Way back in the day, when I was helping Woodstock get the blog rolling, my very first post was about one of my favourite rubber aliens. This rotund little character first appeared to me in a counter top box in Woolworths, next to the standard rubber monsters. He then appeared to my surprise and delight in a boxed set of Apollo Moon Exploring toys along with his friends, the usual gray space rock and assorted other models. Since his blog debut, hes popped up many times and in many different forms, but always without the rest of his team. I thought it was about time I gave the other five aliens a shot a the limelight, so here they are! Again, these are exactly the same figures that crop up in Apollo sets, usually as grey or chrome plastic, but the same team can also be found on keyrings and other small toys. Each of these rubber versions is trademarked and has made in hong kong on the sucker at the base. The logo is hard to make out and has defied identification... anyone care to try ?
I had several versions of these, as well. They are well thought out figures, so I would suggest the designs are taken from sf illustrations of the time, or perhaps other, American/European-designed space toys?
ReplyDeleteOr Japanese toys, forgot them, sorry!
ReplyDeleteIts a weird one andy - same designs persist in all kinds of different lines and makers, but which came first ? The Teachers Pet monsters came about as a direct result of the Topps stickers and paintings, but where do these guys come from ?
ReplyDeleteDo they have names? I'm not sure how to refer to them, but the body of the one at second-from-bottom puts me in mind of the alien from ""This Island Earth". Not the face, though ... but I have a vague impression I've seen it in an annual recently. Let me think ...
ReplyDeleteNot as far as I know, I adopted the bell shaped one as an Avatar and I can see the similarity of the one you mention to the Metalunan. Be nice to think they did have individual names. On the box they were referred to usually as 'Moon Platoon'
ReplyDeleteWhat year do you think they date to?
ReplyDeletei came across them about 1969, though they did appear earlier.
ReplyDeleteI reckon I had them in a set with Apollo type space ships circa Christmas 1967.
ReplyDeleteCan't read the logo but it might be mentionedin the One Inch Warrior articles we saw a few years back. When I get back I'll check my copies. I know that there is a set of these aliens where all the figures have names.
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