Welcome Back, Major Matt Mason: Black Strap Figure with Helmet and Cat Track

Been caught up in the show cycle at the gallery I manage in downtown Syracuse and fell behind on this project. Let's get back to it in style:

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 Now, in defense of the figure's condition: I had not intended to pursue re-acquiring my childhood Major Matt Mason figure this soon. But just happened to be perusing Newly Listed space toy items and bingo. Vendor apparently had no idea or concern of what he was right down to the $5.00 Buy It Now option and I bit.

Black strap figure so post-1967 which makes him a likely match for the figure which I was given for Christmas in 1971 at the age of four. I doubt I had a blue strap guy. He has major issues including wire damage to the legs & left arm, some paint peel and discoloring from age but it's not like he's going to be "played with" much and will likely spend the bulk of his life with me wrapped up in a figure storage box. The extent of my childhood MMM collection consisted of a figure with helmet, the Cat Track vehicle he was issued with, and the inflatable Space Survival Tent.

The helmet was a nail-biter, especially after learning that there were two varieties with a "High Neck" fit and a "Low Neck" fit, presumably related to how the collar on the figure is formed. Picked one out, took my chances on it, and bit again. Finding the Cat Track took about ten minutes and was chosen based on images of the original carded MMM figure perched on a red CT, which I'm fairly certain was how mine came as well.

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Mission Accomplished, and the Space Tent looks to be the harder nut to crack. Or rather, that's the part which is going to cost some money since it must be a functioning tent complete with pump and backpack unit. Which means it may have to be a still sealed / carded example and they aren't cheap.

That'll do for now. I will likely seek out a more pristine example at some point when I have the means but this was the last of the Space Toy goodies I had as a kid along with a Space Bucket set, the six Marx Apollo Astronauts, and a gaggle of MPC figures in both 2" and 5.5" size.