The Outer Space Men, LLC Outer Space Men Cosmic Radiation Alpha 7 Action Figure The Outer Space Men, LLC, 2017
Day #1,806: October 5, 2017
Cosmic Radiation Alpha 7 The Man from Mars
Outer Space Men Cosmic Radiation Figures
Item No.: n/a Manufacturer:The Outer Space Men Includes:Staff, 2-piece helmet, alternate glow arms, backpack, ray gun Action Feature:Glows, pops apart Retail:$20.00? Availability: September 8, 2017 Other: Brings the total to 8 Alpha 7s, 9 if you count weapon variants
That's the stuff. In popular culture, The Outer Space Men got this guy right the first time. He's a little green man, after all. He's also been blue, bluegreen, a creamy color, and in vague Mickey Mouse-esque cosplay. Cosmic Radiation Alpha 7 brings one of the more famous toy martians not named Marvin and brings him back to the best hue of the atomic age - atomic glow green. If ever there was a more appropriate combination, I'd like to see it. (Actually, they're all pretty appropriate as glowing figures given the fears of atomic energy in sci-fi schlock of the era.)
Alpha 7's the same basic mold you first saw in 2011, now with silver highlights and lots of glowing bits. If you bought him before, your expectations are properly managed - it's a small figure, not much bigger than a couple of quarters. The legs have an unusual jointing known as the "v-crotch," which means that the legs spread out rather than swing forward - if you bought 1990s Star Trek or 1980s Ewoks, I'm sure you know the score. My sample of the figure stands nicely, although it would have been nice if we had some display stands. Remember the Jump Bricks or whatever they were that the Four Horsemen proposed? I could use some of those now, just for shelf dive safety purposes. My Cosmic Radiation Cyclops decided he was Greg Louganis in the spring and it took me a while to find his foot. But I digress.
The backpack plugs in to a hole in his back via the ever-present Glyos plug, and on mine it was a tight fit. It took a fair amount of pressure and rotation, plus some grunting, but the results were ultimately worthwhile once it got in there. The clear bubble helmet fits perfectly, and the ray gun fits in his fist just fine. Arm swapping is as easy as always, with alternate bent arms allowing you to change up the mini martian's look since accordion joints are out of vogue these days.
While some of the other figures deployed silver in really creative ways, the paint here is merely sensible. I was wowed by Astro-Nautilus' painted suction cups and Commander Comet's silver hair. Alpha 7 has a silver collar, silver accordion joints, a silver dot on his chest, a silver jet pack, and some silver on his guns and eyes. It works well enough, but things like the weird triangle on Comet or the glowing demon head with Mystron really amped things up to the next level. This is in no way to say the deco is bad - just not surprising. It's green when it glows, though, and this is what matters.
For those keeping track, you might remember something about how these are made - specifically, a series' worth of accessories are on a single sprue. This means that glowing helmets (instead of clear) and clear staffs (instead of glowing) exist and were run - we got samples of them in a baggie with the order, but right now it doesn't seem to be advertised as a bonus with all orders. This goes for Commander Comet, Electron+, and Mystron too - none of the year one guys seemed to have bonus parts in my order.
If I said Alpha 7 felt like it was ever worth the asking price, you'd know I was lying. Compared to his original wave mates like Mystron and Commander Comet, there's just not enough plastic here to make you say "wow." As part of the collection the price averages out a little bit better, and the toy is really wonderful as a display piece or another glowing army man. Because it's a martian, and it glows, and it's Glyos, and it's The Outer Space Men I have no reason to tell you anything other than you should buy it. You may disagree, and you should know that you are wrong. I love seeing these strange new relics of the 1960s, and am giddy that Super7 will be making similarly sized Planet of the Apes toys soon as well. And Funko has Batman 1966 in this size. It's a good time to be alive.
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