Years ago I bought a book on Space Toys of the Sixties by James Gillam. Inside the Major Matt Mason section was reference to an unproduced toy called the Orbitor. It included a small crustacean-like alien called Or from Orr I think.
I did one post on the Orbitor about 12 years ago and this is my second one. Last time I mentioned coverage of the toy on the Wildtoys website. Alas, this amazing site appears now to have gone from the net entirely.
My old post is one of just a few that actually mention the Orbitor now.
There's a reference to the Orbitor on Wheeljacks Lab, describing it as an 'educational toy', but no other information or pictures.
In fact I couldn't find a single image of this unproduced toy anywhere on the web. I know there is at least one image in existence, because its in my Gillam's Sixties Space Toys book. It shows the Orbitor as a sort of spinner with the creature sat on top under a dome. Its powered by a kind of vertical foot-pump I think.
Have you come across Major Matt Mason's Orbitor or Or from Orr readers?
Alas, poor Or was never made. A pre-production model did surface and was bought by Frank May of the MMM collectors community I think. Or was a a small insectoid alien, who sat in the centre of a large rotor style saucer. A kid pulled a vertical ripcord arrangement, while steadying the launcher with their feet, sending the saucer spinning aloft. I think therein lies the problem with Orbitor, - as the kid stood so close to the angle of ascent, theres a good chance the kid could be injured as Or took off. John Eatons Wild Toys site has transmuted to our very own Blogger and can now be found here: with photos of Or!
ReplyDeletehttps://majormattmason.blogspot.com/
Bill
Small correction if I may:
ReplyDeleteFrank May built an Or & Orbitor from scratch, based on catalogue images:
https://majormattmason.blogspot.com/p/custom-or-and-orbitor.html
John Eaton does own an Or protoype:
https://majormattmason.blogspot.com/p/alien-or.html
Best -- Paul
That's just astonishing Paul, I'd no idea that a real Or and Orbitor existed. What a fantastic post that is; it must be like owning a Picasso. John must be thrilled with it. I do like the look of the new incarnation of 'Wildtoys' as a blog. I see you're an administrator; do you like the new blog format?
DeleteI actually delved into Johns blog after i responded and saw the little Or figure! amazing, but very flimsy. Bill
DeleteTo be honest, Franks is much better! BIll
DeleteFranks is good but now having seen the real McCoy, its the original toy for me!
DeleteI'm not an administrator but I've contributed to WildToys in the past and lent a hand during the move of the content (plus lots of new stuff) to the website part of that blog. John did the move mainly to ensure his content stays available for as long as possible. He had the blog itself for ages and added the WildToys content to (lots of) special pages. If it were my site I'd've started a new blog because I think the blog posts get in the way a bit but maybe I'm too OCD or something. :)
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul
On rereading, that should be "I'd've started a new blog (with minimal posts) to host the website content because I think the (old and new) blog posts get in the way a bit." On first sight it's a blog and the wealth of website content is hidden away in the menus that can be overlooked if you're a new visitor. On the other hand that content is now starting to get crawled by google so that would help.
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul
Yes, its a difficult choice Paul, blog or website, when there's lots of information like John's old Wildtoys. John's is a half-way house I guess. I'm so glad its survived in some form. So many great sites like GACCH and the Vintage Thunderbirds Toys Site have gone altogether and languish now in part on the Wayback Machine. Like your own website, I shall be checking John's site as and when now I know its there.
Delete