Who is Marchon Rocket?

I'm pretty clued up, I think, on Super Heroes.

So this costumed fellow on Worthpoint has me baffled.

Supposedly linked to Marvel Secret Wars, it's listed as a Marchon Rocket Bootleg/Knockoff!

Who?

As your Imaginations!

 Micronauts knockoffs pop up from time to time, so these two toys on eBay seemed likely suspects. But are they? 

The Saturn No.2 looks like a figure could sit on it. It appears to be a sort of plastic heli-kart. It reminds of a sand yacht.

It's a snap together model.

Anyone got one? 

The Space Defender looks like a figure can be created with the parts. 22+ models can be made in fact! 

I particularly like the Superman flying pose, which echoes another Superman toy I've seen.

As your imaginations! 

Anyone got this?

Let's Face It

 I've had fun with this car boot cheapo.

His plastic face was damaged.  On the nose, mouth and ears. A right scalpel job!

Initially trying PVA glue, which didn't work, I then deployed FIMO into the holes.

A little colouring later with a paint pen and voila!

All this fella needs now is some feet!

Ancient Weapons are no match for a good Blaster at your Side! A Birthday Bootleg

 The Star Wars eternal knockoff machine went into stellar overdrive from the off and toy guns were no exception.

Yep, you're our only trope and then some!

Take this for instance. How brazen can you get to simply slap a photograph of Mark Hamill on the side of the box, deftly replacing his blaster with the Space Saucer!

If that wasn't rip-off enough then just scatter some Star Wars craft throughout and use the typeface too!

A more subtle but no less obvious lift is Kusan's Sonic Fazer. This is actually a tin plaque on auction, so it gets even more modern shelf life!

Yep, there's old Harrison Ford's Han Solo, with all but his face, posing in his classic blaster pose. The little picture of the kid below adroitly captures Carrie Fisher side-on too!

And just what is that spacecraft?

A lesser global sensation that Star Wars but a muscled cash cow nonetheless, Rambo had his platoon of admirers in knockoffsville too!

Here's the Kes-Uzi and the Sly Sta-clone has two of them! He'll give you a bootleg you won't believe!

It's not only screen icons which garnered faking fans. Top toys did and still do too. 

In fact Topper's mid-Sixties Mega-seller Johnny Seven had quite a few including a whole decade later, Remco's ..... wait for it ..... System 7!

Really! C'mon, Remco, you're better than that! 

I do really like the spinning rotors ammo though. Johnny don't spin!

And a toy rifle I would have adored as a kid, the mighty Mitraglia Spaziale.

Looking at this I think the butt is upside down!

It's one chunky blaster and I love the background box art. What is that?

I read the words Battlestar Galactica in the old Spanish auction. Surely there's no connection?

And last but not least, my favourite space weapon name this week, the Super Trembling Space Gun! 

No need to be afraid, the pistols trembling anyway! Ha ha!

Do you like any of these readers? Have you any knockoff toys?

Breakaway with Space: 1999 Knockoff Figures

With Scoop championing Breakaway Day on MC I thought I'd mention a couple of Space: 1999 Knockoff figures I've seen of late,  knockoffs being one of my fave things ever.

First up is this German 12"  fashion doll, Marien, I saw on the mighty Plaidstallions. 

It's described as wearing surplus stock. 

So, quiz questions: Can you name where the doll's jumper's from? 

Another cool 99'er is this figure on auction, Starmen 1999, a Palitoy Alan Carter pilot clone I think.  Commanding an almost millennial sum now, it cost just £1.49 in the cheapo aisle of Pramland of Leigh (where's that?) back in the day.

I actually think this looks to be a decent Knockoff. The quality isn't bad at all for a Palitoy clone (Mattel didn't release a Carter figure I don't think).

I've read that the original Palitoy figure had a helmet which resurfaced on other Mego lines like Action Jackson and Dinah Mite. Official toy recycling! 

The header is great!

Those silver boots really do look like they're from Palitoy's biggest brand, Action Man!

So wanting to delve deeper into Alan Carter's baggy I googled and found, yes, a video about this very subject from none other than Brian Heiler of Plaid Stallions (aka Brick Mantooth!). Yep, back where I started this post! 

It answered all my questions and more. It even discusses Pramland of Leigh! Small world! 

The final reveal of further knockoffery was, well, a revolution!

I hope, like I did, you enjoy!

https://youtu.be/JZybayeHQNY?si=JafGY8Ytf5C-E3Nt

Sarge Lives!

 As this round of our MoonBase International custom toys slowly comes to a close, our latest reincarnation is this 1960's Action Man knockoff.

This was Bill's childhood buddy and along with some of the original kit he totally deserves a new lease of life. The buddy that is, not Bill! 

With a good scrub-up and freshly cleaned clothes, Bill's buddy, via the Quartermasters Store, has been sent on one last mission before hanging up his dog tags:

To secure the back garden for the summer!

Mission Status: SNAFU!

After debriefing, The next step in buddy's reinstatement and immediate de-mobbing will be a new retirement package, which is currently in pre-production.

In the meantime our plastic chum is off down the NAAFI for some well-earned tiffin.

Said retirement package concept is pictured below, a full backing card designed by Bill with a baguette box blister I found in true rack toy style. 

Alas, Bill's old buddy proved just too buff for that blister, so a simpler demob package was offered, a basic baggy with this neat header card produced by Bill, his buddy now re-named The Sarge.

Fully bagged up, Sarge is now looking forward to some decent kip in the cabinet.

Hope you like it.

Moon Traffic: It's Triffic!

I recall finding a loose Moon Traffic vehicle like this decades ago at a toy fair. I didn't know what it was back then. 

The thing I recognised was the antenna, which was the same as on my SWORD Scout 1. It was the wrong one and took me years to get the proper rectangular antenna, courtesy of Bill. I then lost it in the compost! 

Moon Traffic is a great knock-off of SpaceX: such blatant copying. A me-too with bells on, Roxy even shoved in a Golden Astronaut. Was that a SpaceX one I wonder? 

A lovely and unusual little space vehicle nevertheless with echoes of those big tinplate moon rovers around in the Sixties. Is it a toy you have or any other Moon Traffic readers? 

The one pictured is on Worthpoint's archive.

Bill's Action Buddy

 As this round of our MoonBase International custom toys slowly comes to a close, our latest reincarnation is this 1960's Action Man knockoff.

This was Bill's childhood buddy and along with some of the original kit he totally deserves a new lease of life. The buddy that is, not Bill! 

With a good scrub-up and freshly cleaned clothes, Bill's buddy, via the Quartermasters Store, has been sent on one last mission before hanging up his dog tags:

To secure the back garden for the summer!

Mission Status: SNAFU!

After debriefing, The next step in buddy's reinstatement and immediate de-mobbing will be new retirement package, which is currently in pre-production.

In the meantime our plastic chum is off down the NAAFI for some well-earned tiffin.

RIFFING WITH THE SITH

 The Outer Realm have a cool gallery of some Star Wars knockoffs and general space toys riffing on the Lucas blockbuster.

Feel the force!

https://theouterrealmsw.com/5_and_dime_store_toys.html

SOAK 1999

I had to look twice at this! That yellow handle says Space 1999 to me!

and here's a proper 99 knockoff, the Force!