Grandmother Stover's C3 Spacemen / Astronauts

Another brand to link to the lesser of the three copies of the Giant Spacemen here, with small packets from Grandmother Stover's one of the smaller (but like SSCO relatively common) cake decoration, pocket-money novelty and craft/doll's house accessory suppliers.

A small'ish set contents-wise helps explain why they are the harder to find, a lot would have been lost piecemeal over time, but these will turn-up from time to time, I haven't opened it as I have a reasonable number of loose ones, including the odd metallic-maroon painted ones!

You can see the distinctive circular marking for the C3, which is my numbering system, no need for anyone else to use it, but it helps get them in 'an' or 'some' order! There's about 12 figures, but they seem to be a good mix of poses, whether you actually got all ten with some extras, or a totally random pick is a moot point I may try to work out if I find a couple more samples!

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But is it Giant

As I said last time: these like the C1 and C2's are copies, clones, piracies . . . there's nothing Giant here, but we have the additional Grandmother Stover's for the archive!

Giant and Giant-like Astronaut Spacemen - Part V - Copy Type 'C3'

So to the hardest to pin-down, they seem to have gone head-to-head with Giant, or appearing shortly after Giant, so could be earliest, but I suspect they are contemporary with but copied-from and a few months later than C1, with the C2's also copied from C1? But anyway, this post is on the C3's which are the poorest in quality really?

 

Binoculars are reduced to different sized blobs, but the 'bazooka' keeps it's shape quite well, so 'swings & roundabouts ' there! Flash is greater, and pieces of runner have been left on some of the figures. the weapon of the radio-operator ending-up looking like a fancy aerial!

I believe the paint here is 'factory', and they may have been painted to compete with the later, 1970's, bi-coloured packs of Woolbro's Space Explorer Set's? I have had more than one sample come in with the paint, same shade, and it's painted over the runner-stubs (forth from left) which you feel a modeller/war-gamer - even a young one - might have trimmed-off first?

Marking is a circular 'MADE IN HONG KONG', often double-stamped, or over-stamped, not always clear and in a more condensed font, while the bases are the largest of the four types (C2 are the smallest).

The same mark appears on at least one of many generations of Monogram GI copy, and a small-scale Blue Box piracy cow I have, so whoever this company was, they seem to have been quite busy churning out generic clones for unprincipled Western buyers, or unethical Western contractors!

While I have similar quantities of both, that could be down to coincidence, as the next image would suggest unpainted should be more numerous, but later-produced figures survive better (that's the law of attrition), so if painting came later there would be proportionally-more still around.

Old internet shot - a direct take of Giant's own set, but un-branded and in full colour, with no apparent accessories - despite the artwork - the code number would tie this in with the direct-copies of Giant Wild West sets I have in the pile.

No paint on the figures and the Giant rip-offery, would point to this effort being earlier, with later sets put-up against the Woolbro set, with paint, or 50/50 paint? This set also suggests that there are non-Giant 'Giant' space-tanks out there?

Here's another space tank . . . er! Posed with Marx's tracked Chlorine/Hydrogen/Oxygen rocket-fuel tanker, this is a re-issue I think in a white plastic which could be a dense 'ethylene polymer or a polypropylene? The figures are - of course - and like the other four sets - all softer polyethylene plastic.

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But is it Giant

These like the C1 and C2's are copies, clones, piracies . . . there's nothing Giant here, but this type is trying hardest to be Giant with the total copy of card-art and accompanying text . . . including the probably non-existent rocket-firing tanks!

Giant and Giant-like Astronaut Spacemen - Part IV - Copy Type 'C2' - Woolbro ++

So to the commonest version/variant of Giant clone, while now priced as (and usually described as-) Giant on evilBay, these used to be easy to find in under-table rummage boxes at shows and over the years I've picked up a reasonable number of them in the four main colours shown here, with silver outnumbering the other considerably - I've probably got more silver than all the others put together?

The same ten poses as the previous C1's, but smaller and less detailed, the 'bazooka' man can - again - suffer from distortion, but not always and not as consistently as the C1 fellow, this might point at the same factory for both, but is more likely down to the thickness of the sculpt at that point in both sets?

A comparison between the first-aider and the O/C, you can see they are separate poses, with the officer having a questing little-old-lady stance, while the medic is reaching more forcefully. His chest detailing is also better as he's been recut from new, rather than pantographed, same for his head/helmet.

C2's are probably copies of one of the other two sets (C1 or - less likely - C3) and show it, he doesn't though, he's altogether a fresher sculpt.

My favourites dukeing asteroid e asteroid, not the commonest, but I've found them two or three times over the years and seen them a few other times on feebleBay, so they were quite numerous sometime (probably in the Woolbro sets - see below)?

