Space, Man!

No discussion of toy spacemen is complete without the famous man in Space, Major Matt Mason. I came late to the party and only actually received Matt after the novelty had worn off and the stores were selling the toys off cheaper. Consequently, it wasn't until around 1970 that I got my first figure, Callisto for my birthday. Matt followed later that year, along with some of the paks. Then, after a chance visit to another discount catalogue store, some 12 months later, I got the Firebolt Space Lazer for the princely sum of 50p! It was boxed and complete and just missing the radar scanner. I hastily cannibalised a Reconojet and voila! Matt was ready to explore the universe. I repurposed a few action man accessories, spent party poppers and other bits and pieces and spent a long summer playing with Matt until the inevitable happened and the wire in one of his arms broke. Still Matt soldiered bravely on and I found more of the suits and accessory paks for him. He was swung on wires out of the window, abseiled from the bedroom to the garden path and launched around the garden on home made hang gliders, smiling enigmatically the whole time. It was only when the Firebolt Space Lazer toppled down some concrete stairs, separating the turret, did the party come to an abrupt end. Some years later, after advertising in an early issue of SIG fan magazine, I managed to acquire a Space Crawler and eventually, my perennial favourite, the Uni-Tred and Space Bubble. By the 1980's, I felt it might be time to attempt a repair on the beleagured astronaut and I set to with pliers and some new wire. Surgically implanting the wire into his limbs proved more difficult than I imagined, due to the density of the rubber, but after a few tries, Matt stood once more. Around about 1986, I discovered a treasure trove of old Matt figures and equipment in an old newsagent in Liverpool and managed to buy a new Sgt Storm and one of each of the available suits with a little help from my girlfriend at the time!

Years passed and the advent of the internet appeared and after satisfying my curiosity about Spacex and Sword, I went hunting for more Matt. In the process of my searching, I ran into Woodsy and via him, Matt Mason and Spacexpert, Paul Vreede. The rest as they say is history, but at some point in 2000, a package arrived for me from Belgium, sent by the generous Mr Vreede. Inside, I was amazed to find two brand new reproduction Mattel style astronauts, made by a company called Leadworks.

The figures are based on the matt mason original, with minor retooling. The Leadworks company also evidently had a good sense of humor to judge by the rear of the card!

For more information on the Leadworks figures and the entire MMM range, visit John Eatons comprehensive website here.