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This site is created to celebrate what is truly one the greatest groups of toy action figures of all time- The Outer Space Men. Who could have known back in 1968, that seven poseable alien figures would become an icon of the space toy world for generation after generation. Truly these very first bendable action figures have forever held a place among some of the greatest toys ever invented. The creative genius behind them is Mel Birnkrant. Even today, Mr. Birnkrant is busy inventing toys to thrill and please people young and old. I am lucky enough to be able to call this man a friend for almost 20 years. Mel is brilliant, innovative and talented beyond the scope of most artists. This site is dedicated to Mel and his wonderful family.
IT IS NOW OFFICIAL!!! THE OSM WILL BE IN BOOTH 2465 AT THE NEW YORK COMIC CON!!!
THE OFFICIAL SDCC EXCLUSIVE OUTER SPACE MEN FIGURES ARE NOW SOLD OUT!!!
HERE IS THE NEWEST OSM FAN; SOPHIA GRACE!!!
BIDDING IS NOW OPEN
FOR THE LAST 20 SETS!!!!
SUNDAY NIGHT JULY 25TH AT 10:00 PM EST 20 OF EACH OF THE SOLD OUT SDCC EXCLUSIVE OSM COLOR VARIATION FIGURES WILL GO ON SALE IN THE OSM STORE WITH THEIR TOTALLY NEW PACKAGING.
MEET THE NEW MYSTRON AND COMMANDER COMET!!!!
SAN DIEGO COMIC CON BEGINS TODAY. SEE YOU ALL THERE! GARY.
BE SURE TO PICK UP THE SDCC LIMITED EDITION OSM FIRST AND SECOND WAVE OF NEW ACTION FIGURES.
THESE FIGURES ARE SOLD OUT!!!!
YOU WANTED IT!!!!!
YOU GOT IT!!!!!
42 YEARS LATER!!!!!
3 YEARS IN THE MAKING!
  
Four Horsemen Announce Outer Space Men License
There are a couple
of very interesting points about this announcement. The Four Horsemen
have become best known as the design studio behind the great DC Universe
Classics and Masters of the Universe Classics lines from Mattel, but
with their Fantastic Exclusive and Seventh Kingdom toys have started
venturing into manufacturing their own figures. This will be the first
time that they have ventured into the licensing end of the toy business.
Compatibility
with Glyos joint system from Onell Designs means that Outer Space Men
will launch into an existing fan base. It’ll be interesting to see how
the 4H will bring this to market, whether it will be a line sold on
Store Horsemen, a different online store, or bricks and mortar retail.
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.
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!
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 Designs, the
Four Horsemen have incorporated Onell Designs innovative Glyos joint
system into The Outer Space Men, making them almost 100% compatible with
all of Onell designs 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 Horsemens FANtastic Exclusive venture
will play in all of this will come next week.
Please take a moment to watch this interview that I did at the last comic show. I think that I touched on a lot of interesting facts that some of you may not know. Thanks so much, Gary.
http://www.cac-tv.com/2009/12/the-outer-space-men/
THE NEWEST ARTWORK FROM FAMED BOSTON ARTIST ANDY FISH HAS ARRIVED. AFTER DEBUTING AT THE WIZARD BIG APPLE COMIC CON IN NEW YORK THE REMAINING PIECES ARE ON SALE RIGHT HERE. THIS AMAZING COLOSSUS REX ARTWORK IS THE FIRST IN THE ENTIRE 13 OSM SERIES SOON TO APPEAR ONLY HERE!
THERE ARE ONLY 8 SIGNED AND NUMBERED PIECES LEFT IN
THE LIMITED SERIES OF 10. THERE WILL NOT BE ANY MORE. ALL OF THE OSM
PIECES WILL BE LIMITED TO A 10 PIECE RUN IN THE SERIES. THESE AMAZING
SILK SCREENED ICONIC IMAGES OF COLOSSUS REX MEASURE11" x 17" AND WILL BE SHIPPED FLAT.
