When I was a nipper my prize possessions [even if I didn't know it then!] were my Colourforms Outer Space Men. Packaged in a similar way to the cool cards of Major Matt Mason, they were simply awesome. I've not blogged about them much, largely because I don't have any of the toys anymore [and am unlikely ever to given their current valie] and there are some fabulous online sites devoted to them already, including a blisteringly brilliant one by the toys' designer himself, Mel Birnkrant, who includes his fabulous concept sketches, an amazing gallery of photographs, his series of never-released Outer Space Men 'Hot Wheel' type die-casts and a fantastic interview about the inspiration behind some of the figures. Mel's site is by far the best vintage toy site I have seen, wholly definitive as you would expect from the designer and an total inspiration. If only the designer of SWORD would surface and do the same! How marvellous that would be.
Coming back to my own childhood, what excites me is the thought that I played with Outer Space Men along with SWORD and SpaceX Craft, together with Major Matt, Callisto and Cap Lazer thrown in for good measure. Alas, it is only a thought and no matter how hard I try I cannot promote the notion into a memory!
Does anybody else remember Outer Space Men and heavens above, do any photo's exist out there of them mixed with SWORD or SpaceX vehicles?
I never even heard of them until they were first mentioned on this blog. But I wouldn't have had them anyway.
ReplyDeleteMatt Mason I liked the look of, but why didn't they include at least one girl among them? It's nice that some people are making their own, as you showed me a while back!
If you didn't and can't pay with all those in a crossover universe, what about writing some fan fiction where they all do exist. Bet that would be fun.
Sorry, that was supposed to be "play", not "pay". Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThey are very cool, I have enjoyed looking at pictures of them. I suppose if I want any, I'd have to shell out beaucoup bucks for the modern-day remakes. I don't like the color redesigns, however, but at least they issued a regularly-colored set.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.shopfourhorsemen.com/ouspmenfofis.html
Four Horsemen was cool enough to at least make a regularly colored set AND to put the guys on original-style, Matt Mason-style cards!
I think the Outer Space Men were mainly released in the US...for the one year they were released.
I did do the crossover play thing you talked about...ten years later, lol... with some Mattel Battlestar Galactica figures and Kenner Star Wars figures in the 3.75 inch size as well as the bear toy from the Fisher-Price Circus Train Set (hey, he made a great alien to go with some of the Star Wars aliens! LOL). I had them fly around in a shoebox which was supposed to duplicate a Star Trek shuttlecraft. Occasionally they would play with my Mego Trek guys Kirk, McCoy, and the Andorian, but because they were twice as large (8 inches) it wasn't as fun. I did have my miniature Enterprise model from the AMT 3-ship set set fight battles with the Die-Cast Star Wars Star Destroyer; they were about the same size but the SD was heavy and solid, must have been a good pound or two more than the featherlight hollow plastic Enterprise. (And I managed to snap one of the warp nacelles off; a few years later, with the starship miniatures from the Star Fleet Battles Trek-based game, I did the same thing! lol)
I have kicked around the idea of a fan-fiction with Major Matt Mason, crossing him over with Space: 1999 and 2001: A Space Odyssey, figuring that they all looked more-or-less contemporary from a tech standpoint. I also thought about Matt with Steve Austin, who was originally an astronaut; he first came out a couple of years after Matt's line ended. (Matt and Steve couldn't play together as toys, though, since Steve was 12 or 13 inches tall. It would have to be Steve and Captain Lazer...)
I preferred to play with toys in similar scale to each other. Army men worked great with Lincoln Log forts but not with Star Wars' Han Solo on Hoth!
Gordon Long
Hmmm, yes ... a Matt Mason / 2001 / Space 1999 type crossover sounds fun.
ReplyDeleteAs I shamefacedly confessed to Gary Schaeffer (a partner in the Outer Space Men revival and the most devoted OSM collector on Earth, so far as one could tell) when we met at last year's New York Comic Con: I used to have a complete set of the figures. I've missed them ever since they were lost when my family moved house in the early Seventies. (Major Matt Mason vanished at the same time, I might add!) We're just a few weeks away from this year's NYCC -- maybe I'll be able to gaze longingly at Gary's collection again...
ReplyDeleteIt would be really great to collect Outer Space men. They really were the most beautiful toys and backing cards of all. Alas, it's a hobby for only the deepest of pockets but like you I'd love to see a big collection RAB.
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