allyn@sdcsvax.UUCP (Allyn Fratkin) (05/24/85)
In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each
sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g.,
a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded
plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored
space suit.
Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them.
I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing
a blue space suit.
Thanks,
--
From the virtual mind of Allyn Fratkin allyn@UCSD.ARPA or
UCSD EMU/Pascal Project {ucbvax, decvax, ihnp4}
U.C. San Diego !sdcsvax!allyn
"Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance."jbtubman@water.UUCP (Jim Tubman [LPAIG]) (05/27/85)
In article <888@sdcsvax.UUCP> allyn@sdcsvax.UUCP (Allyn Fratkin) writes: >In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each >sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., >a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded >plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored >space suit. > >Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. >I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing >a blue space suit. Of course! The Christmas present I wanted more than anything else in the world when I was five! MAJOR MATT MASON!! They were much like Allyn describes them, but he didn't mention that there were metal wires inside the astronauts that allowed them to hold their position when you bent an arm or leg. Major Matt had a friend called (I think) Sgt. Storm. There were all sorts of neat gadgets to go with them, such as the Space Sled and the Moon Base. I also had one of those Little Big Books (or whatever they were called) called "Major Matt Mason: Moon Mission". The book also talked about a female astronaut whose name eludes me. These guys were just the thing for space-happy little kids. Like me. Jim Tubman University of Waterloo
jaffe@topaz.ARPA (Saul) (05/28/85)
Boy does this bring back memories of my childhood!!!
At one point I had the whole series. If I remember correctly the
characters were:
Major Matt Mason
Colonel Bob Smith
Callisto {a friendly alien that came with its own set of gadgets}
and a giant character whose name I cannot remember offhand. The
laser cannon was designed so that this character could sit and
control it while the other characters could not.
There was also a lnad crawler, transport bubble {which could be
hooked up to the crawler or to the laser cannon} and a space
station. The crawler could be hooked on top of the station to
provide a winch.
I used to have lots of fun with this many years ago.
--
Saul Jaffe
Systems Programmer
Rutgers University
ARPA: Jaffe@Rutgers
UUCP: ...{harvard,seismo,ut-sally,ihnp4!packard}!topaz!jaffebroehl@wateng.UUCP (Bernie Roehl) (05/28/85)
<line eater bug line>
Yes! I remember Major Matt Mason! (I, too, was a space-happy kid!).
They had this two-tier space station with tinted transparent panels for
walls, a moon buggy, a bulky shell-like moon suit, a reconnaisance craft
that flew a string (fly by wire? :-) ) and a great big moon crawler vehicle
that had two four-legged "wheels" for crawling over rough terrain.
Great fun.
--
-Bernie Roehl (University of Waterloo)
...decvax!watmath!wateng!broehlalan@cae780.UUCP (Alan M. Steinberg) (05/29/85)
In article <888@sdcsvax.UUCP> allyn@sdcsvax.UUCP (Allyn Fratkin) writes: >In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each >sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., >a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded >plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored >space suit. >Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. >I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing >a blue space suit. Major Matt Mason and his pals were hot stuff during the Age of Imagination (pre-PacMan). I never got one, but I did have a Major Matt Mason puzzle. One of the big accessories for the little men was a moon-walker. I don't remember any bad guys. If you look at the packages for today's toy dolls, such as He-Man, you'll see them labeled "good" or "evil". Can't a kid decide for himself? Whoops. This isn't net.flame. What kind of Hot Wheels cars are there now? Remember the Splittin' Image, and the Beatnik Bandit? -- __ / 0_____ Alan Steinberg | .\ {ucbvax}!decwrl!amdcad!cae780!alan | )----' / | \ X "The wind doth taste so bittersweet, | | | \ Like Jaspar Wine and sugar. | |__/ | It must've blown through someone's feet, \_____/ Like those of Caspar Weinberger." |____) -- P. Opus, distinguished flightless water fowl
mike@dolqci.UUCP (Mike Stalnaker) (05/29/85)
In article <888@sdcsvax.UUCP> allyn@sdcsvax.UUCP (Allyn Fratkin) writes: >In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each >sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., >a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded >plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored >space suit. > >Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. >I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing >a blue space suit. > >Thanks, The original one was "Major Matt Mason". There were several different figures, all made out of rubber, with wire joints covered with an accordian-like piece of plastic. They had a bunch of vehicles, I espically remember the Moon-Walker (had 4 legs on each side, kinda like twin windmills........) -- Mike Stalnaker UUCP:{decvax!decuac,cbosgd,seismo}!dolqci!mike AT&T:202-376-2593 USPS:601 D. St. NW, Room 7122, Washington, DC, 20213 "Never appeal to a man's better nature. He may not have one. Appeal to his better interests instead" --Lazarus Long
john@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer) (05/29/85)
>From: allyn@sdcsvax.UUCP (Allyn Fratkin) >Organization: U.C. San Diego >Message-ID: <888@sdcsvax.UUCP> > >In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each >sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., >a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded >plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored >space suit. > >Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. >I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing >a blue space suit. The most well-known of them was Major Matt Mason who was in this stunning white space suit. (I also had one of the other ones- in a red suit.) They were very much like a Gumby- soft rubber over a wire frame. Each man came with his helmet and a jetpack. The jetpack was an interesting affair: a long black thread on an internal pulley. You would hook a little hook that came out of the top of the pack onto something and then pull on the string which came out the back of the jetpack and, voila, flight! (Do you know how hard it was to untangle/fix one of those things?) I never had the space (moon?) station, but I did have the moon buggy. It was a large single-passenger vehicle with the most enormous sponge-covered wheels. ---------------------------------------- On a related topic: Does anyone else remember when G.I.Joe was an 11" doll (11.5"?) ? There used to be a whole bunch of them as I recall also- Marine, Sailor, Astronaut, etc. I used to have the talking Marine G.I.Joe. God, it seems like yesterday: "G.I. Joe, U.S. Marine Corps reporting for duty!" -- Name: John Ruschmeyer US Mail: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ 07764 Phone: (201) 222-6600 x366 UUCP: ...!vax135!petsd!moncol!john ...!princeton!moncol!john ...!pesnta!moncol!john Silly Quote: I never wanted to be a barber. I wanted to be... a LUMBERJACK!
