Some time ago we saw how Ed Valigurskys art influenced the
design on the Tri-ang Spacex MEV 2 vehicle. Possibly one of the best of the series of small plastic toys produced in the late sixties.Paul Vreede pointed out how the design for the flexible wheel had been developed by NASA and various engineering companies to overcome the strange conditions which may have been found on the lunar surface.
The original toy appeared in the Spacex and Golden Astronaut toy lines and as it was such a distinctive shape, was probably difficult to copy and manufacture. Roxy/Clifford Moon Traffic lifted the design almost wholesale and modified the body slightly, adding a small nozzle under the grab arm too. One thing which always perplexed me as a kid was the direction of travel. The MEV2 has one of the tiniest silver figures inside the small dome, the figure being about half the size of a grain of rice. I automatically assumed that it would move with the grab at the front, but Valiguskys painting shows the astronaut facing the direction of travel.
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| SPACEX MOON EXPLORATION VEHICLE |
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| GOLDEN ASTRONAUT PROSPECTOR |
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| ROXY/CLIFFORD M5 |
Next up came the
Futuristic Space Vehicles, a blatant attempt to copy a number of spacex toys which all came in gaudy vacuum plated paintwork and really shoddy plastic. Possibly the weakest attempt to cash in on the spacex line.
Until recently, I had assumed that this was the sum total of the MEVs
appearances until a chance encounter by Mr Woods turned up yet another
incarnation of the familiar shape on Ebay...A nail biting session on ebay US secured me a rare European toy, the
Sitap Mini Space Moon Buggy. A completely new discovery, the small
vehicle came in an open card display box with a hard plastic dome over
the toy and two small figures.
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| SITAP MINI SPACE MEV AND FRIENDS |
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| SITAP MINI SPACE PACKAGE |
Tacked to the inside of the card base by a strip of foam are what at
first glance seem to be our old friends the Golden Astronauts. The
figures had suffered the rigours of time and lost a limb and don't have
any makers mark, but the similarity is strong.
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| SPACEX FIGURES (LEFT) SITAP FIGURES (RIGHT) |
On the back of the pack is an illustration of other toys in the line. One of which, the space ship appears to be a lift from the Spacex Nuclear Freighter as well. The other two vehicles, the Moon Car and Moon Bus seem to share a common body with the 'freighter' and one even has my favourite multi dish radar! I havent managed to find any pictures of these two remaining toys yet.
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| SITAP SPACESHIP |
I've not managed to add this model to my collection yet, but running alongside the Sitap MEV was the Moon Turtle, which I also managed to win.
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| SITAP MOON TURTLE |
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| MEV ARTICULATION AND OPEN CAB |
Both toys are amazingly delicate and made from a combination of hard and vinyl like plastics. The MEV is articulated at the centre, has a moveable arm and removeable dome with seat and control panel which once more indicates the the front of the vehicle is the cab and the arm sits at the rear.
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| MOON BUGGY (LEFT) MOON SAUCER (CENTRE) |
The strange Moon Turtle seems to be an offspring of the Spacex Moon
Buggy and the Apollo Moon Exploring 'saucer buggy'. The dome lifts up to
deploy a folding ladder. The big cup shaped wheels are almost identical in shape and design to the Moon Buggy.
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| ALL ABOARD THE SPACIOUS INTERIOR |
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| SITAP MEV AND PILOT |
Possibly the oddest thing about the toys is the solid plastic dome that covers each toy, presumably intended either as a protective cover or a play item, it makes the packaging very distinctive,
It always seemed "obvious" to me that the front end was the section in which that cute tiiiiiiiiiny astronaut sat. It never occurred to me that it might actually travel in the other direction.
ReplyDeleteMy take on it was that the driver's seat swivelled ... so if she needed to work the arm-grab, she'd just turn the seat to face the rear.
I still think of it that way.
But notice I put the word *obvious* in quotes. Cos maybe it isn't so obvious at all. Seeing that (very nice) miniSPACE version, I think I can see why you might have seen the MEV as travelling in the opposite direction. The miniSPACE does look as if the main direction of travel is grab-arm first. It does have the "feel" of a construction vehicle, whereas the MEV strikes me as being more a sample-gathering platform.
I'm fascinated by those figures included with the miniSPACE version. Thanks for the clear photos of those, Wote. Especially the comparison line-up.
As for the nail-biting Ebay session ... you can get stuff to paint on your nails to stop that, you know. Stop you biting them, I mean. It won't stop you Ebaying ... The only ways to stop THAT are will power or going-broke.
Great post, Wote! Hope you find pics of those other miniSPACE craft. I'd love to see them.
I think its come from my anthropomorphisisng - we walk with 'arms' facing forward, so after seeing the pic on the spacex card back with the Mev picking up rocks, I immediately identified it as moving grab-first so you can see what youre doing. I remember getting the actual toy and getting really annoyed in my 7 year old fashion that the man was the wrong way round! As you own an M5, you can see the way the 'front' is streamlined, which would make the nozzle an engine rather than a laser cutter as I first imagined. But you are correct, the pilots seat would spin, so she can have a full 360 view.
ReplyDeleteThe Sitap spaceship nose is a bit like the Eagle from Space 1999. Are these from the mid seventies?
ReplyDeleteCurrent thinking puts them about 69/71 but the nose of the spaceship has an optical illusion - its all glass and the central section is the control panel inside.
ReplyDeletePity it was illusory in some ways. I thought Yorkie was onto something there.
ReplyDelete