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A Story about Major Matt Mason
by Bill Ystrom |
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Hi all,
I've got a few memories I'd
like to add to the entertaining group sent out lately;
My first encounter with MMM
was when one of my friends down the block had received the Space Station Deluxe
Set w/Space Crawler for his birthday a few weeks before Xmas. I was knocked
out at how cool it was and got the same set for Xmas, which must have been
'67.
Over the next couple years
I accumulated all the vehicles, except for the Astro Trac, another Matt, Storm,
Callisto and Lazer. Somehow I never even saw a Scorpio until collecting as
an adult.
A regular member of my MMM
moonscape scenes was the Aurora Lost in Space Robot. Without the base, he
was just about the right size. The last piece I remember getting was the Gamma
Ray Gard. I saw it along with the new astronauts, "Doug D." & "Jeff L." at
our local "Children's Bargain Town", the precursor to "Toys R Us". I walked
home and scrounged up enough money, walked back, bought it and carried it
home admiring the formidable look of the new weaponry.
A couple years later all the
MMM stuff was packed away in a big box and being a teenager, what did I need
all that kid stuff for? I gave it to my younger nephews, along with the Aurora
LIS Robot (plus a Remco version which I disliked because of it's incorrect
shape & colors, I appreciate it now as one cool toy!), my Strange Change,
Hot Wheels and huge lot of Captain Action stuff. All except for Captain Action's
Silver Streak, that I gave to a neighbor's kid...
Fast forward to about 1982.
One morning I pull out of the garage on my way to work and there sitting on
top of that same neighbor's trash can is my old Silver Streak! My daughter
was about 3 years old at the time and she loved it! She sailed the Purple
Pie Man and Strawberry Shortcake on many bathtub adventures until a couple
years later when I got rid of it again! This time, right into the trash can!
Eventually around 1988-89
I learned of toy collecting and values of my long gone childhood toys. Yeah,
I asked the nephews, but like me, they too had tired of the toys and got rid
of them. Matt Mason was my favorite and I hoped I could find some, but man,
I got bit by the collecting bug hard and well, the adventure continues...
I think a great name for a
complete book on MMM stuff would be: EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW
ABOUT MAJOR MATT MASON, BUT COULDN'T AFFORD TO ASK! Oh, and I couldn't agree
more, the best finds I've made in this collecting arena have been the new
friends found along the way.
Happy hunting guys - Bill Ystrom.
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Bill has been collecting MMM for years and has been a member
of this list about a year. Bill and Keith produce reproduction Astro-trac
tires that are identical to the original. . He may be e-mailed here.
Find out about joining either of the Major Matt Mason e-mail groups here. |
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