The Outer Space Men:
Mel Birnkrant Interview

NoisyDvL5

What inspired me not to cast them as heroes or villains? Looking back now I’d have to say intuition, a commodity that all my life has served me as a viable substitute for book learning and brains. That, and a sense of fair play. At the risk of convincing you I’m “F-in Goofy”, let me pose a question I’ve often asked myself, and sometimes others: Can an inanimate object have a soul? I’ve received affirmative answers from people I respect immensely, artists and puppeteers, etc, who should know. Suffice it to say that like Adam and Eve, the Outer Space Men were sent forth from the place of their creation with the ability to choose between both good and evil. Is that not how it should be?


Matt Mason

Ironically, Matt Mason, the very object that inspired the Outer Space Men, albeit a mini masterpiece of toy technology, was for me a soulless entity, an empty space suit, with neither mystery nor history. Designed with purposefully bland anonymity to allow the mind of any child to enter and become him. But as a person, he held no interest for me. Tom Hanks is the perfect “everyman” to portray him in the upcoming movie.

Noisy: Of the original Outer Spacemen, Metamorpho is my favorite. I’m intrigued both by this action feature (used on other figures in my childhood) and his copy that he likely no longer remembered his true face. What led to the decision to give the proposed Wave Two figures light-up parts and action features? And what inspired the three Metamorpho faces? Were they from other possible aliens or simply created for Metamorpho?

Because The Outer Space Men were born into a world where action figures didn’t yet exist, the special features were not the latest update on a known established entity, as was the case many years later when Kenner introduced action features. The features in Series Two were just an attempt to make the Second Series bigger and better than the first one. And knowing antique toy history, the features didn’t seem all that special to me. Baby dolls with three bisque faces hidden behind their baby bonnet existed as early as the 19th Century.


Early OSM Sketch

Furthermore, I felt I knew each of these characters intimately. Therefore, the light-up parts and action features were simply integral to their characterization, and thus were a necessity. Like Popeye, each one said to me, “I yam what I yam”, and I knew, intuitively, just what it had to be. As for the three faces: I felt the first should be somewhat human, but with a slight exotic twist. The second was based on a sketch of a sort of lizard man I did for the First Series. But I felt, at the time, he was somewhat redundant next to Colossus Rex, who I liked better, so he was eliminated.

The third face was just plain scary, resembling a monster I once glimpsed in person, just before waking, in a never forgotten childhood nightmare.

As for the twist of, long ago, forgetting his own identity, Yes, I liked that line too. It implied a certain bitter-sweet poetic poignancy: to cast aside one’s own identity, but come to know and understand the Oneness of all life everywhere.

Oh, by the way, you might have noticed that all the Outer Space Men have a long history, one that hints at immortality. Perhaps they might be gods.

SilntAngl5: I know the attitude towards action figures of women was even less friendly back then, but did you ever have any plans for an Outer Space Woman? If the new line grows beyond the original thirteen designs, is that something you’d like to see happen? In that same vein, without a contemporary Matt Mason to accompany them, do you think the “new” Outer Space Men might finally need a “Man from Earth”?


DC’s Alanna Strange… we just like her.

Once again I am reminded that you guys are all so young. And the World we live in is a very different place, today, than it was two generations ago. The answer to your question: “Did I ever consider an Outer Space Woman?” alas, is a resounding no. The very name Outer Space Men says it all. As I reader of comic books in the Golden Age, I can tell you Wonder Woman, to many, was a joke. Guys didn’t want to admit they read it, and girls thought it was a lame attempt to expand the comic market. Archie and Veronica were more their cup of tea. The fact that she later became a sometimes symbol of the feminist movement did little to enhance her Amazonian appeal.

As time went by, I became aware that in the fascinating field of Japanese Anime the protagonists were, more often than not, young powerful attractive women. This was a stunning concept that slowly seeped into our culture. It burst forth convincingly, for me, once and forever, in the person of Sigourney Weaver in the best, most perfectly constructed, well written and exciting science fiction movie of all time, Aliens.

