what is this toy?
 

Anybody know what this is? All blue & orange plastic. The bottom says Aurora Plastics, West Hempstead NY. It's a big square box that folds out into a playset. At the end of the box are straps, like maybe you strap it around your waist or over the shoulder like a backpack. If it's a backpack, it would be about the shape of a ghostbusters backpack. Inside the playset are a bunch of orange & blue blocky things, a small hose, one piece takes batteries and another looks like a flashlight. On the backdrop is a clear plastic sheet with what looks like an archaeologist dig site chart plot. You can probably draw on this grid and wipe it off. Any ideas what it is?

a decent guess could be a portable crystal powered mind reading device.

Also on the bottom "1973"

im thinking its a sealab playset

or not..lol i just goggled it and the only sealab set i can find was made in 69

that's a good guess. Strap on the big scuba tank sized playset, swim around with the flashlight. It would also explain the tube. I'm thinking the grid could be the big television screen on the wall in sealab. I've seen the sealab 2021 or whatever it was on adult swim. Was there an early 70's cartoon of sealab?

it was called sealab 2020 and it premired in 1972

heres a link, scroll down a bit and theres a photo of the model .but maybe it doesnt have anything to do with the cartoon? cause it says made in 69

Old Toys

could that toy be like a predecessor to the show? a generic 1969 US Navy sealab toy spawning the idea for the 1972 cartoon? Possibly my 1973 toy is the playset remake from the cartoon? Same orange color plastic? I dunno, but incidently, I sold that Vincent Price apple head thing from the link about a year or two ago. Bought it at a yardsale for a quarter or 50 cents, sold on ebay for something like $75-$80.

it could be man..im not sure. but i love that old stuff. ill find a good piece once and awhile at yard sales or flea markets. that was a good find on the Vincent Price set ,i saw the pic of it and thought it looked really cool :D

so the consensus is?
 

Over 100 views and the best guess is a Sealab 2020 set that came out 1 year after the cartoon? Does everyone else agree or does anybody have any other guesses?

Not sure if this will help, but here's the Wiki article on Aurora:

Aurora Plastics Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Based on the timeline, Nabisco would have owned Aurora when your toy came out. It might be some kind of role-play/playset for Action/Adventure Man or some other similarly-styled toy line.

Are there any indications that it is used for slot car track pieces or controllers (guns) or power transformers?