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How old is the oldest model rocket in your collection?

  • Under 1 month

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • 1 - 3 years

    Votes: 3 3.4%
  • 3 - 5 years

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • 5 - 10 years

    Votes: 5 5.7%
  • 10 - 15 years

    Votes: 6 6.9%
  • 20 - 25 years

    Votes: 13 14.9%
  • 30 - 35 years

    Votes: 11 12.6%
  • 40 - 45 years

    Votes: 17 19.5%
  • 45 - 50 years

    Votes: 13 14.9%
  • Over 50 Years

    Votes: 17 19.5%

  • Total voters
    87
  • Poll closed .
This is the oldest in my Collection. My father bought me a Cox Rocket Science Starter set at the "Spree" Toy Store before I was in middle school that contained this plastic COX 2-stage rocket.

I lost it somewhere during High School Cars & Girls. Later I found this one at a swap meet in Coco Beach NARCON. I agreed to not sell it on Ebay to arrange a good price with the seller. THANKS Rick Boyette!

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Had to add a photo of the Sentinel and Der V3(which just got a re-fit and Stickershock23 decals this winter), and realized I also still had this blue 6 fin job from my younger years. Don’t recall what it was called, though.
 

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Had to add a photo of the Sentinel and Der V3(which just got a re-fit and Stickershock23 decals this winter), and realized I also still had this blue 6 fin job from my younger years. Don’t recall what it was called, though.

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The blue one is the Estes Recruiter (2013) kit. Introduced in the 1989 catalog on page 42-43.

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Pretty sure it's the Pro-Series Patriot I picked up a few years ago and built last year.
It has "display model 1992" scrawled on it in very worn sharpie

(which one of us is older is an exercise left to the reader)
 
The blue one is the Estes Recruiter (2013) kit. Introduced in the 1989 catalog on page 42-43.

View attachment 467244

Thanks! I had all three of those on that page(that we can see). Comanche died in the same shop conflagration with the SWAT. Seeing the Recruiter paint scheme reminds me why mine is blue…..I had just camo’d the SWAT, and didn’t want to do it again! 😂
 
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Thanks! I had all three of those on that page(that we can see). Comanche died in the same shop conflagration with the SWAT. Seeing the Recruiter paint scheme reminds me why mine is blue…..I had just camp’s the SWAT, and didn’t want to do it again! 😂
Here's the full page for you.

IMHO The recruiter's paint scheme is a lot better than the S.W.A.T.'s... I mean woof... That thing is ugly..

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These are my oldest. All from the period 1975 to 1981ish. The LTV Scout is the most original. Teros is another only lightly repaired. Pegasus had some mouse damage repaired but is very nice. Odyssey is completely rebuilt south of the nose cone. Starlab has a new upper section and paint job. Gemini Titan is repaired and repainted but all parts are original. Fireflash was only built last year but I had the kit in the mid-70s. The Mercury Redstone is my all time favorite. I had to redo the capsule but the tower is original as is the Redstone section. I actually flew it many times. Amazing it survived at all.
Oldest Rockets.jpg
 
I have nothing from my 1st phase of rocketry that occurred eons ago - I think all of those 1970s - 1980s rockets, mostly likely very shabbily built, were boxed up and broken beyond hope or just tossed out when I spread my juvenile wings and fluttered into the social void. Sometime in the 1980s I built an Estes Mercury Redstone and hung it from the ceiling of my bedroom. Sadly, I never flew it, but it sure looked great hanging there for years. So that makes the oldest rocket on the top of the shelf to my left about 2 years old. I don't think that will win anything, not even a vague feeling of belonging.

Sitting in front of them are 3 Edison cylinder records that date from around 1905 - 1920s. One could technically take their cardboard casings and launch them as rockets, I suppose.

I do have a 1969 Estes catalog, if that counts for anything.
 
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