Barratt's trading cards

1966 series

No. 1

jeff tracy

Jeff Tracy is the founder of International Rescue and the father of the five Tracy boys who man the Thunderbird machines. He is an ex–astronaut and was the first space man to land on the moon.

No. 2

scott tracy

Pilot of Thunderbird 1, Scott is the eldest of the Tracy sons and is second in command in the International Rescue Organisation. Aged twenty–six, he was educated at Yale University and won many decorations as pilot in the air corps.

No. 3

virgil tracy

Virgil Tracy is the most serious of the organisation personnel and it is his job to pilot Thunderbird Two. He also has to man many of the Rescue Machines carried to a disaster so he is very technically minded and extremely brave.

No. 4

gordon tracy

Gordon, the red–head of the Tracy family is the aquanaut in charge of Thunderbird Four. An ex–member in the Submarine Service and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, Gordon is an expert on oceanography and underwater swimming techniques.

No. 5

alan tracy

Baby faced, blonde Alan Tracy is the astronaut in charge of Thunderbird 3. He has been to the moon many times and shares terms of monthly duty in the International Rescue Space Station with his brother John.

No. 6

john tracy

John Tracy is ihe dreamer of the family and spends much of his time in Thunderbird 5, the Space Station. His favourite pastime is to study astronomy and he is the quietest of the brothers,

No. 7

tin tin

Tin Tin is the daughter of Kyrano, Jeff Tracy's manservant. Educated in America and Europe she is the engineering and electronics expert who helps to service all the Thunderbird machines.

No. 8

brains

Brains is the vital member of the International Rescue team. A young genius, he is the master mind behind all the Thunderbird machines. He is very serious — often absent–minded — and is never satisfied with the inventions he produces.

No. 9

grandma

Jeff Tracy's mother, Grandma is as shrewd and deep as her son. No–one ever knows what she will do next and she keeps a very careful eye on all the boys, making sure they don't get up to mischief.

No. 10

kyrano

Kyrano is the faithful friend and manservant of Jeff Tracy. He has known his master for many years and there is nothing he wouldn't do for the Tracy household. Of Malayan and Eurasian origin, Kyrano is kindly and intelligent.

No. 11

lady penelope

Lady Penelope Creighton–Ward is the English agent for International Rescue. Operating from her stately home, her ladyship appears to be one of the idle rich, but to all enemies of world peace she is elegant, charming and deadly dangerous.

No. 12

parker

An ex–safe breaker, the Nose Parker is Lady Penelope's cockney butler and chauffeur. His questionable talents often come in useful when Lady Penelope is working on a case and he is never far away when there is any fighting to be done.

No. 13

the hood

The arch villain of the world, the Hood is so named because of his many disguises. He is the half brother of Kyrano and is able to exert a strange power over him to gain information on International Rescue.

No. 14

thunderbird 1

Thunderbird 1 is designed to get to danger zones as quickly as possible. It flies at a speed of 15,000 miles per hour and is 115 feet long and has a wing span of 80 feet. Most of it's length is devoted to engine and fuel tanks.

No. 15

thunderbird 2

250 feet long with a wing span of 180 feet, Thunderbird 2 is the enormous heavy rescue vehicle of International Rescue. It flies at speeds in excess of 2,000 miles per hour. Because of this comparatively low speed it carries interceptor missiles for defence.

No. 16

thunderbird 3

International Rescue's space vehicle Thunderbird 3 is 200 feet in length. It has sleeping quarters, a rest room and the main control cabin. It requires a crew of two and Scott Tracy usually joins Alan at the controls.

No. 17

thunderbird 5

Remaining on a fixed orbit around the Earth, Thunderbird 5 is the organisation's Space Station. Inside is packed the most sophisticated computer and radio equipment which keeps International Rescue in touch with world events.

No. 18

thunderbird 4

Carried to any danger zone by Thunderbird 2, this ocean going craft is extremely fast and more advanced than any other water vessel. 30 feet in length, Thunderbird 4 has powerful searchlights and carries revolutionary machine guns for defence.

No. 19

lady penelope's
rolls–royce

Fab One, like Lady Penelope, is not as innocent as it looks. Its sleek lines conceal built–in machine guns, smoke screen, oil slip jets and many other deadly weapons which appear at the touch of a button.

No. 20

fireflash

Main civil aircraft is the Mach 4 atomic powered Fireflash airliner. The Firefiash carries 600 passengers and cruises at 2,800 miles per hour, covering the distance from London to New York in an hour and forty–five minutes.

