Space: 1999 was a Gerry Anderson produced television series meant to capture the popularity of Star Trek , at the time its budgets were the largest known for television. The philosophical first season was revamped for an action-packed more Americanized second season before it went off the air in 1977.
Lucky UK kids got this great Mego line distributed by Palitoy. Unlucky children everywhere else in the world got an inferior series of dolls produced by Mattel. Mego’s (Lion Rock) European sales agent procured the rights for the series and produced the dolls exclusively for Palitoy, similar deals have been done for lines such as Mego Doctor Who for Denys Fisher and the Palitoy Zorro doll. As a whole the line is one of megos best works, oddly enough it ignores two of the first seasons principle leads (Barry Morse and Barbara Bain) which makes me think Palitoy thought it would be better to release two aliens over a woman and an old man.
Similiar thinking happened when Palitoy released the Mego Star Trek line, there is no Uhura. Mego Paul Morrow , Captain Koening, Captain Zantor and the Mysterious Alien get together for a great picture from BrAIN
The 1976 Palitoy catalog shows Alan Carter in his Moonbase Alpha uniform and not his space suit. It is not known why the figure was switched to a space suit but one would guess to add more variety to the line itself. Note the figures are wearing elastic belts, do not have commlocks and the Mysterious Alien figure is noticeably absent.
The line up from the 1977 Palitoy Catalog, to view this Mego catalog and others go to the Mego Library Moving on to the back of the card we find some very detailed Palitoy artwork of the cast. Click on any head shot to go to that characters individual page .Kudos to design master Stephen Leach for his tireless efforts on this gallery.
Captain Koenig was called Commander
Koenig on the show. This Mego figure is a great likeness of actor
Martin Landau. Like Paul Morrow he comes on a Star Trek body with
white boots. He comes equipped with a comlock but none of the characters
had their stun guns. the Mattel guys have guns they can’t hold them,
so be sure to get some Dr. Mego repros to arm these guys to the
teeth.
Palitoy Koenig on his card, grey faced variants have actually been found so it suggests the figure saw production past one year. Card photo courtesy of Brian (Palitoy).
Academy Award winner Martin Landau has worked for directors Alfred
Hitchcock, Ron Howard and Tim Burton to name a few. His portrayal
of Cmmdr. Koenig was almost an opposite to William Shatners heroic
Captain Kirk, Koenig often seemed cornered into the job as Commander
and often made brash “get this over with” decisions, a true space
hero for the “me decade”.
The white bell bottom pants that are unique to the 1999 crew members, has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The material on the reproductions is a bit more slick. The waist band is folded over the elastic and hemmed, while the originals are not folded over the elastic. The repro’s are a bit shorter and the piping on them has a texture, while the original piping has none. The reproductions are unmarked.
Koenigs shirt “kind of” has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The material on the reproduction is a bit more slick, is shorter at the waist, and kind of baggy around the chest and armpits. Like the pants, Koenig’s shirt features piping on one side (see above). CTVT neglected to add the black stripe down the right arm of the shirt, and left the black collar off, so the shirt is simply a white shirt with one black arm. It’s pretty easy to spot although it is unmarked.
Comlocks have also been reproduced by CTVT and can be difficult to spot until you know the telltale signs. The repro’s are unmarked, and can be difficult to identify. The first thing to look for are comlocks cast opposite an original. Many were cast like a mirror image of an original, with detail and indents on the opposite side. This doesn’t apply to all since many were made orientated properly. Another clue is the button size. The CTVT buttons are larger than the original. There is also a line that goes across the top of an orginal separating the main body of the comlock from the top part. That line is missing on the reproductions. The final clue can be spotted on the clip. The ball shape on the end of the belt clip is much bigger on the reproduction.
The 1999 crew belts have been factory reproduced by CTVT and are unmarked. These are almost exact reproductions in all aspects. Very hard to spot. The reproductions tend to be just a little more glossy and a little brighter yellow.
