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| COMPTE À REBOURS Competition header |
Below are a number of pages from consecutive issues of Spirou magazine, published to coincide with Apollo 11’s mission to land a man on the Moon.
(Spirou is a comic character (sadly not well-known outside Europe) drawn by a succession of Belgian/French artists and has a weekly comic magazine named after him, competing with the magazine named after Tin-Tin. You can see Spirou appearing upside-down in the O of the “Compte à rebours” title).
All pages concern a competition run by Spirou in conjunction with the Cosmos-Club of France and sponsored by Jouets Rationnels offering many MMM toys as prizes.
I do believe that the same competition may have simultaneously run in other magazines, and that this would be the “great space game” mentioned in the JR adverts earlier that year, indeed starting on 15 June as advertised.
The competition consists of a series of multiple-choice questions to be answered on a special form. Special tokens needed to be cut out from each issue and pasted on the form (thus proving one had bought the magazines) as well as a special sticker only available from toy stores stocking JR’s toys.
The competition was consistently explained and promoted in consecutive issues of Spirou, which is why the texts below have quite a bit of repetition when seen together.
As a note, the Space Power Suit is described as a “scaphandre” which is the French word used for deep-sea diving suits. But because the word in itself has no direct reference to either diving or water, it can equally be used for space suits of similar spec.
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| COUNTDOWN |
COUNTDOWN
As you now know, July 1969 will be, if all goes well at CAPE KENNEDY, the month which will mark the greatest conquest that man has ever achieved: that of the Moon. On this occasion, “SPIROU” offers you the most extraordinary competition it has ever offered you, which is part of the space epic; it's a bit our way of celebrating the event. This large and friendly competition to which “SPIROU” invites you this week (and which will continue over five successive issues) is open to all young people under the age of twenty-five. We called this competition
COUNTDOWN
An original competition, whose questions, where no chance intervenes, were conceived by the COSMOS-CLUB de FRANCE team, chaired by Albert Ducrocq.
PARTICIPATE... It's very simple: from today, "SPIROU" and the COSMOS-CLUB de FRANCE will ask you each week a series of questions to which you will have to answer with a number corresponding to those you consider correct. To make things easier for you, you will find in this first issue a response bulletin WHICH IS ONLY A DRAFT. The actual response bulletin will be published in the last issue of the competition, that of July 17, 1969 (no. 1631).
WIN... One of the prizes mentioned on the opposite page. You can make your dream come true: 15 days of extraordinary vacation in the United States. You will visit the cosmonaut training center in Houston and the CAPE KENNEDY space base (something very few Europeans have had the opportunity to do). You will get to know the most typical features of American life, you will visit New York, Washington and Texas! And you will be one of the special correspondents of “SPIROU”, who will publish what you have seen during this extraordinary journey.
UP TO YOU... But don't forget:
1) That in the example of the answer sheet presented to you this week (which is only a draft, we remind you), you have three categories of questions under headings: A - B - C;
2) That this response form also includes an “ignition” space in which you MUST stick a sticker that you will find at all the main toy merchants and which includes the additional question to series A, OR, for residents of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: the answer to the OMEGA question;
3) That you must also paste on each form, in the corresponding boxes, the response tokens numbered 1 to 5, which you will find in each of the “SPIROU” published during the duration of the competition;
4) It is always a good idea to read the competition rules CAREFULLY.
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| COUNTDOWN |
COUNTDOWN
THE QUESTIONS:
This week, you will answer three questions. They are simple and easy; you just have to read “Spirou” carefully to answer it, with a number, in the first three boxes of the answer sheet. Keep this answer sheet (which is only a draft) as well as this week's answer token. Continued in the next issue.
Series A
a) When was Sputnik-1 launched?
1 - June 2, 1957
2 - July 13, 1957
3 - August 15, 1957
4 - September 6, 1957
5 – October 4, 1957
b) What is the name of the capsule occupied by John Glenn?
1 - Soyuz
2 - Gemini
3 - Vostok
4 – Mercury
5 - Voskhod
c) Who was the second Soviet cosmonaut?
