Astronaut

Since the inimitable Ovy seemed intrigued (HERE), I decided to post a few images of my token astronaut. He is a reconstituted Apollo 11 Astronaut from DID. These were available either individually (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins) or as a 3-pack for an astronomical price. I was not so gung-ho about this as to expend the money on a group set or even an individual set, but I picked up enough parted out pieces to put together a generic astronaut (learning the hard way that there was a difference in the features and attachment capabilities between the suits for those who made it out of the module and those who did not). DID did a great job recreating all the details, and there is even more detail hidden away under outer layers (as in the life support assembly). The extravehicular visor provides several different options, the extravehicular boots fit over the intravehicular ones, there are swappable intravehicular and extravehicular gloves (the intravehicular ones work with bendy-fingered hands), etc. Some of the details are both commendable and frustrating, like the strap and buckle on the "snoopy cap" or the rather loose connection of some of the hoses going into the suit. The sets are excellent, although for my much more limited purposes, the more limited selection of items from them make do, even in the absence of many cool pieces.





















Here is a link to the full DID sets themselves:
https://www.did.co/product/apollo-11-astronauts/

So you had a secret astronaut all the time.

Maybe you have a secret moon diorama, too?

Maybe it was used for a certain stop motion film in the late 60s?

It will all be revealed soon.


No, beautiful, really. The lighting really makes it look like the real ('real') photos. Great mood. Really like the 'sun' reflection on the canopy.

There is a lot to be learned from it for anyone who might try to make some kind of EVA suit etc.

Btw I once watched a review of this figure. The guy was whispering and making some kind of ASMR video out of it. Really weird.


Btw OVA Toys used these Apollo red and blue hose connection belly thingies on the suit for the bionic eye of the Laser Angel April's mask.

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3928-new-product-ova-toys-1-6-series-of-angels-ranger-april-of-laserstorm-the-armoured-avenger-industrial-air-force-female-sexy-figure-vo-soa-001a?highlight=April




And: A moment of silence for the guys who never made it out of the module.

Ovy wrote:So you had a secret astronaut all the time. Maybe you have a secret moon diorama, too? Maybe it was used for a certain stop motion film in the late 60s? It will all be revealed soon.

No, beautiful, really. The lighting really makes it look like the real ('real') photos. Great mood. Really like the 'sun' reflection on the canopy. There is a lot to be learned from it for anyone who might try to make some kind of EVA suit etc.

Btw I once watched a review of this figure. The guy was whispering and making some kind of ASMR video out of it. Really weird.

Btw OVA Toys used these Apollo red and blue hose connection belly thingies on the suit for the bionic eye of the Laser Angel April's mask. And: A moment of silence for the guys who never made it out of the module.

I thought of making a joke about staging the moon landing. But my fake sand surface is a very different color and I didn't have the time or energy to engage in color manipulation. Also, I did not pick up the video camera piece from the DID set.

I'm glad you like it. I like it too. Not quite enough to buy the whole set or better yet the group set (just not much that into it, and I have other priorities), but it was great putting together a realistic and detailed rendition of an astronaut. Did you finally figure out the likeness? I have also dropped the occasional hint -- here and in the Rivals thread.

What exactly does ASMR mean? And yes, I found what you were referring to. Hadn't seen the whisper video (he is already almost annoyingly laid back to begin with, but this was really irritating to me), but I had seen the others. I provide the links below, in case someone is interested.

It never occurred to me that OVA Toys' astounding creation incorporated one of those hose ports (or whatever they are). Very cool. It makes perfect sense, but your creativity never ceases to amaze.







Trigger warning, the next one is ASMR (whatever that means) and the incredibly annoying:

Michael J. Fox as astronaut! Wow. Nice. You must spend an inordinate amount of time scouring the sites waiting for all of these pieces to go up for sale loose. Nice looking figure.

Stryker2011 wrote:Michael J. Fox as astronaut! Wow. Nice. You must spend an inordinate amount of time scouring the sites waiting for all of these pieces to go up for sale loose. Nice looking figure.

Thank you. And good spotting. I had to make sure it was a time traveler, to allow the two universes to collide.

GubernatorFan wrote:Trigger warning, the next one is ASMR (whatever that means) and the incredibly annoying....

I had forgotten what ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) meant until I looked it up just now. I had read about it a few years ago. Apparently it was a YouTube fad. Maybe it still is, I don't know. Whispering is involved, apparently. Makes Ovy's comment even funnier now that I'm reminded what ASMR is.

Here's a link summarizing ASMR: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/22-fascinating-facts-about-asmr/ar-AAKP8L9

The astronaut fig is pretty cool... but kinda leaves me feeling a bit sad. Fifty years ago there were people walking on the moon. In fact, we're coming up on fifty years since the last moon landing. What happened after that? Why did it all stop?

