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| Mattel's Man In Space - but how does he go to the toilet? |
1969's "giant leap for mankind" was still a couple of years in the future when
one of America's leading toy manufacturers, MATTEL, released MAJOR MATT
MASON and his space-age buddies in 1967. (The copyright date was 1966, but
the toys didn't appear in shops 'til the following year.) There was CALLISTO
(from Jupiter), SERGEANT STORM, DOUG DAVIS, LIEUTENANT JEFF
LONG and CAPTAIN LAZER, who was a giant plastic figure in contrast
to the smaller rubber-and-wire bodies of Matt and his colleagues.
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| How embarrassing - they both turned up at the Venusian Ambassador's ball in matching space sleds |
Major Matt Mason
was a brilliant toy and
also a rubbish one at
the same time; brilliant
because it looked great
and the play-time possi-
bilities seemed unlimited
due to the plethora of
equipment which could
be purchased for the
astronaut. (Moon suits,
space stations, etc.)
Rubbish because the
paint over the rubber
bodies started to peel
off within hours, and the
wire within the figures
broke within days. So
perishable were they
that it's actually a small
miracle that any figures managed to survive to the present day.
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| Storm and Davis - just good friends |
However, in their time, they
were the "must-have" toys
of the moment, and many
a childhood was brightened
by its association (short-lived
as it may have been) with the
first man on the moon - in
Mattel's universe at least.
UPDATE: Apparently,
actor TOM HANKS is to
star in an upcoming MAJOR
MATT MASON movie.
Perhaps we'll soon see
Matt and all his buddies
gracing toy shop shelves
once more. Now wouldn't
that be something?
(Photos from my own personal collection. Please excuse the dust.)
6 comments:
:D Ive just bought Storm on a treet market, a little dirty and oily, but with a little patience it will be good as new. Or maybe I just leave him show his age with pride. but the helmet is missing.
Well done on being reunited with an old friend, Manuel.
I had these toys as a child. they survived with only slight damage and remained in a box stored at my parent's house until my own family came along. Now the figures no longer have a single unbroken limb between them, but I think it's a fair price to pay for the pleasure of having seen my son play with them. He also trod on some Lincoln Toys Thunderbirds and broke a Cowan DeGroot clockwork Dalek. Oh well...
NOOOOOOOO!!! Not a clockwork Dalek! If that was my kid, he'd have been put up for adoption toot sweet. That's your retirement fund up the swanee then.
(You still got the Thunderbirds toys?)
Yes, we still have the 'Thunderbirds' toys. The transfers are now incomplete and there is some minor damage -- both from the 1960s and the 1990s -- but they are quite presentable. Again, somewhat damaged, their boxes have survived too.
I must say I *was* a bit peeved about the Dalek, but it *is* repairable -- I just never attempted it. To be fair to my lad, the toy had been vandalised in the 1960s long before he got to it: overcome by visions of the movie 'Doctor Who and the Daleks' and episodes of 'Evil of the Daleks' on TV, I inexpertly painted the blue dome of the toy in Humbrol 220 red. It's what kids do.
Nice to know that they still survive.
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