 More than 3 @,@ 000 Thunderbirds @-@ themed products have been marketed since the series ' debut . To accommodate the high demand for tie @-@ ins , APF established three dedicated <unk> : AP Films Merchandising , AP Films Music and AP Films Toys . Some British commentators dubbed the 1966 end @-@ of @-@ year shopping season " Thunderbirds Christmas " due to the series ' popularity . In the early 1990s , <unk> launched a new toy range to coincide with the BBC 2 repeats . Sales figures for Christmas 1992 exceeded those achieved by the Star Wars merchandising campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s . <unk> for <unk> 's Tracy Island <unk> overwhelmed supply , resulting in shop fights and a substantial black market for the toy . 
