1970 Talking Astronaut

Borrowing his uniform and voice box from the 1969 version, the 1970 Talking Astronaut (7405) added flocked blond hair.  While overstock of white plastic astronaut caps occasional show up in 1970 boxes, the cap was not standard issue.  The Talking Astronaut can occasionally be found boxed in a silver astronaut suit, rather than the white jumpsuit.  The figure can occasionally be found with brown hair, like the Man of Action.

The first issue box end panel below left has an intriguing black overprint on the contents list.  It covers the phrase 'flight manual,' an item that Hasbro did not produce to my knowledge.  This might have been an insert advertising other Astronaut sets.  Hasbro did intend to produce more Astronaut items that never made it to store shelves, such as an aborted vehicle called the "Space-a-matic" based on the technology of their 'Amaz-a-matics' car line, and a space telescope.

Note that astro cap at the top of this 1970 insert (below) is removed from the art to reflect the item being dropped from the set.  Compare to the 1969 version.