Four Inch LP Toys Style Spacemen (Or Clones Thereof) Late 60s/Early 70s?

I'd had my eye on these lads for a while & finally decided made it a priority to bring them home. There were four figures in all, the three in the front based on LP Toys spaceman poses and visible in the back row a large 4" sized Tim Mee Toys "Galaxy Laser Team" Chewbacca type. No information on them other than vintage: Chewie's likely an early GLT figure 1978-1980 (?), the three LP guys unknown upon initial encounter. My hunch based on appearance & wear to the bottom would be at least 1970 if not mid/late 60s. Around the same time as the larger sized MPC/Multiple Toymaker and Marx Apollo Astronauts were all the rage, or that's my guess. Vendor always has 133t warez so, they're likely as good as they get for examples of the form. Stoked to have em on board!

Just about four inches on the nose from base to helmet.

Yeah. Holy Grail item, or at least the form of it. I'm good.

Nice O2 packs, a weakness in MPC's 5" spaceman game: Too reliant upon parts which were inevitably damaged or lost. Like the Marx 6" figures these are good to go & haven't really aged a day. Guy took care of em and my use will be as photo subjects only when in need of larger figures.

No markings as they were described by the vendor, who referred to them as "clones". Which translates to me as unmarked possible copies of. I feel like a very lucky boy to have them whatever their story may be.

Click here to visit the Triang Spacex Golden Astronaut Toys website page on the subject of these four inch LP upsizers.

Just awesome however you stack it up.

I think the Rifle Guy is my favorite of em ... He's kind of the Straight Man in the act.

They all have the same face. They really are clones ...

NASA Cape Kennedy Apollo Moon Landing Souvenir Astronauts, Late 60s (?)

Vendor's story is that these were available for sale from the "souvenir stand" at Cape Kennedy during the Apollo Program years, age & maker unknown. Curious cut back helmet design, and I wonder why they are painted with a chrome finish rather than white. The rounded moon terrain as bases is a nice touch. Guy on the left also manages a vague resemblance to Neil Armstrong, for whatever that is worth. US penny for scale.

The detailing on their backpacks is slightly different. Nice sculpting overall, though I wonder why NASA's gift shop would look to Hong Kong for souvenir swag.

"KT NO.409 MADE IN HONG KONG"

"KT NO.410 MADE IN HONG KONG"

The swirling/ribbing suggests they are resin castings rather than sprue-mould injection forms. And it is a very hard plastic which "clinks" when tapped against the tabletop. Most Hong Kong made 1960s spacemen are softer "army man" type plastic which is slightly flexible. These are different, and are more in the spirit of collectible figurines than children's toys, lending veracity to the vendor's claim. Though my rule is always "You buy the Spaceman and not the Story", and I like them.

Nicely detailed terrain with endearingly sloppy overpainting.

Religious icons from Byzantine tapestries? The broken/worn noses also lend a hint to how old they might be. Note the "notch" on the right guy's shoulder from what I think is a shim hole from the mould which was not shaved off prior to being painted. Very different whatever their real story might be.

UPDATE: They have also been sighted as Cake Topper decorations, a fate which befell many smaller Hong Kong made plastic space toys after America's Moon Fever had ebbed, with HK warehouses still chock full of the stuff:

http://dorkhorde.blogspot.com/2012/11/vintage-space-cake-topper-toys.html