Frank May's Space Mobile #6

Once again Customizer Frank May wows the Major Matt Mason collecting world with his rendition of the rare Space Mobile 27 (a tin and plastic battery operated toy produced by Tomy and offered by Sears in the 68 and 69 Christmas Wishbook catalogs). Not satisfied with the absence of the Space Mobile in Mattel's Man in Space's stable, Frank embarked on making his own:

Submitted on 1999.02.02 by Frank May

The Original Space Mobile 27

I (John) remember coveting this toy because I thought it was a Major Matt Mason accessory when I was a kid.  The Space Mobile was on the same page with MMM in the 1968 Sears Christmas Catalog and the figure looked a lot like Mattel's Man in Space.  It was natural for a 7 year-old kid to assume that it was indeed a cool Matt Mason accessory instead of a plastic and tin-lithoed battery-operated toy.  Upon closer inspection of the actual figure, the driver looks very little like Matt.  Click the image at left for more information on the production toy.

Instrument Panel View

"...it's made of 1/8th" Plexiglas with .060 plastic sheets and plastic clothes pins for details.  The chassis is from two "Bigfoot" type toy trucks and the radar antenna from a Firebolt.  Stickers are printed from the Mexican Station, Astro Trac and Callisto, all from your (Where the Wild Toys Are - Ed.) site (Thanks!) as follows - instrument panel (station), seat cushions (AT) and headlights (Callisto's backpack).  That way it runs "true" to MMM!"

Space Bubble Hauler

"Speaking of "runs."...it does, but hauls ass!  Like the Astro Trac and should be more like the Unitred.  It won't climb like the original, but it's mostly for looks anyway.  MAYBE I'll find some lower  geared chassis one day.  I glued 3/16" pegs on the back to accommodate the <A class="LinkOnBlack" href="FranksNo6_3.jpg">Space Bubble adapter</A> and it doesn't interfere with the swivel of the rear chassis (& is removable)."

Scaled for an MMM Figure

Since the original #27 astronaut was 4 1/2" tall, that made him & #27 3/4 scale of MMM, so I <A class="LinkOnBlack" href="FranksNo6_5.jpg">scaled it up</A> accordingly.  It's about 13 1/2" long and 3 1/2" body width, and over 6" wide outside the tires.  The antenna doesn't turn but that may come later too."

"Also, I used your side photos of #27 and catalog pages, as well as my own stuff.  ENJOY!"

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