Mattel could always be relied upon to produce some great toys, as shown by Hot Wheels, Matt Mason and Thingmaker. The licence for the TV series of Battlestar Galactica meant that it could step up to the plate and turn out toys to compete with Kenners dominance of the space toy market with Star Wars.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Mattel seemed to have fumbled the ball. The action figures for the series were little more than static manniquins with doll like mouldings and the company even resorted to retooling an old moulding from ten years earlier - making Captain Lazer into a rather stupified looking 'Colonial Warrior' and even worse, into a naked Cylon with a severely enlarged head.
However, it did manage to briefly redeem itself with the vehicles range, producing some rather fine toys of the Viper, Cylon and adding two 'expanded series' vehicles, the Colonial Stellar Probe and Scarab. Apart from being quite accurate representations of the ships and featuring a nice little 2 inch action figure, the colonial ships could be taken apart and connected in a limited way with other ships. The Stellar Probe came with extra parts to make a satellite, a missile and an extended probe ship.
Ive yet to find the Viper or the extended range of vehicles as shown in the catalogue as after a successful release in 1978, disaster struck. Shortly after xmas in 1979 a recall order, prompted by the death of one child and injuries to 10 others from the small missiles featured in most of the ships, meant that the toys disappeared from shop shelves. Apparently a 4 year old boy choked to death after accidentally putting the nose of the Viper into his mouth and the missile lodged in his windpipe.
The recall of the missiles for the toy and the consequent re-tooling of the line, was a major setback and a second wave addition to the line, the Colonial Landram vehicle never made it to stores, apart from a very limited release in Canada.
This unfortunate incident also sent shockwaves across the toy industry and any toy with small firing projectiles was inspected and reviewed. The silicon revolution had also had a pronounced effect on the industry and the ability to place a sound FX chip in toys was seized upon by manufacturers. As a result, toys which would previously have been able to engage in our favourite game of carpet wars, blasting battalions of soldiers and action figures with firing missiles, became obsolete and the all singing, all dancing electronic era took over. The Galactica toys did continue to sell, but with modified launchers that allowed the missiles to pop out slightly to simulate firing.
The infamous Boba Fett figure from the Empire Strikes Back was initially intended to have a missile firing backpack, but to every fans dismay he was ignominiously released in 1979 with the missile securely welded in place after Kenner had seen the problems Mattel had run in to and quickly changed the tooling before the figure made production. These two events marked a radical sea change in the toy world as one element of interactivity and playability was lost and the era of flashing lasers and beeping and squeaking electronic novelty took over.
Well my best laid plans for posting the next section of the Small Scale Spaceman series have gone out the window due to pressures from the real world. Meanwhile, back at the Moonbase, I thought i'd flag up a possible inspriation for the Sword Scramble Bug. Not a direct design influence, but the wheel layout is very close to the toy. The machine in question is a Lunar Roving Vehicle Test Article and is being put through its paces at the NASA proving grounds. All different kinds of wheels were tried out due to the fact that pneumatic tyres were impossible to use in zero atmosphere. Weight was also a consideration and this giant roving platform would have probably have been intended for use with the modified LEM 'truck' which inspired the Valigursky Moonbase.
Another interesting image is the Boeing concept vehicle shown below being driven by Von Braun, possibly as a press exercise. The shape is very reminiscent of the Prospector, having a roughly trinagular aspect and large antenna on top. Seeing all these wonderful designs for rovers and Molabs makes me feel a little shortchanged when I look at the eventual vehicle which made it to the moon - a glorified electric go cart with wire mesh wheels!