MAKE SURE TO COLLECT ALL 13 LIMITED EDITION OUTRAGEOUS IMAGES OF THE OSM AVAILABLE AS ANDY FINISHES AND DELIVERS THEM TO OSM HEADQUARTERS. NUMBERED IMAGES WILL BE DELIVERED IN SEQUENCE ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS. ISSUE NUMBERS 3 - 8 ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. SEE THE STORE FOR MORE DETAILS.
TWITTER HAS ARRIVED AT THE OSM! FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION AT: WWW.TWITTER.COM/OUTER_SPACE_MEN
MAKE SURE TO VISIT THE OSM STORE BY CLICKING THE LINK ABOVE.
YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING FROM VINTAGE OSM FIGURES AS WELL AS SCREEN PRINTED TEE'S
THE GRAPHIC NOVEL IS HERE AND THE REVIEWS ARE POURING IN!
AFTER AN INCRDIBLE JOURNEY OF RESEARCH AND UNMATCHED TALENT THE BOOK IS HERE. LOOK FOR YOUR COPY AT YOUR FAVORITE COMIC BOOK STORE NOW.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEW OUTER SPACE MEN!
ORDER YOUR VERY OWN COPY TODAY!
SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. THE BOOKS ARE SHIPPING NOW!!!
CLICK ON EACH ADDRESS BELOW OR PASTE AND CLIP THESE ADDRESSES INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER FOR SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING REVIEWS THAT YOU WILL EVER READ.
START READING THE AMAZING REVIEWS THAT ARE COMING IN!
WE NOW HAVE A BLOG!
CHECK OUT THE REVIEWS AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!
http://theouterspacemen.blogspot.com/
Origins
For the past several years, all 13 Outer Space Men action figures (first and second series) have been studied, researched and federally registered with the United States Patent and Trademark and Copyright offices for the express intent of bringing them back to the attention of the people who remember playing with them, cherishing them, burying them in the back yard and or finding them in some box years later where a smile came upon their face as they remembered what it was like to play with a truly wonderful toy.
The Outer Space Men suffered a terrible blow in July of 1969 , when man touched down on the Moon and returned safely to Earth. Nearly overnight, every toy company declared that "Space was Dead" as Man had conquered the vast icy cold vacuum of space, the major toy companies decided that there was no longer any need for space toy action figures. By 1969, The Outer Space Men were pumping out up to 500,000 individual piece sales across the US and the famous "Second Series" was underway. Mel Birnkrant had created an even more elaborate, even more incredible set of 6 new action figures that would stun the toy industry. Believing that the next set of six action figures should refocus away from the outer space genre, it was decided that this new group of interplanetary peace keepers would be called "The World of the Future." Alas, this proved to be a futile attempt as the powers that be pulled the plug on this new collection after receiving only six prototype sets and the figures would rarely be seen again.
An attempt was made in the late 1970's as Star Wars brought space toys back with a vengence to bring the OSM back in puzzle or playset fashion, however the original seven figures would remain forever molded, packaged and sold that one incredible year about ten years earlier when kids all over America sat on the floor and opened up their Colossus Rex or their Alpha 7 action figures. Today one can only hope to obtain a set of the original seven carded figures. The search continues for the ever elusive and impossible to find World of the Future figures, as only six sets came into the US from Asia. Most every one of those six sets, however, is accounted for and buried deep within private collections, seldom to be seen. There are however, one or two individual figures whether loose or carded whose whereabouts remain unknown.
© 2008 Mel Birnkrant and Gary Schaeffer. All Rights Reserved. All audio visual and textual content on this site (including names, characters, images, trademarks and logos) are protected by trademark rights, copyrights and other rights owned by Mel Birnkrant and Gary Schaeffer or by Mel Birnkrant's and Gary Schaeffer's licensors, licensees, suppliers and accounts. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions of use.
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