1 - Gagarin
2 - Shatalov
3 - Titov
4 - Leonov
5 - Nikolaev
Question MATT MASON
How much do you estimate the weight of Major MATT MASON, alone, without his helmet and accessories? The answer to this question must be written on the sticker which will be given to you by all toy sellers. This sticker must be stuck on the competition answer sheet.
Cut out this token
Countdown TOKEN Nr 1
ATTENTION, DO NOT SEND THIS ANSWER FORM NOW! WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE NEXT QUESTIONS.
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| YOU CAN WIN THE FANTASTIC MATT MASON SPACE COLLECTION |
SPIROU “COUNTDOWN” COMPETITION
LIVE FROM THE COMPETITION
YOU CAN WIN
THE FANTASTIC MATT MASON SPACE COLLECTION
You are going to participate in the fantastic Competition that SPIROU is offering you starting this week, because you are passionate about Space issues. You will win, perhaps, a trip to Cape Kennedy, or one of the prestigious models from the only collection in the world representing an exact replica of the lunar craft: the MATT MASON Collection.
You probably know that each of the models in this series is made BASED ON THE OFFICIAL PLANS OF SPACE VEHICLES
Everyone, at all levels and all ages, you have a chance to be one of the Winners and thus get to know (if you haven't already) MAJOR MATT MASON, his teammates and his equipment.
For space flights and trips to the moon, Major and his team use their backpack thruster and jet sled.
MATT MASON's heavy suit allows him to safely cross dangerous areas of the lunar soil.
Driven by electrical energy, this astonishing lunar vehicle, which ignores all rough terrain, has been specially designed for the exploration of uneven surfaces.
This lunar base is MATT MASON's HQ. It is equipped with a control tower, an automatic radar and transparent mobile panels which filter the sun's rays.
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| Crawler |
LIVE FROM THE COMPETITION...
THIS MODEL, POWERED BY ELECTRIC ENERGY AND CAN BE USED AS A CRANE OR WINCH, HAS "SPIDERS' LEGS" WHOSE ASYMMETRICAL ROTATION ALLOWS IT TO ADDRESS THE UNEVENNESS OF THE LUNAR SURFACE AND TO CLIMB IMPRESSIVE SLOPES.
Crawler
Thanks to the scientists who studied the soft, crumbly and uneven lunar soil and who had to develop very robust vehicles suitable for operating the moon, MATT MASON and his team have a Crawler.
MATT MASON pilots this "all-terrain" for his exploration missions, as well as to supply his teammates with research materials.
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COMPETITION NEWS
“Spirou” reminds you that it is the twelve questions from the Cosmos-Club de France which will determine the winners of the first two prizes (15 days in the USA) and of the 98 other prizes offered by “Spirou” and Jouets Rationnels, either directly or after additional questions asked by the jury in the event of a tie. Don't forget, however, that you must paste the Matt Marcs sticker on your answer form and in the box reserved for this purpose, indicating a weight for Major Matt Mason.
MATT MASON QUESTION.
How much do you estimate the weight of Major MATT MASON, alone, without his helmet and accessories? The answer to this question must be written on the sticker which will be given to you by all toy sellers. This sticker must be stuck on the competition answer form.
1) Don't forget that your response form which will appear in issue no. 1631 of July 17 must include the answer to the additional MATT MASON question, which you must write on the sticker which will be issued to you free of charge at all toy merchants and which you will have pasted on your form.
2) IMPORTANT In case you have not been able to obtain this sticker, you can obtain it free of charge by writing, today, to JOUETS RATIONNELS, 6, rue Cauchois, 75 - PARIS 18th
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| Space Cannon |
Space Cannon
MATT MASON's team remains in contact with the earth by radio, and "combined operations" are carried out every day.
This is how MATT MASON retransmits to earth or to other teams of astronauts, via the “Lazer Ray” Space Cannon, the television images of his teammates who are carrying out observations of the ground. lunar.
