Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Thunderbirds in style with a selection of some of the latest officially licensed merchandise to celebrate this historic landmark for Gerry Anderson's classic series. Jack Knoll and Chris Thompson have compiled a list of their favourite goodies from this anniversary season.

5. Limited Edition Thunderbirds Chess Set

Now you can do battle with your friends with the Thunderbirds Chess Set from Tactic Games. It’s small and light enough to make for easy travelling and the pieces are nice recreations of Thunderbirds 1, 2, and 3 as the rook, knight and bishop respectively. Meanwhile The Tracy brothers take on the role of the pawns with Jeff and Penelope as the King and Queen.  Each piece is labelled to show what it represents but it makes for a fun twist on classic chess. Take to your battlefield and prove whose rescue team is the best!

4. Thunderbirds Tinamps

These are gadgets that we’re sure even Brains would approve of. The special edition Thunderbirds tinamps are portable speakers contained in 2oz tobacco tins which allow you to play music from your phone, tablet or mp3 player wherever you happen to be. Each tin has a different Thunderbird craft on the lid with six to collect and then link together to form a daisy chain of speakers to blast out Barry Gray’s magnificent Thunderbirds March whenever you feel the need!

3. Official Thunderbirds 50^th Anniversary Poster

Appropriately limited to 1,965 copies, the official Thunderbirds poster to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary is a magnificent piece of digital artwork by Eric Chu. In true Thunderbirds style the poster depicts all the Thunderbird craft blasting off on another adventure, with the Tracy brothers, Penelope and Parker standing ready to take on any mission that they are called to. In classic film poster style the bottom of the image is also lined with the names of the key people who brought the series to life including the voice artists, the editors, the directors and of course the likes of Barry Gray, John Read and Gerry & Sylvia Anderson themselves. What could look better on the wall of a Thunderbirds enthusiast?

2. Thunderbirds: Agent's Technical Manual 50th Anniversary Edition

This is the ultimate guide to the Thunderbirds universe. The combination of Graham Bleathman’s outstanding cutaway artwork and Sam Denham’s biographies and information provides one of the deepest insights into the workings of International Rescue ever published. Learn the secrets of Tracy Island and how all those spectacular launch sequences are pulled off. See inside and analyse the technology of not only the Thunderbird craft, but other incredible vehicles from the world of 2065 including the Fireflash, the Sidewinder and many more.  The attention to detail and thoroughness of this manual will blow the mind of any Thunderbirds fan and is a welcome addition to your bookshelf.

1. Thunderbirds: The Vault

There's no better way to round off this list than with something that absolutely sums up the anniversary.Thunderbirds: The Vault not only offers a complete history of the show but also celebrates Thunderbirds as the phenomenon that it is through episode reactions, rare photographs and interviews all wrapped in the 240 pages of this very hefty book. If you are new to this party, Thunderbirds: The Vault is the thing to get you up to speed, if you’re a seasoned fan, then you will probably still find something new.

All these items and so much more are now available from the Gerry Anderson Shop. FAB!