If there was one toy I could take to Mars it would be Mattel's Captain Lazer. With his Leonard Nimoy looks and glam rock boots the Captain is the coolest toy ever. I adored him as a kid. My Mum forgot to leave it out for me on Xmas morning so on hearing my sobbing she quickly retrieved it from under the bed, came down stairs and handed it to me wrapped in paper. "There you go Son, Santa didn't forget".
I even wrote a poem about him when I was a teenager. Such is the power of the Captain's dazzling eyes and chest plate. I think the neatest stuff though, were his lazer attachments; the rod, the barrel and my favourite, the purple shield. Callisto and his cissy string pistol never stood a chance against the might of the glowing Captain!
These three coloured lazer parts reminded me of the cool weapons and accessories which came with Colorform's Outer Space Men, probably the best space toy range ever made. In fact Mattel's Major Matt Mason range and the Outer Space Men fit together perfectly. Callisto could easily be an Outer Space Man! Ol' Cap was so cool that Mattel used his body again for a new generation in the Seventies, by which time Captain Lazer will have been but a distant ray blast.
Finally I'd like to mention the sound the Cap's backpack made. I've talked about it before and will no doubt again. It is one of those iconic sounds unique to a Sixties childhood, like a spring rattling round a paint tin. Words like 'bodoingggggg' and 'de-de-de-de-de' don't do it justice. What do you think readers? What was that sound like?
Personally,I thought El Capitan was a mistake. Way too big to interact with anything apart from the Firebolt, my money is on Callisto! Scorpio is my very favourite, although out of scale, a beautiful design.
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