Figure Review: Space 1999 – Number 8

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Space 1999

Number 8

8 Inch Scale

By: Classic TV Toys

$5.00

Space 1999 is a quirky, not particularly revered British sci-fi show from the legendary Gerry Anderson. It involves some rather wonky science, but is a fun show if you’re into a somewhat campy space adventure that’s not Star Trek. Palitoy, the UK wing of Mego produced a series of five figures that were fairly well received. In the US however, Mattel had the toy line. When Classic TV Toys (CTVT) took off into the reto market at the turn of the century, Space 1999 is the line they seemed to focus the most on.

CTVT not only reproduced nearly all of the old figures (except Commander Koenig, played by Martin Landau, who apparently did not want to sign off?!) but also produced several series more. It is far and away the most elaborate series that CTVT produced. Number 8 is one of the few characters who isn’t just a guy in a spacesuit. He’s a servant for the race of “human” robots, who are looking to learn the emotion that will allow them to kill. Number 8 is one of many “numbers”, but he chooses to help the Space 1999 crew (Alphans) against the androids. Perfect for an action figure!



Packaging :

The cards are pretty nice and have some great graphics on them. Of all the CTVT cards, these are probably the nicest. Of course the plastic and cardboard are both, very cheap… But the overall premise is nice enough.

The back of the cards show off all the other figures on it. It has a Star Wars vibe to me, but perhaps it’s just me. Of course there were also a few other variants produced that aren’t listed here, but this is pretty much the rundown of the series.

Sculpt :

Mego sculpts in general aren’t very good, but Palitoy’s original work with Space 1999 was a cut above most Mego fare. Such is the case with CTVT’s take on the line as well.

The face has a little bit of paint rubbing on the hair and feels quite rubbery, but that’s par for the course with most CTVT stuff. They made their toys particularly cheap, but given that you can purchase them for very little, it more or less evens out. The face sculpt is good enough that it could work for a variety of old guys.

The sculpt has a pretty good likeness of character actor, Geoffrey Bayldon. It’s not perfect, it’s not Hot Toys, but it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen either. Considering it’s CTVT, this is a nice sculpt. I assume they paid for the likeness rights as well… Which is always a good thing.

The outfit is very nice. In fact it might be the nicest Mego outfit I’ve had my hands on. It’s made of a very thick material and fits over the character well. The hood is large and fits fairly close to where it did on the actor in the Space 1999 TV show. The “8” sticker is a joke though. While it’s hanging on in these pictures, a small amount of wind, even a fart, would knock it off. It’s less of a sticker and more of a piece of paper held on by static electricity. It doesn’t bother me much cause the sticker adds very little to the overall presentation, but your mileage may vary.

There are a few loose strings here or there, but they could be snipped with scissors. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to unravel or anything. The hands are a special gold plastic, giving the illusion of gloves. It’s pretty sweet. The boots (which are removable) are the same gold color. They appear to be a bit thicker and of nicer quality that the other CTVT boots I have.

Underneath the costume is a fairly pale body. It’s nothing to write home about, but is on par with the rest of CTVT’s Mego-like bodies. You either like it or you don’t. It’s clearly not the best body out there in this scale… But it’s probably better than Mattel’s recent crack at it.

Sometimes a Mego figure will have a head sculpt that’s a little too big. However, CTVT, in the Space 1999 line in particular, had a real issue with this. Number 8’s head sculpt is gargantuan in comparison to his body. As well, he’ll look a bit big headed next to some of the other Space 1999 figures. Mostly the repro figures have small heads and the new additions to the line have big heads.

Articulation :

Mego and Mego clones tend to have a decent amount of articulation. The one area that they’re really lacking is a swivel joint for the arm. Of course, ball joined heads and thigh swivels would help as well. You can pretty much tell the articulation breakdown from the “naked” photos above.

Number 8 seems a bit stiff to me though. Perhaps because the rubber band inside him that holds him together is a bit tight? His outfit also doesn’t exactly allow for a ton of posing, because it’s of a thicker material. Still, he can stand up on his own. That’s gotta count for something.

Accessories :

Megos need accessories. It’s my philosophy.

All he gets is his scary mask. It’s way too big, but it fits on him well enough. I can’t really complain because they needed it to be big to cover his gigantic noggin.

Value :

In this market, $5.00 for just about any toy is a good value. However, in the interest of full disclosure, shortly after I took the pictures for this review, while trying to remove the outfit on Number 8, his body broke into a million pieces. Well actually, his internal rubber band snapped. He can be restrung with a little effort (there are guides on the internet) but I haven’t bothered. If you like these guys and don’t mind a potential need to be restrung, then $5.00 is a pretty good value.

Score Recap :

Packaging – 6

Sculpting – 6

Articulation – 6

Accessories – Mask

Value – 5

Overall – 6 out of 10

This figure is nothing special. He’s par for the course with Classic TV Toys. Do you want a little bit of Mego fodder? Then these guys are for you. It’s always a roll of the dice with these toys. Sometimes they’re fairly sturdy and hold up well. Sometimes they break apart. It’s best to see them as potential toys to put on better bodies… But you might score one that’s perfectly fine as is.

I’ve reviewed a couple other Space 1999 figures from this line. One broke apart at the ankles and the other is perfect. You can check out those reviews here: