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Fisher-Price Adventure People Scuba Divers set #353 (1976-1981)
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The Fisher-Price Adventure People first went on sale in 1975 with four sets: #303 Rescue Truck, #304 Safari, #305 Rescue Copter and #306 Sport Plane. Each set included one or two 3 3/4" action figures except the Safari set which included four figures! The sets were so successful that Fisher-Price decided to add three new sets in 1976 (#307 Wilderness Patrol, #308 Super Speed Racer, #310 Sea Explorer). All of these sets sold well and were in production for several years. However, the sets all included vehicles which meant that the cost for each of these sets would prevent parents looking for an inexpensive toy from buying them as impulse purchases. Fisher-Price needed a lower-cost alternative.
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Summer fun with the Adventure People!
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To expand on the Adventure People line, in 1976 Fisher-Price started selling smaller sets that included a couple of 3 3/4" figures and some small accessories, but didn't include expensive vehicles. This allowed for them to get more products onto the shelves at a lower price point to introduce kids to the Adventure People line. The first four carded sets from 1976 were #350 Rescue Team, #351 Mountain Climbers, #352 Construction Workers, and #353 Scuba Divers. All four sets were sold in stores for several years, but the set that lasted the longest was the Scuba Divers set which was produced until 1981!
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Fisher-Price Adventure People having fun outdoors!
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The Scuba Divers set included two figures; a blonde woman and a brunette man each wearing green, sleeveless dive suits. The set also included a yellow and orange raft and two orange scuba tanks. Like all of the carded sets, the Scuba Divers set was very basic. I believe the sets sold for about $3 to $4 when they first came out.
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Matt, Becky, their raft, and two scuba tanks made up the Scuba Divers set from 1976
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As a kid, I never realized that Adventure People had been given names. I don't remember ever seeing the packages that my Adventure People would have originally come in. It's most likely that I received them on Christmas morning and they had already been removed from the package and set up by my father in some kind of action scene. The figures that came with the Scuba Divers set were Matt and Becky, but this is something I learned as an adult.
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Matt and Becky: Adventure People Scuba Divers!
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Anyone who collects Adventure People has surely seen Matt and Becky many times over the years. Since this set was produced from 1976 to 1981, there were a lot of Matt and Becky figures manufactured and Adventure People held up well to years of play. However, their paint didn't always fare as well. Matt and Becky both had a dolphin logo on their backs, but over the years, I've seen many of these figures with the logos worn off completely. Were some of the figures produced without the logo? I don't know. Any sets that I've seen pictured online wouldn't show the figures backs, so it's difficult to say.
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Matt and Becky had a logo on their backs with a dolphin
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Speaking of packaged sets, many of the Adventure People sets had slight changes made over the years. From what I've seen, there aren't any varients in the Scuba Divers set except that the original set was sold on a card and the later sets were packaged in a window box. Both versions of the set included the same two figures, two orange scuba tanks, and the yellow and orange raft.
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Fisher-Price Adventure People Scuba Divers Set #353
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The Adventure People were some of the earliest 3.75" action figures on the market. In fact, the Adventure People were used as the base figure for many of the prototypes for Kenner's Star Wars action figure line! The Adventure People toy line ran from 1975 all the way through 1985, a very impressive run for a line of toys that wasn't supported by a movie, TV show, or comic book! They were extremely well constructed compared to other 3.75" action figures. They were much less likely to lose their heads or have an arm or leg snap off compared to many of the other action figures out at the time. As a result, there are a lot of adventure people still around today. The two figures from this set are easy to find for a low price even today. However, the prices on carded and boxed figures and sets seems to have been going up over the last few years.
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End of Summer with Matt and Becky; Adventure People Scuba Divers
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Do you collect Fisher-Price Adventure People? Which sets and figures are your favorites? Have you ever owned either of these diver figures? Tell me in the comments!
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