While most of the new products at the 2000 American International Toy Fair were targeted at younger children, there was no shortage of space toys for those whose disposable income outstrips the allowance of the average 10 to 14 year old.

Older fans -- what one manufacturer affectionately called the "arrested development crowd" -- can look forward to toys featuring everything from accurate historical recreations to modern conspiracy mythology to television and film tie-ins.

Child Light, a Vermont-based manufacturer of educational play sets, put the historical quest for space in perspective with a display featuring two of their new products for 2000.

Their First Steps in Flight kit will recreate Orville and Wilbur Wright's 1901 unpowered glider flight. This first attempt to get off the ground laid the foundations for their more famous triumph at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, two years later.

Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon only 68 years after that flight, and Child Light also plans to commemorate the 1969 moon landing with a First Steps on the Moon kit.

This set will include astronaut action figures, a model of the lunar module and replicas of the solar collector, laser reflector and seismograph experiments that the Apollo 11's crew conducted during their visit to the moon.

The package will also contain a "sample" of the moon's surface, complete with the footprints of the action figures.

While the figures displayed at Toy Fair lacked nametags -- Child Light doesn't have the rights to use the names or likenesses of the astronauts -- they were accurate recreations of the first lunar explorers, right down to "gold" foil plated helmets and realistic NASA patches.

The intricacy and attention to detail that will make these toys effective learning tools will make them right at home amid the collections of older space toy aficionados.

Shadow Box Collectibles, Inc. has capitalized on the Roswell zeitgeist with a collection of alien toys. The collection included spaceships and action figures ranging from standard gray aliens and alien-human hybrids to shadowy Men in Black.

The highlight of the Shadow Box collection was the Zetales, an eerily familiar rock and roll band.

Modeled on the Beatles as they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in February, 1964, the aliens -- Ohn, Aul, Eorge and Ingo -- were realistically dressed and posed, right down to Aul's famous left-handed Rickenbacker guitar.

In addition to these figures, Shadow Box displayed an impressive array of alien-themed merchandise. Their booth included a sculpture based on the UFO that allegedly crashed in the 1947 Roswell incident, as well as a collection of holiday ornaments including a jolly extraterrestrial Saint Nick and a Little Alien drummer boy.

The true Toy Fair jackpot for space fans was in media tie-ins.

Commenting on the challenges of creating figures in a seven-inch scale, sales representative Larry Jones noted that it is easier for modelers to reproduce the makeup effects and prosthetic enhancements behind the Luxan warrior D'Argo than it is to make the Crichton figure look like actor Ben Browder.

Based on the production models on display, the Toy Vault team met both of challenges with impressive results.

Jones said he is "surprised" at how popular the toy line is. Months before the scheduled release, both retailers and fans of the show are contacting Toy Vault to ask about the Farscape line.

Hasbro has the jewel in the SF licensing crown: Star Wars. Toy Fair offerings from the galaxy far away featured both a continuation of the Episode One line and an expansion of the classic Star Wars Trilogy collection.

The Star Wars section of Hasbro's showroom included several variations on popular figures. A new sculpt of Chewbacca shows him in the "let the Wookie win" pose he adopted during the holographic chess game in Star Wars: A New Hope.

Fans of The Phantom Menace can look forward to a "break apart" Darth Maul figure that allows children to recreate Obi-Wan Kenobi's bifurcation of the Sith Lord during their climactic battle in Episode One.

Interactivity has a big role in Hasbro's Star Wars strategy. Company representatives touted the fact that the next wave of Comm Tech chips -- a feature that enables action figures to "speak" actual lines of movie dialogue -- will be able to store more recorded data than earlier versions.

Other electronic marvels included a talking C-3PO and the royal Naboo starship play set. Like earlier spaceship toys, the Naboo vessel featured light and sound elements.

In a new twist for the Star Wars line, the set includes a triggering mechanism that uses "laser tag" technology to remotely activate these features.

For the more martially-minded fan, Hasbro plans to offer two new lightsaber replicas. Traditionalists will be able to pick up Obi-Wan Kenobi's trusty blade from Episode One, while free spirits will be able to customize a "choose-your-own" lightsaber.

This device will feature an original lightsaber design -- one never seen in any Star Wars film -- with a clear plastic blade. Prospective Jedi Knights will be able to select the color of the blade by slotting in one of three colored filters.

Sample copy promised players would "slice and dice battle druids with glowing lightsabers! Race Gungan bongo subs through the watery depths of Naboo! Battle the forces of darkness with courage, diplomacy and a trusty blaster!"

To sweeten the gaming pot, the Episode One role-playing game -- scheduled for an October release -- will come with an exclusive action figure.