Destination: Moonbase Alpha (86 page)
Read Destination: Moonbase Alpha Online
Authors: Robert E. Wood
It would take a complete specialised book to detail fully all of the
Space: 1999
merchandise that has been produced globally over the decades. The intent of this section is to focus on merchandise that is commercially or readily available at the time of publication (2014). These details are subject to change as items sell out, are discontinued or are superseded by new products (which seems to be happening at a rate unseen since the mid-1970s!)
The greatest difficulty encountered by companies wanting to release new
Space: 1999
merchandise has been the unwillingness of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain to agree to license use of their likenesses for anything other than DVDs. This has meant that recent action figure releases have gone forward without Commander Koenig or Dr Russell figures, and that other projects such as CDs and books have either had to proceed without use of their images, or be shelved altogether. However, even faced with this challenge, merchandising for
Space: 1999
does continue. Here is a sample:
STUN GUNS AND COMMLOCKS
Commercially released props of both the Stun Gun and Commlock were issued as a collector’s set by Iconic Replicas in 2007. This limited edition of 1,000 sets quickly sold out, although the props were not completely accurate. Fully constructed prop replicas of both the Stun Gun and Commlock are available (at the time of printing) from CY Productions in the US. (CY’s Commlock is cast from a replica made by UK fan Mark Shaw, who is renowned for the accuracy of his Commlocks.)
Since the 1970s, the Eagle has been the most frequently and widely marketed item of
Space: 1999
merchandise. The 12” MPC Eagle model kit has been re-issued by Round 2, with each box containing a photo card of Alan Carter (100 of which are hand-signed by actor Nick Tate). Round 2 has also re-issued the vintage MPC moon buggy kit (an original design not based on anything seen in
Space: 1999
called ‘The Alien’), including a photo card featuring Maya, with 100 of these cards signed by actress Catherine Schell. The Moonbase Alpha model kit has also been accuratised to feature five landing pads (previous releases had only three), along with other pieces to accurately portray the layout of the base. New in-scale Eagle Transporters are also included in this 2014 release from Round 2.
The
UK company Robert Harrop released a ceramic resin figurine in September 2013 depicting an Eagle blasting up from the lunar surface, in a limited edition of 250.
Various Eagle models in 12” and 23” sizes were produced by Product Enterprise/Sixteen 12, and although they are no longer in production,
they can be easily found on the secondary market (although at significantly higher prices than during their original release).
Custom-commissioned builds of various
Space: 1999
models can also be ordered from original series model-maker Martin Bower through his website (www.martinbowersmodelworld.com).
ACTION FIGURES
An extensive series of 8” action figures are currently available from the Figures Toy Company (www.classictvtoys.com), featuring such regular characters as Professor Bergman (in two different versions, including the aged Bergman from ‘Black Sun’), Maya, Alan Carter, Paul Morrow, Sandra Benes, Tony Verdeschi and David Kano. Guest characters have also been well-represented by this series, including Balor, Raan, Companion, Female Alien (from ‘War Games’), Mentor, Number 8 and Dan Mateo. The Figures Toy Company has also re-issued a four-character set based on the original 1970s Palitoy action figures. These 8” figures include the characters Paul Morrow, Alan Carter, Mysterious Alien (from ‘War Games’) and Captain Zantor. (The original Commander Koenig figure was not reissued because of the aforementioned refusal of Martin Landau to authorise use of his likeness for merchandising.)
SOUNDTRACKS
Commercially available at the time of this printing are Year One and Year Two soundtracks released by Silva Screen Records. Year One and Year Two soundtracks were previously released via Fanderson, as double CD sets, but those are sold out. Derek Wadsworth also produced a CD of his compositions from Year Two, but this was a limited release produced for the promotional purposes of the composer only (although a certain number of copies did find their way onto the commercial market). The Derek Wadsworth and Fanderson CDs are highly sought-after and command substantial values when they can be found on such sites as eBay, which is very rarely.
DVDs
and BLU-RAYs
Various DVD releases of
Space: 1999
are readily available around the world, in countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Spain.
But even more impressive than the DVDs are the Blu-Ray releases of Year One, which have been released by Network in the
UK and A&E in North America. The high definition images are absolutely stunning, and fans are now eagerly awaiting the Blu-Ray releases of Year Two as well.
The
Space: 1999
movies (
Alien Attack
,
Destination Moonbase Alpha
,
Journey Through the Black Sun
and
Cosmic Princess
) have also found their way to DVD. They were released as a box set in Portugal in 2004 and in Italy in 2007. Two of the movies (
Destination Moonbase Alpha
and
Cosmic Princess
) were released as a box set in the Netherlands in 2006. Similarly, two (
Alien Attack
and
Cosmic Princess
) came out as a box set in France in 2007.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Blam! Ventures has released two major
Space: 1999
graphic novels, as well as an extensive range of comics. The first graphic novel is
Aftershock and Awe
, which takes the ‘Breakaway’
origin story and expands it to show what happens to Earth after the Moon is blown out of orbit. The second is
To Everything That Was
, which compiles selected remastered works from the original 1970s
Space: 1999
comics. These titles are available via Amazon and more information can be found online at the Blam! website: www.blamventures.com .
