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| MMM Firebolt Space Cannon (Laser) |
MMM Firebolt Space Cannon - What is it?
One of my favorite vehicles, the Firebolt Space Cannon was supposed to
fire Blazing Firebolt beams and ward our stalwart astronaut heroes from
attack. This is a real departure from Mattel's earlier stance of
creating space toys based on the US Space Program. Debuting in the 1968
Toyfair catalog, the Firebolt Space Cannon was powered by two "D" Cell
batteries and provided transportation for either three astronauts or
Capt. Lazer. The Space Cannon was truly an interesting and action-filled
vehicle. As the Firebolt advanced it would periodically swing around in
a circle and fire pulses of light from the barrel, accompanied by
space-ray sounds. At the same time, the radar antenna on top would swing
around to locate enemies as they approached.
The Firebolt resembles a large cannon mounted on two wide
pulling-wheels, with a trailing wheel for balance. Behind the cannon is a
control console (that would also light-up) that provided a place for an
astronaut or seated Capt. Lazer to drive the vehicle. The swing-around
action is really a show-stopper, and it's amazing that Mattel was able
to pull off creating a vehicle that could work for both the larger-scale
Capt. Lazer and the normal-sized astronauts. As a bonus, the accessory
yoke that came with the Space Bubble could also be mounted on the back
of the Cannon so that the Bubble could be pulled behind it as a trailer.
Truly multi-functional and well engineered.
The Space Cannon is relatively common as it was available for half of
the toy-line's duration, the cannon itself was also offered in several sets. Often the body of the cannon is broken from the
pivoting pin that holds the top portion to the red base. Besides that,
battery corrosion is usually the culprit of non-working examples. The
Cannon was also prominently utilized in ancillary items such as the 125
piece Whitman Puzzle, the Coloring Book, Press-out book and Italian
Comic Book.
Sticker Sheet:
Instructions:
Mattel #6340-0920 Firebolt Space Cannon: Front | Back
Patents:
N/A
Maladies:
- Broken or missing switch
- Melts in the white plastic (happens when a figure is left against the plastic)
- Missing antenna
- Missing retaining pin (so top comes apart from base)
- Missing Wheels
- Missing Battery cover
- Corroded Contacts
Variations:
- The Firebolt is alternatively referred to by Mattel as either a "Space Cannon" or "Space Lazer." Most later Mattel Catalog listings refer to it as "Space Lazer" (see excerpt from the 69 Spring Catalog above).
- Mexican Cañon Espacial - Cipsa released the cannon with silver plastic instead of the red so it more closely resembles the US box images. You'll sometimes see sellers trying to sell the Cipsa version as a prototype.
- In the UK the Cannon is referred to as Firebolt Space Laser.
John's Notes:
I've always like the Firebolt. Finally, Matt has some real fire power to blow up his enemies with! I think this is pretty much a staple in any MMM collection. I especially like that Capt. Lazer has something to ride when he joins Matt and the gang!Vehicle may also be found in:
- 6340 Firebolt Space Cannon
- 6341 Firebolt Space Cannon Super Action Set
- 6351 Capt. Lazer Firebolt Action Set
- Whitman Round Puzzle
- Italian Comic Story
All Mattel images and captions are copyright Mattel and used without permission. All other content, including images and editorial, is Copyright © 1997-2023 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton.
3 comments:
Hi, you mentioned "As the Firebolt advanced it would periodically swing around in a circle and fire pulses of light from the barrel, accompanied by space-ray sounds"
I don't remember that. Were there different variations of this? I don't recall a speaker being in there. I loved mine. Thanks!!
I just picked up a Firebolt and opened it up to get it running again, because I wanted to clean the interior, and because of what I plan to do with the Firebolt in the future. I learned a few things.
The first, most important is DON’T TRY TO CLEAN IT WITH A LIQUID UNTIL YOU TAKE THE CLEAR “DISPLAY PANEL” off. I don’t know whether it was water or the brand of cleaner I used, but I had happily wiped off the white exterior when I unhappily noticed RED color running onto where I had just cleaned. By the time I realized it was the display panel graphics dissolving, it was too late. The graphics are printed on clear film glued to the clear plastic panel --take it out first and keep it away from solvents.
The other thing I learned is that the ‘Bolt is a great piece of toy engineering—hats off to the guys who balanced cost of manufacturing and play value. It operates with just a 3V can motor, nothing fancy, and the motor is held in place at an angle to engage the gears with just some cleverly molded flanges in the body. The motor is geared down to give a speed that is nicely to scale with Major Matt & Co, and has enough torque to move the ‘Bolt and three-four astronauts. The light bulb on mine also didn’t work, but the light guides that illuminate the cannon are ingenious.
About sound: no, neither this ‘Bolt nor the one I had as a kid had a speaker. It has a metal spur that, when the firing lever is pushed forward, rakes against a toothed part of the main gear to make an intermittent rattling noise. It’s clever and cheap, but the motor is so noisy that it overwhelms the “firing sound.” The motor is annoying—I didn’t remember that. I guess in space it doesn’t matter.
Luckily for me, this ‘Bolt was inexpensive, but sound in its fundamentals. (No, it didn’t have the radar antenna.) One wheel retainer was broken. But once the body was open, I had the motor working in a few minutes.
Any issues, even the loss of the display panel graphics, are not a big deal for me because I want to mod the ‘Bolt by dropping in modern robotics kit. At the very least, I’ll put a separate motor on each front wheel so the ‘Bolt can go backwards, forwards and turn. (The back wheel will have to steer or caster—I haven’t got an idea for this that satisfies me, yet. I’m open to any suggestions.
I want to motorize the turrets separately, replace the cannon light bulb with an LED, and I may replace some of the fake decal headlights with other LEDs. I might even drill out some of the pretend controls and put lights behind them.
All of this will be connected to a microprocessor with a distance sensor so the ‘Bolt will stop and turn when it approaches an obstacle. If you are a Technics fan, you’ll recognize this as one of the Technics robots, which was my original inspiration.
Then there are a couple of other mods ranging from the feasible to the fanciful:
• Adding a Bluetooth connection so you can control the ‘Bolt with your phone.
• Replacing the clear display panel with a small LCD screen that could show some 2001-style graphics.
• Adding some kind of sound module, but I haven’t really given that much thought.
• Adding Space Probe Pak missile launchers for additional firepower. Maybe a hook that would allow so the Firebolt could tow a Mobile Launch Pad would be good enough.
I don’t want to make any major alterations to the exterior lines of the Firebolt. Since I want it to look like a normal ‘Bolt at first glance, a lot of this comes down to whether I can fit batteries, processor(s) and motors inside the body. I’ve already got a testbed running motors, sensors, and software, so I know that all works. I plan to use an Arduino to drive the project.
One note of irony—I said that the ‘Bolt I bought is minus the radar antenna. I actually kept the antenna from the Firebolt I had as a kid. It lived on top of my dresser for about fifty years. But I threw it away maybe two years ago, convinced I would never have a use for it…
@marb
Interesting comments - I may repost as an article for others if you don't mind. Also, if you could send me any images you may have taken? johnnyapollo@gmail.com
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