'Albator' is for Space Pirate Captain Harlock

I don't know why the French changed his name to Albator, but he's far better known by anime/manga fan's in both Japan and the US as the Uchu Kaizoku (Space Pirate) Captain Harlock, and also in Italy where Atlantic had to produce boxes with both monikers, the French named example seeming to be far the commoner version on feebleBay!

These were produced by Fabien Plastica (I have little idea what else they made . . . Moomins and Sesame Street stuff, that sort of thing?) in 1978, off the back of the French version of the Harlock animated TV series.

Harlock had previously appeared as a Gunslinger in the American West (Gun Frontier; 1970), in space as Phantamunt Harlock (1970's The Great Pirate Harlock) where he began his career as a freedom-loving freebooter and as a WWII pilot in his first outing - 1969's Pilot 262, all created by Leiji Matsumoto and revealed to me by Helen McCarthy's 500 Manga Hero's & Villains which you may remember I grabbed in a charity shop, against such moments as this, a while ago!

They aren't that rare, when I got Nausicaa (from Chris Smith - cheers!) a while ago I looked at completing the set I'd been building for years and managed to get Albator/Harlock himself, rather tatty for a few pence off-of a UK seller, but there were several complete sets (only the five are known) on eBay.fr at the time.

However, even after he'd arrived (before Christmas) I couldn't post them as they were all over the place! The witch Sylvidre (Silvydra on Atlantic's boxes) originally Lafressia?) was an ID-lacking sorceress in the 'Unknown Fantasy Characters' box (she's been kicking around since 2009 I think), the boy (PW-show a couple of years ago?) and the doctor (John Begg, about 15-years ago) were in the 'Minor Makes F-J' box, and the more recent girl and captain were down with me; waiting for the sort-out the other night week which brought them all together!

The witch is almost demi-rond or semi-flat in her sculpting, while Nausicaa is, er'hem . . . very 3D! The doctor has what is best described as a 'hitler-cat' in his pocket, yet has quite animal-like feet himself and along with another character - not in this set - really is much smaller than the other Human/Humanoid characters.

Albator/Harlock on the other hand has been modelled oversized in comparison with the others, denoting his importance as the main character, and while we're told his gun ('Cosmo Dragoon' - based on the old Colt Dragoon) is a major part of his character, I rather like his space-laser-sword-raygun-thing with its basket-handle and pointy-pointy, space-death anointy, harpoony-tip!

There wasn't anything on Tadashi worth highlighting so I used him as a foil to the Crescent 'Berserker' for the sizer! Equally is he representative of Tadashi Daiba, Tadashi Monono, or Tetsuro Hoshino?

The bottoms of the bass-less feet have the same neat little holes in them as many of the Olá/Tito and Tylers/Mundi/Americana gum and ice cream premium figures, which may be a clue as to the real source? Remember the Comansi Lucky Luke have them too, as Olá scale-ups? Maybe Fabien Plastica was manufacturing-for or involved-with some/all of them?

This site . . .

http://www.cornponeflicks.org/harlock/harlockmain.html

. . . will tell you all you neeed to know about Harlock, but to grab a few details of most of the five characters in this set - in the order of the first image;

Dr Zero - Alcoholic ship's doctor, the cat in his pocket is supposed to be a ginger-tabby (not Hitler!) called Mi.

Kei Yuki (French; Nausicaa) - Sixteen-year-old staff officer on the Arcadia (Harlock's vessel; a Space Battleship), specialising in science and navigation, best friend (but not lover) of Tadashi Daiba.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock (French; Albator) - Rebelling against the right-wing government of Earth he takes his chances in Space at the helm of something closer to a freebooter than a true pirate vessel, he has some ethics and morals!

Tadashi - [read the character guide ofter the link-jump, he could be any one of three or four characters including two Tadashi's]

Lafressia (French; Sylvidre, Italian; Silvydra) - an alien witch queen who sparrs with Harlock (sometimes) in order to save her species; the Mazone and is not to be trusted, there may be confusion with Sunora (another Mazone) in the sculpting/naming/name-changes?

8th May - Geoff, who knows far more than me about this stuff, has them only being painted in Portugal, but made in Italy by Fabienplastica (all one word), more here with cleaner figures!