Century 21 Merchandising and Century 21 Toys were merchandising companies associated with Gerry Anderson

Gerry Anderson

Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....

's Century 21 Productions

AP Films

AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s...

. There was also a publishing line, Century 21 Publications which created the comic strips TV Century 21

TV Century 21

TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...

and Lady Penelope

Lady Penelope (comic)

Lady Penelope was a British weekly comic for girls which ran from 1966 to 1969.-Publishing History:Marketed as the comic for girls who love television, it was the sister publication to TV Century 21. It ran for 204 issues with the first dated 22 January 1966...

and a music department, Century 21 Music which marketed audio books and soundtracks from the series. The various "Century 21" brands predate the renaming of AP Films to Century 21 Productions, which was rebranded soon after Thunderbirds was first broadcast in 1964 to fit with Anderson's other merchandising businesses.

Most of the companies' activities were marketing products produced by "Century 21 Productions" - in particular Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds (TV series)

Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...

, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as Captain Scarlet, is a 1960s British science-fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, John Read and Reg Hill...

and Joe 90

Joe 90

Joe 90 is a late-1960s British science-fiction television series documenting the exploits of a nine-year-old boy, Joe McClaine, who embarks on a double life as a schoolboy turned spy when his scientist father invents a pioneering machine capable of duplicating and transferring expert knowledge and...

, although some of the various spin-off media were based on characters and machines from other media franchises often connected to Lew Grade

Lew Grade

Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...

's ITC Entertainment

ITC Entertainment

The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...

.

Century 21 Merchandising also acquired a line of plastic science fiction toys manufactured in Hong Kong, which they marketed under the name Project SWORD, which although not based on Anderson's creations did feature in two series of comic strips and text stories published by Century 21 Publications. The only Anderson craft made by the line was a model of Zero X

Zero X

The Zero X is an electric motorcycle manufactured by Zero Motorcycles.-Specifications:The wheels are driven by hardened steel 420 chain and direct drive gearing.Braking is performed by six-piston calipers per axle, with front rotor....

, the spacecraft which first appeared in the film Thunderbirds are GO

Thunderbirds Are GO

Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...

. A comic strip series based on the toys appeared in the comic Solo. After Solo folded, a second series of stories - text, illustrated by comics artists such as Ron Embleton

Ron Embleton

Ronald Sydney Embleton was a British comics artist and illustrator whose work was much admired by fans and editors alike...

 and Don Lawrence

Don Lawrence

Donald Southam Lawrence was a British comic book artist and author.Lawrence is best known for his comic strips The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn and the Storm series, first published in the Dutch weekly Eppo...

 - appeared in TV 21

TV Century 21

TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...

. There was also an annual for "Project SWORD" featuring text and comic strips.