Mystery Astronaut

[glimpy]

Hmmm. Reds was a huge store - Great for pools

I don’t think this was only liquidated there. I remember it at a discount store in Manhattan. If I remember correctly I saw it in Corona Queens as well.

I don’t remember ever seeing it at any regular retail stores. I think Play World would have gotten it. I never remember seeing him there.

Thanks Joe!! I always respect your input. We will get to the bottom of this...one way or another!!!

[josephcardone]

Hmmm. Reds was a huge store - Great for pools

I don’t think this was only liquidated there. I remember it at a discount store in Manhattan. If I remember correctly I saw it in Corona Queens as well.

I don’t remember ever seeing it at any regular retail stores. I think Play World would have gotten it. I never remember seeing him there.

[glimpy]

That actually sounds like a very reasonable explanation. I would like to know where he got those parts from?

[glimpy]

Reds was a small chain of stores in Brooklyn from the 40s or 50s up until about 10 years ago. Red was his nickname, he sold above ground swimming pools, barbecues, and lawn furniture in the warm weather. He sold artificial Christmas trees and Hanukah decorations at years end. He sold toys all year round. I cant say I ever saw the Astronaut at his stores, although I shopped there from the 70s until they stopped selling toys shortly after Red passed away. I'm wondering if the Astronaut was a mego bootleg. On the mego-like page there is a Judah of Maccabbe action figure by "CATV Toys". Reds had various bootleg toys on their shelves along side the real toy company toys. I found a bunch of the Judah figures there about 18 years ago. When I brought a few up to the counter Red was upset. He had a ton of old toys in the upper floor storage rooms of his main store and sometimes his seasonal help would accidently put old toys on the shelf with their original price stickers. I asked him if the figure was a Mego, he barked at me that it was not a mego and told his employee to put the rest back in storage. The Judah head is an obvious copy of Mego Blackbeard and the body was a bad copy of a T1 body. It seemed pretty obvious to me at the time that Red knew Judah was a bootleg mego. So, that makes me wonder if the Astronaut was a Mego bootleg, too.

Well now there's the question where did red get the parts to put it together? Where would he get a blue-eyed Bruce Wayne head? And the jumpsuit? Helmet and Boots? Not to mention a T1 body.

[MegoMonk]

Reds was a small chain of stores in Brooklyn from the 40s or 50s up until about 10 years ago. Red was his nickname, he sold above ground swimming pools, barbecues, and lawn furniture in the warm weather. He sold artificial Christmas trees and Hanukah decorations at years end. He sold toys all year round. I cant say I ever saw the Astronaut at his stores, although I shopped there from the 70s until they stopped selling toys shortly after Red passed away. I'm wondering if the Astronaut was a mego bootleg. On the mego-like page there is a Judah of Maccabbe action figure by "CATV Toys". Reds had various bootleg toys on their shelves along side the real toy company toys. I found a bunch of the Judah figures there about 18 years ago. When I brought a few up to the counter Red was upset. He had a ton of old toys in the upper floor storage rooms of his main store and sometimes his seasonal help would accidently put old toys on the shelf with their original price stickers. I asked him if the figure was a Mego, he barked at me that it was not a mego and told his employee to put the rest back in storage. The Judah head is an obvious copy of Mego Blackbeard and the body was a bad copy of a T1 body. It seemed pretty obvious to me at the time that Red knew Judah was a bootleg mego. So, that makes me wonder if the Astronaut was a Mego bootleg, too.

[Timothy2251]

This figure always reminded me of the Interceptor pilots from UFO:

a1fb4c8226f044a0b5b2c1bbab60da60.jpg

[megozilla13]

There used to be a website with the legend of Big Reds but I can't find it. They were still selling old stock Megos into the early 2000s.

[palitoy]

Was "Big Reds" actually Reds in Brooklyn, NY??

I think so, a pool store that sold toys in the winter months?

[MegoMonk]

I saw one Mystery Astronaut where the purchaser had meticulously dated the package and where he bought it.

Big Reds, a close out store in 1977.

It's a type one body, this is two years after Mego abandoned it, so it opens the doors to factory seconds or a closeout of something Mego made but abandoned from the mid-1970s.

He has no markings on his head, so i refuse to accept that this was an attempt to make a license in any fashion.

The helmet and suit are unique to the figure.

Always the same story, a big dump bin of figures in baggies.

I've shown him to several former Mego peeps, there is never anything concrete. One person told me "Maybe it was something we were doing for the Apes?" but we can see the prototype astronaut pictures and he's never anywhere near this.

Someday, we'll know where this came from and then I'll retire.

Was "Big Reds" actually Reds in Brooklyn, NY??

[glimpy]

Here are the two I have. The first is mint in a baggie. The suit is done up at the front.
The loose one has the suit done up at the back. Unfortunately the loose one does not have a helmet.
I also have a Tex Willer, which as everyone knows, shares the same head.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24249[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24250[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24251[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24252[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24253[/ATTACH]

So I guess it's safe to say that the correct way is to have his jumpsuit buttoned up the front.

[Jetjungle75]

Funnily enough, there is currently a loose naked Mystery Astronaut up on eBay:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F401609135130

[Jetjungle75]

Here are the two I have. The first is mint in a baggie. The suit is done up at the front.
The loose one has the suit done up at the back. Unfortunately the loose one does not have a helmet.
I also have a Tex Willer, which as everyone knows, shares the same head.

IMG_20181110_133341379.jpgIMG_20181110_133347367.jpgIMG_20181110_133357997.jpgIMG_20181110_133520383.jpgIMG_20181110_133547556.jpg

[megozilla13]

This topic has been discussed many times over the years. The theory I like the best is that it was meant to be one of the Navy Blue Angels for some kind of promotion at airshows that never materialized.

mikej

[glimpy]

Some photographs show him wearing button-up* front and some show him wearing button on back. What is the correct way he should wear his jumpsuit?

[Marvelmania]

^^^ Give the galleries a look

http://www.megomuseum.com/galleries/mego-mystery-manpilotastronaut/