MMM Astronaut Capt. Chuck

Capt. Chuck Game Token

The Astronaut Capt. Chuck - Who is he?

Capt. Chuck appears in the Major MATT MASON Space Exploration Game by Mattel. He's one of 4 game tokens. All the other tokens reference the astronauts by rank and first name so we don't know what Capt. Chuck's last name is or was intended. I tend to call him Capt. Charles "Chuck" Carter, in homage to Samantha Carter for SG1 (like she's a relative). During an early episode of Stargate Sam talks about how as a child she didn't play with dolls, preferring her Major MATT Mason instead - I can imagine in a different world her Astronaut uncle may have given her a figure to play with. Just making things up here so go with it...

Four Game Tokens with coordinating Command Posts

Since each token is basically identified by color with Sgt. Storm orange/red, Major Matt blue, Capt. Chuck yellow and Lt. Len pink, we can assume that Chuck had a yellow suit much like Doug Davis who was released a year later.

The game tokens have "© 1967 MATTEL, INC." U.S.A." in tiny letters on bottom so I'm counting this figure as canon.

Packaging by Catalog Year:

Capt. Chuck only made the single appearance in the Game. Here's a list of where you might find him by year and the case size (solicitation size from US Mattel Toy Trade Catalogs - Note that the assortments are all one large case of multiple items so the counts are of the contents):

• 1968 3-D GAME ASSORTMENT #A5450 
• Std. Pack: 1 ea (1 carton)
  
• 1968 THE Major MATT MASON™ SPACE EXPLORATION GAME #5453
• Each in Std Pack: 6/12 Doz. Wt: 9 Lbs.
  

The game was only offered during 1968 (January, "Toy Fair" and "Fall" catalogs) which might explain it's rarity and obscurity to collectors.

Accessories:

Capt. Chuck Command Post Token

The Capt. Chuck game piece came with a small plastic stand, usually found in green or black, so the cardboard token could stand upright. He also came with a "Command Post" token that bears Capt. Chuck's signature with "U.S.A. at the bottom.

John's Notes:

I think that Capt. Chuck and Lt. Len were offered up as "throwaway" characters for the game and never intended to be actual figures. Capt. Chuck having a yellow suit like Doug Davis is probably a coincidence, I have a feeling that the game designers had little interaction with the figure-line designers other than the basic figure and ship designs. I still like to think of Chuck as a part of the world of Major MATT MASON, just a character with a minor role.

I tried to be as thorough as possible with this information but as always, if you see something that's inaccurate, want to have the information updated for some reason or want to contribute, contact John Eaton.

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