The Archer Outer Space playset with some added elements from the War of the Worlds playset.
Narrated by Matt Davies Voiceover
Playsets are collections of figures, vehicles, buildings, and accessories intended as children’s toys. The first playsets appeared in the 1800s and tended to feature animal figures from circuses, zoos, and Noah’s ark. By the early 1900s, playsets had expanded to include dollhouses, baby houses, fairylands, and showboats. Initially, they were constructed mostly of cardboard or paper and marketed to both boys and girls. By the latter half of the 1900s, however, most playsets were aimed at boys (although I suspect that many girls would have been interested in them, too; my sister loved the farm and Western playsets). Playsets soon expanded their genres to include military and space themes, as well as prehistory (dinosaurs, mostly) and adventure. Dollhouses were still popular, but by the late 1940s, toys had become even more gendered, and those were no longer classed as playsets.
Perhaps the most impressive science fiction-based ‘toy’ from the early 20th century is Henri Mignot’s 1925 reconstruction of a scene from H. G. Wells’s War of the Worlds. This was not a playset, per se; it was more of an elaborately detailed one-of-a-kind diorama. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning, if only because it was an inspiration for the mass-produced playsets that became popular two decades later. (By the way, as a collector, I have to mention that last time Mignot’s diorama changed hands, it is rumored to have been traded for a house in southern California.)
Information about all the playsets for sale during and after the 1950s can be found in Plastic Figure & Playset Collector Magazine (PFPC) and Playset Magazine (PM). In this article, we’ll dive into the sets with space and science fiction themes.
Space playsets from American manufacturers began to appear in about 1950, although there were earlier paper and cardboard sets (featuring Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, for instance) marketed by Warren Paper Products and Silvana Electric Products. Some of these even included lead casting materials to construct ships and action figures. Paper and cardboard playsets, such as the Tom Corbett paper playset, the Cape Canaveral paper playset, and various cereal-box cardboard playsets, continued to be available intermittently throughout the latter part of the 20th century.
Archer Toy Co.
In 1952 Archer Toy Co. developed “Outer Space Set” fittingly named and the first of its kind. This set included a lithograph space station, two plastic rockets, five small (five-inch) futuristic vehicles, one large (ten-inch) futuristic vehicle, seven spacemen with helmets, and one robot. By one estimation, there are fewer than six complete sets (with the box and instructions) still in existence although there are many partial sets available. In 1954 and 1955 Archer also marketed two other playsets, including the “World of Tomorrow” reduced set with a cardboard punch-out spaceport. Archer also produced a War of the Worlds playset with no spaceport, but with spacemen (slot-handed to carry accessories) and two vehicles with space-ray accessories. These figures were also sold separately and were some of the best-sculpted figures of the time. They were manufactured in hard — and later soft plastic — and were about three to four inches high.
T Cohn Superior Toys
In 1953, T Cohn Superior Toys put out the Superior Space Port based on the Captain Video series. It included action figures, a lithograph spaceport with a saucer launcher, a fence and gate, a cannon, and various small plastic vehicles with accessories.
Louis Marx and Co.
Louis Marx and Co. began offering space playsets in its 1952 and 1953 catalogs. The first was the Tom Corbett Space Academy Set (based on the books and TV series). It first appeared in the 1952 Sears Christmas Catalog priced at $5.89.
Marx sold several different Tom Corbett playsets, and in the 1953 Sears Christmas Catalog, they also began to sell the Captain Space Solar Academy playset and the Rex Mars playsets from Planet Patrol and Space Port respectively. These were original designs that differed enough from the Tom Corbett playsets to allow Marx to avoid royalty payments. The figures for these playsets varied in size from 1.4 to 5 inches, but most were 1.8 inches.
