We Had That

  Han Solo in Hoth Outfit Kenner 1980 Just like most boys I knew growing up in the early 1980s, I loved Kenner's Star Wars figures.  I absolutely loved the movie Star Wars and the release of The Empire Strikes Back in early 1980 was a very big deal to me.  Some of my favorite scenes were on the ice planet Hoth.  With that in mind, it should be no surprise that when the first ten figures arrived for The Empire Strikes Back, the Hoth themed figures were some of my favorites.  Since I was a fan of Han Solo, getting a figure of Han in his Hoth outfit was amazingly cool! Han Solo out on patrol on the ice planet Hoth! I would have been happy to get any new figure of Han Solo back then and I would have been excited about any figure from Hoth, but even if I'd never seen The Empire Strikes Back and even if I didn't know who Han Solo was, I think I still would have liked this figure just because I thought he looked so cool.  If I'd gotten him a couple of years later,...

Flash Gordon "Beastman" action figure (Mattel, 1980) In the late 1970s, a producer named Lou Scheimer got the rights to make a movie of the old 1930s comic strip character, Flash Gordon.  Since the amazing success of the movie Star Wars in 1977, science fiction was extremely popular at the time and Scheimer was able to convince NBC to back a live action Flash Gordon for prime-time.  Unfortunately, it would have cost too much to film what he wanted to shoot, so he reluctantly went back to NBC with the idea of switching to an animated format instead of live action.  NBC agreed and Filmation was brought on board to make the cartoon. Beastman poses beside the 1979 Flash Gordon card back Star Wars action figures had made so much money for George Lucas and Kenner that I would imagine once the cartoon was underway, it wasn't very difficult to set up a deal with Mattel to make a line of Flash Gordon action figures in scale with the Star Wars toys.  In 1979, the first four Fl...

  Fisher-Price Adventure People "Dune Buster" The Fisher-Price Adventure People were some of the first action figures that I had as a kid.  I loved them!  They went on all kinds of adventures.  When I got my first Star Wars figures, my Adventure People were right there in the middle of the action, filling in for Star Wars characters that I didn't have.  Their vehicles and accessories were also a big part of my adventures with all of the 3 3/4" action figure lines that I had over the years.  The Adventure People were sturdy and held up to many years of play.  They were also just generic enough to fit in with all kinds of different story lines.  Despite my fondness for these great figures, there were many Adventure People figures that I didn't have. The Dune Buster figure was the height of cool in 1980! I don't remember when I first saw the Dune Buster figure, but I know I never owned him as a kid.  Right away, he stood out as one of the cooler...

IG-88: Bounty Hunter! (Kenner, 1980) When I was a kid, I thought Star Wars figures were the coolest thing ever!  As soon as I found discovered that new figures were coming out for The Empire Strikes Back, I had to have them.  It was early 1980 and I was probably at the height of my love of Star Wars.  These were the first new figures in about a year and I was very excited about their release! 10 NEW Kenner Star Wars figures for 1980! The 10 NEW figures that Kenner put out in 1980 for The Empire Strikes Back were a bit of a mixed bag.  The wave included awesome figures like the Bespin Luke Skywalker, Rebel Soldier and Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth Battle Gear, and Han Solo in his Hoth Outfit!  On the other hand, there were figures like the FX-7 Medical Droid which barely seemed like an action figure at all to me and the Leia figure in her Bespin Gown which didn't seem as ready-for-action as her Hoth outfit.  Even though they didn't appear in the movie much, ...

Imperial Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear) (Kenner, 1980) Just like most kids in the USA and Canada at the time, I loved Kenner's Star Wars figures!  From the first time I saw them, I thought they were the coolest toys ever!  When The Empire Strikes Back action figures were arriving in stores in early 1980, I was probably at the height of my love of Star Wars and I was very excited about having new figures for the first time in over a year! 10 NEW Kenner Star Wars figures for 1980! Seeing The Empire Strikes Back in the theater was an awesome experience for me!  I thought it was an amazing movie with all kinds of cool characters and great, new adventures for the heroes that I loved from the first movie.  My favorite scenes were the ones that took place on the ice planet Hoth.  Obviously, being a huge fan of the movie and loving the action figures, I wanted every single Star Wars figure that Kenner released, but the figures from Hoth (plus the  Bespin Luke Skyw...

The Empire Strikes Back - Bespin Security Guard (Kenner, 1980) I loved Kenner's Star Wars figures the minute I first saw them.  A kid in my neighborhood had a handful of these amazing toys on the way to school one day and I thought they were the coolest thing in the world!  I begged my mom to take me to the toy store right away, but had to wait until the weekend and that was an eternity for me at the time.  By the time The Empire Strikes Back action figures were arriving in stores in early 1980, Star Wars figures had become the main toys that I played with and I was very excited about having new figures for the first time in over a year! The First 10 Empire Strikes Back action figures from Kenner in 1980 The first wave of toys from The Empire Strikes Back included 10 different action figures.  I loved the scenes on the ice planet Hoth, so of the 10 new figures, I wanted the Hoth themed figures the most (Hoth Han Solo, Hoth Rebel Trooper, and Hoth Stormtro...

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...