Childhood Memories: The Toys of the Silver and Bronze Age 4 4

[Black_Adam]

Honestly, the toys we played with the most when I was a kid were guns, guns, guns. Plastic guns, potato guns, metal guns, air rifles, cap pistols, machine guns - you name it we had it. I don't know if kids are still allowed to play with them - but for us toy guns were an arsenal of fun. Every kid had them (boys I mean - I didn't play with girls) and we always wanted, needed, more. When I close my eyes I can still hear the sound those machine guns made when you squeezed the trigger. 

[Larryw7]

I remember seeing this in a drugstore when I was a kid and I really wanted it, but never did get it. Grabbed one on eBay a couple of years ago.

[Prince Namor]

On 8/14/2018 at 3:00 AM, N e r V said:

First up: 1968 (wiki entry)

 

The Outer Space Men – also known as the Colorform Aliens – is a group of seven "bendy" action figures (similar to Mattel's Major Matt Mason) produced by the Colorforms Company in 1968, they were designed by toy inventor Mel Birnkrant. The 3.5" to 7" bendable action figures incorporate a pliable metal wire armature encased in painted soft vinyl bodies with "accordion" joints, just like the aforementioned Major Matt Mason line, with whom The Outer Space Men were initially designed to be utilized. Each fictional character represents an extraterrestrial being from the planets in our Solar System, as well as various places in our galaxy.

Toys
Toyline	The Outer Space Men
Manufacturer(s)	Colorforms, Four Horsemen Studios
Era	1960s, 2010s
Category	Action figures
Web address	N/A

Figures in the series include:

• Alpha 7, the Man from Mars: A diminutive alien molded in lime green with green skin, a bald, green head with antennae and a metallic blue space suit with a green-tinted (removable) helmet.
• Astro-Nautilus, the Man from Neptune: alien molded in purple with a large, octopoid head (designed after the cephalopod from the 1961 film Mysterious Island), four poseable tentacles and a metallic gold space suit.
• Commander Comet, the Man from Venus: The most human-looking alien, molded in pink with large, (removable) angelic wings, a pink-tinted, (removable) helmet, and a metallic gold space suit.
• Colossus Rex, the Man from Jupiter: The largest and fiercest-looking alien, molded in lime green and resembling The Creature From The Black Lagoon, wearing only dark purple shorts over a huge, muscular body.
• Electron+, the Man from Pluto: A bald, robotic-looking alien molded in gray, entirely painted silver with a clear, (removable) space helmet. Resembled the alien from the 1951 movie The Man From Planet X.
• Orbitron, the Man from Uranus: The tallest alien, molded in pink with the least amount of paint, was an alien with a large, exposed brain, a beak-like mouth, long, gangly limbs and pincers in place of hands. Orbitron was designed to resemble the Metaluna Mutant from the 1955 film This Island Earth.
• Xodiac, the Man from Saturn: molded in deep red, with a red bald head, pointed ears and chin, a blue metallic space suit with a (removable) pink-tinted helmet and "Saturn" emblem on chest.

Each character was armed with some type of weapon, and several also included a helmet or other accessory (the accessories/weapons were constructed of hard-cast polystyrene of various colors). There was also a proposed second series of characters that never made it to market, although a few prototypical examples, both carded and loose, exist.

 

 

I don't remember those, but they look awesome!

[Prince Namor]

On 8/14/2018 at 6:09 AM, mosconi said:

Great childhood memories:

Now these I remember...  fond memories!

I had the 'Death of Superman' 15 years before it happened, as I had my MEGO Green Goblin cut and drop our large wooden birdhouse on top of my MEGO Superman figure - busted the figure open....  

[Prince Namor]

On 8/14/2018 at 11:21 AM, BriD. said:

This is the first thing I thought of. I forgot about the cobra!

 

My first G.I. Joe (THESE G.I. Joe's, not the cheesy figures from the 80's), I asked my mom, "Is that his name? Joe?"

She said, "No, that's more of a generic term. All of them are G.I. Joe's."

I said, "Ok. His name is going to be Fred."

I thought that was a cool name when I was 8. Fred. 

(Not that it's NOT a cool name...)

[Prince Namor]

On 8/15/2018 at 12:08 AM, Ottobord said:

 

Man, I wanted this figure so bad as a kid, I nearly hyperventilated when I got it for Christmas. Because...

[Prince Namor]

It went great with my Callisto...

[Prince Namor]

And all the other Major Matt Mason figures! It'd probably cost me a fortune to find all of these now...

Edited August 23, 2018 by Chuck Gower

[Prince Namor]

[Jeffro.]

On 8/21/2018 at 11:46 PM, oakman29 said:

I used to play this game to death as a child of the sixties. One day I'll find me one.

 

There's a bunch on ebay right now

[Larryw7]

5 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

It went great with my Callisto...

Yes! This was the best action figure. Now I have to go to eBay to see what they're going for.

[01TheDude]

17 hours ago, Black_Adam said:

I got Mike Powers AND his atomic outpost? fort? for my tenth birthday. Back them my mom would leave my present at the foot of my bed so I could open it when I first woke. Needless to say, I wasn't awake more than a minute before I had the box torn open (who kept anything mint in package?) and was playing with them, and played right up until the second I had to leave for school. And despite my mom's pleas for me to put my presents away, I left them in the middle of the living room floor so I could start playing with them again as soon as I got home. When I did, I discovered my older brother's dog Jethro had ate Mike Powers AND the fort. RIP Atomic Man. 

 

seems like many lessons were learned about responsibility at the cost of some precious toys -- this one and the green machine. Did you make sure to put your toys away after this happened?

[Black_Adam]

1 hour ago, 01TheDude said:

seems like many lessons were learned about responsibility at the cost of some precious toys -- this one and the green machine. Did you make sure to put your toys away after this happened?

We got rid of the dog.

[N e r V]

51 minutes ago, Black_Adam said:

We got rid of the dog.

[Black_Adam]

2 hours ago, N e r V said:

I think having that dog eat my action figure is why I became so OCD about comics. I began keeping my clothes on top of my dresser so I could safely stow my comics in the drawers and my sister still remembers how, if I actually agreed to let her read one of my comics, she wasn't allowed to touch them. I would sit beside her and, when she was ready, turn the pages for her. 

[Senormac]

I know this is not a "toy" but dang, I sure spent a lot of time and quarters buying packs of these things trying to get the whole set as a kid.  

[Larryw7]

And who can forget these?

[porcupine48]

On 8/22/2018 at 2:13 PM, N e r V said:

Before Hot Wheels I had Matchbox. Maybe not as cool but they had lots of things that Hot Wheels lacked too.

 

 

 

I have a Majorette display very similar to this,in yellow.Rescued it from the rubbish of a store that closed up underneath us.

This came out before my time,but I found it thrifting years ago.

Edited August 24, 2018 by porcupine48

[N e r V]

I’ve had those before. They were based on the 1960s Marvel Superhero cartoons I believe.

[Black_Adam]

6 hours ago, Larryw7 said:

And who can forget these?

I LOVED Wacky Packs as a kid. My mother, not so much - we stuck those stickers everywhere...schoolbooks, lunchboxes, walls, doors, our parakeet's birdcage. I was surprised to realize a few years ago they still make them! I bought a box on eBay and cracked it open with my friend's two sons and they went just as crazy for them as we did when we were kids. Here is a sample of the current wackiness...