Rumours

Here's what we've heard that's intriguing the Major's devotees. Reactions are welcome, and if you know another juicy one, then feel free to pass it along!

The Alien Base

It's not exactly clear where this rumour started, or what kind of base this is/was supposed to be. We suspect it originated with the first sightings of a Cipsa-made Space Station, which features Scorpio's image on the control panel stickers. Similarly, a Base Aliena is reported to have been available in Italy, but we haven't been able to substantiate this so far with a physical sample. 

Please refer to the CIPSA (Mexico) and Mattel S.p.A. Giocattoli (Italy) sections of this site. 

German MMM Halloween Suit

We have been contacted by two collectors in Germany about this, and even been sent some scanned photographs of a silver suit (left with white plastic helmet. 

Apparently there's a MMM logo on this suit, but this was nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Detail pictures of this logo were requested, but not forthcoming, which is why this item is now included here. (Entschuldigung Jungs - wir hätten gern diesen Anzug im deutschen Seiten aufgenommen, aber möchten doch zuerst mal die MMM Kennzeichen gesehen haben.) 

Gulf Oil Promotional Figure

For a long time, there's been a lot of speculation on whether or not these actually existed. Gulf stations did at one time sell LM paper model kits, so selling MMM seemed a logical extension.

However, there now is finally proof positive of the Gulf Card's existence. Check out the card under the Playsets Page.

Lunar Drilling Rig

According to one of the sources quoted on Richard Hallock's site, (see Virtual Vicki - now defunct), the next accessory planned by Mattel for the MMM range would have been a Lunar Drilling Rig and possibly moulds for the Thingmaker (to make smaller scale MMM-like astronaut figures as an alternative to the soldier-making moulds). We currently do not have more details on these items, and would welcome any further information.

Talking Space Station

There have been several accounts of a Talking Space Station (a Space Station with a "talking module" similar to the Talking Command Console).  John was actually shown what appeared to be a Mattel catalog with a photo and paragraph in the late 90's at FX in Orlando.

John says "I looked at it quickly because I thought I was going to buy it...I didn't want to appear too interested and drive the price up.  The dealer ended up selling it to someone else for more money.  Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me? ...I haven't seen one since and no one else appears to have seen one either! It was very early in my collecting journey and I may have been looking at the text for the Talking Command Console next to a photo of a station."

Update 2024.02.12 from John: "I now think that what I saw was the JC Penney 1968 Christmas Catalog where the Talking Command Console is referenced as an Exclusive "Talking Command Station" - if you look at the page the description is right above a Space Station - I think I conflated the two as it was presented to me as evidence that a Talking Space Station had been offered."

New Major Matt Mason toys by Mattel

A few members of our MMM internet discussion group have heard "from sources at Mattel" that the Matt Mason brand name may be used again for a new range of action figures, though different from the original astronaut toys.  

There has also been speculation about (part of) the original MMM range possibly being re-issued as a collector's series - much like they've done with the first series of Hot Wheels. This rumour first started after a mysterious questionnaire had been posted on AOL around 2001, which included questions about whether the respondents would be interested in a re-issue, and at what kind of price level.

We now know that Mattel has been aggressively protecting the MMM trademark and associated copyrights and with the success of the Barbie movie there appears to be movement towards an MMM movie. Recently Mattel Creations issued this "Back in Action" figure as part of a set with the same figure painted as Pulsar and Big Jim - the figure is a basic muscular male figure painted as MMM - it's been somewhat controversial to MMM collectors worldwide.

Should anybody reading this have any similar information, additions or corrections, then we would very much appreciate hearing about them.

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