Around 25 years or more ago, I bought an unopened blister pack of MATTEL's 'Man In Space' MAJOR MATT MASON's Moon Suit from a UK toy dealer. The suit was in pristine condition, never having been played with - so what did I do? I promptly (though carefully) opened it and put it on display, and you've probably seen it in photos I've posted over the years of some of my collection. However, contact with the air gradually decayed the 'rubber' arms until they just dried up and disintegrated, leaving Matt's nifty wee protective space shell bereft of its flexible appendages.
In the past, some enterprising folks have manufactured and sold replacement arms for the Moon Suit, but no one seems to be doing so currently, placing me in the position of having to make my own. I haven't tested them to see if they work like the originals, but I doubt it because the rubber is quite heavy. However, they're mainly for cosmetic purposes so that I can have the suit on display in my room and until I can secure 'proper' replacements. Doesn't look too bad though, does it?
Did you have Matt Mason when you were a kid, readers, and any of his accessories like the Moon Suit? Relive your childhood in the comments section.
Update: Finally managed to track down a pair of replacement arms. That's them below, attached to the same Moon Suit in the first photograph. Nifty, eh? They're not as thin as the originals and don't operate in the same way, but they'll last a lot longer, and are mainly for cosmetic display purposes anyway, not playing with.
Major Matt Mason was MY toy. I was a comic book fiend from an early age, but toys were not as lustful a draw and my folks had limited money. But they did get me Major Matt Mason, in a little case with the Moon Suit and the Rocket Sled. I think I had his buddy Sgt. Storm too, but I might be blending my memories of the Big Little Book with my boyhood play. The Appalachian rocks outside my back door were the ideal "moonscape" for Mason and his equipment. I remember on of his legs broke, the little wire giving way to too much handling. Sigh.
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If I remember rightly, RJ, the wires broke and the paint peeled off after only a LITTLE handling - it really was a fragile toy. To a kid though, it held out the promise of endless playtime possibilities. (A promise it didn't always fulfill.) I had Sgt. Storm new and maybe Doug Davis also at a later date (I had Callisto too), but I eventually gained Major Matt in a swap with a pal. If I recall, I gave him Callisto, but then he decided he wanted my Corgi Toys Yellow Submarine as well. Greedy buggah!
ReplyDeleteYep, MMM was a fantastic toy line for sure Kid and the moon suit part of that amazing range of NASA inspired equipment. I adored all the small stuff like the tiny binoculars and the mini roto jet gun. That toy gun eas released as a big toy as well, which i would have swapped my Captain Laser for I reckon!
ReplyDeleteI got a Billy BlastOff instead.
ReplyDeleteSo cheated.
I seem to remember the moon suit and the rocket sled being in the same package with the Matt Mason figure. They later added the space station and other vehicles and accessories. And the other figures.
ReplyDeleteThe wires broke easily, and the paint rubbed off with very little handling.
I think the original concept was fairly realistic, and the equipment was based on actual designs being used or tested by NASA and the Air Force. Later, they added Callisto and the other aliens.
I've actually got more Matt Mason stuff now than I ever had as a kid, W. I'll have to see where I put the accessories that fit in the holder at side of the Moon Suit. They're tucked away somewhere.
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A deprived childhood, 3. Maybe that's why you turned out 'Odd'. (Hey, you picked the name, not me - a guy's gotta wring a joke out of wherever he can find it.)
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I think there was a variety of choices, TC, as far as the accessories go. My Moon Suit came in a blister pack by itself, but no doubt it was also available in larger sets. I suspect they started adding the SF aspects because of the popularity of Star Trek around the same time, though as you say, the line was more NASA-based to begin with.
Whether i picked odd or odd picked me is a matter for some debate, but the relationship is incontestable. So, no worries - i've embraced the Odd and can take no offense.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you might be right in your ascertain. I did, after all, post about it in the first 10 days of The Voice Of ODD! blog. That would seem to support your statement, no?
We're all odd to someone, so that's some consolation I suppose. Oddly enough, 'odd' is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a hard plastic action figure astronaut called "Colonel 'Hap' Hazard." It was slightly under 6" tall. IIRC, the head turned and the arms could swivel forward, but the legs did not move. So it was a cheap knock-off. It was to Major Matt Mason as "Stoney" was to G.I. Joe.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've seen photos of Cap and Stoney in a book I've got on 1960s action figures. Stoney had the same head as Johnny West.
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