Mattel made heavy use of "point of
purchase" advertising, in the form of stand up displays and counter top displays to
sell Major Matt Mason. Some of these colorful displays survive today in the hands of
collectors. Mike Blanchard was kind enough to share photographs of his store displays with
all of us here. In addition to the displays shown, we are aware of at least one other;
a collector in the Southeast has a store display that we do not have photographs of. It is
a 50" by 50" 2D Space Station with spacescape. It features large white lettering
in an arc across the top that reads, "An exciting universe of space toys!". The
artwork also features the Firebolt space cannon with Captain Lazer, Reconjets and the
Astro-Trac!
Other types of “POP” advertising for Matt Mason were sometimes seen too.
Mattel packaged their accessory cards in cardboard boxes that doubled as store displays.
These boxes could be opened by a store manager and then placed directly on the counter top
ready to sell. These too came in many variations.
It is quite possible that many other variations of these displays exist. Mattel even
custom made cardboard displays for large department stores such as FAO-Schwartz in major
U.S. cities. At least two of these are known to have survived, and are in the hands of
private collectors. A large display from the 1969 Toy Fair in New York City is also
rumored to have been sold in the last few years. Click below to see additional
photographs:
• Standup Display #2
• Standup Display #3
• Box Display #1
Mattel made heavy use of "point of
purchase" advertising, in the form of stand up displays and counter top displays to
sell Major Matt Mason. Some of these colorful displays survive today in the hands of
collectors. Mike Blanchard was kind enough to share photographs of his store displays with
all of us here. 
