Sure he may not have looked old enough to handle the task of space adventurer, but looks can be deceiving. The fearless tyke known as Billy Blastoff was positively oozing with energy, enough in fact to power a plethora of accompanying accessories all from his lone, battery-powered jet pack. Together with his sidekick, Robbie Robot, there was no galactic mission too tough for the duo to handle.

While Mattel Toys was offering up the fearless Major Matt Mason as the superhero of the stars, a smaller toy company named Eldon had a unique concept for astronaut Billy Blastoff - a backpack that served as a power source for all of the accessories. Billy could run his television and ray gun directly from the backpack, or it could be removed and plugged into a number of other toys, including a dump truck, flying saucer, and the US-8 and US-9 space cars. What this meant to savvy consumers was that one set of batteries could run the whole collection, making it a cost-effective toy for those watching their budget.

 

Billy’s wasn’t only interested in space travel, however, and was equally adept in the areas of firefighting, flying airplanes, construction work and scuba diving. The accompanying apparatus necessary for these talents could all be purchased separately and utilized the same miraculous backpack. But for all of his talents, Billy was forced into early retirement in the early 70s, assumedly with a sizeable pension to look forward to. Today, he resides in retirement on the shelves of toy collectors, rather than toy stores - his adventurous days of glory long behind him.