We Had That

  Star Wars Nikto action figure (Kenner, 1984) Just like most of the boys I knew in the early 80s, I was a huge Star Wars fan!  Kenner's action figures from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were easily my favorite toys during the late 70s and early 80s.  There for a while, I'm pretty sure I had every Star Wars figure that Kenner released!  I spent hours creating adventures for these amazing action figures!  In 1982, the GI Joe "Real American Hero" line started showing up in toy stores and my interest became divided between GI Joe and Star Wars with GI Joe probably getting more of my attention because they were new and therefore more exciting at the time. My childhood Nikto action figure Still, when the first figures for Return of the Jedi started showing up in 1983, before I had even seen the movie, that got my attention and Star Wars was on my mind again.  Seeing the new figures and the photographs on the packages made me speculate about the upcoming ...

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves "Sheriff of Nottingham" (Kenner, 1991) Starting with their Star Wars figures in the late 1970s, Kenner was a key player in the action figure arena for more than a decade.  In addition to the classic space toys, they also created toys for The Six Million Dollar Man, Super Powers, M.A.S.K, & Ghostbusters as well as the less popular, but still very cool toy lines for Silver Hawks, Centurions, Gargoyles, & Raiders of the Lost Ark!  That's a great record of releases, but not everything Kenner released was equally cool. "I'll get that Robin Hood!" In 1991, Kenner got the license for the Kevin Costner film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  If you were alive in 1991, you absolutely could not avoid the film's theme song by Bryan Adams: Everything I Do, I Do It for You.  The movie was a box office smash, but Kevin Costner's acting was was not his best.  In fact, he beat out both Andrew Dice Clay and Vanilla Ice to win the G...

Vintage G.I. Joe "Swivel-Arm" Scarlett (Hasbro, 1983) In 1964, GI Joe became the first doll for boys...I mean "Action Figure."  Hasbro was extremely careful to make sure that GI Joe was never called a "doll" because in the 1960s, the idea of boys playing with dolls was 100% not ok.  The plan worked and throughout the 60s and 70s, GI Joe was a huge seller.  However, Hasbro did make a few missteps along the way.  One of the biggest was the Action Nurse released in 1967.  Apparently, it was ok for boys to play with male dolls if they were called "Action Figures," but no matter what you call it, a female "Action Figure" was still a doll in 1967.  Hasbro learned from their mistake and never released another female character for the GI Joe line for the rest of the 60s and 70s. "Swivel-Arm" Scarlett with her Crossbow With the relaunch of GI Joe in the 80s, Hasbro reluctantly included a female figure in the line and the character of S...

Fisher-Price Adventure People "Safari" set #304 The Fisher-Price Adventure People were first available in 1975.  For the next 10 years, this line of well-made 3 3/4" action figures and toys prospered in toy stores.  The Adventure People also paved the way for dozens of other 3.75" action figure lines.  Not only did they heavily influence the design of Kenner's Star Wars figures, but the original prototypes for the original 12 Star Wars figures were constructed from Adventure People figures.  Because they were much more durable than many of the 3.75" action figures that followed, many Adventure People figures can still be found in good condition making most figures and sets very affordable! Adventure People Safari Mom Pets a Zebra! One of the first sets released in 1975 was the Safari set #304.  With a total of 19 pieces, it was the largest of the initial releases and one of the largest sets in the entire decade-long run of the Adventure People ...

"Red" looks out over the marsh. Adventure People Set #307 Wilderness Patrol The Fisher-Price Adventure People were first available in 1975.  These extremely durable 3 3/4" action figures and toys were very popular throughout their run from 1975 to 1985.  Even through the rigors of play, Adventure People and their vehicles were so well made that a large number of them are still around today in good condition.  They are also some of the earliest 3.75" action figures on the market and were even used as the base figure for many of the Kenner Star Wars prototypes. My childhood Adventure People Set #307 "Wilderness Patrol" Fisher-Price created many popular sets for the Adventure People line ( see my post on the Cycle Racing Team set #356 here! )  Even though I only had a few sets as a kid, I was familiar with many of the other sets because most of the kids I knew had at least one or two of them that were different from the ones that I had.  One po...

Two of my childhood toys: My old Rock & Roll action figure riding the RAM! In 1982, I loved GI Joe toys!  Getting my first two GI Joe figures (Short Fuse and Grunt) was a major event in my childhood.  At the time, I couldn't imagine cooler figures that the first wave of GI Joe: A Real American Hero.  I also loved the file cards and the comic books.  For the most part, I was much more interested in the action figures than the vehicles, but several exceptions to that rule were vehicles found in the first wave of GI Joe. The box for my 2nd childhood RAM My first GI Joe vehicle was the Rapid Fire Motorcycle (or "RAM" for short).  It was (and still is) easily one of my favorite toy vehicles ever.  Some elements of the design and the removable 20mm Gatling Cannon on the side may have been a little bit silly for an otherwise fairly realistic military toy line, but by wave 2, reality had been thrown out the window.  In comparison to the later w...

Fisher-Price Adventure People "Cycle Racing Team" set #356. My childhood set still looks pretty good after many years of adventures! The Fisher-Price Adventure People were first available in 1975.  They some of the earliest 3.75" action figures on the market.  In fact, they were used as the base figure for many of the prototypes for the 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.  In fact, it was much less likely that their heads would snap off (or that they would lose a limb) when compared to many of their counterparts.  As a result, there are a lot of adventure people still around today. The Cycle Racing Team taking a break from their adventures! Many popular sets were created for the Adventure People throughout t...