Standby for Action – Intro, Stingray

Review by Iain Delaney: Stingray was a 1964 puppet series from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Like their other 1960s series, the show was a combination of sophisticated marionettes and miniatures. Stingray was the first color TV series to be made in the UK, with hopes of selling it to a US network. In the end, Stingray appeared on the ITV network in the UK and was syndicated in the US and the rest of the world.

The series lasted for 39 half-hour episodes and concerned the adventures of the titular submarine and her crew. Stingray is crewed by Captain Troy Tempest, navigator and hydrophone operator Lieutenant “Phones” Sheridan, and Marina, a refugee member of an amphibious race. Together they investigate nautical mysteries, explore the oceans, and defend the surface against Titan, the ruler of the undersea city of Titanica.

Stingray is housed in an underground pen beneath Marineville, the headquarters of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (W.A.S.P.). The launch sequence begins when Troy and Phones board Stingray by sitting in their command chairs, which descend into Stingray on poles. The chairs lock into position and the poles retract. The submarine pen floods, the round ocean door opens, and Stingray is launched into the sea like a torpedo.

As a submarine, Stingray is without peer. Atomic powered, it can reach a speed of 400 knots on the surface and 600 knots when submerged. Maximum depth is listed at over 36,000 feet.

The die-cast metal toy from Corgi is something that fans have been waiting for since the series first aired. It has arrived to mixed reaction, with some complaining about the accuracy, the lack of features, or the price. At £49.95, this isn’t a cheap toy, but fans have already bought out the limited edition of 750 copies on the official website.

The packaging is a black cardboard box with a large plastic window on the top and front. The toy is on a green cardboard plinth and is fastened down by a number of twist ties. The details, paint and decals are first rate, and the model looks screen-accurate to my eyes. Under the plinth are a collector’s card, a clear plastic stand, and a pair of ‘sting missile’ torpedoes. The torpedoes are spring-fired, but without removing all the twist ties I can’t find the launching mechanism, and I’m not prepared to do that just yet. Maybe I’ll get a second one when the standard edition is available.

I would say that the limited edition is a very fine but perhaps expensive addition to a Stingray fan’s collection. The standard edition at £39.99 is easier to recommend.

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Iain Delaney was born in the UK but moved to Canada at an early age. The UK heritage explains his fascination with British TV SciFi, including Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO, and, of course, Dr. Who. After fumbling through high school, he fumbled through university, emerging with a degree in physics. With no desire to pursue graduate studies he discovered that a bachelor’s degree had little to no job prospects, so he took up a career in computer programming. In his off time he reads, watches TV and movies, collects toys, and makes attempts at writing. To that end he has a small number of articles published in role-playing game magazines and won two honorable mentions in the Writers of the Future contest. He is working on an urban fantasy YA trilogy and entertains delusions of selling it to movies or TV.