Finally had a minute to look at the figures from this 20 piece Daron Worldwide Ltd. "Space Adventure Series" Astronaut Bucket set, and it got interesting quick.
Figures cast in a very light plastic, waxy looking surface but harder than almost all of the other gray HF spacemen in my stash. They "clinked" when emptying the bucket onto the tabletop. All the others thud. No pilot figure either, which might make sense for this set as there was no rover vehicle. Still, darn.
Sloppy seam fit and untrimmed sprue remnant.
The "Made In China" text looks irregular, like it was stamped into the mould by hand, and then something scratched out underneath.
Left: New.
Right: Mid 80s white casting.
Both have about the same hardness to their plastic.
White figure only marked "China" on bottom and it looks like a scroll rather than individually stamped letters.
Left: New.
Right: (Suspected) 1970s casting from a matched/numbered set.
Older guy has skinnier legs and is about a 1/8th of a head smaller.
Top: New
Bottom: 70s
Bottom text in even scroll, number placed above text.
Left: New
Right: Unknown suspected recently made figure.
Top: New.
Bottom: Unknown recent.
Marker dot added to distinguish which is which. These two appear almost identical.
Left: New.
Right: Unknown, 80s or 90s (based on what it came with).
Top: New.
Bottom: Unknown, 80s or 90s (based on what it came with).
He and the blue guy below are the only Hing Fat astronauts in my collection who do not have any markings on the base. The rest all have "China" or "Made In China", the suspected older ones numbered as well.
Left: Unknown blue casting obtained from French based vendor.
Center: New
Right: Suspected 70s from a matched/numbered set.
Note difference in facial characteristics, detailing to boots/rope/helmet/uniform folds. New figure much less sharply defined and both he + the blue guy about 1/4 a head taller than the suspected 70s figure, who is also facing forward. The other two face down. They both also have a single round "node" on their chests where the older guy has a detailed chest unit.
Order of above flipped. One of the things I've concluded is that the astronauts are cast in the same mould as the gray vehicle pieces, and I can't help but wonder if the French equivalents of these sets have blue Lunar Module fixtures??? Or maybe the whole LEM is blue? Man that would be cool ...
Very different sculpting, type of plastic used, and figurative aura to them. One on the right grittier, the other "softer" looking. No other way to describe it, and look at how different their faces are rendered. Were they by the same artist??
Will look them over closer & share more. This is fun!
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