File this under "so stupid it's pure genius"; At some point in the past a "Major Matt Mason" enthusiast decided they wanted miniaturized 2" Army Man scale versions of the Mattel series' four human figures even if they had to modify some he/she already had.
The original listing stresses that the figures are hand painted unofficial owner-made modifications. The vendor cannot date them either and my head was messed with when considering their potential provenance.
Namely that my best estimate of when the Hing Fat style space figures used for the effort first "streeted" in 1972. That's when most of the plastic toy production which had been based in Hong Kong moved to mainland China, predicating the need to stamp them "Made In China" for export to western markets. Yet "Major Matt Mason" (or MMM for short) is definitely a late 1960s toy, at the height of its popularity between 1966 and 1971.
Could they be present-day creations cashing in on current MMM interest? Well let's take a look.
Clue #1: This figure in white is the Major Matt Mason of the group, the others part of his Moon Crew or whatever they were called. One way that collectors can visually date examples offered up for grabs is the color of the Major's suspender straps, running vertically between his shoulder hinge and the space suit zipper. MMM figures from the original 1966 run have blue suspender straps, from 1967 until the demise of the series c.1974 they were black. So whoever the artist was is interpreting a "later" period MMM figure.
Curve ball variable is that the figure lacks both the rectangular box chest unit and boot detailing I associate with the earliest Space Bucket astronaut figures. These were pressed after that tooling change but before the bottom stamping was changed, though just when those changes were implemented is anybody's guess.
The Major's red-suited second in command, Sgt. Storm, here illustrating one of the few evident flaws in the artist's paint job: The rim of the helmets. Though they may have encountered trouble with them while filling in the face cavity of the figures to simulate the iconic MMM yellow visor. Other than that they did a bang-up job: Some admirable brush discipline on display, bolstering my conclusion that whoever did the painting was somewhat older. They also apparently took good care of the figures as they have no evident play wear or dust accumulation. These were not a child's toy left out in the sandbox overnight, tucked in a pocket to sneak into school or thrown out the window to see what would happen when they hit the driveway.
Very tight brushwork. The bases iare painted with an interesting metallic copper color which to me says "Model Kit paint".
Another reason the artist simulated the yellow visors as transparent is so that blue suited Astronaut Jeff Long's African American ethnicity would still be communicated. They also did a good job in arriving at the light blue that his figure was originally painted in, likely mixing it down with white from a standard stock blue hue.
The paint split behind his left knee suggests it could be acrylics, which will split or peel as the surface it is used on expands or contracts.
Egads ... Well, civilian Astronaut Doug Davis' face is a creep-out and his yellow is too Hansa-bright. Should be a darker mustard color, suggesting to me that the artist did not have a wide range of colors to choose from. Maybe a Tester's model kit paint set, though again that is admirably tight brushwork. Pretty evident that he first painted the suit colors then layered on the detail which takes time. Kids tend to try and do things in a hurry.
This angle gives a better view of how the face cavities were filled in, maybe with resin or even just paste or glue given an amber hue.
And our final clue: The bases all have both a "Made In China" stamp and a figure number -- The original pressings of the Space Bucket astronauts came in ten poses & were numbered until maybe 1980. After that the numbers were scratched off the mould and the "Made In China" script changed to a rougher looking stamping. So my opinion is that the figures are likely early to mid 1970s production pieces, done after the tooling change eliminating the chest box unit but before the numbering was taken off. A present day artist would have had to know to seek out numbered figures. Or just got lucky in choosing an older set.
My verdict based on what I can observe is that they are
likely an early/middle 70s creation and almost surely unique, though it should be stressed that
the vendor makes no claim about their age as a selling point. I'm just intrigued enough to make a puzzle out of it on my own -- The right MMM collector will not care one jot when they were made even if the asking price may make them wince for a minute. That's "Gotta check with the Mrs. first" pricing and serves as a great lesson on two points of collecting this stuff:
They are worth exactly as much as the seller can get for them, and
You buy the spaceman & not the story.
I don't collect MMM (yet) and so they are only a footnote to me. Worth a blog post and an idea to consider replicating with my own figures. In fact, the choice of porky Hing Fat type spacemen to stand in for the beanpole skinny Matt Mason and crew is an odd and interesting decision which speaks for the artist's need to make them with whatever they had. And in 1972 - 1975 Space Bucket sets were all the rage, came with extras of the ten figures, and sacrificing four in the name of this homage would have been a pretty decent swap. Seeking older porky out-of-proportion figures when slim trim MPC figures with a known 60s provenance abound for a nickel or three wouldn't have been my first choice if trying to fake anything. I say early to mid 70s.
