Inspired by and built in the same scale as Major Matt Mason, the Outer Space Men were a short-lived group of action figures from Colorforms (the same company that made those vinyl stick-on sets that I couldn’t get enough of). Series 1 consisted of seven bendable plastic figures, ranging from the tiny-yet-popular Alpha 7 from Mars (price: $1.00) to Colossus Rex from Jupiter (at $2.00, the most expensive). A second series was planned but never made it to toy store shelves. According to a recent promo video narrated by creator Mel Birnkrant, the Outer Space Men were billed as “astronauts from other planets”—that way kids could decide whether they were bad guys, good guys, or a little bit of each.
