Astro Locker Art
I'm a big fan of action figure carrying cases. What seems like such a utilitarian item can be an interesting collection focus. In the heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed every toy line had its own case. These days they're just not as plentiful, at least in the plain "just a glorified box" sense of the past.
GI Joe had a hit with its footlocker concept. Designed to resemble the real thing, albeit in a scaled-up size in relation to the figures, the locker was a brilliant tie-in that provided an attractive way to store and tote Joe. The original was a plain drab green affair, but during the "Adventures of" series before the more famous Adventure Team, the lid of the boxes featured graphics based on package art.
The Astro Locker was themed to the astronaut sets, and was right in time with the space race going full bore. While the "Adventures of" art wasn't the imagination-fueling visual feast of the later Adventure Team package paintings, the sets depicted were nevertheless clearly presented. What better to cross-sell the product?
That’s actually some pretty cool art. I’m more familiar with the carrying cases from when I was a kid: roughly rectangular box made out of heavy duty cardboard and wrapped in vinyl. Inside were usually two plastic trays with a few compartments for holding figures (one figure per compartment) and a place to hold accessories/weapons.
Harkens back to the glory days of the space race. The footlocker set idea sounds interesting.