One of the unusual creatures that came with Mattel's 1960s Strange Change machine toy (the unit was also marketed as the Time Machine). Said electric device featured heating and compression chambers that transformed square memory-plastic "Time Capsules" into toy figures and back again.
The actual Membrane Man toy was molded from magenta-colored plastic, but the artwork on the Strange Change box depicts him as yellow, which is the look I prefer (that sickly hue gives the impression that he's made out of moldy cheese or something similarly disgusting.) In my opinion, Membrane Man looks an awful lot like a "zombified" version of Mothman, the otherworldly creature reportedly sighted by numerous individuals at Point Pleasant, West Virginia from November 1966 to December 1967. I don't know which year(s) in the 1960s that theStrange Change toys were produced, so, it's quite possible that Membrane Man's creation precedes the first Mothman encounter, but, I still think it would be neat if whomever designed Membrane Man was inspired by accounts of the legendary cryptid.The Membrane Man,made it in an issue of the Fantastic Four,drawn by Art Adams-uncreditted ofcourse.FANTASTIC FOUR (1961-2011) #348 ~
Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, acrylic paint, plastic, and super glue.
Dimensions:
5.6 cm / 2.2 in. x 6.8 cm / 2.7 in. (widest point x highest point)
Time:
Two days: December 3 and 4, 2012. I modeled most of the figure's anatomy, with the exception of the wings and right "hand", on the third, and finished everything up the following day. Altogether, it took roughly six hours to make the figure and an hour-or-so to paint it. Illustration of Membrane Man, from the front of the Strange Change machine's box. Close-up of the Membrane Man toy emerging/entering the Strange Change machine's compression chamber. This is the Strange Change machine itself (labeled as the Time Machine in this case.)
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This is a nonprofit web site. Any and all copyrighted imagery, terminology, etc., depicted here belongs to its respective holders/owners, namely Mattel. The repeating background graphic is a photo of the Strange Change Machine's heating chamber with both a fully formed figure and a Time Capsule inside it. The midi music playing is the "Naaktkha Castle" theme from the video game Drakkhen (I just picked an ominous sounding tune that I felt fit Membrane Man.) |
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Sunday, September 29, 2013
Membrane Man
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It had to be 1967-68 when that Mattel Time Machine was marketed to children, because I remember it from my childhood 50 years ago. What a memory for me to see the Time Machine, the landscape and characters, and Membrane Man again just once more before I die of old age some day. Such, indeed, was a part of my distant childhood.
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