DOUG DAVIS frequently calls on MATT MASON and his Space Cannon to measure the density of rocks, dig a tunnel or pulverize an obstacle.
THE SPACE CANNON IS A MOBILE MODEL, AND YOU CAN DIRECT ITS LAZER BEAM TOWARDS ALL DIRECTIONS.
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| COUNTDOWN |
COUNTDOWN
Here we are in the third week of our big space competition. It's a bit of a point of no return. Before presenting you this week's questions, here, for the record, is the list of the top ten prizes, which we are offering you with the participation of JOUETS RATIONNELS
1st PRIZE:
2 trips of 15 days to the USA
- Visit to the Cosmonaut Training Center in Houston.
- Visit to the Cape Kennedy space base.
- Visit to New York, Washington, Texas and Florida.
3rd PRIZE
With a value of 500 F broken down as follows
The set of an absolutely complete space base, includes all the elements of the MATT MASON Collection, manufactured by the MATTEL Company; Space Base; the lunar vehicle; the space cannon with its radar and all the characters: a Major Matt Mason- with his equipment, another with his tractor, a Sergeant Storm with his equipment and another with his tractor, as well as engineers Doug Davis and Jeff Long, helped by an interstellar ally: Captain Lazer.
4th PRIZE:
PERFECT Electric camera, super 8 mm., film in cassette, diaphragm adjusted automatically by built-in light meter, permanent focus of 1.5 m. to infinity.
5th PRIZE:
The MATT MASON game consisting of a space base; a lunar vehicle; a space cannon; Maj. Matt Masan; Sergeant Storm; engineer Doug Davis; engineer Jeff Long.
6th PRIZE:
Fully transistorised walkie-talkie.
7th AND 8th PRIZE:
TCHAIKA II camera, standard 24 x 36 film, 18 x 24 format (72 views instead of 36) - 2.8 lens! 28mm. 5 speeds - flash socket - focus by symbol.
9th AND 10th PRIZE:
Valued at 200 F: the MATT MASON game consisting of a space base.; Lunar Vehicle, Major Matt Mason, Sergeant Storm.
. Without forgetting the following 90 prizes.
QUESTIONS FROM THE COSMOS-CLUB DE FRANCE
SERIES B
f - How many manned capsules were launched during the Gemini program?
1) 12
2) 5
3) 10
4) 7
5) 9
g- What was the name of the first artificial satellite of the Moon?
1) Zond-5
2) Ranger-6
3) Surveyor-1
4) Luna-10
5) Lunar Orbiter-1
h - On what date did the Soviet probe Venus-4 enter the atmosphere of the planet Venus?
1) March 1, 1966
2) October 18, 1967
3) March 15, 1968
4) July 20, 1968
5) May 16, 1969
Don't forget to cut out the participation token below and keep it carefully.
COUNTDOWN TOKEN No 3
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| COUNTDOWN |
OUR BIG “SPACE” COMPETITION
COUNTDOWN
This week, we present to you the fourth round of our major “SPACE” competition, the questions of which were developed by the COSMOS-CLUB DE FRANCE, chaired by Albert Ducrocq. The questions for the fourth test are here:
QUESTIONS FROM THE COSMOS-CLUB DE FRANCE
SERIES C.
j - As of January 1, 1966, which of these men had spent the most time in space?
1) Young
2) Titov
3) Feoktistov
4) Armstrong
5) Beliaiev
6) Schira
7) Carpenter
8) Scott
9) Gordon
k - During 1963, the Soviets launched 12 Cosmos satellites. How many are still in orbit today?
Easy? Difficult? Your turn to judge. If you have carefully read our special issue dedicated to space, you are equipped to respond... and to win. Remember that among the hundred prizes offered with the participation of JOUETS RATIONNELS there are two fifteen-day trips to the USA, trips during which the winners will have the opportunity to visit, in addition to New York and Washington, the base at Cape Kennedy and the Houston Space Center in Texas. During our previous competition which was entitled "Visa for Cape Kennedy", we also offered two trips to the States to the winners; they will have the chance to witness the departure of Apollo-11 on July 16, 1969. The winners of the COUNTDOWN competition will follow shortly after them and, who knows, it might be you.
