I seem to have added quite a few aliens from the original Star Wars trilogy to my vintage action figure collection this year, particularly henchmen of Jabba the Hutt seen fleetingly in the palace scene and the various guards riding the desert skiffs in the Sarlacc Pit Battle scene in Return of the Jedi. Whilst these figures may have enjoyed only split seconds of screen time, they were still important players in the imaginary Star Wars universe created by kids back in the day. Bewilderingly, they’ve since acquired gloriously complicated personal histories and new names in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Debs
Action Jackson is my name, bold adventure is my game!
Whilst it was Hasbro who first coined the phrase “action figures” for military dolls aimed at the boys’ market in the late 1960s with their G.I. Joe line, and in particular Palitoy’s UK version known as “Action Man”, the legendary Mego company also earned a place in action figure history in the early 1970s with their own short-lived adventure hero line – Action Jackson. Selling well only briefly, and ultimately a commercial failure, these 8 inch figures with a wonderful range of costumes, were soon superseded by Mego’s phenomenally successful World’s Greatest Superheroes figures. I personally love Action Jackson, however, and he remains a firm favourite with vintage Mego collectors to this day.
Legendary Source, Mystic Force! Blue Power Ranger with sound effects by Bandai
TV shows from the Power Rangers franchise are popular the world over. Certainly, they often seem to turn up on thrift stalls or markets here in Rome, Italy where I live. I don’t buy many figures issued this side of the millennium, although if I find a figure with a particularly interesting feature I’ll occasionally break my own rule. After all, today’s figures are tomorrow’s vintage! And this Mystic Force action figure grabbed my attention even before I’d set eyes on it. Rummaging in the bottom of a bargain bin I heard the special – and extremely LOUD – sound effects gimmick long before I managed to find it.
Nabrun Leids – Cantina Alien
Whilst the focus of my Star Wars action figure collection is that of Vintage era figures (1977–1989) made by the mighty Kenner, I couldn’t resist buying this Neo-classic era (1990–2000) figure when I found him lurking in the bottom of a bargain bin just yesterday! My curiosity was piqued because whilst this is one of the recognisable aliens glimpsed during the classic cantina scene in the original Star Wars movie – when Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are looking for a pilot, and meet Han Solo – he was never honoured with an action figure the first time around.
Weequay aka Queequeg – Skiff Guard from ‘Return of the Jedi’
One of the most well-loved of the minor characters in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is surely that of the cannibal Queequeg, the archetypal “noble savage”, and dab hand with a harpoon. It’s no surprise, therefore, that during pre-production of Return of the Jedi the crew nicknamed this Weequay skiff guard “Queequeg”. After all, he brandishes a harpoon-like pike weapon, swaggers up the deck of a Desert Skiff like a pirate on a sloop upon the high seas, and even forces Luke Skywalker to walk the plank during the Sarlacc Pit Battle scene!
Roz from Monsters, Inc. by McDonald’s
This summer sees the return to the big screen of some of the characters from the hugely popular 2001 Pixar animated movie Monsters, Inc. in a 3D prequel Monsters University. Monsters, Inc. received the 3D treatment itself last year and that version will finally be hitting screens in Italy where I live next month, so I thought it might be fun to take a look at a collectible figure from the time of the first film’s original release – the gravel voiced Monsters, Inc. secretary, and undercover boss of the Child Detective Agency, Roz.
When Steve Jobs died in 2011 he was almost exclusively eulogised for his innovations in technology, but PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – remembered Jobs as a very public vegetarian who had played a significant a role in ending Disney and Pixar’s commercialisation of its movies through Happy Meal toys and gimmicks sold at fast food giant McDonald’s. When Monsters, Inc. was released, however, Pixar and Disney were still super-sizing kids all over the world, aided and abetted by toys like this 4 ½ inch Roz, which I believe is a European only release, dated 2002 in line with the movie’s release this side of the Atlantic.
Lieutenant Starbuck from Mattel’s Battlestar Galactica
Light years before the name “Starbuck” added an “s” and became synonymous with caffè latte, the world’s most famous Starbuck was the fictional first mate of the Pequod, the whaling ship at the heart of Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick. In fact, it was in homage to this literary character, that our Lieutenant Starbuck here, the protagonist of the cult 1978 sci-fi television show Battlestar Galactica, was named, although the gambling, womanising, and cigar smoking Viper starfighter pilot, and the Quaker first mate on the Pequod, could not have been more different!
Uncanny X-Men: Forge with Quick Draw Action from Strike Team Set
The Internet has been a-buzz this month with X-Men news as work started on X-Men: Days of Future Past with some of the movie’s stars spotted in Montreal for filming. Excitement has also been fuelled by director Bryan Singer tweeting some great behind-the-scenes photos (@BryanSinger), and a brilliant April Fool’s Day Tweet that Lady Gaga would be joining the cast! Erstwhile Twilight actor Booboo Stewart has been enlisted – probably as Warpath – although early speculation had cast him as a young version of another Native American X-Men character, Forge. Which all gives me an excellent excuse to dig out another Toy Biz Uncanny X-Men figure from the 1990s!