Marx Toys Apollo Astronaut Figures in 54mm and 6-inch Sizes, 1969 - 1978

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Whoa ... I sense some artful potential with that angle. One intention of this collecting habit is to amass interesting forms to be photographed & projected onto a canvas to be traced then painted-in, and that's going into the Keeper Folder.

Let's deal with the size issue to as long as we're here: On my video and in many other places I refer to the smaller figures as 60mm, which is incorrect. More like 54mm, though some with appendages flailing in the air do push it up into a taller bracket. The larger figures are also more like < 5.5 inches but rounding that up to 6 inches is accepted.

As to the dating, my intel has the larger figures debuting first, just after Apollo 11 and likely in time for Christmas 1969 toy shopping. I had the complete set of six poses by the age of five, which would have been January 1972, and my guess is that they were still commonly available at retail as long as the Apollo Program was in the public consciousness, with 1970 as their commonly accepted year of manufacture. 

If my understanding is correct the smaller figures were first issued in the "Giant Martian Landing" set in white (1972 or 1977, reliable sources differ), in both orange and white as part of the "Galaxy Command" playset (1978) and in orange only for the "Star Station Seven" playset (1978/1979). Which makes them somewhat rare as collectors usually prefer to keep those sets together, and to my knowledge they were never packaged alone. Could be wrong! please chime in if you have the skinny.

Blue variant at back left is somewhat rare as well. You can usually score the six inch guys for $15 - $20 shipped. Smaller sized usually turn up in lots and the full twelve poses should set you back $25 - $40 depending on the vendor. Then again as with all such things these are worth exactly whatever the seller can get for them. I've had some of the larger guys on my "Watch" lists for months 'cos I won't go where the vendors would prefer for a single figure. Nope, happy to wait it out until the Junk Drawer seller who doesn't care and is just getting rid of old stuff lists one up for $5 - $10, which is how all of my examples ended up where they are.

Yeah, that needs to be painted.

Vintage Robot Space Figures by Mattel, Ferrero/Kinder, Coman Boys, Timmee, LP, Tomy, and Big DRAGUN!

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Yeah, so Robots. They were kind of a scary subject for me during those impressionable years. First one which made any impression on me would have been John Saxon's duplicate killer robot from that Six Million Dollar Man episode. Slaps the thing's face off at the end and he starts jabbering in reverse like those backwards voices in "I Am the Walrus" and I was under the sofa cushions in terror. Then the Six Million Dollar Man had to fend off the Venus Probe -- It always knew to go right for that Bionic Arm with the grabber claw -- and the Fembots trotted out for The Bionic Woman were even scarier. Plus all the malfunctioning robots from "Star Trek" run amok, frying off Red Shirts or chewing up entire planets. Doctor Who had all manner of robots killing humans as well. Nah. I was about spacemen, or rather humans exploring space. Robots were a potential menace.

It took until "Star Wars" to change some of that. Everybody loved robots after "Star Wars", and I agree with those who argue that 3P0 and R2 are the real stars of the first two films (I give up after "Jedi" so, don't get me started on prequel order). An unrealized Halloween costume plan had been to obtain a garbage can, fix a mixing bowl to the top and be R2D2. Dad didn't go for it, sculpting me a Darth Vader mask out of paper mache instead. Point being that after then robots had heroic potential and became a hot ticket with the Shogun Warriors figures which appeared in America during the very late 70s. Micronauts too, though I don't recall having more than one of them, and was too old by 1980 to go beyond more than a few Shogun figures. By the time Go-Bots and Transformers took the scene I was more interested in girls.

So I've not sought out too many robot forms as an adult collector. Most were included in "Lot" acquisitions which happened to include a robot or two. I'll do a more extensive post on them when able, for right now just wanted to link up the video & get a few recycled Instagram pix in place. Look for "space.trucks", and yeah I know that period is costing me a lot of search engine placement. 

Guy on the far end is 50s, unmarked and not sure which brand. Any info welcome!

Kindertoy got these Moon Scooter guys right, though technically he is probably supposed to be a spaceman. I can live with it.

I try to avoid branded franchise recognition but had to have that Medic Droid. Will do another post on our surviving childhood Kenner Star Wars figures, will never part with em even if the current film series annoys the living snot out of me. And I want a five-inch Timmee robot! In white.

He's fascinating, marked "China" on the base and with painted features. Would love to learn more if anyone recognizes the form!