Before leaving you and giving you rendez-vous next week for the last round of our competition, we remind you that the next issue, 1631, will include, in addition to the last series of questions, the definitive answer form, the one which you will have to send back to us without forgetting to paste the participation tokens and the sticker on it.
Next week, you will be in possession of all the questions asked by the Cosmos-Club. Very legibly, without erasures and without omitting anything, you will complete the answer grid. Don't forget that in July and August you may be on vacation. You must therefore write down your usual address and add, on a paper pasted to the back of the answer grid, your holiday address where you can be reached with certainty between August 5 and 16. Attention! Don't forget that in the summer, mail delivery can sometimes take a long time. As soon as your grid is ready, you will post it as quickly as possible.
KEEP THIS TOKEN
COUNTDOWN TOKEN #4
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| Space Base |
“Spirou” reminds you that it is the twelve questions from the Ccsmos-Club de France which will determine the winners of the first two prizes (15 days in the USA) and the 98 other prizes offered by “Spirou” and Jouets Rationnels, either directly , or after additional questions asked by the jury in the event of a tie. Don't forget, however, that you must paste the Matt Mason sticker on your answer form and in the box reserved for this purpose, indicate a weight for Major Matt Mason.
MATT MASON QUESTION.
How much do you estimate the weight of Major MATT MASON, alone, without his helmet and accessories?
The answer to this question must be written on the sticker which will be given to you by all toy dealers. This sticker must be stuck on the competition answer form.
1) Don't forget that your response form which will appear in issue 1631 of July 17 must include the answer to the additional MATT MASON question, which you must write on the sticker which will be issued to you free of charge at all toy merchants and which you will have pasted on your bulletin.
IMPORTANT: In case you have not been able to obtain this sticker, you can obtain it free of charge by writing, today, to: JOUETS RATIONNELS, 6, rue Cauchois, 75 - PARIS 18e
LIVE FROM THE COMPETITION...
Space Base
Headquarters of Major MATT MASON and his team, the space base is the “Lunar Operational” centre where the “Briefings” are carried out.
While Sergeant STORM explores a crater and JEFF LONG tests a jet sled in flight, MATT MASON, from the base's Control Tower, follows the movements of the two astronauts using Automatic Radar.
During this time, DOUG DAVIS transmits to the earth, with which the Lunar Base is always in contact, information communicated by the electronic control console.
THIS MODEL OF A LUNAR BASE, COMPLETELY AND EASILY DISASSEMBABLE, WAS, LIKE THE ENTIRE "MAJOR MATT MASON" SERIES, CREATED BASED ON THE OFFICIAL PLANS OF THE SPACE VEHICLES. ITS HEIGHT IS 70 cm, AND IN ADDITION TO RADAR, IT IS EQUIPPED WITH A SIGNALING “HEADLIGHT” AND FILTER PANELS FROM POLAROID GLASS.
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| OUR BIG “SPACE” COMPETITION |
OUR BIG “SPACE” COMPETITION
COUNTDOWN
Participants in the COUNTDOWN competition, organized by “Spirou”, and JOUETS RATIONNELS, who cannot find the JOUETS RATIONNELS sticker to stick on the response form at the toy merchant, can write to JOUETS RATIONNELS, 6, rue Cauchois , PARIS 18.. A sticker will be sent to them immediately.
Attention! Don't forget these important points of the rules.
FIRST ARTICLE.
The “COUNTDOWN” competition is organized by “SPIROU”, with the participation of JOUETS RATIONNELS. It is open to all readers of “SPIROU” whose date of birth is after June 30, 1944.
ARTICLE III.
The answers must be entered on the response form published in the latest issue of the competition (N. 1631), which must also have received the participation tokens numbered from 1 to 5 and pasted in the corresponding boxes; the response sticker has the MATT MASON question, pasted in its place in the right box of the form. Only response forms conforming to the above will be considered.
ARTICLE V.
