SPACE TOYS BOOK

I picked up the book Space Toys (by authors Crystal and Leland Payton) at a yard sale a while back and thought there were some interesting elements throughout.

The book's authors discuss the history of mankind and our fascination with the wonders and exploration of space. The authors also write about space in entertainment, through pulps, comics, radio, television, and movies. Here's a pulp shown in the book... doesn't this Amazing Stories logo remind you of the Raiders of the Lost Ark logo?

While we're on the topic, did you know the Amazing Stories pulp magazine was the host of the first Buck Rogers story? The second Buck Rogers tale was titled The Airlords of Han. Could this have been an influence for the name Han Solo?

Anyways, space themed toys, of course, are the focus of Space Toys. There's a bunch of photos that show the authors' children playing with some of the toys, including a few Star Wars pieces. Here's a little guy surely having a blast with the epic AT-AT toy from Kenner.

On the back of the book it says, "Will Star Wars toys be stellar collector's items tomorrow? The authors think not and explain their reasons."

Some might exclaim, "Golly gee whiz, were they wrong!" but in a sense the authors were correct in their prediction. Remember the Star Wars "dark ages"? In the late 80s, there were no new movies in sight and Kenner called it quits with the Star Wars line. Casual fans were loosing interest. If it weren't for projects like Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the multimedia Shadows of the Empire, and then the Special Edition films, there's no telling where Star Wars would be today.

Moving on, the next picture is from page 63, and it was pretty much this book's ticket to Strange Star Wars Collecting.

What a silly looking Yoda! This book is from after Empire Strikes Back was released, too.

Something I was amused by was the mentioning of Steve Sansweet (author of some great Star Wars collecting articles and books and known for his magnificent collection) on page 69. The book briefly brings up an event at the Otis/Parsons Gallery of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School Of Design in Los Angeles that took place in December 1981 and January 1982. Robot collectibles were shown from various collections, including Sansweets'.

Sansweet is also in the bibliography! The authors cite Science Fiction Toys and Models, Vol. 1 as a source.