No. 21

the mole

Apart from the main Thunderbird craft, International Rescue has built many other fantastic machines to aid them in their rescue attempts. The Mole, an earth burrowing vehicle is used to bore down to any danger zone beneath the ground.

airborne vehicle hovering over some buildings

No. 22

skymaster helicopter

Powered by two Rolls–Royce Zeus engines, this transporter has a speed of 800 miles per hour. The Skymaster is made in many versions such as the Heralles 4, the flying crane, and the Beetle B, capable of mass evacuation from trouble zones.

a view of Tracy villa over the swimming pool

No. 23

jeff tracy's house

With its exotic swimming pool, the house is the main centre of International Rescue operations. It contains a games room, a shooting gallery, and many other recreational apartments for the Tracy family members when they are off duty.

3/4 top view of the Tracy villa living room

No. 24

jeff tracy's lounge

Luxuriously fitted, the lounge appears to be the innocent room of a millionaire. But behind the walls, beneath the floor, above the ceiling, are the gadgets and concealed electronics which provide operations base of International Rescue.

No. 25

the roundhouse

Revolutionary in design, the Roundhouse contains the main power and supply plants for the International Rescue Organisation. From the outside, like all the Thunderbird installations, this building reveals nothing of its true function.

No. 26

thunderbird 1 hangar

Thunderbird 1 is housed in a vast underground hangar below Jeff Tracy's house. On a call to action, the great machine travels down an inclined ramp until it stands beneath the swimming pool The entire system is completely soundproof.

No. 27

thunderbird 2 hangar

Ibunderbird 2 occupies a giant hangar built into a cliff face. The rock–faced doors are beneath a modernistic house which juts from the cliff face on enormous preformed concrete brackets. When the doors are opened the craft has a clear run onto the roadway outside.

John standing beside Thunderbird 5's instrument console

No. 28

thunderbird 5
computers

The inside of Thunderbird 5s control centre is a maze of radio and television monitors and computers which receive every call transmitted on Earth. Automatically, messages of disaster are sifted and translated before being brought to the attention of the controller.

view if the underside of Thunderbird 3, its nacelles resting in their supports

No. 29

thunderbird 3 hangar

The International Rescue Space Ship is kept in an underground bunker below the round house. For security reasons all the Thunderbird machines are in emplacements that have been cunningly concealed. From the air, these hangars are not visible.

a 3/4 side view of Creighton-Ward mansion

No. 30

lady penelope's
stately home

Situated in the quiet countryside of England, the Creighton–Ward mansion bristles with electronic and mechanical devices which remain hidden until Lady Penelope touches a button or a switch. Countless day trippers visit the mansion, unaware of its concealed equipment.

lady Penelope sitting in her drawing room

No. 31

lady penelope's
drawing room

Comfortable and fitted with the most elegant furnishings, the mansion's drawing room is where Lady Penelope receives her guests. Beneath the vast carpet is a floor safe more impregnable than the vault of the Bank of England and behind the wall panels, T.V monitors and radio consoles are hidden.

view of an Asian temple against a jungle background

No. 32

the asian temple

A strange, mysterious building somewhere in the Malayan jungle, the Asian Temple is the home and operations base of the Hood. Hardly visible from the air and only approached by one path through the jungle, the Temple is completely isolated.

hunderbird 2 raised on its telescopic legs giving unobstructed access to the pod door

No. 33

the pods

The heavy duty equipment used by International Rescue is housed in the six pods which complete the fuselage of Thunderbird 2. When a pod is selected it is placed, by means of a conveyor belt, beneath the great aircraft. Then Thunderbird 2 lowers around the pod and is ready for take–off.

Thunderbird 1 rising through the kidney shaped hole left when the pool was slid aside

No. 34

launch of
thunderbird 1

Once the pilot is aboard and Thunderbird One has moved down the ramp, the swimming pool basin slides to one side under the patio leaving a large hole in the ground. Thunderbird One's motors are fired and the craft emerges from its underground launch pad vertically.

Thunderbird 2 on its launch ramp angled upwards

No. 35

launch of
thunderbird 2

Thunderbird Two taxis from its hangar onto the approach road. Then the palm trees angle outwards to allow clearance for the aircraft's wings. A section of the road breaks fore and aft and rises to form an inclined ramp. Behind, a baffle block hinges up to absorb the tremendous thrust of the aircraft's engine.

Thunderbird 3 taking off through the Round House

No. 36

launch of
thunderbird 3

When the mobile seat, carrying Thunderbird 3's astronauts, reaches a point directly beneath the rocket's tail, a hydraulic arm hoists the seat into the ship until it emerges in the rest room. The command astronaut then takes the elevator to the control cabin and the space vehicle lifts off, coming up through the centre of the Round House.