Response forms must be sent, normally postage prepaid, to the following address:
“SPIROU” competition
" Countdown "
P.O.B. 171 75 - PARIS 16e.
before Thursday, July 31 at midnight (postmark taken as proof).
ARTICLE VII.
The answers to the 12 questions will be in the form of a number, corresponding to an answer, placed in each of the corresponding boxes. The competitor who has the correct set of numbers, in the order on the ballot, will be ranked first. The selection will then be made on the first 11 exact answers, then the first 10, then the first 9, etc...
ARTICLE VIII.
In the case of a tie, a jury will be formed composed of the organizers of the competition, members of the COSMOS-CLUB de FRANCE, chaired by Albert DUCROCQ, who will establish additional questions for the tiebreaker. This jury will be placed under the authority of a bailiff. His judgment will be final.
THE PRIZES...
FIRST PRIZES
Two 15-day trips to the U.S.A.
— Visit to the cosmonaut training center in HOUSTON;
— Visit to the Cape Kennedy space base;
— Visit to New York, Washington, Texas and Florida.
3rd PRIZE
with a value of 500 F broken down as follows:
An absolutely complete space base set, featuring all the elements of the MATT MASON Collection. manufactured by the MATTEL Company: THE SPACE BASE - THE LUNAR VEHICLE - THE SPACE CANNON with its radar - and all the characters, one MAJOR MATT MASON with his equipment, another with his tractor; a SERGEANT STORM with his equipment and another with his tractor, as well as the engineers DOUG DAVIS and JEFF LONG, helped by an interstellar ally: CAPTAIN LAZER.
4th PRIZE
PERFECT Electric camera, super 8 mm., film cassette, diaphragm adjusted automatically by built-in light meter, permanent focus of 1 m. 5 to infinity.
5th PRIZE
The MATT MASON Game consisting of: a SPACE BASE - a MOON VEHICLE - a SPACE CANNON - MAJOR MATT MASON - SERGEANT STORM - ENGINEER DOUG DAVIS - ENGINEER JEFF LONG.
6th PRIZE
Walkie Talkie fully transistorized.
7th PRIZE and 8th PRIZE
TCHAIKA II cameras, standard 24 x 36 film, 18 x 24 format (72 views instead of 36) - 2.8/28 mm lens. - 5 speeds - Flash socket - Focus by symbol.
9th PRIZE and 10th PRIZE
worth 200 F. The MATT MASON game consisting of SPACE BASE - LUNAR VEHICLE - MAJOR MATT MASON - SERGEANT STORM.
11th to 25th PRIZES
worth 100 F. The MATT MASON Game consisting of: LUNAR VEHICLE - MAJOR MATT MASON - SERGEANT STORM.
26th to 50th PRIZES
with a value of 50 F broken down as follows: MAJOR MATT MASON and his tractor - and SERGEANT STORM.
51st to 100th AWARDS and more
Model kit of old planes, offered by JOUETS RATIONNELS.
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| QUESTIONS FROM COSMOS-CLUB OF FRANCE |
QUESTIONS FROM
COSMOS-CLUB OF FRANCE
SERIES C.
I - What was the first satellite recovered?
1) Sputnik-2
2) Vanguard-3
3) Explorer-7
4) Mercury-3
5) Pioneer-5
6) Sputnik-3
7) Cosmos-4
8) Cosmos-110 4
9) Discoverer-13
m - What was the mass of the lightest satellite launched before January 1, 1968?
1) 24 kg.
2) 3 kg.
3) 9 kg.
4) 8 kg.
5) 7kg.
6) 0.7 kg.
7) 4 kg.
8) 12 kg.
9) 1.2 kg.
You now know all the questions for this extraordinary competition.
You have every chance of winning one of the hundred prizes (see the complete list on page 24) offered with the participation of JOUETS RATIONNELS, among which there are two fantastic trips to the States.
Wishing you “Good Luck” one last time, we remind you not to forget to cut out the participation form.
ATTENTION, VERY IMPORTANT!