Yes, today and in the future, there should be “Outer Space Women”! And who to better realize them than the 4 Masters of the 7th Kingdom? And, by the way, Yes, I do believe, without a contemporary Matt Mason to accompany them, the “New” Outer Space Men might finally need a “Man from Earth”.

…but he may turn out to be a woman.

Vault: The Outer Space Men are being brought back by Four Horsemen Toy Design Studios working with Onell Designs – two popular and particularly innovative smaller toy companies. To me, it echoes your and Harry Kislivitz’s work on the original line. What do you think about independent toy companies like Onell and the 4H trying to carve out some space in an industry dominated by large companies?

Most things in life are either done for Love or Money. Onell and the 4 Horseman are about Love; Large companies are about Money. Harry and I were naive dreamers. We dreamt of creating toys and having them accepted. That’s all we hoped to do.

Big companies can be horrible, but exciting, places to be. They sap all your creativity quickly, and once they’ve drained you dry, you’ll find yourself spat out and cast aside. Bottom line: they are only interested in the bottom line. Small brave independent toy companies like Onell and the 4Horsemen, along with their ever growing legion of appreciative and dedicated fans, are the toy industry’s salvation.

Vault: Speaking of Onell Designs, and the Glyos joint system, collectors of the modern Outer Space Men line will be able to use the interchangeable parts to create near endless variations and new Outer Space Men from their own imaginations. Was that something that appealed to you about this project?

In the end, yes, absolutely! But at first I didn’t get it. We had spoken of the many ways the Outer Space Men could be handled, each idea more exciting that the one before it. And if the 4H’s first efforts are successful, you will see many of those other possibilities become realities too. Continue to Page 3…
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73 thoughts on “The Outer Space Men:
Mel Birnkrant Interview”

  1. This was wonderful to read. It’s great to read things from someone else’s perspective and its particularly enjoyable when it written so eloquently. I’d love to hear more from Mel. ^^

      1. Can we not mention wallets? The 4H are going to force me to ramen noodles and no broadcast TV!

    3. Once we got the e-mail back from him, we knew we should just print it as is. Many of the photos are even where he included them in the e-mail. He wasn’t kidding about his intuition.

  2. This is a GREAT read. I have to say I am looking forward to this line almost more than the idea of a new take on Micronauts from Hasbro. So many places for the line to go. So many places for a child’s mind to go with the play value.

    Small brave independent toy companies like Onell and the 4Horsemen, along with their ever growing legion of appreciative and dedicated fans, are the toy industry’s salvation.

    I Love this statement and truly hope is a portent of the future

    1. I liked that too. All the innovation is coming from the smaller companies if you ask me. Mattel might be getting somewhere, but it’s on the backs of the 4H. ToyGuru is just the dork in charge for this week. The Four Horsemen will still be making cool toys after his tenure as brand manager is over.

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  4. Great interview! I’ve been to Birnkrant’s website and I didn’t get the Mickey Mouse thing, but I understand better now. I’m pretty sure he has more Mickey Mouse figurines than I do action figures.

    1. We almost asked a Mickey Mouse question outright, but we wanted to focus on OSM. Mickey still found his way in though!

  6. Fantastic. I love having his thoughts on the whole thing from the past to the present.

  7. Wow. Great interview! The man wrote his answers like poetry. Thanks, for the interview guys!

  9. It was a small part of the interview, but I was surprised to hear about Wonder Woman. Her book sells decent now and she was a big part of the SA, it’s weird to think she had a rocky start.

  10. Excellent interview. Mr. Birnkrant is a fascinating and eloquent man, and I’m looking forward to seeing his work interpreted by the Horsemen.

