About this independent guide

What we cover

Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds — the 1965–66 puppet series, the two 1960s films and the 2015–2020 series Thunderbirds Are Go: vintage Dinky Toys, the 1992 Matchbox range, later die-cast, model kits, figures, books and home video.
USAF Thunderbirds — die-cast models and kits of the United States Air Force display team’s aircraft.
Ford Thunderbird — scale models of Ford’s classic car, built from the 1955 to the 2005 model year.

How we check facts

Every item, guide and timeline entry lists its sources — manufacturers, museums, reputable collector references and well-sourced encyclopaedia articles — and the date we last checked it. If we can’t verify something (a release year, a catalogue number, a variation) we leave it out rather than guess. We never publish prices, valuations or “rare” claims: what something is worth depends on condition and changes constantly.

Our specimen plates are our own abstract graphics. We don’t use box art, shop photos, TV stills or publicity pictures, and every photo on the site is freely licensed and credited on our photo credits page.

Independence and trade marks

Thunderbird Models is an independent fan and collector’s guide. It is not affiliated with, authorised or endorsed by ITV Studios or any other owner of the Thunderbirds rights, Anderson Entertainment, the toy and model makers we write about, Ford Motor Company or the United States Air Force.

“Thunderbirds” and the names of the show’s craft and characters are trade marks of their owners; we use them only to describe the products we write about. We don’t use the show’s logo, official artwork, stills or publicity photos — the specimen plates on this site are our own abstract graphics, and our photos are freely licensed and credited.

The original series was made by AP Films for ITC. The ITC library later passed to Carlton and then to ITV plc; the 2013 announcement of Thunderbirds Are Go stated that ITV Studios Global Entertainment retains worldwide rights to the Thunderbirds brand. Anderson Entertainment, the company Gerry Anderson founded in 2002, produces licensed Thunderbirds products under agreements with ITV Studios. We have no connection with any of them. The USAF Thunderbirds are the United States Air Force’s display team, and Thunderbird is also a Ford model name — we are not connected with either.

How the site is paid for

Some links to Amazon.co.uk and eBay.co.uk are affiliate links: if you buy something after clicking one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects what we write. Read the full affiliate disclosure.

Corrections

Collectors know more than any website. If you spot a mistake or can point us to a better source, please get in touch.