Anyway, cool pics, and as noted above, the lighting in some of the pics has an authentic look to it.

davidd wrote:The astronaut fig is pretty cool... but kinda leaves me feeling a bit sad. Fifty years ago there were people walking on the moon. In fact, we're coming up on fifty years since the last moon landing. What happened after that? Why did it all stop?

Anyway, cool pics, and as noted above, the lighting in some of the pics has an authentic look to it.

Thank you for the link. I also looked up the definition of ASMR. Contrary to what some have suggested might be the problem with people who do not like ASMR, I don't have an issue with the "tactile" immersion in the sounds occurring during the unboxing and putting together of the figure. However, the whole whispering thing was really annoying to me. And it's supposed to make people relax. I swear, if I had not muted it, I would have turned into the Hulk there and then.

I agree, on principle, although I suppose they figured the benefits of landing someone on the moon were, for now, outweighed by the risks and costs. Perhaps that will change when we figure out how exploit and transport mineral resources from there efficiently. But, yes, we don't seem to have much to show for ourselves since... except maybe landing a robot on Mars and telescope deep space exploration.

Glad you liked the photos. Ultimately they were just meant to illustrate the astronaut, but I did try to make it as a little ad hoc scene, while keeping the task light's glare off the screen projecting the background. And, being painfully shy, to avoid showing up reflected on the visor.

I am a bit of sucker for Astronauts , I wouldn`t of minded that DID set , but as you say very expensive . Cool figure I almost feel inspired to buy one , but think I can resist...... Maybe . Cool figure .

Yeah that is exactly the video I meant, haha. Good to see there are normal ones too. Not quite sure if the robotic DiD video was better.

But they have a lightweight hammer! Moon zombies, you fcked with the wrong Armstrongnaut! If you mess with the flag, you mess with US!

The neck ring and hose thingies (let's call them hosies) were the first things I printed in the printer, hoping to make some kind of fantasy space suit one day.

Fun fact: The population of Moon and Mars consists entirely of robots.

Chip wrote:I am a bit of sucker for Astronauts , I wouldn`t of minded that DID set , but as you say very expensive . Cool figure I almost feel inspired  to buy one , but think I can resist...... Maybe . Cool figure .

Thanks, I think so too. And feel your wallet's pain...

Ovy wrote:Yeah that is exactly the video I meant, haha. Good to see there are normal ones too. Not quite sure if the robotic DiD video was better. But they have a lightweight hammer! Moon zombies, you fcked with the wrong Armstrongnaut! If you mess with the flag, you mess with US! The neck ring and hose thingies (let's call them hosies) were the first things I printed in the printer, hoping to make some kind of fantasy space suit one day. Fun fact: The population of Moon and Mars consists entirely of robots.

Well, clearly that is a different universe than the one in Iron Sky. And if there are only robots on the Moon and Mars, no Moon zombies either. At least that will not be a threat to our astronauts... just hope the robots are friendly. But yes, there were all sorts of normal videos, thankfully...

I was really tempted by the DID Apollo astronauts, as they are one of my 1/6th collecting interests. I have the DML (Dragon) Apollo figures and while they are not as detailed as the DID ones, I just couldn't pull the trigger. Then Michael Collins passed away and I bought the parts to put him together. So I just have to get them out of their boxes and on display. I'm also looking for a nice backdrop and base for the Armstrong and Aldrin. Nice pictures!

Tom

Really great pics of your astronaut with that backdrop and the lighting, Guv. 

When I was a kid I was totally into the space race of the 60s. I wasn't so much into the Apollo program as the Gemini program, because the Gemini was more of a "pilot" type craft (forward facing copilot cockpit) and what Wally Schirra did with that Gemini rendezvous seemed like the coolest thing in the world! (rendezvous to within one foot in orbit and keep position for almost half an hour) He was my total space hero, and the only astronaut to participate in all three original programs.

Nice looking figure!

tflockj11 wrote:I was really tempted by the DID Apollo astronauts, as they are one of my 1/6th collecting interests. I have the DML (Dragon) Apollo figures and while they are not as detailed as the DID ones, I just couldn't pull the trigger. Then Michael Collins passed away and I bought the parts to put him together. So I just have to get them out of their boxes and on display. I'm also looking for a nice backdrop and base for the Armstrong and Aldrin. Nice pictures!

