This crazy, orange Darth Vader knock-off is kinda creeping me out! Oh no, and he's got Force lightning!
He resides on the top left corner of the Space Attack boxset of mini alien figures and spaceships.
This box had already been opened, so I took a peek inside. I uncovered this picture of the Death Star!
There's a bit of a story behind the mini figures themselves. Y'see, a line of bigger, cool looking, posable figures called The Outer Space Men (also known as the Colorforms Aliens, which makes sense because they were produced by the Colorforms Company) was released in 1968. Aw man, they're the kind of toy I would've been all over if I were around back then! In 1977, Mel Birnkrant (the creator of the Outer Space Men) wanted to make a Star Wars Colorforms set, but Kenner denied permission. As a result, The Outer Space Men started using the more Star Wars-like name Space Warriors on four jigsaw puzzles (each using the Star Wars font) and a Colorforms set called the "Space Warriors Adventure Set" (on its box, the text in the bottom right corner said, "Now create your own exciting Space Adventures with Colorforms OUTER SPACE MEN". So for anyone wondering, yes, they were also called Outer Space Men at that point).
Then later on, someone felt like bootlegging The Outer Space Men into a bunch of shrunken versions, each about 2.5 inches (about 6.5 centimeters) tall. I barely remember getting mine from the store, but I'm pretty sure they were loose in a bin and sold individually. I got these years ago, probably in the mid to late nineties, possibly the early 2000s. It took me until 2010 or '11 to learn they had any relation to Star Wars because you can't tell just by looking at them. I've seen these bootlegs on Star Wars knock-off cards titled "Space Attack" (not to be confused with the box shown above) and "Star Attack". I've also seen them bagged with a header card titled "Mini Aliens" and "Space Men".
There's a bit of a story behind the mini figures themselves. Y'see, a line of bigger, cool looking, posable figures called The Outer Space Men (also known as the Colorforms Aliens, which makes sense because they were produced by the Colorforms Company) was released in 1968. Aw man, they're the kind of toy I would've been all over if I were around back then! In 1977, Mel Birnkrant (the creator of the Outer Space Men) wanted to make a Star Wars Colorforms set, but Kenner denied permission. As a result, The Outer Space Men started using the more Star Wars-like name Space Warriors on four jigsaw puzzles (each using the Star Wars font) and a Colorforms set called the "Space Warriors Adventure Set" (on its box, the text in the bottom right corner said, "Now create your own exciting Space Adventures with Colorforms OUTER SPACE MEN". So for anyone wondering, yes, they were also called Outer Space Men at that point).
Then later on, someone felt like bootlegging The Outer Space Men into a bunch of shrunken versions, each about 2.5 inches (about 6.5 centimeters) tall. I barely remember getting mine from the store, but I'm pretty sure they were loose in a bin and sold individually. I got these years ago, probably in the mid to late nineties, possibly the early 2000s. It took me until 2010 or '11 to learn they had any relation to Star Wars because you can't tell just by looking at them. I've seen these bootlegs on Star Wars knock-off cards titled "Space Attack" (not to be confused with the box shown above) and "Star Attack". I've also seen them bagged with a header card titled "Mini Aliens" and "Space Men".
I'll introduce you to these fine characters using their Outer Space Men names. Meet Alpha 7, the Man from Mars.
Orbitron, the Man from Uranus.
Xodiac, the Man from Saturn.
Commander Comet, the Man from Venus.
Colossus Rex, the Man from Jupiter.
There's also ships that are about the same size as the figures.
Are these little, silver figures official figures or bootlegs? Perhaps one day I'll learn they have a Star Wars connection, too.
I figured these were Knockoff Outer Space Men, but I wasn't sure. Thank you for the info!
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