Ertl were the first toy company to release Jupiter. Two versions were available; a carded die-cast Jupiter and the larger pull back and go ‘Motorised Jupiter’.
Bandai also released a mini motorised Jupiter. Bandai called it ‘The Pontypandy Fire Engine’.
Sold on a blister card, Bandai’s Jupiter was rather smaller than the ERTL version.
The Jupiter fire engine was based on the original 1974 Bedford TK. There have been several toy versions of the Fireman Sam Jupiter fire engine all released after the first UK-wide series aired on the BBC in 1987. Toy companies ERTL, Born to Play and Character Options have all made versions of Jupiter.
Born To Play
Born to Play released a larger scale friction powered Jupiter as well as a smaller scale Jupiter under the Snap Trax brand.
The Snap Trax Jupiter came in a playset ‘Fireman Sam Snaptrax Station Play Set’ which also included Venus, Pontypandy Fire Station and a track. The Snap Trax Jupiter has a pull back and go action.
Character Options
Character Options have also released a push along Jupiter, much smaller than the Born to Play friction powered Jupiter, though larger than the first ERTL die-cast model. The Character Fireman Sam Jupiter has push button sound effects.
Character Options have in addition released the Fireman Sam Jupiter Fire Engine Convertible. This is a Transformers-inspired toy Jupiter that converts into a passable ‘robot’ Fireman Sam figure in under ten moves.
A new release in 2013 is Fireman Sam’s Jupiter Drive and Steer Remote Control Vehicle which is in a larger scale than Character’s previously released vehicles.