In 1957, Marx began to manufacture its oversized Operation Moon Base set, which included more realistic astronaut figures — as well as space aliens. This set and its variants (which included Project Apollo Moon Landing and Giant Martian Landing) were the last of the Marx playsets to include aliens. Marx also produced NASA-based playsets that included several Cape Canaveral and Cape Kennedy sets, a Project Apollo set, a Project Mercury set, and various other rocket and missile sets. These came with soldiers, NASA workers, and astronauts. In addition, Marx sold a Cape Canaveral Express playset that included a toy train, and several Sears sets that included submarines. Later productions included a bookshelf Star Station Seven playset and The Raytheon Missile Test Center.
Deluxe Reading Toys
Deluxe Reading Toys was another mid-century company that manufactured space playsets. The small Deluxe Reading Rocket Base U.S.A. was the only playset that I considered putting on my wishlist as a child. In 1959 and 1960, this set was for sale at the IGA grocery store in Idaho Falls — Deluxe Reading sold through grocery stores — and I almost added it to my Christmas list both years, but it lost out to other things. Nevertheless, it was the first playset I purchased as a collector. Deluxe Reading’s other space playset was the large Operation X-500 set.
Multiple Toys
Multiple Toys (MPC) also produced several space playsets. They were primarily NASA-based, including one set with lithograph headquarters, 1958 Space Control Command. MPC’s productions during the 1960s included Fireball X-5 Space City in 1964, King Kong Playset in 1967, and many NASA-based missile and rocket playsets.
Remco
Another 1960s toy maker, Remco, produced several science-fiction playsets, including Hamilton’s Invaders in 1964 which featured soldiers battling giant insects, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in 1965, Lost in Space Switch N Go in 1967, and several Batman sets.
By the 1970s, the toy industry had expanded to include G.I. Joe and Major Matt Mason playsets. Mego and others began issuing three- to nine-inch action figure sets for Planet of the Apes, Space 1999, and Star Trek during this decade.
Today, most of the major toy manufacturers — including Kenner, Mattel, and Hasbro — are selling playsets, typically based on movies and TV series. Star Wars and Star Trek playsets have become very popular, and other science fiction and fantasy series such as Masters of the Universe and Jurassic Park have also inspired playsets. Many of these sets include action figures (the range of action figures associated with the Star Wars playset is huge), and the scale of the action figures and the other parts of the playsets tends to be consistent — something that wasn’t true in many earlier playsets. Smaller, NASA-based playsets are still being manufactured, as well.
So where does it go from here? Gaming capabilities have made it possible to interact with playsets in virtual reality situations. Hologram imaging is improving and may lead to interactions with AI-based characters capable of independent movement, as well as participating in games and activities that involve multiple players. There are many possibilities for the future, including full-sized hologram spaces where players can roam freely in imagined worlds and interact with the characters who live there.
Steven Woolfolk owner of Xenophile Bibliopole & Armorer, Chronopolis
References
- Geppert, Timothy J. Guide for Non-Metallic Toy Soldiers of the U.S. Privately printed, 1986.
- Young, S. Mark, Steve Duin, and Mike Richardson. Blast Off! Dark Horse Books, 2001.
- Tumbusch, T. N. Space Adventure Collectibles. Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1990.
- Wells, Stuart W., III. Science Fiction Collectibles: Identification & Price Guide. Krause Publications, 1999.
- Fritz, Peter, and John Mautner. The Big Toy Box at Sears, 1951-1969.
- Toytown Classics, 1987.
- Fritz, Susan, and Peter Fritz. Playset Poster Guide # 1. Privately printed, n.d.
- Plastic Figure & Playset Collector (PFPC) #9, Oct. 1990; #29, Feb. 1994; #35, Feb. 1995; #37, June 1995; #42, Apr. 1996, #46, Dec. 1996.
- Playset Magazine (PM) #17, Sept./Oct. 2004; #26, Mar./Apr. 2006; #37, Jan./Feb. 2008; #61, Jan. 2012; #67, Jan./Feb. 2013; #84, Nov./Dec. 2015; #105, May/June 2019; #107, Sept./Oct. 2019; #116, Mar./Apr./May 2021; #120, Mar.-May 2022.
