The Leif Ericson was designed for AMT by Matt Jefferies, designer of the original Star Trek USS Enterprise and many of the ships that appeared in that series.  The Leif Ericson never appeared in Star Trek, though it was used in a couple of Filmation's storyboards for the animated Star Trek series in the early 1970s.

The late 1960s through early 1970s saw three versions of the Leif Ericson:

1. The original:
1. A two piece hull molded in a light blue plastic
2. Chrome plated parts.
3. Clear engines.
4. A small scout
5. A lighting kit
6. A paper record of the "Sounds of Outer Space"
7. A two page short story that covers
1. The history of the ship.
2. The adventures of the ship.


2. The "U.F.O. Mystery Ship."
1. Molded in a light green glow in the dark plastic.
2. The chrome and clear parts, as well as the lights and the paper record were not included in the kit.


3. The Mystery Ship in a smaller box
1. The mold was redone and the ship's neck was cut, shortening the ship length by about 3mm.
2. This "split neck" version was only released as the "U.F.O. Mystery Ship." 

The short story included with the Leif Ericson mentions that this kit was the first of several kits in AMT's "Strategic Space Command" series. This may have been an attempt by the 1960s AMT to start their own line of non-Star Trek spaceship models; in any case, only the Leif Ericson (and its alter ego, the UFO Mystery Ship) were produced.