Outer Space Little Men

 I  was nuts about Outer Space Men as a kid.

Now grown up I can appreciate other more recent toys my old pals influenced.

Here's Star Attack.

Deffo a Star Wars riff.

The dome's cool, a sort of helmet shape.

Most of the aliens are here, miniaturized, including my favourite Metalunan, Orbitron. 

Do you have anything like this readers?

T O R U S

 I love a ring torus.

Basically a ring donut.

Such a fantastic shape.

Very Sci-Fi and there are at least two or three TV and toy tori. 

Here we have the Nemesis from Star Maidens 1976 ( I copied a doll from the show last year)

Here's the utterly beautiful ring device of Colorforms Xodiac, one of the Outer Space Men. These were my favourite space figures as a kid, bendy like Major Matt and so damn cool.

Photo: Mel Birnkrant

The inventor of the Outer Space Men has his own extensive and wonderful website, in which the gallery includes his pre-package photography such as this truly gorgeous Xodiac and ring.

The Outer Space Men Photo Gallery https://share.google/LX8r3KYEckGda6lTi

Photo: Mel Birnkrant

Tinplate ring space station. Many examples such as this lovely toy by SH of Japan

(I've never seen a plastic ring space station)

Any more Toruses?

Major Matt Woody

 

There can't be much doubt that this Woody Spaceman has been inspired by Major Matt Mason.

What with the bendy arms and legs and the distinctive limb rings he could be Mattel's Man in Space!

Beyond infinity and into the realm of Colourforms Outer Space Men I could see Space Woody being converted into one of them.

Maybe Xodiac

Or Electron+

or maybe one of the modern incarnations like Metamorpho, designed by Mel Birnkrant back in the Sixties but it took the Four Horsemen to release it around 2010.

                                                                                                        Kastors Korner

Do any of you collect Outer Space Men readers?

ED'S OUTERSPACEMEN

Honestly guys, I'm not familiar with the movie This Island Earth pictured above. 

I may have seen it once on TV about a hundred years ago, BUT if the Colorforms spacemen are considered a tie-in to the flick then I can offer this shot of my knock-off Colorforms.

It's a nice set I bought quite a few years ago. None of them have helmets, there are no separate weapons or gear, and at ca 2.25"- 2.75" are much smaller than original Colorforms. 

The 'Orbitron' figure actually looks like one of the aliens from "This Island Earth'.

Have you got anything like this?

From Vegas Base

Ed

The Men from Planet X

There's something poignant about this cover art. I like the way the alien has its eyes half-closed looking down, perhaps lost in thought. The few strokes to create the spaceship have been done well too and I think it looks great.

The alien is clearly influenced by the Man from Planet X movie poster art ( a film I've yet to see. Have you seen it?)

This is one of many of these posters for the film but I'll be honest, I prefer the Spanish rendition above.

The great Mel Birnkrant took his spark from the same movie for his own Man from Pluto, Electron+, one of the fabulous Colourforms Outerspacemen, which I had as a kid circa 1967..

Here's Mel's own mint carded Electron+.

Those Colorforms backing cards where a thing of beauty, perhaps the best backing cards of all time I would say!

Still, there's always room for more Planet X Men.

Here's Geometric Designs limited edition resin kit.

Have you any men from X readers? 

Perfect Fishbowls

 I saw this recently, a modern Mysterio.

His perfect fishbowl helmet impressed me.

I can only think of one I had as a kid.

Commander Comet.

Here's one from an old auction.

Did you have a perfect fishbowl? 

MEL'S OUTER SPACE MEN: A COLOURFORM CHRISTMAS

 1968 and wowzers! Its those Colourforms Outer Space Men!

They are the true symbols of Christmas for me! Easily the best Christmas toys I ever received.

These bendy aliens were my fave space figures as a kid. They went perfectly with Major Matt and his gang.

If I wanted my Mum and Dad to save anything from landfill it would have been these otherworldly fellas.

They really were proper things of outer beauty and the designer Mel Birnkrant was/is a genius! Period!

Did you get an Outer Space Men man at Christmas back then readers?

AN ISLAND CRAWLING WITH MYSTERIOUS TOYS

 I've just watched Jules Verne's Mysterious Island the movie from 1961.

I've seen it many times and despite crawling with the giant crabs and hungry rocs there are still a few toy related observations I can make.

