Painted Hing Fat "Major Matt Mason" Figures

[space.trucks]

Just when you think you've seen it all ... Recognized the poses as a thumbnail on a fone and was like, WTF is this now??? Yup, sure enough:

 

Not biting but fascinated. Vendor listing has no information other then acknowledging they are unofficial, hand painted and date unknown. Goes without saying that Mattel would never have painted up Hing Fat figures as proxy miniature MMM's, so when they were painted is the only intriguing non-mystery. An interesting detail are the yellow face visors which looks like a glob of resin (or maybe wax? tinted paste or glue?) gobbed into the face recess to harden in an amber/yellow hue simulating the yellow MMM visor. I think their only real weak spot are the facial details peeking through, almost wish they had covered them entirely but if so they would have lost "Jeff Long"'s African American ethnicity. So presumably done by a fan who was privately paying homage to the spirit of the series in as much detail as they could with 2" plastic Hing Fats & acquired by the vendor via an estate sale.

 

Two observations on presumed age is that the artist used numbered figures which I believe means pre-1980. But they have the circular dot in the middle of their chests instead of the rectangular box unit and lack the boot details I associate with the earliest runs. I don't see much in the way of dust or wear but then again the artist was likely a fan/collector who would have been a bit older at the time and simply looked after them. They weren't a child's toys which got left out in the sandbox.

 

They are a potential dating conundrum in that my reckoning places the MMM heyday as 1966 - 1971, which I believe pre-dates the presumed Made In China astronaut bucket figure debut of 1972. MMM's modern day resurgence starts in about 2005 but if they were modern executed the artist apparently went out of their way to find figures germane to the 1970s. The Made In China stamps on the bottoms alone suggest the pieces were made 1972 or later and there certainly were still MMM sets being sold through 1974. So they could be from that period, not that the "right" MMM collector will care.

 

Awkward eyes ... If my understanding of the MMM line is correct the black suspender straps (not sure what else to call them) indicate he was based on / inspired by a figure made 1967 or later; Only the very first 1966 run had blue suspender straps. Important as it lends credence to the notion of them being painted somewheres between 1972 and 1980 by a fan who just wanted to make mini MMMs. I would think a modern day modifier hip to current market interest looking for an easy mark would have given him the more collectible blue straps which the fanboys run over their own mothers to bid on. From what I have seen current market value of an unboxed blue strap MMM with helmet intact, good paint and no broken wires is about $165, black straps $125, triple it boxed. The other figures even more as they were less common.

 

Pretty sure my brothers and I each got one with a Cat Track vehicle on the same Christmas haul c.1971, in white (mine) yellow (older brother) and red (younger brother), all trashed to broken wire pieces by 1975. My parents lived to chuck out our old toys and none of them survived. %$#&% ;[

 

Nice metallic copper paint to the base -- Maybe Tester's? What sort of paints were available for use on plastics to your average space toy enthusiast in 1972? The painting overall is very glossy and fresh looking on all of them except around the helmet borders. Nobody was putting these in their pockets to sneak them into school.

 

Other then the helmet border very well done. His boots may have dust on them or that may just be the lighting, can't tell.

 

 

His is the only face that really works and that is commendable brush discipline on the painting, first putting down the suit color and then details over it in subsequent layers allowed to dry between sessions. Someone took some time on these. The flag/patch is a nice touch.

 

 

That's creepy. Wrong yellow too, should be more of a darker mustard/tan hue, and an odd choice of pose. I always think this guy looks like he needs to find a restroom.

 

 

There you can see how the faces are filled in with the yellow substance substituting for a visor. I'd also offer up that whoever did the painting was not at their first rodeo when modifying these. They were a modeler used to handling a brush if not an outright artist.

 

 

Here again with filled in faceplates. I'm tempted to opine they are probably owner-modified from the 70s: The color of the plastic matches my known "vintage" pieces, numbering and letter font match as well. Going out of one's way to find vintage 70s Hing Fat figures implies knowing what to look for and I doubt that much on early Space Bucket forms is floating around. Not sure if I agree with the vendor's asking price but the rule I've learned is that stuff like this is worth exactly as much as a seller can get for it. They are almost surely unique, one of a kind and a very clever idea. Original listing here; Too rich for my blood!

[Alain Lapointe]

Interesting, really 'fat' MMM figures  I recall also some blistered sets which sometimes appear on ebay at high price. More based on MMM, with the Scooter and the crawler. One was made by Imperial, including classic LP figures, another (more similar to the MMM line) was really LP (it's in the archive, but associated to Billy Blastoff) with new figures and a HK bootleg unbranded. One figure of this third  set became so popular (a MMM standing - the only one I have) that can be found in many versions, with a ring on the helmet, to be used as small parachute, or keyring and often found as premium in bubble gums or potato chips.

[space.trucks]

Bingo: Heard back from the vendor and he painted them about 20 years ago using figures from his son's toybox & for his own enjoyment. They just happen to be numbered pieces which may or may not have been 70s produced, and it should be stressed that his listing admirably avoids making any claims about their age at all. He's selling the spacemen not a story and I hope he gets a million dollars for em. Guy is an artist! Gives me hope, may try making a group of them myself. He's also hit upon a great idea which is learning franchised spacesuit forms and paint blank figures to close of a match as possible regardless of how they are cast. "2001: A Space Odyssey" figures come to mind instantly.

[ervino]

5 hours ago, space.trucks said:

Bingo: Heard back from the vendor and he painted them about 20 years ago using figures from his son's toybox & for his own enjoyment. They just happen to be numbered pieces which may or may not have been 70s produced, and it should be stressed that his listing admirably avoids making any claims about their age at all. He's selling the spacemen not a story and I hope he gets a million dollars for em. Guy is an artist! Gives me hope, may try making a group of them myself. He's also hit upon a great idea which is learning franchised spacesuit forms and paint blank figures to close of a match as possible regardless of how they are cast. "2001: A Space Odyssey" figures come to mind instantly.

Well, in the case start whit some more MMM-esque figures, like this ones: you can find them around easly enough...

 

[Alain Lapointe]

9 minutes ago, ervino said:

Well, in the case start whit some more MMM-esque figures, like this ones: you can find them around easly enough...

 

Yes these are the one I mentioned, there are more from this series with vehicles.

[space.trucks]

Wow! Never seen these before. Who are they by? very cool. Had another response from the vendor and the "visors" were made by punching out discs from a piece of thin yellow plastic, each then sized to the width of the helmet fronts & then glued in place.