Comments on: Rocket ship/doll house

By: Robert Cruickshank

Robert Cruickshank — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:49:00 +0000

just looked it up, and not only does it look way more like that rocket ship than I remembered (not quite apple/samsung levels of similarity, but still…) but it specifically mentions “swing down solar panels” in the catalogue. They were just blue pieces of plastic as I recall…
http://www.majormattmason.net/catalogs/catalog2/m3c2p02d.jpg

By: vinculture

vinculture — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:34:00 +0000

So in all respects it’s very much like the Moon rocket Hergé designed for Tintin…

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/Tintin_cover_-_Explorers_on_the_Moon.jpg

By: the damned fool

the damned fool — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Glad to see an acknowledgement of Major Matt Mason. The Mattel space station set lacked advances like a solar array as seen in the article.

By: Robert Cruickshank

Robert Cruickshank — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:35:00 +0000

I remember being a bit ticked-off as a child when I got a Major Matt Mason book and read the statement on the copyright page stating something about Mattel owning the trademark for their DOLL. They actually put DOLL in all caps, for some reason, perhaps just to make 6-year-old boys’ heads explode.
(edit) You can read said book here, if you are in the mood for moon worms and giant space-rabbits): http://www.majormattmason.net/blb.htm

By: Henry Pootel

Henry Pootel — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Here’s an old school popup book that folds out to a space station. Circa mid 60′s.

http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2012/01/space-station-for-fine-young-astronaut.html

By: Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:06:00 +0000

If it’s a dollhouse, where’s Eliza Dushku?

By: Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Does it have a lot of small parts/choking hazzards?

By: Ramone

Ramone — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:47:00 +0000

“…seemed like it was constructed from compressed paper.” Now that’s the weirdest description of “wood” from FSC managed forests I’ve ever heard of.

So “destructive kids” = arsonists?

By: lev36

lev36 — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:43:00 +0000

I noticed that too! And then you can turn it around and decelerate at 1G as you arrive, likewise.

By: garyg2

garyg2 — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:09:00 +0000

‘Moon’ bugged me on this matter; Earth-like gravity in the base, low-gravity, bouncy-bouncy time outside on the surface. Yeah, ‘artificial gravity’ I guess, but a little inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the film.

Though excellent in all other ways I have to say.

By: blueelm

blueelm — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:21:00 +0000

If your mother is around, call her today and tell her the internet loves her.

By: B E Pratt

B E Pratt — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Wow! And it looks like it’s endorsed by a young David Letterman!!

By: B E Pratt

B E Pratt — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:10:00 +0000

One of the reasons I always preferred Babylon 5 to Star Trek was that the first had a greater tendency to get the physics right. Rotating space platform = instant gravity.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:52:00 +0000

Pack it away and bring it out again when they’re 7 and 5. Right now they’re too young for detailed imaginative play. Their fine motor skills aren’t ready for such tiny pieces.

Unit blocks (wooden blocks with mathematical precision….2 triangles are exactly one square, rectangle is exactly the same size as 2 squares, etc.) are a great investment. They can build their own rocket ship instead.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:46:00 +0000

No, it isn’t. A home is a place where people live. This is an exciting work environment.

Actual doll houses come in all sorts of styles. Some are very plain or rustic. They’re not gendered.

And yet they are.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:05:00 +0000

They played with it for two days and quickly got bored.

Well, duh. You should have told them that they’re only allowed to play with it one day per week.

By: Chuck Spidell

Chuck Spidell — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 06:20:00 +0000

We actually bought this for our sons (2 & 4 yrs.) for x.mas last year. They played with it for two days and quickly got bored. While all the little custom pieces are cool, there’s too many to keep organized. It certainly looks cool but lacks on usability.

By: Henry Pootel

Henry Pootel — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:12:00 +0000

On the other hand it’s a boy playing with a doll house so…

By: kmoser

kmoser — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:57:00 +0000

Why just humans? Don’t aliens play with toy rocket ships?

By: Mister44

Mister44 — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:37:00 +0000

re: “It reminds me a bit of this death star toy I wanted when I was a kid:”

That is EXACTLY what I thought too.

ETA – no actually I was thinking of this playset (which I had… well… still have) http://www.plaidstallions.com/kenner/starwarsdeathstar.html

By: Jean Baptiste

Jean Baptiste — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:59:00 +0000

Kinda like how when the USS Enterprise is circling/orbiting a planet, it’s always flying sideways…

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:50:00 +0000

Rocket ships are for boys. Doll houses are for girls. This toy therefore promotes perversion, and must be destroyed.

By: Paul Souders

Paul Souders — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:35:00 +0000

What’s cool is the floors are perpendicular to the direction of travel, so at a constant acceleration of 1G the astronauts can have Earthlike gravity.

The deck plans of 99% of all scifi spaceships have bugged me for like 30 years. What holds Cmdr. Adama to the floor, huh? HUH? Magnets?

By: mariancisar

mariancisar — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:02:00 +0000

I’ve seen this. Lots of small parts. It seemed like it was constructed from compressed paper. As long as you aren’t too rough with it, it should last a while. If you have destructive kids, look elsewhere.

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Barbie’s Dream Missile.

The perfect gift for the guy with all the bananas.

By: lorq

lorq — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:44:00 +0000

Strongly reminiscent of a softish-plastic, cylindrical, multilevel rocket-dollhouse I had in the early ’70s. Scaled to the MPC “plastic spacemen” of the day. Opened and shut like a briefcase. Anybody remember this?

By: Mark Dow

Mark Dow — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:22:00 +0000

I was hoping for a flexible solar panel to deploy for power.

By: RaidenDaigo

RaidenDaigo — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:54:00 +0000

I thought the child was a genderless clone with short hair.

By: dejoh

dejoh — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:46:00 +0000

Watch your language when you step on one of those little pieces in the middle of the night.

By: Jean Baptiste

Jean Baptiste — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:46:00 +0000

Gender stereotypes such as this tend to insure that young girls will be less likely to develop and/or maintain interests in math, science, technology, engineering, etc. Yes, inclusivity of children of color in ads such as this would be a good thing too, but you have to start somewhere. I see one very white little boy. A little girl (of any ethnicity) would be welcome.