Paul Morrow was Moonbase Alphas’ beefy second in command. The Mego figure is a dead-on likeness of the actor
and Paul is probably the second hardest figure to get. For some reason, Paul Morrow did not appear in the second season and it was explained he had died somewhere in between the seasons.<.
Prentis Hancock has appeared in various TV shows and movies, of note are “Doctor Who” and the film the “Monster Club” with John Carradine. His likable portrayal of Paul was missed during the second season of this Gerry Anderson production.
The white bell bottom pants that are unique to the 1999 crew members, has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The material on the reproductions is a bit more slick. The waist band is folded over the elastic and hemmed, while the originals are not folded over the elastic. The repro’s are a bit shorter and the piping on them has a texture, while the original piping has none. The reproductions are unmarked.
Morrow’s shirt has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The material on the reproduction is a bit more slick, is shorter at the waist, and kind of baggy around the chest and armpits. Like the pants, Morrow’s shirt features piping on one side (see above). CTVT neglected to add the wide collar around the neck that the original features and the red arm color is darker on the repro. It is unmarked.
Comlocks have also been reproduced by CTVT and can be difficult to spot until you know the telltale signs. The repro’s are unmarked, and can be difficult to identify. The first thing to look for are comlocks cast opposite an original. Many were cast like a mirror image of an original, with detail and indents on the opposite side. This doesn’t apply to all since many were made orientated properly. Another clue is the button size. The CTVT buttons are larger than the original. There is also a line that goes across the top of an orginal separating the main body of the comlock from the top part. That line is missing on the reproductions. The final clue can be spotted on the clip. The ball shape on the end of the belt clip is much bigger on the reproduction.
The 1999 crew belts have been factory reproduced by CTVT and are unmarked. These are almost exact reproductions in all aspects. Very hard to spot. The reproductions tend to be just a little more glossy and a little brighter yellow.
Morrow’s head has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The reproduciton is a softer material and is smaller than an original. The eyebrows are painted with a less severe look, and the mustache isn’t painted as long. The repro head is unmarked.
The Mego Alan Carter figure is the most unique in the line,eventhough he was pictured in the Palitoy catalogue as wearing a moonbase uniform Mego decided to put him in an ersatz version of his space suit (he was a pilot)but his helmet is all wrong and shouldn’t his hands be white? Still the toughest doll in the line and a fine likeness.
Alan Carter’s helmet was also used for Action Jackson, Dinah Mite and the Planet of the Apes Astronaut just in different colors.
The original Alan Carter prototype featured in the 1976 Palitoy Catalog showed him in his Moonbase Alpha unfirom. One might venture a guess that Palitoy decided it looked too generic to have three of their characters in white
Actor Nick Tate continues to pop up in movies and TV usually as a crusty “Crocodile Dundee” type. He has appeared on Star Trek:TNG and many TV commercials. Ironically, the original pilot for Space:1999 had Carter being killed but Tate proved so likeable that they kept him on.
MOC Carter courtesy of Brian (Palitoy)
Alan Carter’s space suit has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The repro is baggier, more noticeably in the chest and arms area. The material is very similar but the thread lines going across the torso on the reproduction is a touch farther apart than on the original. The collar on the reproduction is sewn in a little shorter as well. The repro is unmarked.
Alan Carter wears the same style helmet as the POTA Astronaut, Action Jackson, Dinah, and the Mego Mystery Man, except in red. It has been factory reproduced by CTVT. The repro has a slightly different shape, especially across the top where the visor slides into the helmet. It is unmarked.
Comlocks have also been reproduced by CTVT and can be difficult to spot until you know the telltale signs. The repro’s are unmarked, and can be difficult to identify. The first thing to look for are comlocks cast opposite an original. Many were cast like a mirror image of an original, with detail and indents on the opposite side. This doesn’t apply to all since many were made orientated properly. Another clue is the button size. The CTVT buttons are larger than the original. There is also a line that goes across the top of an orginal separating the main body of the comlock from the top part. That line is missing on the reproductions. The final clue can be spotted on the clip. The ball shape on the end of the belt clip is much bigger on the reproduction.
