We Had That

Captain Eagle: Leader of the Eagle Force! (Mego, 1982) My first exposure to the Eagle Force was seeing the TV commercial and thinking, "WOW! These figures are AWESOME!"  My second exposure to the Eagle Force was seeing them in the store and thinking, "WOW! These figures are SMALL!"  For decades, The Eagle Force has been remembered for two things: 1) Mego's final bad idea before going out of business and 2) a poorly designed knock-off of G.I. Joe's "Real American Hero" line.  Well, the Eagle Force packaging has a copyright date of 1981 while the first release of 'Real American Hero' had a copyright date of 1982.  I'm pretty sure I remember seeing Eagle Force before G.I. Joe, but I'm not 100% sure about that (it was a long time ago).  Either way, I'm confident that Eagle Force was in development either before 'Real American Hero' or possibly at the same time, but certainly not AFTER, so Eagle Force definitely wasn...

Super Powers Collection - Green Lantern (Kenner, 1984) Although Green Lantern first appeared in All-American Comics in 1940, it wasn't until he was re-designed as the costumed identity of test pilot Hal Jordan in 1959 that he began wearing the costume we usually saw in the 1980s.  This second version of Green Lantern didn't just fight criminals on earth, he also became involved with the Green Lantern Corps to protect the galaxy from evil.  Green Lantern's power comes from his ring, which can temporarily create anything that the wearer can imagine.  Only those with the strongest will are chosen to be members of the Green Lantern Corps.  The rings are re-charged by lanterns which are given to the bearer along with the ring.  In March of 1960, the first appearance of the Justice League of America included Green Lantern as one of the seven original members (along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and The Flash) in issue #28 of The...

Charon from Clash of the Titans (Mattel, 1980) Clash of the Titans was an awesome movie and when it came out in the early 80s, we got a handful of cool action figures from Mattel based on the film!  Obviously there was going to be a figure of the main character, Perseus, and the main villain, Calibos.  They also threw in a figure of the main soldier dude, Thallo, which works well since he hung around Perseus a good bit.  However, it's the fourth figure in the line that was a bit of a surprise based on the movie. My childhood Charon and Perseus action figures (both missing their swords) The line was rounded out by a figure of the skeleton ferryman, Charon.  Charon is an awesome figure, but that dude was in the movie for about 2 minutes and didn't do much of anything but ferry a boat.  I'm glad Mattel made him, but if you've seen the movie, it seems like Medusa would have been the logical choice for a fourth character...or even one of the generic soldi...

Action Man: Action Force: London, 1983 In the summer of 1983, I found myself in London, England standing in the biggest toy store I had ever seen looking at a huge display of strange and intriguing action figures.  I had already stopped to stare at two guys wearing Sectaurs costumes introducing kids to the weird, new bug-warrior toy line.  I had also already seen massive sections for all kinds of new and wondrous toys that I'd never seen before, but in 1983, my focus was on G.I. Joe! These are the 8 Action Force figures and vehicle that I picked up in London in 1983. The strange figures in front of me were the closest thing to G.I. Joe in the store...in fact, some of these figures were actual G.I. Joe figures in a different package!  According to the packages, these figures were Action Man Action Force.  They were kind of like a cross between Star Wars figures and G.I. Joe; mostly 5 points of articulation and soft plastic (except for the ones that were ...