Astronaut Space Crawler

Major Matt Mason Space Crawler

MMM Space Crawler - What is it?

The Space Crawler was and still is one of those "must have" toys and was featured prominently in Mattel advertising from the period. This was supposedly modeled from official Space Program designs, but I've yet to find any proposed vehicle photos quite like it. The Space Crawler was molded in silver/gray plastic and featured a pair of four-spoke wheels, sans rims, which could straddle rocks and rough terrain. The premise is interesting, however the motion sickness a real driver would experience due to the ungainly gait of the vehicle would be difficult to overcome. One cool aspect of the vehicle is its ability to continue even if flipped on its back (of course, in reality the driver would be thrown and crushed!). The Crawler ran on two "D"- Cell batteries and featured two switches, one controlling motive power and the other transferring power to the winch - it's a nifty piece of mechanical engineering.

The Space Crawler is probably the most unusual of the MMM vehicles, in that it was multi-purpose. A tow hook to the rear can wind objects to it via the winch and enabled the Space Crawler to tow or winch just about anything (the winch is connected to the mechanical inner-workings of the motor/drive and was ingenious in its design). The Crawler could also be mounted to hooks atop the Space Station to act as a crane. To further the Crawler's functionality, a tow yoke was provided with the Space Bubble so that it may be towed behind.

The Space Crawler is often found missing either the tow-hook or rear roller (both are molded in red/orange plastic). Also, they are often found in non-working condition, either due to corroded battery compartments or deteriorated gearing. The inner gearing is fragile because of composition - a plastic that breaks down over time. It appears that the oil hole on the bottom of the vehicle prompted all manner of lubricants to be added to it. Many of the petroleum-based lubricants reacted chemically with the plastic gearing and caused the teeth and bearings to disintegrate. Exposure to heat and air accelerates this problem. One almost never finds an example that works completely as intended (they often run, but need to be "coddled" to run). The good news is, the interior guts may be replaced or reworked. Please review the Restoration page in the Resources: Restoration area of the site.

Space Crawler Images:

Sticker Sheet:

Instructions:

Mattel #6304-0920 Space Crawler

Patents:

CRAWLERTYPE TOY VEHICLE (Space Crawler)

D209,220 Nov. 14, 1967, Filed Dec. 21, 1966

J. W. Ryan and Gerald W. Schmidt

"The ornamental design for a crawler-type toy vehicle, as shown."

Found by Pat LeBlanc after Graeme Walker

SELF-PROPELLED CRAWLING TOY (Space Crawler)

3,475,854 Nov. 4, 1969, Filed Feb 3, 1966

J. W. Ryan, Robert A. MacMeekin and Daniel Henry Meggs

"A fuselage-shaped body has ground-contacting tail and carries a powered axle transversely across a front portion thereof. The ends of the axle extend outwardly from the sides of the body and carry radially extending spokes having ground-engaging ends inscribing a circle extending substantially forwardly of the body facilitating movement of the toy over rough terrain. The toy carries a winch which is selectively driven in clockwise and counterclockwise directions by an electric motor through a gear train and clutch arrangement which also supplies power to the axle."

Found by Paul Vreede

John's Patent Notes

Quite the complicated series of gears to make this engineering marvel work.

Maladies:

Broken or missing switch lever
Missing winch transmission switch
Melts in the seat (happens when a figure is left in the cockpit)
Missing hub caps
Missing wheel locks
Missing tow hook
Missing rear roller
Missing Battery cover
Corroded Contacts

Variations:

Oil Hole: The Crawler may be found with or more commonly, without the lubricating hole on the bottom.

John's Notes:

This is indeed my favorite vehicle of all time, for any toy line. I vividly remember the TV commercials for Major Matt Mason, and how "spooky-spacey" the Crawler looked. I immediately wanted one, and only had to wait 36 years before finally acquiring one in a boxed Space Crawler Deluxe Action Set (paid $50 for loose contents in a decent box - which I still own). There's nothing quite like the Crawler, though it was copied by Eldon for Billy Blastoff and others. I like to have several of them around as conversation pieces.

Accessory may also be found in:

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Astronaut Space Crawler