GI Joe in Spaaaaaacccceeee

Things got wicked cool for GI Joe in Europe.

Star Base Command Tower

I won't lie to you, I would play with this thing right now were it in front of me. We truly lived in a golden age of generic space toys in the last 1970s.

Also, those astronaut figures were everywhere!

Space Adventure

I haven't a clue what this early 70s space set is called but honestly who cares, as generic space/army man sets go this one seems to have an above average sense of style.

Space Academy by Aviva

I always kind of found it odd that out of all the cool shows that Filmation produced in the 1970s, my least favourite ones got all the merchandising. Sure, I watched Isis on TV but there was no way in heck I could buy a girl doll.

Also, despite being a lover of SF at an early age, I could never get into Space Academy the way I did Ark 2 or Shazam!. Mego actually snapped up the rights to Ark 2 but didn't release any of the planned figures but Aviva, a subsidary of Hasbro released the Space Academy line using the Hasbro Super Joe bodies in 1978. From what I'm told, these were an exclusive for Woolworths.

A  year later Space Academy would morph into "Jason of Star Command", a more action orientated series that would, of course, see absolutely no merchandise, boo!

The Aliens

Park Plastics Aliens line was another attempt to cash in on the endless popularity in space and sci fi caused by Star Wars, they're also kind of fun looking. If you've never heard of Park Plastics, that's because they were mainly known for water pistols and non tv advertised rack toys. As far as I know this is the closest thing they ever made to an action figure and they made a big splash about them in the trades.

Representatives from Park Plastics at Toy fair circa 1978.

Pressman Space Creatures

This cool promotional shot of the heads of the Pressman toy company wearing their cool Star Wars inspired masks was a recent fun find. Lots of companies jumped on the space wagon pretty quick and managed to beat Kenner to the stores. These masks weren't simple knock offs though, they were designed by Dick Smith, the Oscar winning make up artist who influenced a generation of special effects people.

 I'm pretty sure I've seen that Zordius mask as a background alien on several 70s sci fi shows.

They Still Stand

Props to Myspace pal "The Comatose Boy" for these amazing pictures from Grand Junction Colorado where the remanants of an old school rocket park can be found. THe top of the rocket is now closed to the public, but tell me that isn't cool.

An old school Saucer too, man finding this is gold!

Click here to see the vintage playground catalog.

Space Theme Retro Playground Equipment Part 2

Our last piece on retro playground equipment was a big hit so I unearthered a few more robots, rocket ships and flying saucers made of "pipe n' concrete" for your enjoyment. Check out Retro Space Playgrounds Part 2.

Retro Playgrounds Part 1 : Space Themes

Our final catalog of the year is kind of fitting as it's a retro look into the future. This is the first in our series of retro playground equipment, when galvanised pipe and concrete could be made to form rockets, giants bugs or tee pees. Click here to check out Space Themed Play Grounds.