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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Z is for Zero Hour by Bluebird Toy (Code Zero in the US)

So let's look at the most useful series for small scale enthusiasts, the Zero Hour range of futuristic/post apocalyptic rubber men! Good guys, bad guys and big tanks, what more could you want. And some of the figures/accessories are really quite useful for fantasy/sci-fi war gaming.

A shot of various figures from various sets, unlike the Havok range below (tied-in to Argos), these had a wider release and were available in Toy-R-Us, where I passed on the chance of a complete set as they were hideously expensive!

The Green row are a colour variation only available in the Supreme Headquarters Super Monorail Set (Groundhog Marine commandos), the figures more usually in shades of brown as Army Wolf Pack.

Group shot of the Bad Brigade set with a tatty old UAV Tour Bus also available in the big monorail play set. Most sets not only cost a lot, but contained an inordinate number of seated figures!

The big tank!

Some other stuff, you get the picture, lots of play value, not much imagination needed, everything has a back story, real 'modern' toys. The two grey figures are as yet unidentified, being from neither the figure sets nor the big play-set.

These were issued/carried in the US by Mattel where they were known as Code Zero, so assume re-packaging? These seem to have been Bluebird originals, and I don't know if the ranges differed, however V. Rudick's One Inch Army book is short four figure sets and a number of accessories so I guess Mattel didn't market the full range across the pond?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello i have this full pack again , it's a gifts of my mum deceased now.

If you want this box i can sent you for 250€
guidez-pierre.marie@orange.fr

Hugh Walter said...

? Don't know what you're on about?

Ryan said...

Hi, just happened across your blog whilst looking for Zero Hour stuff - the two unidentified grey guys are indeed from Bluebird, but not from Zero Hour - they're from a similar playset of the early 1990s called "Chopper Ace" - I'll send you a catalogue scan if you like.

Hugh Walter said...

Hi Ryan

Scan would be lovely, my email is at the top of the blog, Let me know if you'd like soem in return, I think I have '98 or '99? It's too big to scan in one, and it might be a while...H

Anonymous said...

wow Zero hour that brings me back i used to have a good few of these some of my fav toys as a child I had an awesome huge jet called Scorch wich was a good guy jet and had a huge missile bay with three rockets. I also had various bad guys stuff including that bus and the hearse with the hidden bike :)

Hugh Walter said...

Hi, glad the post stired a few memories and that you found it. Thanks for stopping and leaving a comment.

H

Jordan said...

I'm currently selling old toys - I didn't mean to, but I opened a box in the loft and it might as well have been Pandora's. Is there much of a collector market for Zero Hour stuff? I have loads, somewhere I have two sets with monorails plus loads of vehicles bought separately. I went through a phase of painting the figures, but I'm sure I could strip that off easily enough...

Hugh Walter said...

Hi Jordan

Check eBay....they certainly seem to raise more than I think they're worth, but I'm a cynic, so what do I know! definitely worth stripping the paint, overnight in a bleach-dip, or a few hours in foam oven-cleaner with the odd shake should do it!

H

PS - If you want to take some decent photo's and email them in I'll do a follow-up article if you like...H

Jordan said...

Thanks for replying. I know where the figures are, but it will take a bit of digging to locate the track and vehicles. When I do I will take loads of photos for ebay, which you're welcome to use to illustrate a second article if you like. It won't be anytime soon, though - sometime after Christmas at the earliest, I would think.

Hugh Walter said...

That would be lovely Jordan, no hurry, we've covered about 1% of what's out there on the blog so far, so there's plenty of time for something else!

H