Like, Dude ...
What in God's name ... ???
With standard sized 50mm marked MPC spacemen, which is the size I was expecting them to be -- Imagine my surprise! I have (apparently) seen this variety before -- only online, mind you -- as part of a Made in Hong Kong set called "Four Supermen Conquer the Moon", and if these be the same the use of the term "Supermen" now makes sense.
All marked Hong Kong inside of a recess on the baseplate bottoms.
All have what appear to be doll faces -- solid moulded faces, not painted on -- underneath a faceplate with a concave obverse producing a totally hallucinogenic optical effect. The heads look too large for the helmets, and the most bizarre aspect is that they are different faces, not just the same face over and over again.
Only complaint: They have very poor balance, as demonstrated both on the video and by Rope and Sextant Guy here, in the process of topping over backwards.
With vintage 5" MPC in yellow and white 6" Marx Apollo for size comparison. So not "oversized" but enlarged, and of an odd proportion which seems more fitting than the 50mm originals.
Side by side with a still unknown enlarged 3" soft vinyl spaceman with painted features using the Hing Fat "Space Astronaut" form, marked China on its base underside. And I sense a connection, in like how both figure types are up-sizes of classic simple plastic spaceman forms which surpass their original models in terms of artfulness, complexity and fun factor.
All about three inches on the nose.
With still unknown Hing Fat style Geiger Counter Guy.
And they match again. Not just in terms of their equipment or pose but their aesthetic upgrade from the more well-known original forms. Who made these????
They are nearly perfect upsizes with some minor changes to the suit designs, specifically the small rectangular waist pocket on the right side.
And again. Slight alteration to the lines of the rifle: The 50mm figure's rifle is a bit better detailed and has an angle to its trigger guard where the other two are curved. But the lack of a rectangular form over the trigger area looks like how it should have been ... The 50mm figure chosen here is kind of a dodgy grab-bag piece picked at random from marked MPC figs -- Will see if my other 50mm rifle guys all have that solid rectangle & update if any don't.
And again with the pocket variation.
Again. So not perfect 1:1 enlargements but more highly detailed enlargements, and I wonder if possibly by the same hand. Any info welcome in comments below and you don'y need to be signed in.
In contention with that four inch Rex Mars set as the Ultimate Plastic Spacemen, with the Marx set edging out slightly for having detachable helmets. But these rock, any info on what they may be is most welcome.
Trying to be arty for a minute, and that works well enough to be painted.
That works even better.
UPDATE: More video below, trying to show the optical effect of the faceplate lenses. I cannot shut up about these things. And you know, I feel like I've hit a welcome plateau here in the acquisitions department. Was electrified by the image of these bubble-helmet MPC guys when I first saw that "Four Supermen" package, and had to have some. That was in either March or April, and here they are. We're getting somewhere, it feels, and it's time to stop talking about it & made some art. My first project for these pieces will be painting my own version of the backing card that set was issued on (as soon as I can find a picture of it ...). Then enlarge it like a pop art painting. So in the end these figures are art forms, in that good art leads to more art. The crummy stuff just sits there as an end to itself.
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