One of the high points of the film is the appearance of Herbert Lom's Nemo and his futuristic submarine Nautilus. Nowadays they'd call it steampunk but back in the day when the first Nautilus appeared on the big screen in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in 1954, a Leeds-based company got in on the underwater action.

Sutcliffe Pressings created the Nautilus tinplate toy, an icon of vintage play and a glint in the eye of most collectors. A beautiful toy pressed in various bright colours, what I hadn't realised was just how close Sutcliffes was to Moonbase. Literally half an hour away in Horsforth, Leeds!

Now the site of a residential car park, the Sutcliffe glory days are sometimes celebrated at the local Horsforth Museum and this is one of their past displays of submarines. You can also read about Sutcliffe's here: Sutcliffe Boats of Horsforth [there's a picture of the toy sub being sprayed in the spray shop!]. Did you own a Sutcliffe?

Watching Mysterious Island again I was also struck by Nemo's wondrous electric rifle and how it completely captured the atomic age vibe of many space rifles. See what I mean ...

There were many toy space guns like it and here's one off the top of my helmet, the sensational Pyrotomic Disintegrator by Pyro. Did you have one of these bad boys?

Can you think of a better space rifle like Nemo's?

The last toy link to the film and one I've blogged before is Ray Harryhausen's giant octopus and its influential suckers.

This large cephalopod slipped into the mind of one Mel Birnkrant back in the Sixties and its tentacles re-appeared in his triumphant Outer Space Men with Colourforms, one of my all time favourite toy figures as a kid.

The octopod of the Men was one Astro-Nautilus, perhaps the only figure of the original series I didn't have. Sadly all my Men have have left the ship but pictures still abound on the net. Here is the Man from Neptune.

Did any one you ever see the Nemo and Nautilus movies at the flicks? Has anyone got any other toys from the two movies?

STRANGE HUMANOIDS FROM THE OUTER LIMIT OF THE UNIVERSE

 Oh my, the Marauder Bendables!

These Toy House miniature Outerspacemen are out of this world!

Very collectable among Colourforms collectors, those gorgeous aliens came complete with helmets.

Have you got this super carded couple? 

What a great birthday prezzie they would make!

DESERT ISLAND TOYS

 

If I were shipwrecked on an atoll I would want Colourforms Outer Space Men with me!

I think I got Orbitron for my 8th Birthday! 53 years ago today!

Which one toy line would you want readers?

HOLLOW EARTH ANYONE?

When I was kid I noticed one of the Colourforms Outerspacemen toys was from Hollow Earth. I think it was Mystron from Series II, which I never had. You?

I think the Hollow Earth also appeared in some way in a movie I adored in the Sixties, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. I can see the film's heroes staring out over a vast subterranean ocean, which was a startling image for an impressionable kid. Did you see it?

Recently I was watching another more modern film - I forget which - King Kong v Godzilla? - and the concept of Hollow Earth came up again. Anyone know what I'm on about?

So just what is the Hollow Earth idea? Who is meant to be living down there?

OUTER SPACE WOMEN

 When I was a kid I adored Colourforms Outer Space Man. I had series 1. Alas all went the way of the trash in the early Seventies. I can't believe I didn't even keep one!

Anyways, things have moved on and the fan base for Outer Space Men has grown, particularly in the US where new companies like the Four Horse Men and new figures have emerged.

The new figures even include Outer Space Women, which certainly wasn't the case in the 1960's. There are lots of modern OSM ladies and I've picked two from the internet to highlight here.

First up is Terra Firma, the Woman from Earth.

It reminds me of a female version of Major Matt himself.

Do you like her?

Second is Astrodite, the Woman from Venus.

Astrodite appears to be based on the original Series 1 Commander Comet the man from Venus.

You can read much more about these and all the many females in the new Outer Space Man universe on Shes Fantastic, a review endorsed by the original toys' creator himself, Mel Birnkrant.

http://www.shesfantastic.com/2014/04/the-women-of-outer-space-men.html

LAMPSHADE SPACESHIPS

 

I took this shot lead down looking up at a lampshade. I dunno, I just liked it!

My favourite lampshade picture - at least i think its a kind of lampshade-type prop - is Mel Birnkrant's card art for the Colourforms Outerspacemen.

