PLASTIC SPACEMEN
A Christmas Tale From The Haunted Toy Box
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My vision of Christmas Future is still tethered to the invisible umbilical of Christmas Past.
The futuristic Christmas Past of the Space Race era. A time when kid's toys reflect man's ambitions to explore the stars.
Small plastic spacemen landed en masse around the planet like an army of invading aliens.
They came in all shapes, sizes and colours. They were cheap, imaginative and exciting.
Some were licensed, others were bootleg. Some were pocket money prices, and others were more detailed in design.
All offered adventure, igniting that priceless spark of imagination that fired kids into space.
Our plastic spacemen were tough and durable. They were designed to thrive on hostile planets.
We could deploy our spacemen as explorers, scientists, aliens, or even Martian military men battling rogue robots.
Their function was only limited by the limitless inspiration and untainted resourcefulness we had as kids.
These versatile plastic spacemen could be mixed and matched.
We could team them up with any number of friendly toys.
Or have them fight any number of foes for hours of futuristic fun.
Spacemen were always festive favourites for a generation of kids at Christmas, back then!
Our plastic spacemen waged galactic battles under the Christmas tree long before the Xbox changed the rules of engagement for kids, forever.
Like marooned spacemen, some of us have missed the ride home.
We're stranded here in Christmas Present, alienated in a world we hardly recognize.
Perhaps longing for the impossible return journey to the futuristic optimism of Christmas Past.
A place where imagination and adventure were the rulers of our world and plastic spaceman were the future.
Tony K
'SPACEMAN' by Babylon Zoo
You must have known that Marx Gorilla was gonna catch my eye:)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, yep you're right Brian. If anyone was going to recognize the old Marx Gorilla chasing the unfortunate spaceman, my money was undoubtedly on you :)
DeleteBeautiful photo collage of many iconic space toys and figures. Especially liked seeing Thunder Robot riding a tricycle!
ReplyDeleteI agree Zigg. Well done Tony, its like a Dickensian Space Carol for Christmas. Lovely images. I love the shot of the Daleks and spacemen under the tree. Could be Christmas 1967 that! Your'e right, such simple toys that gave us hours of pleasure. I wonder what we have done with an Xbox? Is it actually play?
DeleteHi ZigguratSF2000. Thank you. I tried to recreate images with a perception of Christmas Past and how we would've interacted with our old space toys as kids; when we still had our razor sharp sense of childhood imagination.
ReplyDeleteThe robot on the tricycle is a new 'retro style' toy. He was a prezzie from my daughter, so he gets to hang around with the older toys :)
Hiya Woodsy, thank you for including the plastic spacemen on your fantastic blog. Getting the old toys at Crimbo did spark a few happy memories of earlier times. Surprisingly, I could still make the improvised childhood ray gun sound effects... when no one else was around, yep :)
ReplyDeleteI Wish I Was A Spaceman under your Christmas tree, Tony. What a wonderful story and beautiful photography to get us into that juletide vibe. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete'I Wish I Was A Spaceman'... you're so right, Arto, ha ha. I wish you a fantastic Christmas over there in Helsinki Base - Seasons greetings my friend :)
DeleteStrikes a real chord- plastic spacemen had such potential, and I am still fascinated by the future as seen by the past.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andy, I'm glad it struck a chord. Space toys from our past serve as familiar cultural reference points, illustrating how our generation visualized our future, as kids. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas :)
ReplyDeletegreat work Tony!! ew
ReplyDeletehttp://alieniacasa.blogspot.it/
take a look if you want....
Glad you like it EW. Also, thanks for the link to your own cool blog. It's well worth a visit. All the best for Christmas :)
ReplyDelete