What is this orange plastic classic sci-fi rocket?

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tjkopena

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Does anybody recognize the make and/or manufacturer of this classic sci-fi styled rocket?

It was in a box of rocket stuff my parents dug up in their basement but I don't remember it at all and haven't been able to figure out what it is. Most of the box is from ~1996 but it's definitely possible this rocket was thrown in later. There are no manufacturer or model markings on it whatsoever.

I strongly believe it was a pre-assembled, ready-to-fly rocket. All-plastic construction, orange with black printed markings (not decals), has a few molded details like hatches and ports. Three fins and flies on 13mm mini-motors. Exactly 9" from tip to tip and about 1.5"/40mm at the widest part of the body. There was no parachute or recovery mechanism inside, but an absurdly long braided elastic shock cord for a small mini-motor rocket. It has a screw-on motor retainer but the ring doesn't tighten easily with a motor actually installed, hence the tape here.

At first I wasn't particularly interested in it just for it having been pre-assembled and having some seams that are very visible up-close, but my 5-year old's taken a real liking to it and the more I look at it the more I appreciate it.

PXL_20210307_173626427.jpg
 
Google search shows you to be correct, Estes Moon Dog RTF.

-Hans
 
Awesome! I had searched fairly hard for ready-to-flies and starter kits and had not come across it. But that's definitely it. My daughter will enjoy learning it's called a Moon Dog. Thanks Antares!
 
Spacemonkey great for contesting, I have one. But Estes V2 are only $16 on the discount site. When the Spacemonkey V2 came out, I also got the special V2 in America DVD James Duffy made. They are on that site above under "DVDs"
 
Spacemonkey great for contesting, I have one. But Estes V2 are only $16 on the discount site. When the Spacemonkey V2 came out, I also got the special V2 in America DVD James Duffy made. They are on that site above under "DVDs"

Yeah, well. :mad: The Estes V2 is $60 AUD here ($47 US). The Spacemonkey V2/A4 is $38 AUD ($29.95 US). Add some bits for the conversion and it's still way cheaper than the Estes kit. Even with international postage Spacemonkey Models is a bargain for us outside the US.
 
I need one of those for the 2 yr old grandson's 1st rocket! It almost matches Daffy's (Duck Dodger's) rocket on the side of my launch controller:
20200602_180142.jpg

Well, maybe not so much but it has that "old-timey" rocket vibe!
 
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The Moondog is kind of similar to the TRF logo rocket, here is a 13mm cardstock version:
TRF Real Rocket Logo Alpha.gif

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-pemtech-trf-logo-rocket.144695/#post-1799961
dsc_7352-1-jpg.357584
 
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