MMM Astronaut Capt. Kirk McAllister

Capt. Kirk McAllister

The Astronaut Capt. Kirk McAllister - Who is he?

Capt. Kirk McAllister is a character in the Whitman Publishing arm of Western Publishing (now defunct as of 2001) #2022 Big Little Book (BLB): "Major MATT MASON - MOON MISSION", published in 1968. The BLB was written by George S. Elrick with beautiful color illustrations by comic book artist Dan Spiegle. I think of the four characters introduced in the BLB as NPC (Non-Player Characters - it's a gaming term), but I think there's enough information here to introduce them into the world of Major MATT MASON. Based on what was produced and the copyrights presented, I'm sure that Mattel licensed Major MATT MASON to Whitman as a means of spreading the brand into print - Mattel later also did this with Hot Wheels in a similar fashion.

Capt. Kirk McAllister has dual specialties in Biology and Botany and seems to be second in command when Maj. Mason was on excursion. He's experimenting with hippo-sized rabbits with implanted oxygen capsules and regulating pills under the skin at the base of their ears, which allows them to survive on the moon's surface. The idea is to breed the bunnies for moon colonists' food. His other experiments involved hydroponic gardens to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Seems he also makes some very cardboard-tasting algae cakes. He goes on to find Otto who has been lost in tunnels avoiding giant moon worms.

Capt. Kirk exploring moon tunnels

Capt Kirk in a hydroponic garden

Most of the images of  Capt. McAllister show him moving through tunnels with some trepidation.

Packaging by Catalog Year:

Western Publishing probably offered this Big Little Book for at least two years and probably had it available until the initial print run became too small to solicit.

• 1968 Whitman #2022 Major MATT MASON "Moon Mission"
• Quantity Minimums are unknown at this time
  

John's Notes:

As noted McAllister seems a bit bewildered during his adventure in the tunnels as he keeps hearing  "cooing" sounds...

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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