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pace shuttle launches have become commonplace. People aren't excited anymore when they see man slip the surly bonds of Earth into the freedom of orbit. It's too much like watching a cargo ship leave port. And like many people, Homer Simpson demands more entertainment from his government-funded space launches. After all, the latest mission is mostly about studying the effects of weightlessness on tiny screws. Irate, Homer calls NASA complaining about how boring launch coverage has become.
After confirming that the recent shuttle launch was beaten out in the Nielsen ratings by "A Connie Chung Christmas," NASA decides that what the public needs is to see an "everyday blue-collar slob" sent into space. When NASA arrives to talk to Homer, he suspects they are going to arrest him for making prank calls, so he blames Barney. Soon, Barney and Homer are in competition to be the slob who goes on the space mission. Homer, however, is no match for a sober Barney, who excels during astronaut training. To celebrate his victory, they all drink champagne and Barney instantly reverts to his constantly drunk condition, steals a jet pack and zooms away. Homer wins the mission by default ("the two sweetest words in the English language"). All of which is strange, because the champagne is non-alcoholic.
Homer is sent into space with trained astronauts Race Banyon and Buzz Aldrin (guest-voiced by Buzz himself). While there, in typical fashion, Homer makes a mess of things, spilling potato chips all over the cockpit and breaking open the experimental ant farms. ("Protect the Queen!" "Which one's the Queen?") Soon a fight breaks out, a hatchway accidentally opens, and Homer saves the shuttle at the last minute by jamming the hatchway shut with an inanimate carbon rod. Upon returning to Earth, a ticker-tape parade is held in honor of the hero who saved the mission—the inanimate carbon rod.
In recent years, Playmates Toys has produced action figures based on the Simpsons TV show. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, almost every character imaginable has been committed to plastic (as an example, see "The Treehouse of Horror Playset"). The figures usually measure from 3 to 6 inches in height.
For "Deep Space Homer," Playmates has changed format and created a smaller set of figures as a box set. The "Deep Space Homer" set comprises five figures from the episode: Homer, Barney, Race Banyon, a NASA scientist and a superintelligent chimp. The figures measure from 2.5 to 3.5 inches tall.
Mmmmm ... collectible action figures
Simpsons action figures have been quite popular in recent years, mainly due to the show's immense popularity, as well as Playmates' uncanny ability to take the two-dimensional cartoon characters and render them in plastic with gorgeous accuracy.
These new figures, though smaller, and lacking the popular "Intelli-Tronic" voice chips—which would have allowed them to utter choice phrases from the show or to fit in with other Simpsons figures on the electronic playsets—are nonetheless similar and as beautiful as their larger cousins.
The articulation of the action figures is basically identical to the larger figures. The legs are a solid piece that rotate around the waist; the arms have simple pitch rotation, and the heads swivel. This is typical of the Simpsons line, and is sufficient for this kind of action figure whose purpose is to be a tangible piece from a well-loved TV show.
Homer is suited up in his NASA space suit, complete with mission patch, and is holding the inanimate carbon rod. Race Banyon is in the same space suit, though noticeably less bulbous. Barney is in his NASA astronaut-training jumpsuit and is holding a bottle of champagne. He is strapped to a jet-pack. The unnamed NASA scientist is in glasses and lab coat and is holding a clipboard. Unlike the larger figures, which come with accessories, the clipboard is not removable. Also included in the set is a chimpanzee who was presumably sent into space on an early NASA mission only to have returned superintelligent. He is wearing a business suit and roller skates and is smoking a pipe.
The figures are well-molded and painted, and stand well. The space helmets are particularly nice, allowing a clear view of the characters without cheating. This could have been done without a clear plastic visor, but Playmates took the extra effort to mold the helmet in clear plastic and paint the white parts.
Even the choice of figures shows that Playmates' market for these figures is die-hard fans. And to that end, they succeed immensely. Even their packaging is designed for Simpsons geeks. Not only is the set named after the episode, but the episode's designation is shown (#1F13) as well as the original air date. The back of the package has an episode summary, as well as "Episode Fun Facts" and "Simpsaholic Trivia Questions," all of which are designed to satisfy the hard-core Simpsons fan. There is not even an attempt to identify any of the figures on the packaging itself.
Fans know when they are being taken seriously, and this series of figures pays them appropriate homage. Those fans won't be disappointed.
An epitomal episode with all the best references to classic science-fiction greats such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek and Empire of the Ants, to name just a few of the many, as well as social and political references of great relevancy in 1994. This episode, probably one of the top five of all time, is well commemorated with this new playset. My only wish is that these figures were released individually, in the more popular "Intelli-Tronic" format, so they could fit in with the other Simpsons figures and talk using the environment playsets. And then of course, they could have made a space shuttle playset to go along with the figures. I sure would have bought that! — Sean
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