Action Figure Stand-In (Using Our Imaginations When We Were Kids!)
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| Princess Leia hides the plans to the Death Star with R2-D2 |
As an adult, life has probably kicked us in the crotch enough times that we're not too surprised when things don't go as planned. However, as kids we still lived in a world with hope and optimism. In those days. waking up on Christmas morning to find the wrong toys under the tree could sometimes be heartbreaking. We knew Grandma had the best intentions. She just really didn't know the difference between C-3PO and a Micronaut. But kids are resilient. After the shock of disappointment, we figured out a way to make it work and still played out our Star Wars adventure with substitute action figures standing in for the figures that we wanted! At least for me, in some cases those replacement figures grew into being some of my favorites.
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| C-3PO and R2-D2? Um...Those actually weren't the Droids I was looking for. |
I loved Micronauts as a kid, so it was only natural that my Time Traveler would find his way into my Star Wars adventures! To be honest, as much as I loved my Droids, I may have actually preferred a Time Traveler to C-3PO as a kid. Luckily, I had them both!
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| "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." |
Since many people seem to think that Kenner Star Wars figures were the first 3 3/4" action figures to come out, I think it's interesting that the 3 3/4" Fisher-Price Adventure People were used as the base for many of the Star Wars figure mock-ups. Someday, I plan to make customs of several of them.
The plastic cocktail swords in the photo above look just like the ones that my parents would occasionally give me after going out to dinner. I suspect I'm not alone in this. I loved those things and used them for various replacement swords throughout my childhood. I still have one that I cut down and painted to replace the sword that I lost for Perseus from Clash of the Titans.
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| "I was just going to see your boss. Tell Jabba I've got his money." |
I didn't have either of the above figures as a kid, but I certainly would have loved both of them as a kid! I'm sure The Creature would have found his way into my various Star Wars adventures. He may have been a bounty hunter one day and a cantina creature the next. The Adventure People figure would have made a great stand in for Burt Reynolds...who obviously would have been another Han Solo type character in my various Star Wars stories!
Did you use 'stand in' figures as a kid? What were some of the figures that you used and who were they standing in for? Tell me in the comments!
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I can't believe I used a short, stubbly Santa Claus bendable figure as a Super Mario toy
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Imagination can take us anywhere! :)
DeleteI had a few Micronaut and Adventure People, and a version of that wind-up robot too (I think mine had a blue dome). They wound up hanging out with my Star Wars figures, riding around in the back of my Millennium Falcon!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure riding in the Millennium Falcon wasn't a big deal for the Micronauts and the wind-up robot since they do that kind of thing all the time, but the Adventure People's minds were probably blown and I bet they were having the time of their lives! :)
DeleteI always used cocktail swords as a kid - either for Batman to fight the Penguin on a submarine, as stand-ins for light sabers with my Micronauts or as swords when I was playing Sinbad from the Harryhausen movies.
ReplyDeleteIt's wild how something as simple as a fancy, throwaway cocktail spear could end up being such a big part of our action figure adventures!
DeleteThose swords didn't fit into GI Joe hands, ergo they were trash . 🙃
DeleteHaha! You've gotta have your standards!
DeleteOutstanding! I love it. Wonder what other movies we can do?
ReplyDeleteYes! I used stand-in figures for all kinds of movies and TV shows as a kid. Now you've got me thinking of other fun scenes to re-create with my 'next best thing' action figures -Haha!
DeleteI can remember using a mego Bo Duke figure with an Obi-Wan Kanobi robe as a stand in for the Colin Baker as Doctor Who when I was a kid! Imagination is what it was all about in those days!
ReplyDeleteThe figures may be more plentiful, accessible, and detailed today, but they will never be as fun as they were when I was a kid with my childhood imagination! :)
Deletemom couldn't afford ships or playsets so I made my own. Egg carton transport ship, solo cup yoda house etc. they were sad
ReplyDeleteThere have been several specific toys over the years that I wasn't able to get as a kid, but I think in the end, I had more fun building my own versions (and I may have even played with them more) than if I'd just had the official ones purchased from the store.
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