Major Matt Mason 1971 Catalog
Mattel’s man in space “Major Matt Mason” had an successful run during the 1960s space race until about 1969 when man actually walked on the moon and didn’t find an alien civilization.
While this did sound the death knell for space toys in general, Mattel marketed the Major until the 1970s and made new items for him.
By 1971 the MMM line was a shadow of it’s former self, gone were the many moon vehicles and astronaut pals, all that was left was the good Major and his new alien pal Scorpio. By 1972, Mattel would have a new action figure concept called “Big Jim” and the Major would be all but a fond memory.
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Such a great toy line. I remember playing with MMM toys in the mid '70s as a kid–at a relatives house–and had no idea what they were.
I've always considered them to be a kind of precursor to Micronauts… brilliant stuff.
My older brother had several figures and vehicles from this line, and I still love the heck out of 'em — I even liked 'em better than Billy Blastoff!
As for 'the death knell for space toys' well, I'm not so sure. Super Joe was kinda spacey, and then with Star Wars and wave of Sci-Fi that followed, it was all pretty spacey, too : )
P.S. Have ya heard about the Major Matt Mason Movie, huh? Supposed to star Tom Hanks. Just sometimes I wish the big brains of Hollywood would quit playing havoc with my early childhood toy memories @_@
Of course Star Wars didn't come out until the end of the 70's decade, so space stuff was pretty sparce until then. And boy did it explode after Star Wars. Everyone wanted in on the action after that!
Most folks I've talked to in the toy industry told me after the moon landing "Space" was a dirty word.
The two things that really brought space toys back into the marketplace were Star Trek and Star Wars.