Action Figure Overview: Steel Monsters - Metal Face (Tonka, 1986)
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| Steel Monsters: Metal Face (Tonka, 1986) |
With the release of Kenner's Star Wars figures in the late 1970s, the 3 3/4" action figures format became the industry standard for several years. By 1986, it seemed like that was changing more and more. Masters of the Universe had already had a hugely successful run with their larger scale figures and Kenner was wrapping up their awesome Super Powers line of slightly larger than 3 3/4" figures of our favorite DC characters that started in 1984. Kenner was also on their second wave of the M.A.S.K. line of 2" figures. Even though GI Joe was still one of the top toy lines in 1986 with their highly articulated 3 3/4" line of Real American Heroes, we were seeing a lot of other lines that featured taller figures such as Rambo, Inhumanoids, Chuck Noris Karate Kommandos, The Karate Kid, Sectaurs, and Marshall Bravestarr. So it seemed a little behind-the-times when Tonka released the 3 3/4" Steel Monsters figures with 5 point articulation similar to Star Wars figures, which, by the way, had just ended their run in 1985.
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| Tonka Truck: The "Masher" (Steel Monsters, 1986) |
It felt like toy companies were just throwing every idea they could think of out in the mid-80s looking for the next big thing. I suspect that the main motivation for the Steel Monsters toy line was the Mad Max film franchise. Third Mad Max movie, Beyond Thunderdome, came out the summer of 1985. It may not have been the biggest movie ever, but it was certainly popular with kids my age at the time. If Beyond Thunderdome was the movie that allowed for funding of the Steel Monsters, the influence for the designs was actually the 2nd Mad Max movie, The Road Warrior. The Road Warrior movie was centered around a group of post apocalyptic survivors planning a trip for survival across the wasteland and fighting crazy bad guys in their own ominous post apocalyptic vehicles. Since Tonka was famous for making sturdy truck toys, the focus of the Steel Monsters line was really the post apocalyptic trucks. The figures themselves seemed to be almost a bonus, but Tonka did put a good bit of effort into the story behind the line.
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| Metal Face figure from Steel Monsters |
In the Steel Monsters world, there had been a disastrous explosion in an experimental lab which turned the world into a desert wasteland. The few survivors roamed the world in search of what little food and water was left. The vehicles came with a little mini comic similar to the ones that came with Masters of the Universe and Super Powers action figures. I believe each vehicle came with the same comic and a second, different comic came with each of the single carded figures. These mini comics gave kids a little bit of an idea of the personalities of each character.
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| Steel Monsters wave 1 action figures: Talon, Metal Face, Half Track, and Wheel Boss |
The vehicles and action figures were broken up into the good guys called "Survivors" and the bad guys called "Marauders." The first wave included five vehicles, but only four figures. Two of the trucks originally came with the same figure. The bad guys were Talon and Metal Face and the good guys were Half Track and Wheel Boss. In order to save money, Tonka used the same arms for all of the figures in wave one. Also, the two bad guys had the same legs and the two good guys had the same legs, so only the torsos and heads were unique for each figure.
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| Steel Monster card backs with wrong names |
Each vehicle came with a figure and there was additional information about each figure on the side of their box. Strangely, there wasn't any information about each figure on the cardbacks (which were all the same) for the carded figures. All of the cardbacks just promoted the first wave vehicles and their corresponding figure. However, they got the names of "Punk" and "Metal Face" backwards and they also promoted the "Masher" as coming with the figure Punk (who was called "Metal Face" here) even though the actual Metal Face figure came with both the Masher vehicle and the battery-powered Bomber vehicle.
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| Steel Monsters Metal Face vs Lord Humungus |
I mentioned that this line seems to have been influenced by the movie The Road Warrior. The Metal Face figure figure in particular looks quite a bit like the character "Lord Humungus" from the movie. Although different enough to avoid any potential lawsuits, Metal Face has a similar mask and chest that's bare except for a single, diagonal strap. Lord Humungus has more of a black leather harness than a strap, but still, they look similar. They also both have what appear to be leather bracelets. Both Lord Humungus and Metal Face both seem to have only a small amount of hair on the back of their heads as though they've been affected by radiation. The biggest difference between the two is that Metal Face is wearing black pants while Lord Humungus wore black shorts. There are still so many similarities that I find it hard to believe that it's a coincidence that the two look so similar.
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| Metal Face: front, back, and sides |
A second wave of carded figures was released and I've read that a second wave of vehicles was also released. However, I've never seen any of the vehicles from the second wave except in catalog photos. I believe that the second wave figures had already been manufactured when Tonka decided not to move forward with the line, so they decided to package the figures on cards and sell them just to get rid of the surplus stock. I don't know this for a fact, but based on my research, it seems logical. Anyway, as a result, the second wave figures are much more difficult to find that the first wave figures and they also tend to cost more. I only have one of the figures from the second wave, but I would definitely like to pick up the rest if I can find them for a decent price.
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| Steel Monsters "Metal Face" action figure 1986 |
I never had any of these toys as a kid, but I'm sure that if I'd had them in the late 70s or early 80s, they would have joined in with my Star Wars figures in their adventures. They really would have worked well with any of my figures with five points of articulation.
Did you have any of the Steel Monsters action figures as a kid? Did you even know they existed? Do you collect them now? Tell me in the comments below!
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