sas@leadsv.UUCP (Scott Stewart) (05/30/85)
In article <334@moncol.UUCP>, john@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer) writes: > > On a related topic: > > Does anyone else remember when G.I.Joe was an 11" doll (11.5"?) ? There > used to be a whole bunch of them as I recall also- Marine, Sailor, > Astronaut, etc. > > I used to have the talking Marine G.I.Joe. God, it seems like yesterday: > > "G.I. Joe, U.S. Marine Corps reporting for duty!" Yes, I remember G.I. Joe with all their accesories. I even had a jeep. But what about Johny West. He was a 11" cowboy doll. Me and my brother had him, hios indian friend and both of their horses. They had accesories like pistols, rifles, hats, chaps, peace pipes, saddle bags, and cooking pans. I believe they later came out with a Quick Draw Johny West, with a spring loaded arm for gunfights.
armstron@sjuvax.UUCP (L. Armstrong) (05/31/85)
> In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each > sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., > a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded > plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored > space suit. > > Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. > I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing > a blue space suit. > > Thanks, > -- > From the virtual mind of Allyn Fratkin allyn@UCSD.ARPA or > UCSD EMU/Pascal Project {ucbvax, decvax, ihnp4} > U.C. San Diego !sdcsvax!allyn > > "Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance." *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** The line of mattel space men you referred to were centered (I think) around the character in the white uniform whose name was Majo Matt Mason. There were also characters in red, blue, and gold. I think one of the other guy's name's was Doug Davis. I think they all had first and last names that began with the same letter. Thanks for bringing this topic up. It sure is fun to remember all the old toys I used to play with. Remeber Captain Action and Action Boy, (not to mention their arch- foe who had his brain exposed) ? You used to be able to buy costumes of all your favorite heroes and dress them up in these costumes. There was Batman, Superman, Robin, Aqualad,... does anyone remember any of the other costumes? Sigh! Those were the "good old days". (I can't believe I said that... I'm ONLY 21.) - Len -- Len Armstrong St. Joseph's University {astrovax | bpa | burdvax | allegra }!sjuvax!armstron
kwc@cvl.UUCP (Kenneth W. Crist Jr.) (06/05/85)
In article <1167@sjuvax.UUCP> armstron@sjuvax.UUCP (L. Armstrong) writes: >> In the very late 60's or early 70's Mattel had a line of spacemen (each >> sold separately) and a whole bunch of gadgets to go along with them (e.g., >> a space station, etc). These men were about 6 inches high, and were molded >> plastic/rubber, sort of like a gumby. Each wore a differently colored >> space suit. >> >> Does anyone remember the names of these men? I recently found one of them. >> I seem to recall they had names like "Major Matt". The one I have is wearing >> a blue space suit. >> >> Thanks, >> -- >> From the virtual mind of Allyn Fratkin allyn@UCSD.ARPA or >> UCSD EMU/Pascal Project {ucbvax, decvax, ihnp4} >> U.C. San Diego !sdcsvax!allyn >> >> "Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance." > >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** > >The line of mattel space men you referred to were centered (I think) around >the character in the white uniform whose name was Majo Matt Mason. There >were also characters in red, blue, and gold. I think one of the other guy's >name's was Doug Davis. I think they all had first and last names that began >with the same letter. > > Thanks for bringing this topic up. It sure is fun to remember all >the old toys I used to play with. > > Remeber Captain Action and Action Boy, (not to mention their arch- >foe who had his brain exposed) ? You used to be able to buy costumes of all >your favorite heroes and dress them up in these costumes. There was Batman, >Superman, Robin, Aqualad,... does anyone remember any of the other costumes? > > Sigh! Those were the "good old days". (I can't believe I said >that... I'm ONLY 21.) > > - Len >-- > > Len Armstrong > St. Joseph's University > {astrovax | bpa | burdvax | allegra }!sjuvax!armstron
robg@mmintl.UUCP (Robert Goldman) (06/05/85)
I had one of the Mattel spacemen named Major Matt Mason. Robert P. Goldman MultiMate Int'l. The toy named above was mine, and does not necessarily reflect the recreational tastes of MultiMate International.