Empire Plastics "Unbreakable Assortment" of Planes, Cars, Trucks and Spaceman Figures, all Soft Plastic.

I was on a plastic mini planes kick and happily stumbled upon this oddity, utterly having to have it upon seeing the space figure cast in silver. Which looked familiar, though I could't quite place it until looking at my MoC Jek Porkins.

Obtained a couple years back as part of a grab bag of junk drawer space figures. Each is about 1.5 inches, soft translucent plastic, no markings, and at the time I didn't think too much of them. 

Yes, those are twisted. I guess they are humanoids wearing space armor rather than robots. Design very much rooted in pulp science fiction traditions rather than suggesting functional flight suits. 

Yeah that's cool.

And that's a match. Whether these came before the Italian spaceman set (packaged by Co-Ma) came first or this has yet to be determined.

Clues on the likely age covered in the video upload, with 1956 as a safe bet.

Bag was not heat sealed and is only kept shut by these (apparently) 75 year old staples. I asked a seasoned veteran collector his opinion on what to do and he said open it immediately. Ran the situation by ToySoldierHQ and they had a similar reaction. Pliers standing by for the right moment. 

(UPDATE: I opened it, see below.)

I'd previously scored a shoebox full of what appear to be a host of Empire Plastics cars, trucks, lorry vans and trolley cars. Close inspection of the loose vehicles to those in the bag netted some interesting differences and are likely a jumbled collection of various copies. Will display some of those observations in a future update.

One more hint from ToySoldierHQ is that Empire may have been responsible for this line of plastic mini space ship toy forms as well. The toy forms and packaging on a Space Train set shown on their site is more or less identical to an on the card Empire Plastics train set with their address on it. Will come back to this subject again sometime.

Looks like one is reaching up to grab the other guy's pistol hand to stop him from frying the wrong guy.

"NO. Wait, don't ..."

UPDATE! 

Bag contents: 1x DC-6, 1x Navion, 3x XF-89 Scorpions, 5x F9F Cougars (Panthers?), 1x Trolley Car, 1x Tow Truck, 5x Plastic Figures (in 3 poses).

The five figures from the bag along with the two I'd had previously, they appear identical and add a fourth pose; ToySoldierHQ describes a total of six poses. Any insight on what these may or may not be is always welcome. You don't have to sign in to chime in.

"Tip-Top Toys" Soft Plastic Space Car Mint On Card, Later 1950s? by "Display Enterprises" Greensboro NC

 

I've always loved these simplistic little soft plastic Space Cars and this was the first specimen I'd seen as New Old Stock. Not sure yet whom "Display Enterprises" might be but have an inkling they were re-baggers who packaged up toys obtained in bulk. Have always wondered who was producing these so here's a step closer. Will report back if anything interesting surfaces.

Yeah it's tempting to try releasing those staples. The aging to the plastic is so opaque as to be a bummer but for now it remains sealed.

Pretty sure there's a fourth vehicle design. I have bid on and lost several of these forms over the past  couple years & recall at least one other style. Would enjoy learning more if anyone has any sources they can link up.

LP Toys "Moon Exploration" Bagged Spaceman & Alien Sets, Early 1970s?

 Our story so far ...

Click here to open video in a new window.

First laid eyes on this material in November of 2020, and was astounded by what they appeared to be. Skulked around on e-B4y for a couple months, finding individual still sealed sets here & there which would have run $45 - $60 with postage and blew it off. Having just one would have driven me insane since it could never be opened and the glory of those green globs of plastic would remain a thorn in my mental side whenever seeing the package.

So just on a lark one day I searched the words "Moon Exploration" and bingo - Why I'd never thought to use the set's name as a search term remains a mystery. The vendor was located in Australia, he was able to ship multiple sets, and I did without a new set of late winter boots (no kidding) to throw down on three specimens. One to keep sealed, one to open, and one to either share with fellow enthusiasts or devote to art making pursuits. Two still remained sealed and I got my goony aliens on the desk, looking at me.

Laminated cardboard.

Die punch rack holes still intact. These things never got anywhere near a store shelf.

The relief at having these out of the bag was fantastic. The tactile sensation of just holding them is intoxicating. They are perfect.

Hot diggity dog.

The green reminds me of the Operation Moon Base aliens in their soft green plastic. The coincidence is fun to relate, but the term "little green men" has been part of pop culture lexicon since at least 1947.

My favorite of the poses in this form, which is interesting as I'd not really "liked" the figure as standard size 25mm LP alien. Here he works, and it was only when examining his detailing that I realized all of the figures have a round loop or hole on their topknot for a lanyard or string. 

Perhaps to expand their usefulness into bulk vending as gumball machine "Space Pendant" trinkets? I'd already obtained two LP Toys astronauts cast in a flexible vinyl material that bends nicely for containment in a gumball machine globe & have seen them on bulk vending header cards. Though the astronauts included in the set I opened are standard stiff/soft plastic which is not flexible.

Just to be sure. Odd how the Made In Hong Kong looks offset, and there is vestigial evidence of other characters rubbed out between the logo and the text.

... Now on the other hand, I don't think the Scooterbot translated well into this larger size, or maybe they just ran out of time when sculpting the head. From the shoulders down he's cool.

Ehh. 

Still awe inspiring, but it doesn't have a character/face thing going on like the rest of them do.

Now you're talking.

With what have been regarded until now as standard sized counterparts.

Insanity.

Genius.

Smaller one works better.

All eight LP astronaut poses accounted for, my favorite (The Sentry) is somewhat gray and battered compared to the other seven, and I love it.

Just in case anyone was wondering.

Badass.

Mission accomplished.

Another use of the image from the bag's card on the back of this "Moon Explorers" boxed set of four LP astronauts which I'd felt comfy dating to 1968. It has Mattel "Major Matt Mason" artwork c.1966 and no Apollo era technology depicted. It also lacks any bar code or child age warning, putting it's production for import to North America prior to 1972. Some companies with higher profiles like Mattel (Hot Wheels) and Hasbro (GI Joe) were voluntarily using the warnings as early as 1969 according to packaging I have seen images of.

The "Moon Exploration" sets have the child age warning but also lack a bar code. The age warnings were the result of the Consumer Protection Act of October 1972, and UPC bar coding entered the retail merchandise landscape in June of 1974. My guestimation on the age of the sets would be somewheres between 1970 - 1972, by which time the bottom had fallen out of the plastic space toy market, which might account for why they remained obscure to collector circles for fifty years. Gotta be a reason, as they are the perfectly evolved form of the smaller versions. LP should have sold a million of them.

Here's a link to a post on the sets at the Alphadrome Robot Talk forums, hoping for some discussion and insight from the more experienced collectors who frequent that system. And anyone is welcome to comment, no need to sign in to chime in.