We Had That

Phantom Starkiller: The Cosmic Ghoul Warrior! Near the end of 2019, I picked up a few random Super7 ReAction figures which included an awesome yet mysterious green, skeletal creature.  After some quick research, I learned that he was called Phantom Starkiller!  At the time, I didn't look up much more than the name, but I did notice that there were several color variations of the figure.  Over the last few months, I had become more curious about this random mystery guy, so last week, I really started digging in and researching the history of this dude.  It turns out that the character first came into existence back in 2013 as a very limited run (25 pieces) custom figure created by Peter Goral under his "Killer Bootlegs" company. Phantom Starkiller (Super7 - 3rd Edition "Lich Green" 2019) In July of 2013, Killer Bootlegs released a San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) limited edition run of 25 "Phantom Starkiller: The Cosmic Space Ghoul Warrior" 3.75" action ...

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 ...

Zee Toys / Zylmex Metal-Man: Roton With a confusing similarity in appearance to some of the 3 3/4" Mego Micronauts and little to no advertising, the Metal-Man toy line of die-cast action figures has all but faded into obscurity.  Of the figures released, the blue and silver Radon is the one I see most often (click HERE for my Radon review), but he was hardly the only Metal-Man on the shelves! Metal-Man action figures: Major Mercury, Roton, & Radon  Today, I would like to take a look at Roton, the red and silver Metal-Man who seems to have possibly been released later in the line.  Radon, Major Mercury, Sergeant Silver, and Corporal Chrome have all been found on cards marked 1976 while as far as I know, Roton has not.  Additionally, Roton has been seen with fewer packaging variations than the rest of the figures, so it would make sense if the others hit the stores before Roton.  I have seen him in the 1979 Zee Toys catalog, so I know that he...

GI Joe RAH: Cobra Rifle Range Unit (Hasbro, 1985) From 1982 through 1984, I loved GI Joe toys!  I think I had every figure and vehicle for the first three waves.  I picked up every issue of the comic book and I sometimes watched the cartoon.  By the time the fourth wave hit the shelves in 1995, I was still a big fan, but no longer a completist when it came to these real American heroes.  Don't misunderstand, I was as at maximum excitement to finally have action figures of the Dreadnoks!  I had been reading about them in the comics and just thought they were the greatest.  Even with the fourth wave, I picked up almost all of the figures, but the vehicles and such just didn't grab me as they had before.  I did have the Bridge Layer (although I honestly don't know why) and the awesome Snow Cat!  I must have never seen the Cobra Night Landing raft in stores because that's definitely a piece that I would have liked.  However, for some reason,...

Imaginext "Clawtron" figure with the original Fisher-Price Adventure People Clawtron and Firestar 1 Pilot behind him. I've been casually collecting the Fisher-Price Imaginext line since the first series of blind bag figures came out a few years ago.   As with most toys these days, distribution has been unpredictable and it's difficult to find some of these in the stores.   However, I've managed to find the majority of the figures that I like.   For the most part, I've been buying the monster related figures and the majority of the space or robot guys.   So far, I've picked up at least one figure from almost every series. Imaginext "Clawtron" flanked by the original Adventure People Clawtron and Firestar 1 figures. When series 11 came out, I picked up every figure in the series.  There were several figures that were made as tributes to old toys from the 1980s.  There's a tribute to the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures (which I've written a...

"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...

Micronaut Time Travelers by MEGO Shortly before Star Wars figures dominated the shelves of every toy store, MEGO released a line of more articulated figures in the same scale: Micronauts.  The Japanese company Takara had found success with their Microman line of toys, so MEGO licensed several of the figures, vehicles and playsets, re-branded them Micronauts and released them to the USA. The most common figures from the line were the 3.75" Time Travelers.  Sold individually as well as packaged along with select vehicles, the Time Traveler was the figure that just about every Micronauts fan had.  Even though the Time Travelers didn't come with every vehicle released by MEGO, they would fit in any vehicle that could hold a figure, so they were a 'must have' for any kid with Micronauts! Although there were several different Micronauts figures, the Time Travelers were always my favorite.  As a kid, there were many Micronauts figures that I never saw, but even if I...

Original 1982 Adventure People X-Ray Man with modern Imaginext A-Ray Man and Dog. A few years ago, Fisher-Price began releasing blind bag figures from their popular Imaginext line.  I started collecting them Imaginext when Series 1 first came out.  Although they're distribution has been kind of random, I've managed to pick up most of the ones I've wanted.  Fisher-Price has created a lot of cool figures for this line, but there has been such a variety of themes that I'm not really interested in collecting them all.  For the most part, I'm not interested in the sports guys or some of the more mundane characters.  I pick up anything monster related and most of the space or robot guys.  With that said, I've picked up at least one figure from almost every series. When series 11 came out, I picked up every figure.  There were several figures that were made as tributes to old toys from the 1980s.  There's a tribute to the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures (whi...