Gold turn-up in about the same quantities, while the red-chap is the only one I've got! Possibility he's a Gum-ball machine capsule prize/Christmas cracker type thing, but I suspect he's from the US 'comic offer' sets (see below), where half the contents were this colour, the other half the common silver?

I have someone to thank for the silver-troop shot - Theo van der Werden, I think? Cheers Theo - it all gets used eventually! And the gold patrol are advancing up a Cane trench!

Base mark is similar to the C1's, but much fainter and a bit smaller (still a DIN font; 'HONGKONG') than the C1's, with no dimples, holes or double-stampings, the sepia image is me trying to show you that a gloss-red figure inches from the camera-flash has the same marking! There is a gap between the two words, but it's so thin I've given them the one-word mark.

Their numerousness is down to the fact that they were carried by various people in various sets, mostly generics in independent corner stores and newsagents, but at least one branded supplier Woolbro (left), where they carried the same '445' code as the other sets in the line (Fort Cheyenne, Mobile Task Force and Roman Fortress). Age-wise they are probably newest on the left (Woolbro mid-1970's) and oldest on the right; a generic from the late 1960's.

The two later sets both come with a copy ofMattel's Major Matt Mason space walker (also nicked by Eldon's Billy Blastoff) and a rocket which I think is taken from MPC (? Someone like that!), but which has had a safety 'bulb' added to save eyes . . . it was carnage in the earlier 1960's blinded kids as far as the still-sighted could see!

On the subject of Blast Off (at least two board-games, a play-set and a book, the book titled in homage to all the other 'Blast Off's!), Five Star, Helen of Toy and others carried a set (in two sizes - 117 and 196 pieces) under the same Blast Off moniker, which I suspect probably contained these C2 figures (in the absence of other better candidates) which would have included my red figure - on one side - with yet more silver figures, but this is still conjecture? The two brands here are clearly the same outfit working from the same address.

Some sources claim Giant figures were in the sets, but without empirical evidence, and while the sets are very rare, so is my red example! As the Blast Off sets were red and silver, and given some will claim everything Hong Kong and small scale is "original Giant", I suspect the truth is that these common figures were the ones used. Many thanks to Peter Evan's for one of the comic pages.

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But is it Giant

No! The truth is that four sets of astronaut/spaceman tools were being used, probably all within months of Giant's product appearing, at around the same time (1961/2) through to about 1974 (for these C2's), although these may have been issued a little later than both the C1 and C3 clones. There is however no Giant stuff in this post.

Giant and Giant-like Astronaut Spacemen - Part III - Copy Type 'C1'

I'm not 100% convinced these were the first copies, but they might be, however they are the closes to the Giant figures so they get the nominal preeminent title in the copy-numbering, while the C2 (next post, almost certainly came from these) but I stress - as always - this is my numbering system, and means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

They are closest to Giant's in sculpting/detail as well as size, although there is a drop-off in etched surface-detail and the main difference is the addition of a tenth figure, who is not a conversion of the officer/pistol chap, but is clearly based on him, having a straighter back though and different arms/legs, he's the unit Medic with a first-aid kit - early exploits by Giant's own Space Men troops clearly threw-up a high rate of light casualties! We will look more closely at him in the next post.

The marking is a large HONG KONG, with two of the figures further possessing a distinct mould release-pin mark/dimple near the center of the base. The 'bazooka' guy is usually seriously deformed like this example, too-rapid removal from the tool is the likely cause?

This is a full-colour image! I posed them with a selection of monochromatic accessories/background sheet-materials! I have yet to identify these as having any sets/packaging, but they must have (unless they were in small unmarked bags included in Christmas crackers, crane-machines, capsules etc...?), so they should turn-up one day . . . I hope!

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But is it Giant?

No, nothing here is Giant production, nor was it issued by or branded to Giant, or produced for Giant.

Giant and Giant-like Astronaut Spacemen - Part II - Giant Originals

So, to the figures issued by Giant in the early to mid-1960's, the same figures would have been found in The Toy House or World Toy House (same firm) packaging. Figures are marginally the largest at a tad over 21mm and a mean/average, and also the best sculpted, these can paint-up well, but are scarce, so better to use commoner copies for that sort of thing!

The boards I used t shot these have left a bit of a shock on the eye, vis-à-vis the base-marks, but if you enlarge the images (right-click and 'open in new tab', or window, then left-click the image if a plus-sign is showing) you'll see they are clear enough.

This is what I call the command poses, four-of-nine, with detector man (it's sci-fi he could be detecting anything, not necessarily mines!), a spotter with binoculars, a squad/section signaller/runner and the O/C - Officer Commanding; we know that's who he is as he's the only one with a side-arm . . . or ray-pistol!