I love Alpha 7's illuminated disc as he heads for Mars. Looking underneath it the disc really does hint at lampshadeness.

and my personal fave, the large lampshade-like personal airship of Xodiac, the Man from Saturn.

You can read more about these on Mel's own amazing website and drool over the original backing card photographs like this one of Xodiac. 

http://melbirnkrant.com/osmgallery/page14.html

I think its one of the most beautiful toy photographs ever. What do you think readers?

BIG SHOUT OUT FOR THE OUTER SPACE MEN

Colourforms Outer Space Men - OSM - were my favourite space action figures as a kid. I had the first series and they played well along side my Major Matt Mason with only the occasional scrap breaking out! I so wish I still had them!

They were really beautiful toys and the accessories were so well designed. The whole lot were the creation of the great Mel Birnkrant.

Theirs a whole cottage industry of modern new figures on the back of Mel's genius and these innovations will keep the spirit fresh for avid collectors for years to come.

I'm personally happy with just my store of kid memories to be honest as OSM collecting could be addictive.

There are lots of OSM fans especially in their homeland, The USA. 

Here's just one of the fan sites, many of which offer new figures nowadays. 

https://theouterspacemen.com/

Did you have have Outer Space Men? Do you have any now?

OUTER SPACE MAN JEEP?

I had to look twice at this Shambers Jeep from Spain I saw on Todocollecion.

The card art looked familiar.

Here's the super cool backing card for Xodiac from the glorious Colourforms Outer Space Men series of figures. 

This is what it reminded me of.

Coincidence?

The photography on these cards is utterly magnificent. What do you think the lampshade type object is that Xodiac has on his shoulders? Was it bespoke made?

COLOURFORMS OUTER SPACE MEN TV AD

An original TV slot courtesy of You Tube for the greatest range of action figures ever made.

The 1960's Outer Space Men by Colourforms.

I was lucky enough to have them all [maybe not Commander Comet].

I was unlucky enough to forget about them at some point and like most of my old toys they were chucked out by my Mum and Dad.

I still love 'em though and one of the best things about the internet was being and is being to converse directly with their creator, Mel Birnkrant. A real toy genius!

Did you or do you have any Outer Space Men?

VENDING ON NEPTUNE

Saved from the photo-feast that is Ebay I am always chuffed to see a stray Outer Space Man.

Here we have a nice cute rubbery Astro Nautilus knockoff posing under vac-formed plastic in a vending display.

It must be great to be a true OSM completist and stumble across these trifles at the ripoff buffet stretching back to 1967.

Mel Birnkrant, the genius creator of the gorgeous Colourform's Outer Space Men figures, was partly inspired by a 50's B-movie nautiloid when he concocted the Astro Nautilus, the Man from Neptune.

Have you any Outer Space Men, real or otherwise?

PHANTOM FIGURES FROM FILMS

Fans of Colourforms Outer Space Men will recognise Electron+, The Man from Pluto.

[pic:MCWToys]

Toy creator Mel Birnkrant's inspiration came from the movie The Man from Planet X [1951].

Mel's genius for absorbing older fantasy and sci-fi references into his Outer Space Men has always fascinated me.

I often wonder which other films influenced space figure toys?

To get the ball rolling here's one I'm throwing in the ring.

See the red helmeted guy in this poster for Phantom From Space [1953].....

.... well check out this action figure, a Gi Joe miniature Deep Sea Diver!

What do you think?

Have you any ideas?

THREE MEN FROM OUTER SPACE

I just dig this pic of three cheapo Outerspacemen.

They look like their dead cheesed off stuck behind that window!

Orbitron, he of the large brain, looks meaner 'an hell!

Have you got any men like these?

JOHNNY LEMON OUTER SPACE MEN DIY ACCESSORIES

In the world of Johnny Lemon home DIY toy parts anything goes.

Take this Vanish powder scoop.

That would not look out of place as an accessory to one of Colourforms' Outer Space Men!

A neon search globe -catcher or a day-glo helmet perhaps!

Similarly my wife's milk whisk would make an ideal cosmic lance for one of them.

The spinning spiral tip would make mincemeat of Scorpio's antennae!

And for the classier HG Wellsian version how about this glass plant water flute for a majestic staff. 

You know they'd fit right in!

Can you think of any other kitchen spare parts?