Allow me to show my age. I used to read Dick Tracy in the newspaper with religious fervor. Undoubtedly one of my top choices when it came to the comic section. Somewhere between high school and the Navy, I stopped reading the paper. Not sure why, but there it is. When I returned to it, Dick Tracy was gone.

Tracy went to the moon before Armstrong. He had antigravity. He had a wrist cell phone years before the things became the popular annoyance that they are today. He also had quite a surrounding of unusual and rather odd followers and foes. I mean really, B O Plenty?!

Of all his gadgets, the neatest one is the magnetically powered space coupe given to him by the moon people to help him fight earthly crimes. This baby needed no fuel as it used Magnetic Power to enable it to traverse the distances on Earth and to the Moon. Don't remember if he used it to go much farther, but perhaps that would have been stretching things a bit. Simply by turning the gizmos on the end of the stalks that jut out of the front and rear of the ship, it was able to provide the directional control needed. 

Typical of Polar Lights products, it is made in China, which means that it comes in a box sturdy enough to stand on without damaging the interior bits. It is also molded in a light tan plastic, similar to the other PL kits I have built. I can't tell if this is a repop of the Aurora kit or not. Polar Lights has recently obtained the Aurora name and will be able to redo all those great old Aurora kits that we boomers remember building as a child.

Anyway, If it is using those old molds, it is in superb shape. There is no flash and only a few tiny sink marks near the alignment pins on the main cylinder. Actually the fuselage is of a conical shape as the front is smaller in diameter than the rear. There are few parts to the kit and no transparencies. This might be cause for concern to a few. Well, if you want an interior, you have lots of room to indulge your scratch-building skills. As you can see, 80% of the parts are for the thrusters and their attachment arms.

The thrusters are designed to swivel in their mounts, if so desired and that about does it for operating features. There is a very nice base that can be painted your favorite Moon color and there are four figures; Dick Tracy, Diet Smith, Junior and Moon Maid. No scale is given for the kit, but judging from the size of the figures, it is around 1/72 or so.

Instructions are typical of Polar Lights in that they look like old Aurora sheets. Pretty basic, but enough to be able to do the kit. There are decals for the big POLICE markings on the side. Naturally it is to be painted yellow!

I really wish PL wouldn't do kits like this, as they seem to force me to spend money on them. I must confess to a weakness for this kind of stuff! Naturally, it headed for the top of the build pile.

Because of the simplicity of the kit, it is recommended for all.

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has over 1,500 visits a day, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.