The squad troopers, armed with various lengths of space-rifle and a recoilless, tube-launched weapon, undoubtedly capable of some cosmic devastation on an epic scale! Giant originals are all clearly marked with the mark more associated with the later retail production (black and silver knights, Mongols &etc.), including the spurious ⓟ-mark! - "GIANT ⓟ MADE IN HONG KONG"

Someone sent me this about ten-years ago, maybe twelve (2007/8?) and I can't find the eMail to thank them, they are - sadly - only empty cards, but I think we can tell they would have contained - from the left; a random (of three designs) space-tank and a handful (20-odd?) of figures [3907 Space Patrol], a larger single blister of (40/50-odd?) figures [Space Men], at least two tanks, with the missile-launch mechanism of a third, along with a sample of figures and possibly one of two things yet to be identified (?) [5933 Space Brigade] and finally; one of the big rocket-ships with a dozen or so figures [5932 Space Launch].

Not clear in this low-res shot is that the Space Launch set has an integral sunken tray like the Viking longship sets, and later simpler blister-packed sets existed including another Space Men and a Space Explorer set.

I don't have the tanks or rockets yet, so until I track them down, which I will, here are a couple of past feeBay lots with two of them, they all have the same twin missile-launcher as a plug-in and the same dodgy running-gear as the WWII tanks, but three different superstructure/bodies of which there are two seen here

Compared with the 23mm'ish Airfix Astronauts, you can see the diminutive size of Giant's figures, the bino's guy looks smaller-still because he's bending forward slightly and foreshortening has 'dwarfed' him!

This image (left) is now on 'Worthpoint' except theirs is a fuzzy thumbnail you have to sign-up to see properly (which I'm sure involves money or endless spam, probably both!), but the eBay original can still be found at a higher resolution, it came in an opposite colour-way (blues for reds and vise-versa) and while being now some sixty years of age, bears a remarkable resemblance to Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship 'Heavy Lifter' (main image), which is designed to land on its tail fins like all those 1950's pulp-cover artwork and kids comic vessels!

Vintage and modern as the current HexBug Nano - Nano Space/Nanobot's space ship disgorges a troop of Giant's intrepid finest to  . . . err . . . check something out! Please note; There were no gold astronauts from/issued by Giant

I think I've bored you with this before, but Giant's figures are problematical for me with what passes for OCD in an Aspergic; namely they are armed, so should be 'Spacemen', but they are clearly wearing NASA-era spacesuits which makes them 'Astronauts' . . . doh! And hence the titles of this series 'Astronaut Spacemen'! Although Giant get round the quandary (it's real!) by using the separate words 'Space Men' across the whole line - not 'spacemen'.

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But is it Giant

Yes! Apart from the obvious prop in the last shot, the four Airfix and most of the figures in the filtered first image, this IS the Giant Plastic Corp of New York & Hong Kong issued product.

Giant and Giant-like Astronaut Spacemen - Part I - Introduction

So, a five part overview of Giant's spacemen and the more numerous clones to be found out there, and more by accident than design I ended-up with an image which was so useful, I've used it - with masking - on every subsequent post, but we can see it here in its entirety!

First though, this is an idea of the size of the sample I've been working from, these were actually the ones in storage, and others were here, while a few more have come in recently, but you can see that the main 'types' we will be looking at (Giant, C1, C2 and C3) are all represented in largish quantities except the Giant originals (bottom-right, nearly empty pack) which were mostly here already! Silver predominates, but as the 'C2' we also get gold, scarlet and metallic blue & maroon figures, while . . . hold on! This is all for the next image;

Right . . . Silver plastic predominates, but the C2's were also done as gold, scarlet (not shown here, but peeking in the first image - above)) and metallic blue & maroon figures, while as C3 we sometimes find painted figures, a finish which may be of factory origin.

The C1 may not be the first copy, but is the best so earned it's moniker by dint of being closest to Giant's issues, while the C2 was by far and away the commonest, and the C3 is a separate issue, possibly (and only possibly) copied from the C2's as a third-generation piracy, on their post I will look at this further.

The Enemy; as far as I know there were no instances, either as Giant or otherwise, of the two being issued together, or established/flagged as protagonists, the one line being 'stand alone' spacemen, the other 'stand alone' aliens, but they would likely - in Giant's case, and probably as The Toy House - have been hanging next to each other on the rack, so the link (as belligerents/foils to each other) is there.

I don't have a Giant set yet, so this toy house one will have to do, but we looked at them all recently here;

Giant Originals
Toy House Issue
Dodgy Copies

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But is it Giant?

The figures in the bottom right-hand bag of the first image and the figure (3 angles) in the left-hand column of the second image are Giant product, everything else (99%) is not. The third image is dealt with on the relevant post (second link above).