OTHER MERCHANDISE
Other diverse merchandise is currently available for avid fans, including high-quality metal lapel pins of the Eagle, the Mark IX Hawk, the series logo, and the Alpha Moonbase crest; patches; posters; blueprints; door-mats; T-shirts; stickers; accessories for your home fleet of 12” Eagles (as well as stands and display cases); and more … Most of these items can be obtained online through sources such as eBay or specialist retailers like FABGearUSA.
It is certainly a good time to be a merchandise-loving fan of
Space: 1999
!
[1]
Time
: ‘Spacing Out The Networks.’ 1 September 1975.
[2]
Adler, Dick.
Los Angeles Times
: ‘Some Lame Rerunning.’ 9 January 1976.
[3]
Carmody, John.
The Washington Post
: ‘1999 Gets Humanised.’ 2 January 1976.
[4]
Bassi, Bob.
Triad
magazine, December 1975.
[5]
TV Showtime
(
The Cleveland Press
), 21 October 1975.
[6]
Simmons, Robert (head of press and public relations, HTV West).
The Bristol Evening Post
, 18 July 1979.
[7]
The Television Year Book
(Virgin, 1985).
[8]
Denney, James D
.
Art and Story No. 2
: ‘
The Metamorph
and the metamorphoses.’ August 1976.
[9]
Stein, Benjamin.
Wall Street Journal
: ‘Sailing Along on a Moonbase Way.’ 7 November 1975.
[10]
O’Flaherty, Terence.
San Francisco Chronicle
: ‘Fasten Your Seat Belts!’ 5 September 1975.
[11]
Stanley, John.
San Francisco Datebook
: ‘Moonbase Gone Astray Two Years Before the Odyssey.’ 7 September 1975.
[12]
Emmett, Arielle.
Science Digest
: ‘
Space: 1999
– Adventures in Science “Faction”.’ November 1975.
[13]
Winfrey, Lee.
Chicago Tribune
: ‘
Space: 1999
is a 1976 Smash for Landau, Bain.’ 21 October 1975.
[14]
Asimov, Isaac.
Cue
: ‘An Expert’s Verdict:
Trek
Wins.’ 20 December 1975.
[15]
Amory, Cleveland.
TV Guide
: ‘
Space: 1999
.’ 28 February 1976.
[16]
Waters, Harry F.
Newsweek
: ‘Spaced Out.’ 20 October 1975.
[17]
Javna, John.
Best of SF TV.
1987.
[18]
Carmody, John.
The Washington Post
: ‘1999 Gets Humanised.’ 2 January 1976.
[19]
Alder, Dick.
Los Angeles Times
: ‘Some Lame Rerunning.’ 9 January 1976.
[20]
In some instances the Granada broadcast dates recorded in this book do not include time of day as the information is unavailable.
[21]
In fact, colour television was introduced in the late 1960s in the UK, but sets were still very expensive at the start of the 1970s and most families still watched in black and white.
[22]
Stewart, Brian.
Cinefantastique
magazine: ‘It’s really disco, lost out there!’ 1975.
[23]
Denney, James D.
Art and Story
: ‘The Metamorph and the Metamorphoses.’ August 1976, No 2.
[24]
Carolyn actually orders Maya to change into ‘a monkey’. As monkeys and chimps are not the same thing, one can only attribute this dichotomy to Maya’s own interpretation of the term ‘monkey’. This is not a completely satisfying explanation, however, as Maya previously transformed into a spider monkey in ‘A Matter of Balance’, so she obviously knows the differences in the primates.
[25]
Leider, R. Allen.
Circus
magazine: ‘
Space: 1999
Tries To Change Its Image’, 28 February 1977, No. 130.
[26]
Cruthers, Michael.
Eagle 1
: ‘Saving
Space
’, September – October 1977, Vol 1, No 3.
[27]
Setchfield, Nick.
SFX,
number 77. Spring 2001.
[28]
Rovin, Jeff.
Science Fiction Chronicle
. May 2001.
[29]
Soyka, David.
Sci-Fi Weekly
: ‘Earth’s moon goes out of orbit in a lavishly produced, slick adventure series that spins out of control itself.’ 5 March 2001.
[30]
Szadkowski, Joseph.
The Washington Times
: ’
Space: 1999
crew faces nuclear threat in space.’ 28 July 2007.
[31]
Dillon, Jeff.
Signonsandiego.com
: ‘Whimper from the Past:
Space: 1999
.’ 24 May 2004.
[32]
Stuart, Alasdair.
Sci-Fi Now
: ‘
Space: 1999
– Classic Seventies heroism on a runaway moon.’ Issue 10. 2007.
[33]
Vinciguerra, Thomas.
The New York Times
: ‘The Future: Bright. The Fashion: Blinding.’ 12 August 2007.
[34]
Hogan, David J.
FilmFax Plus
: ‘New & Unusual DVDs Under Scrutiny.’ October/December 2007.
[35]
Nichols, Peter M.
The New York Times
: ‘The Noble Two-Season Mission of
Space: 1999
.’ 4 February 2001.
[36]
Brown, Anthony.
SFX
, Number 39, June 1998.
[37]
Richardson, Michael.
Action TV
: ‘Back To The Future.’ Spring, 2002.