Look familiar? Remember the Star Base Command Tower and the Galactic Attack Dome? Well, I’ve been trying to figure out who made all these similar looking space sets in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and the short answer is Multiple Toymakers, which at the time was a division of Miner Industries.
According to a short bio I found in the Standard Catalog of Farm Toys, Multiple Products Corporation (MPC) started out circa 1950, changing its name to Multiple Products, Inc. in 1964. In 1967 MPI became Multiple Toymakers. MPC/Multiple churned out a number of plastic figures, play sets, rack toys, and model kits during this time, including a popular Planet of the Apes and James Bond line.
The XL5 in the Beyond Tomorrow description refers to Multiple’s 1963/1964 Fireball XL5 Space City play set, as Plaid Stallions pointed out here.
Multiple creatively recycled many of its toys and sets, and in or around 1970, the company became a division of Miner Industries.
Now, take a look at the Star Base Command Tower again.
If you’ll recall, I was confused by the ‘Major’ label on the top left of the box. Luckily, I found a press release from a 1979 issue of Toy and Hobby World:
Miner Industries, Inc. and Union Group Co., Inc. of Baltimore have entered into a joint venture to manufacture and market toys and games. The company, named Union Major, lnc., will be a Miner-managed affiliate…
That’s all I could get from the snippet view, but it’s clear that `Major’ refers to Union Major. Here’s a package of space men listing both Major and Miner Industries.
And here’s a flyer from Plaid Stallions showing Union Major as an affiliate of Miner.
(Image sources: Remembering the ’70s, Plaid Stallions, eBay, John Kenneth Muir, Bonanza)
2 Warps to Neptune 