I just happened to be looking at a sealed Centuri Argus kit this afternoon and the molded fin unit was a pale orange color, not red.

I think the original Challenger that came with a styrofoam glider had the yellowish fin can.

My mistake - the Discovery Starter Set had the yellow fin can and foam Hitch-Hiker glider (first offered in the 1986 catalogue):

Any chance of a photo?

Here's an old thread about this same topic:

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=784

I have to ask, what is the incredible attraction so many of you nice folks have for these rockets? My guess is that it must be nostalgia? They are so simple 3 or 4fnc rockets.
Happy for you, though!😁

Allen

Nostalgia, yes to some degree, but also for me, rarety, and just as important, these rockets are some of the earliest roots to what would later evolve into composite high power rocketry.

Earl

Nostalgia and unobtanium.

A dash of OCD.

The actual roots of LMR and HPR are oft ignored due to early political squabbles that have long since passed. For example today at the Space Conference in Pasadena I saw John Krell. His name tag said Plasmajet. The first Posterboy HPR rocket was a Mongrel with 3 Plasmajet G88 and 2 Composite Dynamics G62 motors.

I was the Plasmajet dealer. I was the Composite Dynamics dealer. I was the Mongrel designer. I flew the rocket. I took massive heat from NAR over it too. NOT at a NAR event. Not even close.

Attached:
Irvine's Ace Mongrel with 3x Plasmajet G88 and 2x Composite Dynamics G62 flown to about a mile altitude and recovered by parachute. Just like a model rocket did back then in 1979, but considerably more powerful.

They just looked so cool... And my allowance wasn't enough to score them. There was no home internet access, no forums, and no ebay back then. And then Centuri was gone (at least the separate product line was). Now these kits beg to be rescued from their bags, built and flown. Or if not available, cloned and remembered. Perhaps to inspire the next generation of future BARs.