Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Colorforms took the transfers from a previously released Peanuts set and added a disco ball-illuminated dance floor, whereas the Star Snoopy set came with all new transfers. The dance floor is pretty cool, though. Snoopy as the World Famous Disco Dancer was introduced in the Peanuts strip in October 1978.
The stunning paintings are by Robert Engle for a gorgeous “bendy” action figure line that influenced space/alien figures and toy design for decades. (Look how closely Orbitron resembles Membros from Mego’s Micronauts line, for instance.) The Outer Space Men followed Mattel’s popular Matt Mason toys (the first great space line) and had an initial run of one series only, as the public lost interest in the space program quickly after Apollo 11. The top painting shows series one. The bottom painting shows the unproduced (at the time) series two.
Following the success of Star Wars, Colorforms and Mel Birnkrant, who created The Outer Space Men, smartly released a Space Warriors Adventure Set and a series of jigsaw puzzles based on the characters in the 1968 line. In 2010 Four Horsemen Studios re-released the original Outer Space Men along with some new figures based on Birnkrant’s designs.
(Images via melbirnkrant.com, where Mel praises Engle’s work.)
This set is a little different than Presto Magix and later Rub n’ Play sets. You had to rub pieces of a character or vehicle into an outline, which you would then prop up in a slot.
I believe the Rub n’ Play line started in 1978, as did Presto Magix. I’ve also seen Spider-Man, Mickey Mouse, and Hollie Hobby sets from the same year.
Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic toothbrush and said, “By the power of fluoride!”
Or:
I ache to brush you out of existence! To drive your cursed plaque from my memories forever!
(Images via DIG Auctions/eBay)
2 Warps to Neptune 