  11. dude, for real… it’s hard to read that and not convert. i’ve been stalwart, thusfar, in my stance that the old is best left to the past, and that dinosaurism was more at work here than real creativity… bet i confess, this interview… mel thinks about toys the way i think about toys, and him “putting down the tracing paper pad” and wanting to just sit back and see what the boys do… that’s extraordinarily cool. and his thoughts on art and life really got me into his head, which in turn echoes my own headspace… the universal oneness of being indeed. if i wasn’t a fan before, i certainly am now.

    great interview noisy… you know you kids… i remember what the toy world was like before this interview, and it may shock you to hear this, but there were a lot of jaded pricks buying toys that didn’t really make them happier or express their thoughts/feelings/desires… true story. but i was here when this interview kidney punched that attitude and left it quivering and crying uncontrollably in an alley and took its money, watch, and shoes to pawn for OSM money.

    2. It seems that the most successful toys are always the one’s spelled out for us twenty or thirty years ago. Rare is the toy line you walk in and find with no clue what the backstory is anymore.

  12. I love hearing about this line. I’m on pins and needles waiting for pricing and release dates!

  13. Great Interview! I usually shy away from anything that doesn’t fit my basic collections these days — super-heroes, sports — but if the price is right on these, I may splurge, especially at the 3-3/4 scale.

    1. I feel the same way. Everything has gotten so expensive that it’s better for me if I stick to just one or two toy lines that I really love.

      But these look cool enough to pick up despite my not having a connection to them. If the price is right, I’ll have to have these.

  14. Great interview. I’m still not sold on these though. I keep worrying that the low runs will simply make them cost too much.

  16. It’s nice to read someone being truly passionate about what they do. I agree with Mankeo- his wording is so eloquent! It was nice of him, too, to take the time to give such lengthy responses to your questions. 🙂 I am intrigued to see what the OSM line has to offer and to hear more from Mr. Birnkrant about it!

    I think I’m sold 🙂

  17. Okay, okay. Where do I sign up? Great interview, guys, you’re becoming a major player!

  18. I’m really impressed by out of the boxing thinking that went into the old toys. I only hope the 4H are putting that much thought into their new line. Great interview!

    1. Mel doesn’t just think outside of the box, he contemplates the hopes and dreams of the tree that was used to make the box. 😀

  19. Wow. That was very “stream of consciousness”. I almost missed the multiple pages (when did you start doing that?), but I’m glad I didn’t! I loved the shot of Astro-Nautilus at the end. The big hands and feet on the figure make me happy! When will these come out?

    1. The big hands and feet are really appealing to me as well. I can’t put my finger on it, but the WIP picture looks really cool by itself, unpainted and all.

  21. Great interview. Love the enthusiasm and passion going into the line. I think it showed in the designs now and I know the 4H will make it speak now, even loud enough to get through the buck system.

    1. I’m really looking forward to the 5th and 6th figures in the line. I don’t know who they are, but the 4H conquered the more traditionally suited characters in this first announcement, I can’t wait to see them flex their muscles on Colossus and Cyclops.

  23. Fantastic interview… Must’ve been an honor to correspond with such a great guy.
    I love Mel’s views on toys. Which to me confirms the great and hopefully long lasting relationship he’ll have with Onell and the 4H. Thanks for the great read!

    1. It really was. When he contacted me over my “Who Are The Spacemen” article, I was a little starstruck. It’s been a pleasure e-mailing back and forth with him.

  24. Thanks for the interview. I was looking for more about the OSM when I found your site! It’s great that they’re coming back!

  25. Great interview. I love his personal site too. He has an interesting viewpoint on the toy industry.

  27. Have we heard when these will be coming out yet? And how much? I’m hoping they’ll be cheap enough to fit in my budget.

  29. Mel sounds like a very interesting man. Has he done anything else that a grumpy old toy collector would know?

  31. I just found out the Outer Space Men were coming back out again! That’s fantastic! I’ve been waiting years to for these guys to get updated. I still can’t quite believe it!

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