Had another learning experience! :D Always fun, and the new insight is that all of the gray cast spaceman figures shown on this post are "clones" or recasts of the classic MPC / Multiple Toymaker produced forms. Took a while to realize they just are not the same & scoring a modestly priced lot of five from a well-intentioned seller provided me with enough examples to really evaluate them. And sadly the evaluation tinged by failure in receiving not just one but two piece of the same pose which both suffered broken ray gun barrels. Additional reading from the Figures pages at Paul Vreede's ever-fascinating Triang Spacex website on copies of the 5.5" MPC space figures adapted for use in the Spacex/Golden astronaut toy line nails the coffin lid shut: The gray figures are copies, cast in a plastic other then the standard MPC colors and using a material which has sadly gone brittle. As the video attests the originals retain their comparative flexibility.
Top Row: Hard Plastic Clones of MPC 5.5" Spacemen.
Bottom Row: Original MPC 5.5" Spacemen.
Which isn't to say the gray figures are "fakes", pawned off as MPC product by sinister forces. I'm likewise convinced that the figures are vintage in the sense that they were likely cast prior to 1999, more than 20 years ago. Glencoe recasts of the Archer spacemen are also vintage with 1991 as a given production date, and I have an inkling that these were likely produced around that time during a fondly-remembered period of retrofuturist nostalgia from the early to mid 90s. Just without the licensing flourish which Glencoe could deliver and in a much more subdued manner then the rebirth of the Colorforms line about the same time. So it would make sense that a plastics company who had access to the MPC moulds would want a piece of the pie. Though it should be stressed that there is no way to determine exactly when they were made unless sealed product in dated packaging arises.
As to where they were made? Your guess would be as good as mine, though the waxy luster to their plastic is a dead-on match for Hing Fat "Space Bucket" astronauts in my keep. Just sayin'.
My five original MPC / Multiple Toymaker 5.5" spacemen, all missing their equipment pack items still fixed to the gray cast clones. Have decided my favorite is the guy in white. He's been through an owner or three and someone played with him quite a bit.
Left: Suspected clone.
Right: MPC original.
Not that it means much as I only have five of the poses, but none of the gray figures I've managed to score have removable helmets. Only two of the MPC originals have removable helmets but it is an attribute they had which I recall as a kid. I also recall giving up in tears at trying to fix one of my spacemen's belt around their waist & had to use a pair of pliers to get the belt strapped on the one above.
Left: Suspected clone.
Right: MPC original.
Left: Suspected clone.
Right: MPC original.
They carry revolvers.
Left: Suspected clone.
Right: MPC original.
Left: Suspected clone.
Right: MPC original.
Left: Suspected clone.
Center: MPC original.
Right: Suspected clone.
The red and blue figures are originals.
Poor guy. But the score did yield the range finder on complete tripod and his tool belt.
"Fascinating, Captain."
The white cast MPC original, and if you ask me he looks like David Bowie.
The only markings on the 5.5" MPC figures: A number by their left foot on the top side of their bases. The gray cast clones also have numbers so not an attribute to tell one from the other.
Without helmet and with ray gun intact. The other MPC figure with the removable helmet has a damaged gun barrel. Decided I'm going to give him a recast's O2 pack and whatever equipment seems appropriate. Possibly the others too, though I do not know what any of the original figures were issued with.
Yet.
Guy need to go hit up a Wendy's or something. Scrawny.
Bitchin'.
"Hallo, Spaceboy." And from now on his name is Major Tom.
Major Tom the orange 60mm Marx "Galaxy Command" (or "Star Station Seven") Square Scoop Guy missing his scoop. Jewelry creation by artist Melissa Zawacki.
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