With the return of “For All Mankind” quickly approaching, now is the time to “button up” for the alternate space history series’ journey to Mars.
Fortunately, Icon Heroes has exactly what you need.
As recently announced by Apple TV+, the fourth season of “For All Mankind” is set to debut on Nov. 10. Created by Ronald D. Moore, along with current showrunners Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert, “For All Mankind” explores how humanity’s space exploration efforts may have proceeded differently if the Soviet Union had beaten the United States to landing a man on the moon.
One of the ways the show has distinguished its timeline from our own has been the inclusion of altered or entirely new mission patches worn by the astronauts in the series. For the past three seasons, Icon Heroes, a pop culture collectibles company, has sold limited edition replicas of the “For All Mankind” embroidered emblems.
Related: ‘For All Mankind’ needs recruits for Mars in 4th season on Apple TV+ (video)
Now, the Irvine, California-based company is offering those same alternate Apollo artworks, space shuttle symbols and Martian marks as collectible pinback buttons.
“Blast off into a world of imagination with our ‘For All Mankind’ Pin Buttons Sets!” Icon Heroes announced on its website this week. “Join the passionate fan community and proudly display your love for ‘For All Mankind’ wherever you go!”
The new tinplate buttons, which each measure 1.25 inches (3.2 centimeters) round, feature full-color reproductions of the variety of mission patches designed by the show’s artists, including graphic designer Evan Regester and graphic consultant Mike Okuda. Following the plot of the show, some of the patches include the names of real-life astronauts, while others name characters created for the series. A number of the patch designs are reminiscent of or borrow elements from the insignia created for the real NASA, including a few drawn by Okuda.
Icon Heroes earlier offered most of the designs as part of now sold-out sets of cloth patches. Several of the buttons, though, feature insignia not previously available, including two Korean designs, an emblem for the fictional Thomas Paine Space Telescope and a mission patch for the second-generation space shuttle Pathfinder featuring Sally Ride on its crew.
Icon Heroes is selling the “For All Mankind” buttons in sets of five organized by theme and season. For example, Set 1 includes the show’s patch art for Apollo missions 15 through 19 (in reality, the missions after Apollo 17 were canceled due to budget cutbacks). Set 5 has the emblems representing the 86th through 90th expeditions to the Jamestown moon base, a central setting for the series’ first and second seasons.
All together, there are 10 five-piece button sets priced at $16.50 each. Icon Heroes also has a full set of 50 buttons available for $150.
Icon Heroes is making each set of buttons as ordered, so the company advises to allow extra time for shipping. The company is currently offering free shipping on all U.S. domestic orders of $75 or more.
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