Bauer 'Exploring The Moon' Carded Set

Every year tends to favor a particular theme or two with a whole series of posts following that theme. Unfortunately, as a blogger I tend to get antsy and want to move on to other things after a while. I know when that point has been reached when finding photos of toys on my computer that were never edited or posted. Case in point: this  'Exploring The Moon' carded set I bought from Argentina back in 2020. At that time I was hot-&-heavy into the smaller sized space toys like Triang SpaceEx, Golden Astronaut, LP, etc. I might as well post this now as there's not enough of these small sized space toys out in The Cave to start another series.

I had received some interesting information from Paul Vreede (reference his awesome SpacEx website shown on the right sidebar: Triang SpacEx Toys) back in 2020.. It should be noted that there is no manufacturer listed on the card and the name 'Bauer' appears on the card stapled to the set.

Here's the info Paul was able to provide back then: 

"Just found Bauer Toys was incorporated July 1966 and dissolved March 1986. Since they were in Hong Kong I'd expect them to've been some kind of wholesaler/exporter. Where this particular card may have been a sample to a local importer or toy store (chain).

 The presence of the two Apollo astronauts puts that card as from after the first moon landing to my mind."

Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set - Pt 8 Alien Group

The Aliens and Astronauts included in the Montgomery Wards Moon Exploration set came in groups of painted gray soft plastic and plated hard plastic versions and measure 7/8"-1" tall. My set had six hard plastic and five soft plastic aliens. Enjoy Opa Fritz

Got a nice little factory error here. The base was never molded on this guy as the plating covers the entire piece.

Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set - Pt 7 Lunar Terrain and Equipment Group

This grouping of toys from the Monkey Wards set is a loose amalgam of stuff that goes on the surface of the Moon, to include it's terrain (BTW, how many of you out there used to call Montgomery Wards 'Monkey Wards'? I've been calling it that for as long as I rememebr and other guys in the fb groups call it that as well). The Comm Center (or Control Center, or Radar Array, or whatever else you want to call it), along with the portable solar powered radio were already featured as part of my look at Imperial Toys Apollo Moon Exploring sets. The domes and portable monitor were not included in LP's carded sets. SpaceX Central has a really good write-up on those domes - which at first glance - would seem rather out-of-place in the set. SpaceX also shows other terrain pieces than what I show here but these are what came in my set. My set was also missing the small radar dish (the type used on the Command Center) that would have been included in the 'crater rock' piece. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

My Command Center is missing the hand railing for the platform

My terrain group has two identical pieces in slightly different shades

Here's a complete 'crater rock' set-up. My set is missing the radar dish

Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set - Pt 6 Flying Group

Oh wow, has it really been five days since my last post? My-oh-my time flies when you're not having fun :-) Continuing with the Monkey Wards Apollo Set, this group is rather lamely called by me the "Flying Group" - just the miscellaneous assortment of flying vehicles that didn't fit nice and cozy into another group: the suacer on wheels, downsized Patrol Copter P3, shuttle, and small rocket ship. All of these have been had a photo essay done on them during the past couple of months so no need to reiterate right now. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set - Pt 5 Vehicle Group

This next set of pieces in the Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set I'm simply calling the 'vehicle group' - just cuz! Two of these we've already covered, namely the transport vehicle and the downsized Prospector. New to us is the LP Explorer Car, one of several designs LP offered all with friction motors. The complete line-up can be seen here on SpaceX Central. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The Explorer Car measures: 3 1/4" (8.25cm) L x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) W x 1 1/4" (3.17cm) H (to top of hull)

Montgomery Wards Miniature Apollo Exploration set - Pt 3 Apollo Group

I think it's best from here on in to handle the multitudinous contents of this set in groups. This group represents the historical aspect of the toy: Mercury capsule, Command Module, LEM, American flag, and two Apollo astronaut figures. The individual toys have already been posted here as photo essays during the past couple of months so I won't repeat them here. The only difference is that the Command Module/Service Module in this set sits on a stand. The carded Apollo Moon Exploring LEM did not come with a stand. My Wards sample is missing the hatch on the Mercury capsule. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

 

Imperial Toy Apollo Moon Exploring Set No. 304L

Today brings us to the conclusion of the Imperial Toy Apollo Moon Exploring photo essay series with Set No. 304L. The set includes 1 figure, yet another MMM sled variant, and a downsized spring-loaded  MMM Firebolt Space Cannon complete with shells - see SpaceX Central. I ended up with three sets as shown below, each with a different figure pose. The next logical step in this process would be to photograph these on a Moonscape or whatever but at the rate I'm going at around here that may take awhile :-) and I have some other toys I want to post. Until Then - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

This sled measures 1 1/8" (2.85cm) L x 1" (2.54cm) wheelbase x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) H

The space cannon measures 3 3/4" (9.52cm) L x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) W x 1 1/2" (3.81cm) H