Thank you very much, Tom. I'm glad you have the Dragon figures. I do have one older astronaut (or parts) which may be from that series. The detail here is astounding, although not everything functions perfectly -- in terms of ease of putting it together or keeping it working. Prices are quite painful these days to begin with, and all the more so when you are trying to get a group set or separate figure sets that go together. And there was no expensive movie or TV license to worry about here (would there be a NASA one), so there is definitely some nostalgia exploitation. When I began gathering the parts, they were selling out like hot bread and I ended up with almost all Michael Collins parts (he was less sought after and I wanted to make sure everything fit) -- but then I realized just how different his suit was from the ones that actually went out of the module and onto the moon surface (since they had to fit more hoses, etc). So I ended up buying a second suit, extravehicular gloves and boots, etc. The DID sets come with awesome bases, simulating the lunar surface and the astronauts' footprints (I think -- double check the videos). If you can find (or make/print -- from a high resolution photo) a nice earthrise poster, that could be a good backdrop (these days I'm lazy and usually project such things on my screen as I did here). But try matching the color of the surface better than I did (this was "sand" surface for architectural models, but in this instance "road pavement" might have worked better).

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:Really great pics of your astronaut with that backdrop and the lighting, Guv. When I was a kid I was totally into the space race of the 60s. I wasn't so much into the Apollo program as the Gemini program, because the Gemini was more of a "pilot" type craft (forward facing copilot cockpit) and what Wally Schirra did with that Gemini rendezvous seemed like the coolest thing in the world! (rendezvous to within one foot in orbit and keep position for almost half an hour) He was my total space hero, and the only astronaut to participate in all three original programs.

Thank you very much, TGF. Sometimes I think we forget how this has inspired and improved our notions of science fiction and space fantasy, which are so prominent a subject matter in our hobby.

BAMComix wrote:Nice looking figure!

Thank you very much, Dal, I'm glad you liked it.

I remember when these came out but never looked at them closely, the price tag on them made me look away. The detail is beautiful, I remember the Hasbro Buzz and how much I wanted it but it was I think 50 usd which back then was a lot for me. It's cool you managed to put him together.

Theboo-bomb wrote:I remember when these came out but never looked at them closely, the price tag on them made me look away. The detail is beautiful, I remember the Hasbro Buzz and how much I wanted it but it was I think 50 usd which back then was a lot for me. It's cool you managed to put him together.

Thanks, I found it difficult to resist reconstituting one... but yeah, the price tag was prohibitive. In retrospect, earlier figures were not that expensive -- of course we're speaking relatively, and when we were younger our resources were different.

Sigh! Great figure! Love that you have one!
My wife has repeatedly downvoted attempts to buy one. She has also thwarted my attempts to buy separate pieces. I’m going to have to be happy with the latitude she gives me for trash can robots.
I do have one of the DAM Toys High Altitude Pilots ( Engineer, I think ). He is Astronaut-ish.

Pontiacivan wrote:Sigh! Great figure! Love that you have one! My wife has repeatedly downvoted attempts to buy one. She has also thwarted my attempts to buy separate pieces. I’m going to have to be happy with the latitude she gives me for trash can robots. I do have one of the DAM Toys High Altitude Pilots ( Engineer, I think ). He is Astronaut-ish.

Thank you very much. I don't really deserve any credit, other than picking up the DID parts and spending on them... and I guess not being blessed with a wife. Your trash can robots are probably a good tradeoff, seeing that you can get so creative with them and army build. Plus, you have a happy wife!

Wow, really fantastic figure. Love it. You will win a pulitzer prize if You show an alien in the mirror glas of the helmet in a moon scene

Ephiane wrote:Wow, really fantastic figure. Love it. You will win a pulitzer prize if You show an alien in the mirror glas of the helmet in a moon scene  

Thank you very much, Ephiane, I'm glad you love it. I don't know about a Pulitzer, but you may be on to something. Diligent scrutiny of the mission archives revealed some suggestive images...

This IS the 1:6 Pulitzer ! You can tell others, You found the picture in a top secret archive in area 51

Nice. Was his before or after her incarceration?

Great pictures and great work. I'm envious. I've wanted to get an Astronaut for some time.
Then I see the prices... nnnooooOOOOOOO!!!!!

Ephiane wrote:This IS the 1:6 Pulitzer !  You can tell others, You found the picture in a top secret archive in area 51

Thank you, you're far too kind. I don't remember if the idea crossed my mind originally -- I was far too preoccupied with keeping anything from the room's environment from reflecting -- but it was a brilliant suggestion. Not very easy to pull off sans special effects, but it worked in the end.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice. Was this before or after her incarceration?

Thank you very much. You know, that is a good question, and it might become pertinent to her trial, as it might establish an additional motive of hostility between Gridney and Britney.

MX-V wrote:Great pictures and great work. I'm envious. I've wanted to get an Astronaut for some time. Then I see the prices... nnnooooOOOOOOO!!!!!

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. Yes, the prices were quite hefty, which is why I only got one, and in pieces, too.