The 1999 crew belts have been factory reproduced by CTVT and are unmarked. These are almost exact reproductions in all aspects. Very hard to spot. The reproductions tend to be just a little more glossy and a little brighter yellow.
Alan Carter wears a pair of white boots, one of which can be found on Cheron in the Star Trek line. They have been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys on their version Alan Carter and on the EMCE reproduction Cheron figure. Like the Mr. Fantastic boot, it is a factory cut version of the WGSH Hero boot. The CTVT reproduction is cut a little taller than the original, and is a little more glossy, with a lot of flashing evident. This version is unmarked. EMCE’s reproduction is also a little taller than the original. It is a factory cut version of Doc Mego’s white hero boot, and is stamped with the DM mark on the bottom. It is thicker than an original and also more glossy. Also reproducted by both companies is a tall white hero boot that can be cut down to size to make a proper height white Alan Carter boot. The repro tall hero boots from both companies share the same characteristics of the same company’s version of the short boot.
Carter’s head has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The reproduciton is a softer material and is smaller than an original. The eyebrows are painted a little darker as well. The repro head is unmarked.
Captain Zantor Peace loving leader from the Planet Kalador, Captain Zantor appeared in the Space:1999 episode “Earthbound” one of the finest episodes produced for the series. The Mego uniform is a very close likeness, he comes barefoot but I am sure he had shoes in the episode. Variations of Zantor exist, one has light blonde hair while the other has the correct white hair. Neither variation is more valuable than the other.
As you can see by the above carded Captain Zantor he is a white haired version while the loose figure is a blonde. Actor Christopher Lee is not really known for playing peaceniks like Zantor, he is best known for his work as Dracula in the Hammer series of movies. He is currently working on the new Star Wars film, so chances are Christopher Lee figures will be available again but Mego got there first.
Known variations for Captain Zantor include hair and robe colour differences, as shown above.
Zantor’s robe has been reproduced by CTVT. The repro robe is a darker brown and made just a touch longer and wider than the original. CTVT also added a turtleneck type collar where the original has none. The repro is unmarked.
CTVT has reproduced Zantor’s vest. Overall it looks really accurate is design and size. The material on the repro is a bit heavier and softer. The original is a kind of stiff material. The biggest telltale is the inside of the vest. The mesh on the original is white, while the reproduction is black on the inside. The repro is unmarked.
Zantor’s head features two variants, white haired version and blonde haired version (not pictured). Zantor’s head has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys, but only the white haired version. The reproduciton is a softer material and is smaller than an original. The eyeshadow paint on the CTVT is also taller as the distance between the eyes and eyebrows is greater on the repro. The hair on the reproduction has problems laying down properly and is less full. It is unmarked.
These high domed aliens appeared in the episode “Wargames” (half
of the TV movie “Alien Attack”) and they laid waste to Alpha in
order to teach them a lesson about trust. The Mego figure is a great
likeness, there are two variations on the costume, one has a turtle
neck look to it. the body is a typical Star trek body (which Palitoy
also used to produce their highly sought after Zorro figure).
Palitoy Mysterious Alien on his card. Card photo courtesy of Brian (Palitoy)
Anthony Valentine has appeared in numerous TV and movie projects
including the “Monster Club” with 1999 cast member Prentis Hancock.
Mysterious Alien’s robe has been reproduced by CTVT. One big difference in the reproduction is the color of the material, which is a lighter purple than the original. Another is the material texture which is a bit more glossy. The final telltale sign is the collar that is attached to the robe. The original is kind of heart shaped, while the repro is straight across along the top edge. The repro is unmarked.
The only real difference between the original and the CTVT reproduction here is the texture and color of the material. Like the robe, the repro material is lighter purple and a more glossy material. It is also unmarked.
Mysterious Alien’s head has been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The reproduciton is a softer material and is much smaller than an original. The eyeshadow paint on the CTVT is also more pronounced. It is unmarked.