It's Raining Men

Hallelujah - its raining men and in the case of the Explorer 12 series, women too. Looking at the Explorer series yesterday, reminded me of this unusual fact that the pilots from the vehicles are predominantly male, apart from the Oceanographer, who is clearly female. This is borne out by the story books produced by BHS to accompany the series which show her with her blonde locks unhindered by the cumbersome headgear her fellow pilots have to wear.

While examining the figures again, I was reminded of several other series which used this smaller scale figure and I took the opportunity to look at them in more detail. Toy soldiers tend to come in either the golden astronaut size of 00/ho of about 1.5 cm or the 1/72 scale which is nearer 2.5 inches. The Explorer 12 figures are unusual as they are articulated at the shoulders and hips and only stand at 2in s. A few other ranges have used a similar size figure and the next photo illustrates this.

Mattels Battlestar Galactica

Explorer 12

Tonka Legions of Power

Capsela Spacelink

Schaper Stomper

Matchbox Mega Rig (original series)

Astro Recon (Unknown ship)

This photo shows a range of figures from various toys which I will try to look at in some detail.

First off, slightly out of sequence is the Capsela Spacelink figure. Capsela is an 'educational' toy which comprises of a series of plastic capsules, accessories and other parts which help kids understand basic engineering principles such as motors, gears and building complex structures. Originally made by japanese company Mitsubishi Pencil, Capsela have had a multitude of different distributors of the years and have recently been re-launched in Japan by Bandai.

A sub-series of Capsela was Spacelink which added a sci-fi element to the toy and included special parts such as wings, rocket engines and consoles and seats to fit inside the transparent capsules. The series also introduced figures - a slightly robotic body with a human head beneath a dome helmet. These were again poseable, even at a small size.

Capsela Spacelink Cruiser with cockpit, central capsules and rocket attachments.

Special Amphibious Vehicle set which allowed travel in water and on land. Note seated figure in front cockpit.
Individual space elements can be combined to make small spaceships such as this winged cruiser and the single piece Interceptor. The transparent domes and capsules make an excellent modular moonbase too. As each piece theoretically fits with every other one, its possible to make some quite large and complex models. The series also includes more science based projects such as a working Weather Station and a colour wheel set. I managed to introduce a solar powered motor to the toy with some small panels which I found at the Centre for Alternative Technology, great fun on a sunny day!

Ill be looking at the other toys in the photo in more detail shortly - stay tuned!