Polaris from "Tom Corbett: Space Cadet" (1950-1956)

Scale: N/A
Initial Release: 2003
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

Based on a character credited to both sci-fi legend Robert Heinlein and SF author Joseph Greene, the "Tom Corbett - Space Cadet" TV series followed the adventures of Space Academy student Tom Corbett and his friends Roger Manning and Astro. The series of 15 minute-long episodes had a checkered history, premiering on CBS, then moving to ABC, NBC, the DuMont Network and finally back to NBC for its final year, when 30-minute Saturday morning episodes also were aired.

The show's technical advisor was non other than renowned spaceflight consultant and lecturer Willy Ley. It's no surprise then that Tom's ship, the Polaris, closely resembled the V-2 rockets that the Germans had developed and launched late in World War II. The atomic-powered Polaris was just one of many V-2-inspired single-stage rockets to appear in in the movies and on TV during the 1950s. Others included the Luna from George Pal's "Destination Moon," the Mars One from "Flight to Mars" and Rocketship X-M from the movie of the same name. It wouldn't be until years later that the concept of multi-stage spacecraft -- and drives specialized for faster-than-light travel -- would become accepted parts of popular sci-fi-dom.

About the Kit

When it was released in 2003, this all-resin model kit represented the latest in a long line of 1930s, 1940s and 1950s-era rocket designs kitted by Herb Deeks. It also represented a change in Deeks' marketing efforts, as the kit no longer bore his 15-year-old "Futures Past" moniker nor his usual Flash Gordon-inspired company logo.

This model is built from an original issue.