Thunderbird 4 exiting Thunderbird 2's pod #4 in open sea

No. 37

launch of
thunderbird 4

When Thunderbird 4 nears a rescue zone, having been transported there in Pod 4, Thunderbird 2 descends vertically until it almost touches the water. Then it releases the pod which floats on the surface and the door opens to allow Thunderbird 4 to travel down the launch rails on the door into the water.

Scott Tracy in Thunderbird 1's cockpit, the instrument panel visible to his right

No. 38

thunderbird 1
nose cone

The control centre of Thunderbird One is small and compact. Bank upon bank of radio equipment lines the cabin and devices such as the automatic camera detector and the ultra sonic violet ray far wiping exposing renegade fllm are housed here. The control seat alters its attitude to correspond with pitch and roll of aircraft.

Virgil Tracy at the wheel in Thunderbird 2's cockpit

No. 39

thunderbird 2
control cabin

Like the rest of the aircraft, the control cabin of Thunderbird 2 is large. As many as five people can sit comfortably behind the control seat usually occupied by Virgil Tracy. Every conceivable aid to navigation and flight control is at the finger tips of the pilot.

3/4 topview of Parker behind the wheel of FAB1

No. 40

inside the rolls–royce

Typical Rolls–Royce luxury is obvious inside FAB One, but other refinements have been added. The centre, pull down arm rests of back seat have retractable handcuffs and chest band to secure prisoners and around the centrally placed driving wheel are the controls which operate rear view T.V. camera screen, automatic ramps and other devices.

airborne vehicle floating over a mountainous landscape

No. 41

the jumping jack

A vertical take off troup carrier, the Jumping Jack has four engines which produce 64,000 pounds of thrust which lifts the craft at one hundred miles an hour. It is capable of transporting 130 fully armed combat troops at a speed of over 1,000 m.p.h.

the Hood in his temple standing in front a statue raising his arms

No. 42

inside the asian temple

The centre of the temple comprises a vast lofty hall with sinister, eerie lighting. At the end of the hall stands the veiled statue of Kyrano surrounded by its fiery torches. It is through this statue that the Hood communicates with Kyrano.

a building springing from the rock face, a few palm trees in the background

No. 43

the cliff house

The Cliff House has been cut deep into the cliff face to provide camouflage for the hangar of Thunderbird 2. Normally unoccupied it is used as a fuel store and control centre for the heavy duty aircraft. But it is fully furnished and fitted as a residence.

the row of portraits in the Tracy villa living room

No. 44

the portraits

Six portraits line Jeff Tracy's lounge wall. Five are placed together — these are the paintings of the Tracy brothers. The other picture depicts Lady Penelope. When any of the International Rescue operators report, these paintings change to live T.V. images.

Alan and Scott sitting on the moveable settee as it sinks through the floor

No. 45

method of boarding
thunderbird 3

To board Thunderbird 3, the astronauts sit on the couch in the Tracy lounge. At the touch of a button the couch lowers into a tunnel system and is transported to the base of the rocket. Meanwhile, an identical couch replaces that occupied by the astronauts.

Virgil leaning back on the tilting wall panel

No. 46

method of boarding
thunderbird 2

ln the Tracy lounge a large painting of a space ship is the concealed entrance to the Thunderbird 2 hangar. The pilot stands with his back to picture which rotates until his head is lower than his feet. Then, by a series of chutes, he proceeds down a retractable tunnel until he enters a hatch in the top of the aircraft.

Scott holding on to the light armatures on the revolving wall panel

No. 47

method of boarding
thunderbird 1

To board Thunderbird 1, the pilot grips two wall lamps in the Tracy lounge. A section of the wall revolves on a central pivot and the pilot is then transported to the nose cone by means of a moving floorway.

an egg-shaped aerial vehicle, sprouting three spindly legs, hovering over an opened hatch

No. 48

remote television
camera

Thunderbird One carries a remote control television camera in the form of a miniature aircraft. This device flies out of a hatch on top of the nose cone and is used to survey areas which are beyond the sight of the Thunderbird I pilot.

Brains standing behind a table filled with chemistry equipment, filing cabinets are visible in the background

No. 49

the laboratory

The laboratory is the domain of Brains and Tin Tin. Situated in the walls of the Thunderbird 2 hangar, the room is fitted with the most up–to–date equipment and contains other devices invented by Brains which any scientist would be proud to use.

view of a rocky island in the middle of the sea

No. 50

tracy island

ln the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the island, home of Jeff Tracy and his family, and headquarters of the International Rescue Organisation, is completely private and uncontrolled by any country. From a distance it appears to be a millionaire's paradise.

Barratt's trading cards

1966 series

images sourced from the Catawiki website