5.01.2010

The Outer Space Men!

FOUR HORSEMEN
ACQUIRE THEIR FIRST LICENSED PROPERTY
THE OUTER SPACE MEN

Forty-two years ago the space race between the United States and Russia was in full swing, and a full wave of action figures known as “The Outer Space Men” was released that caught the imagination of a generation.

Although the initial salvo of characters was well received, the characters that were to be part of the second wave, collectively referred to as “The World of Tomorrow”, never made it into production and currently only exist as elaborate prototypes / production samples in the homes of a couple of fortunate collectors.

Fast forward to today…
Four Horsemen Toy Design Studios have been able to have a hand in the successful re-launches of many of their favorite toy lines from their childhood, but a few of their favorite properties have so far been unobtainable to them – until now.

Collaborating closely with the property’s creator,
Mel Birnkrant, the Four Horsemen are proud to announce their first venture into licensed properties - The Outer Space Men!

Already well into production, the first two 3-3/4 inch scaled waves of The Outer Space Men will consist of two characters per wave.

Wave one will be
Astro-Nautilus: the Man from Neptune featuring four articulated tentacles and his regal undersea trident; and Inferno: the Flame Man of Mercury wielding his fiery flame blaster and removable helmet!

Wave two will contain
Xodiac: the Man from Saturn along with his Saturnian scepter, disintegrator pistol, and removable helmet; and Metamorpho: the Man from Alpha Centauri brandishing his morpho-gun, alpha sensor, and transforming facial features!

The Outer Space Men creator, Mel Birnkrant has given the Four Horsemen full access to all of the OSM archives in order to assure the highest quality and coolest new interpretations of the characters possible, but the collaboration doesn’t end there…

In an effort to re-introduce The Outer Space Men to as wide an audience as possible, new play features have been added into this new version of a classic toy line! Working directly with
Matt Doughty, owner of Onell Design, the Four Horsemen have incorporated Onell Design's innovative Glyos joint system into The Outer Space Men, making them almost 100% compatible with all of Onell design's releases! The Outer Space Men is something that both the Four Horsemen and Matt have been discussing for years now, and it just seemed like the perfect property in which to incorporate the phenomenal Glyos “fit function”.

As production nears completion, more images and product availability info will be released. The release of The Outer Space Men marks a new approach to action figure production for the Four Horsemen, and more info about this, other announcements and what role the Horsemen’s
FANtastic Exclusive venture will play in all of this will come next week.

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It's been hard not spilling the beans on this one! We are truly honored to be able to work with the Horsemen in bringing back Mel Birnkrant's The Outer Space Men. This is a legendary toy line from a time when space exploration was something exciting and new. When people were glued to their television sets in anticipation of what might be discovered by the daring astronauts on Apollo 11. Enter master toy inventor Mel Birnkrant. Mel's vivid imagination was, and still is, well ahead of its time. As space fever swept over the world, Mel designed and sculpted the first wave of The Outer Space Men. In so doing, he would set the stage for many of the incredible toy lines that exploded in the early 1970's. Just look at any of the all time classic figures in action figure history 101 and you can spot the influence of OSM. We all owe Mel a debt of gratitude for the role he quietly played in opening up the potential of what an "action figure" could be, long before even the term was commonplace. Now, with the unparalleled and unlimited talent of the Four Horsemen behind this fantastic rebirth, The Outer Space Men can finally return to where they belong - your hands.

15 comments:

  1. Ok.. I am sitting in an airport... Waiting to come home, and the wonders of wi-fi brings me the news that my 2 favorite toy people are working together on awesomeness...

    It couldn't be more awesome... At all... Seriously, this is just sheer awesome.

    Ok, we need to schedule another show for you right now so we can get more details on this...

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  2. Groovy. How long has this been in the works?

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  3. WHOA, this came as a shock, but I'm super excited that it happened. It's just too cool that they have glyos connection joints, I know I may need to get an extra Astro-Nautilus when it comes out so I can use those tentacles for some custom characters. Feedback 'N' Kudos for everyone! :-D

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  4. Incredible news, just incredible!!! Congrats to the 4HM and Onell on these! They look as stunning as the originals, but, even better because of Matt's articulation system!

    TGB

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  5. So does this mean that there is a possibility of a four horseman sculpt of Pheyden to join the OSM in wave 2? I'd love to see a version of him that shared the proportians and asthetic of this line of course I'm guessing with the compatability we can just switch out a head?

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  6. This is very cool news. Onell x Four Horsemen is bound to be quality. Looking at the aesthetics of the OSM line, I can only wonder: can Rechelen and Aves be far behind?

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  7. Wooo! Last year i've seen them on a booth at NYCC with a not soooo good comic - well, it was definitely not the cool design from the figures they displayed - and they told it was a "refreshed" Outer Space Mens - no way, sorry! But this NOW! YAY! it's super exciting and fully on the basic designs! Love it and looking forward to!
    CONGRATS! THIS WILL RULE!

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  8. This will be an awesome boost of cool parts. Can't wait for some sick configs.

    Hope they do all of 1st and 2nd series. I could never anything but the minis, and they didn't really do it for me.

    Too bad they did Metamorpho with a spinny head, swappable heads woulda been cool.

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  9. Awesome! I love the designs of these characters!

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  10. oh man, wow, i'm baffled by reading all the great concepts of Mel Birnkrants seriously cool toy concepts that were treated not well throughout his career...ouchies! INVASION EARTH is definitely one of my favourites! Though i see some spots i would like to redo in case i get my hands on them, hehe, just to match more the designs of Mel. Wow, wow, wow. Just so excited by his cool ideas and all the drawings he produced along his pitches to toy factories. Really would recommend to follow the link to Mel Birnkrant's page! Really inspiring and once more: congrats again, Matt!

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  11. This is too awesome. is there a rough ETA on these guys?

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  12. Can't wait for the Outer Space Men to drop, this opens up SOOOO many building possibilities.... Great work as always Matt, keep on truckin'........

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  13. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  14. I have the METROID game, I bought the game from at PIJ, I really enjoy the game. There are some problems I have with it, but perhaps it's me. Anyhow, I think the game is solid to me.
    http://bit.ly/metroidfigma

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