You are now in possession of all the questions asked by the Cosmos-Club.
First make a draft, which you will keep for yourself, using the first answer grid published in the special cosmos issue 1627. Then, very legibly, without erasure and without omitting anything, do not forget that in July and August, you may be on vacation, therefore: you must write in the space reserved for this purpose your usual address and add on a piece of paper stuck to the back of the answer grid your holiday address where you can be reached with certainty between August 5 and 16. Be careful, don't forget that in summer the delivery of mail can sometimes take a long time, so as soon as your mail is filled, post it the same day.
Don't forget that the formalities for going to the USA are very long; so send us very quickly your answer grid, this way, if you are lucky enough to be one of our reporters at Cape Kennedy, you will have the necessary time to prepare this wonderful trip.
[box at right on form] IGNITION SPACE
Countdown TOKEN No. 5
PASTE YOUR COMPETITION TOKENS HERE
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| Jet sled — dorsal thruster — diving suit |
LIVE FROM THE COMPETITION...
Jet sled — dorsal thruster — diving suit
The missions of cosmonauts like MATT MASON and his team are numerous, delicate and very diverse. They therefore need appropriate equipment.
While DOUG DAVIS takes rock samples using his space work suit, MATT MASON supplies him with measuring equipment using the jet sled.
Meanwhile, JEFF LONG observes the developments of Sergeant STORM, equipped with the dorsal thruster, on the radar screen of the Control Tower.
THESE DEVICES ARE FAITHFUL REPRODUCTIONS OF OFFICIAL MODELS OF SPACECRAFT. THE JET SLED IS USED FOR QUICK TRAVEL OVER SHORT DISTANCES.
THE DORSAL THRUSTER IS USED FOR DELICATE WORK REQUIRING HOVERING.
THE SPACE WORK SCUBA IS EQUIPPED WITH A GIANT TELESCOPIC HAMMER FOR BREAKING ROCKS AND A GIANT GRIPPER FOR COLLECTING METEORITE SAMPLES.
THE CLAMPS AND HAMMER OF THIS VERY MOBILE MODEL ARE MOUNTED ON A BALL JOINT AND POWERED REMOTELY BY A COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEM.
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| From Reality to Fiction |
From Reality to Fiction
What will U.S. Astronauts find when they land on the moon?
Will they meet interstellar explorers?
MATT MASON and his team met extra-terrestrial explorers: Captain LAZER, an imposing giant, with a long-range laser. a cosmic transmitter and an anti-radiation shield, and Calysto a mysterious green Astronaut who comes from Jupiter. Calysto, like Captain Lazer, became friends with MATT MASON and his companions. His equipment consists of a space probe that launches a retractable wire to collect samples of lunar material.
CAPTAIN LAZER IS 35cm TALL. HIS “LAZER”, HIS EYES, AND HIS ANTI-RADIATION SHIELD LAUNCH JETS OF LIGHT.
CALYSTO IS MADE OF A STRANGE GREEN AND TRANSPARENT MATERIAL AND HIS “SPACE PROBE” IS OPERATED BY COMPRESSED AIR
Paul’s notes:
I have no idea how many pages there are about this competition, but I’m at least missing the installment that includes two questions and token Nr2. The pages I do have I got from a cut-up merchant in France who had done her best to collect them from various (torn-up) issues of Spirou magazine.
I also don’t know if this contest was run in the Dutch-language edition of Spirou (called “Robbedoes”) and possibly the Dutch-language edition of competitor magazine Tin-Tin as well.
Because I’ve used OCR software and Google Translate to help process these pages, the frequent use of capital letters is maintained from the original texts.
The French often write family names in all caps. I think this is because many French surnames are identical to first names, plus that in administrative use the French often put the surname first. So writing a name as Jean ROBERT or ROBERT Jean does help keep it clear (even if it looks rather shouty at times). In the case of Albert Ducrocq there wouldn’t be any confusion but this is where habit comes in, and maybe a bit of emphasis similar to the names of Mattel astronauts and equipment getting the all-caps treatment here and there.
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