The Movie

TV Series

Tidbits

Model kits | Spoof video clip | Planet Hollywood (Florida) | "Thunder Blade" SEGA video game
Cardboard promo | Plastic toys | Die-cast toy | Helicopter museum | Related links

Monogram/Revell

Box description:

"It prowls the skies at 250mph, fighting crime with its sophisticated arsenal of aerial technology, weaponry and surveillance systems. APEX assigns the Blue Thunder team to law enforcement agencies from the FBI to the LAPD. In 1/32nd scale, this model is 13-9/16" long (34.3 cm) and is molded in metallic blue. Features include a detailed cockpit, Vulcan cannon, 3500 candlepower lights, miniature helmet and Blue Thunder decals."

Model details:

• Blue Thunder models were originally made by Monogram, now Revell
• Model No. 6036
• 1/32^nd scale
• Molded in metallic blue
• Detailed cockpit, rotating rotor
• 13-9/16" long (34.4 cm)
• UPC No. 76513 06036
• Ages 10 to adult

Some company may still have some of these model kits left, but as far as I know, this model is no longer in production; although I'd bet Revell still have the dies for it somewhere.

Kitech

Box description:

""Blue Thunder" Helicopter is from the 80s famous US movie which called Blue Thunder. It was the most lethal flying weapon invented. The whole fuselage is heavily protected with 1" thick armoured plates. It equipped with a forward-mounted 20mm electric cannon which can fire 4000 round of ammunition per minute. It has jet turbine engine with boost capability, enabling 360 degree loops; heat sensing infra-red filter for night vision; "Whisper Mode" for silent flights; three TV monitors: twin long range, high-sensitivity shotgun microphones; a Harrison helmet-mounted fire control/targeting system etc. Blue Thunder is the true "star" in the movie."

Model details:

• Model No. 08M-3005
• 1/32^nd scale
• Molded in a light grey plastic, instead of the dark metallic blue as per the Monogram version
• Detailed cockpit, rotating rotor
• The decal sheet is not as detailed as Monogram's
• Comes with a small tube of plastic cement the size of a AA battery
• Length/Width/Height: 340mm (13.396")/270mm (10.638")/80mm (3.152")
• UPC No. 6905641931222
• Ages 8 to adult

There is a spoof "Blue Thunder vs. Airwolf" video clip in Video for Windows format (*.avi). It's a mock fight using edited video footage originally from the Airwolf Homepage and clips from the Blue Thunder movie.

Photos of the RC helicopter model from Planet Hollywood in Florida:

SEGA made a video game for the SEGA Master System console somewhat borrowing from Blue Thunder called "Thunder Blade" (the packaging for the game incorrectly shows a modified AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter).

Photos and text contributed by Patrick Casey:

"I came across a Blue Thunder promo item--a model of the helicopter made of cardboard. It appears as though it's meant to be hung from the ceiling of a theater as it comes with a string and hook. It has a small sign under it with the Blue Thunder logo and graphics from the one sheet for the film."

Photos and text contributed by Alex Bickmore and Will Parsons:

Below is a Blue Thunder helicopter from the movie and TV series. This toy is perfectly detailed and was made by Hong Kong's MultiToys Corp. in 1983. The figure is supposed to be Roy Scheider, and even has Roy's nose! This is a tough toy to find--it has spinning blades, opening cockpit, turning blades and movable rotary gun.

Both the main and tail rotors rotated, with the main rotor blades being pinned at the hub so that they swiveled for storage, much like naval helicopter designs. The canopy was hinged at the top and lifted up and rotated to the rear, and had two bench seats in the cockpit. Two 3-3/4 (1:18 scale) figures could fit in the front seat (no figures could fit in back seat). The gun was positioned on the left, which when you watch the movie or tv show, notice that the gun is on the right which is where most--if not all--chopper pilots sit. The toy has taller skids in relation to the actual helicopter, and the search lights and sensor turret on top of the nose are molded into the fuselage and are non-functional. The ferry mikes were molded to the canopy, and there are no ammunition chutes on the belly like the design used in the movie. In addition, on the toy, the ferry mikes are positioned toward the front of the canopy while on the real helicopter, they're positioned towards the rear (possibly so the canopy can swing back). The fuselage halves were joined together with screws, and the two side cameras, pylons, and exhausts on either side of the engine were also attached with screws (nine in total).

Kevin Lentz has a website dedicated to the 3-3/4 inch action figures, with a section for the Blue Thunder toys that were made in South America. (Contributed by Will Parsons)

Contributed by Paul Noel:

A die cast model of Blue Thunder was once made by Toyway in the "Sky Birds" collector series. They also did a U.S. Coast Guard version of Blue Thunder which was red. However, Stan Alton, of Toyway in Letchworth, U.K., notes that "We still sell the Skybirds helicopters, but we do not stock any Blue Thunder product."

Found at the Helicopter Foundation International (HFI)