Not often discussed outside of hardcore science fiction fan circles, Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 was in the right place at the right time when it aired in 1975, coming in the midst of a science fiction boom. Its popular was enough for Mattel to produce an incredible, massive playset replica of its signature spaceship. Though less well-remembered today and in the United States, to a generation, especially in the United Kingdom, Gerry Anderson’s name was synonymous with science fiction excitement. Across a decades-spanning career that included cult classics like U.F.O. and Thunderbirds, no other Anderson series sports as dedicated of a fandom as his 1975 series Space: 1999. With its elaborate miniature effects, imaginative alien worlds, and exciting stories, Space: 1999 was a highlight of the decade for many sci-fi starved kids, filling the years between Star Trek’s 1969 cancellation and Star Wars‘ game-changing 1977 release. The same qualities that made it appealing to children stood out to licensors, and Space: 1999 enjoyed a surprisingly wide range of tie-in merchandise during its three years on air.
Mattel’s replica of Space: 1999‘s signature vehicle, the Eagle-1 Spaceship, measured at over two and a half feet long. As a point of comparison, it dwarfs virtually every playset or vehicle released in Kenner’s Star Wars line, matched by only the 1984 Imperial Shuttle and the 1981 Rebel Transport. The Eagle-1 came complete with a trio of three-inch scale action figures and dozens of pieces ranging from ship components to figure accessories. While one of the major selling points of the playset on release, these dozens of small parts have translated to a major headache for modern collectors: assembling a loose, complete Eagle-1 is a years long process. Finding one complete is nearly impossible, and tracking down individual missing pieces is a costly endeavor. This upcoming Heritage Auction lets collectors circumvent all of that: it’s complete in box, all of the easily-lost small pieces still attached to unpunched plastic sheets. Complete, the toy will sell for a baseline of anywhere between $400-700, with every potential to go higher given the unused condition.
Star Trek changed everything. Not while it was on the air, when its middling ratings and progressive politics made it a rapid target for cancellation; but rather in the decade after, when the series’ popularity exploded in reruns. Mego’s head of Research and Development, Neal Kublan, a father of two young boys in the early seventies, noticed something about those reruns: his sons, and every kid they knew, was watching them. Kublan talked Mego President Marty Abrams into acquiring the Star Trek license. Abrams thought the idea was silly, but the licensing fee ($5k) was low enough that the risk was small. When Mego’s Star Trek became the single best-selling toy on the market, that risk paid off — and other manufacturers were eager to find the next Star Trek. At the same time, television networks were looking to find the next Star Trek on the airwaves, green-lighting science fiction series with similar space explorations premises. Of these, Space: 1999 showed the most promise: the series, bankrolled by British ITV and Lord Lew Grade, was going to be the single most expensive ever produced.
Space: 1999 followed the crew of Moonbase Alpha, set adrift in space after a natural disaster knocks the moon out of orbit. Its central characters were Moonbase commander John Koenig (Martin Landau), Doctor Helen Russell (Barbara Bain), and science officer Victor Bergman (Barry Morse). Mattel acquired the Space: 1999 action figure license domestically, while Mego produced action figures for international markets, including the United Kingdom. Mattel’s line came in two scales: eight-inch, Mego-esque dolls, and the three-inch scale Eagle-1 and figures. Koenig, Bergman, and Russell were produced at both scales, wearing their Moonbase uniforms for the eight-inch line and spacesuits for the three-inch line. A playset, consisting of vacuform plastic and furniture pieces, accompanied the eight-inch line. An original alien character, the “Zython,” was planned for the line in 1977, but went unreleased save for a vanishingly small production run in Germany. Uniformed three-inch figures of Koenig, Bergman, and Russell also went unproduced.
The Eagle-1 is the highlight of all Space: 1999 merchandise, boasting surprising screen-accuracy for its era. The exterior of the playset is a gorgeously rendered plastic replica of the spaceship, complete with modular pieces for enhanced play. The cockpits and engines can be removed and combined, turning the cockpit into a small escape pod or shuttle craft. The interior featured a cabin with rotating seats, a weapons rack (its weapons being the smallest and most easily lost pieces in the set), instrument panels, and a working winch. There’s a hatch in the center of the cabin, as well as opening (and removable) bay doors, making the interior space legitimately easy for kids to access and play in. The figures are less impressive, with five points of articulation and no paint applications to speak of. They’re cast in orange plastic for the spacesuits and removable helmets, and tan for the heads and hands. Bergman is also sculpted in a seated position, limiting his utility.
Mego opted for an almost completely different character selection with its Space: 1999 line. From the Moonbase Alpha crew, Commander Koenig was joined by second-in-command Paul Morrow and chief pilot Alan Carter. Mego elected to give them two alien enemies, the “Mysterious Alien” (yes, really — that was exactly how it was written on the figure’s card) and Captain Zantor, played by Christopher Lee. Incidentally, this would be the first, and for decades to come only licensed action figure of the legendary actor, whose roles in Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings would finally cement his place in the toy aisle. Numerous other licensed Space: 1999 products were released around the series’ first season, including weapon and spaceship replicas from rack toy kings AHI and a tie-in comic book from Charlton. AHI’s surprisingly screen-accurate “stun guns” are upheld by collectors as one of the company’s best-ever offerings, and one of the best Space: 1999 toys.
Space: 1999‘s first season was cerebral, largely eschewing action for thought-provoking resolutions to its science fiction stories. While it could be said that this was in keeping in line with Star Trek, Star Trek was a series that knew to balance its weighty, philosophical themes with big rubber lizard-men and spaceship battles. Moreover, its crew uniforms and alien designs were colorful and toyetic, lending themselves readily to a toyline like Mego’s. While Space: 1999 boasted great weapons and ships thanks to Anderson and his design team, its characters made for less compelling action figures. For the series second season, shapeshifting alien Maya (Catherine Schell) replaced Professor Bergman in an effort to liven up the main cast, and the stories shifted to prioritize a faster, more action-heavy pace. Airing in 1977, the second season was too little too late, and was overshadowed by the release of Star Wars in May. Space: 1999 was cancelled before the end of the year.
Though its original run was short-lived, Space: 1999 lived on through re-runs and home video, keeping the series strong in the memory of its original fans, and creating a new generation of them at the same time. The series’ unique look and feel (shared only by other Anderson programs like U.F.O.) carries a lasting appeal for its cult followers. It occupies a unique position as a post-moon landing, pre-Star Wars science fiction series, with a strong real-world influence over its spaceships and other technology. Nothing is more emblematic of the series’ uniqueness than the Eagle-1, which has the feel almost of Douglas Trumbull’s 2001: A Space Odyssey miniatures. The Mattel Eagle-1 translates that design to toy form perfectly, and succeeds so well at being an awesome action figure playset that even collectors with little interest in the series still want one. With a dedicated cult fandom bidding against them, those casual collectors face stiff competition, and the price of the Mattel playset is driven up as a result. A sample like the upcoming Heritage Auction is sure to command a premium, possibly even helping to redefine this set’s value.
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