circular thruster on the bottom with activate TB3’s grapple arms. It’s a fantastic little action feature but unfortunately, one of my struts was broken right out of the packaging, the spring must have been misaligned somewhere in the guts of the toy which is a damn shame.

Thunderbird 4 is a plastic lump. There’s no other way to say it. While it is very well sculpted and painted, being a fantastic representation of the brilliant 2015 design, it has no action features, simply being able to fit inside TB2’s pod. That’s perfectly fine because it’s such a small piece but the thing that bothers me most is that it doesn’t float. That’s right! I tested it in my sink and while the pod will float, TB4 sadly will not, sinking to the bottom with a soft thud.

Overall, I can highly recommend the super set, not only because it includes 4 of the 5 Thunderbird craft, all of which a pretty fun to play with but also as a cost-saving measure. Each Thunderbird in this set is available in stand-alone packs but buying them all together in this particular set will save you roughly £7 off the RRP when compared to single releases.

The Thunderbirds Are Go 4-Piece Vehicle Super Set is available from most toy retailers and online for an RRP of £29.99

With the mid-season break for Thunderbirds Are Go racing toward us, I thought this would be the perfect time to give my impressions on the show but not only that, but I’ve been lucky enough to receive a DVD test copy of Volume One! Here’s the details!

The Thunderbirds Are Go DVD (Volume 1) will be released in stores from 22nd June 2015 showcasing 13 episodes from the thrilling new series!

Thunderbirds Are Go is an exciting mixture of CGI and live action miniatures. Whenever disaster strikes, International Rescue answers the call!  From their hidden island base in the south Pacific, the five Tracy Brothers pilot remarkable, cutting-edge Thunderbird vehicles from the depths of the oceans to the highest reaches of space – all for one purpose: to help others in need.  

Continue the F.A.B. action and complete your own missions on the Thunderbirds Are Go website! The International Rescue training programme is now open for recruit registration!  Take part in IR training missions, earn badges and rewards and work your way through the ranks! Sign up and find out if you can crack The Hood’s weekly challenge!

Technically, the DVD is quite competent. The UI is thematically consistent with the show and even plays clips from the show while waiting for you to make your decision. The episode selection screen is easy to navigate and the set-up menu lists a bunch of options for languages and subtitles. If there’s one drawback, it’s the lack of special features. Considering the amount of behind the scenes footage that exists, it’s a shame that none of it is included.

Moving onto the show proper, the series has been a fantastic jaunt through various exotic locales, crafted beautifully by the WETA Workshop. The lengths the WETA team has gone to create these living, breathing worlds in which the CGI characters inhabit is astounding. Little movements of the physical set that coincide with character interaction is really interesting to see.

The Thunderbirds have also been given a radical new lease on life, with every iconic vehicle getting a substantial overhaul, if not visibly, then functionally. TB1 operates in much the same way it always did but with some new gimmicks and TB2 (my personal favourite) is just as cool as it was 50 years ago! Though I do lament the lack of iconic Pod machines…

Oh, they’re there. The Elevator Cars and Mole are present but very different. Pod 2 contains a mobile factory in which the two chassis are fitted with modular components to suit whatever mission TB2 is dispatched for. It’s a REALLY neat idea and I do like it but there’s a charm to the dedicated machines of old. Then again, there’s still another 4 Pods unaccounted for so maybe my dream of a 2015 update to the Firefly and Recovery Vehicles may still come true!

Despite the shortened run time (From 50mins to 22mins) there’s plenty of characterisation (and a few lame running gags, unfortunately). Scott tends to be the most boring, as de facto leader in his father’s absence but still has the odd flash of coolness. Virgil has been firmly established as the ladies’ favourite and I can’t argue. He’s got the masculine lumberjack thing going for him and a bucket full of charm and wit. Alan is bratty and probably the least interesting and John has tons more flavour to him than his predecessor. Kayo is a reinvented Tin-Tin and is quite the action girl, being a tomboyish counterpart to Lady Penelope. (Kayo even gets her own Thunderbird, though it hasn’t got any real play in the first half).

Speaking of Lady P, her blossoming romance with Gordon is quite interesting and the characters play off each other quite well.

Overall, I’m really digging the series and the few flaws aren’t enough to turn me off. You can pre-order Volume One of Thunderbirds Are Go from iTunes and Amazon UK and is set for release on the 22nd June with an RRP of £14.99. What do you think of the show so far? Be sure to let me know in the comments and keep a look out in the future for more Thunderbirds Are Go content!