Very little merchandise was released of The Secret Service. The flood of merchandise had greatly decreased by the late 1960s, although Dinky Toy's Jet Air Car from Joe 90 did sell well considering the series was notably less popular than earlier shows. Dinky Toys was first introduced in 1934 and operate worldwide with a collection of toys of military ships, aircraft and other toys. For the Gerry Anderson shows, they issued FAB1, Thunderbird 2, the SPV, MSV and SCC (named Spectrum Patrol Car for the toy), as well as the aforementioned Jet Car, Sam Loover's sleek car, the Eagle Transporter, the armoured car from the pilot The Investigator, Ed Straker's car, SHADO Mobile 2 and the SHADO Interceptors (somehow painted green instead of white). Away from the worlds of Gerry Anderson, they produced the Enterprise (Star Trek), Pink Panther's Car (The Pink Panther Show) and the Mini Moke (The Prisoner). The Model T Ford Gabriel was released in 1969 under number 109 and proved to be a disappointing sale, probably because of the poor network sale of the series. Due to its short number of sales, it remains a highly valuable collector's item, with prices on Ebay reaching up to £200.
A packet of sweet cigarette cards was also released in 1969 by Barratt. Two novels were based on the series (The Destroyer and The V.I.P.) written by John Theydon. The series also featured in the comic strip Countdown Comic, which showcased many new series including Gerry Anderson's UFO and The Protectors, along with Doctor Who, Dad's Army and Mission Impossible, featuring many reprints from TV21 of The Persuaders! and old Anderson shows, particularly Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. The strip saw many changes through the 132 issues of the comic and ran from 20th February 1971 to 25th August 1973. The comic strip could be regarded as the successor to TV21 in the previous decade, however, these strips were less successful than the ones in the 1960s. Featuring only for a short period in the comic strip, The Secret Service had an adventure telling about how Father Unwin acquired the Minimiser from his late friend Professor Humbolt.
This again proves that merchandising had declined for SUPERMARIONATION, TV21 had finished, the Model T Ford proved to have failed for Dinky Toys and the series hardly had time to prove itself a success in a comic strip.
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The Secret Service: The Vault
Non-FictionThe Secret Service was a 1960s British children's TV series created by Gerry Anderson and the team of Century 21 studios in Slough, from the makers of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Space: 1999. This was the final of his television series to feat...
