We Had That

  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...

Fisher-Price Adventure People Scuba Divers set #353 (1976-1981) 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. Summer fun with the Adventure People! 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 d...

Fisher-Price Adventure People "Rescue Team" #350 (1976-1978) When the Fisher-Price Adventure People first went on sale in 1975, there were four sets: #303 Rescue Truck, #304 Safari, #305 Rescue Copter and #306 Sport Plane.  The Rescue Truck was a relatively simple set that only came with a few pieces in addition to the truck itself (a white truck with a red lift basket).  It had a green stretcher, a green oxygen tank, and two figures; a Fireman wearing blue pants and a blue shirt and a blonde woman wearing blue pants and a blue shirt.  Considering the number of these trucks I've seen over the years, I assume it was a popular set!  In fact, since the Adventure People line ran well into the 80s, I suspect that all of those first four sets were popular! The 1975 Adventure People "Rescue Truck" Set #303. To expand on the Adventure People line, in 1976 Fisher-Price started selling smaller sets that included a couple of figures (Ted and Nancy) and some small accessori...

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 ...

Princess Leia hides the plans to the Death Star with R2-D2 As an adult, life has probably kicked us in the crotch enough times that we're not too surprised when things don't go as planned.  However, as kids we still lived in a world with hope and optimism. In those days. waking up on Christmas morning to find the wrong toys under the tree could sometimes be heartbreaking.  We knew Grandma had the best intentions.  She just really didn't know the difference between C-3PO and a Micronaut.  But kids are resilient.  After the shock of disappointment, we figured out a way to make it work and still played out our Star Wars adventure with substitute action figures standing in for the figures that we wanted!  At least for me, in some cases those replacement figures grew into being some of my favorites. C-3PO and R2-D2?  Um...Those actually weren't the Droids I was looking for. I loved Micronauts as a kid, so it was only natural that my Time Travele...

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...

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is about to surprise this unsuspecting Deep Sea Diver! Around 1980, Remco released a line of six Universal Monsters 3 3/4" Action Figures.  The line included Count Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Frankenstein Monster, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  All six were released in "Glow-In-The-Dark" and non-glow versions.  The monsters were awesome, but wouldn't they be even better with someone for them to scare?  Fortunately, the similarly scaled Fisher-Price adventure people were on the shelves from 1975 to 1985 giving us plenty of victims for our cool monster figures!  Since we're in the month of October, I thought I'd share some photos of the Fisher-Price Adventure People with the Remco Universal Monsters! Look out, Brad!  There's something behind you!  It looks like some sort of Wolfman! Frankenstein's Monster has left the castle and follows an unsuspecting, pret...

"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...

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...