1970s | Vintage Action Figures

Goo Goo G’Joob…It’s Pink-tusked Walrus Man!

Whilst almost all of Kenner’s 3 ¾ inch Star Wars action figures were pretty accurate movie-likenesses by the standards of the day, Walrus Man here – later revealed as being called Ponda Baba when secondary characters were issued with colorful back stories too – stands out from the crowd as being one of the least like his movie counterpart.

Walrus Man’s screen time may be brief, but it is certainly a memorable moment when Obi-Wan Kenobi slices off his arm with his light saber during the famous cantina scene. As the camera lingers over the bleeding limb just about everybody, with the exception of Kenner’s toy designers, must surely have noticed that he wasn’t wearing an orange tank top over a blue body suit!

Oscar Goldman – The Six Million Dollar Man’s Boss!

If they were handing out awards for the best dressed action figure of the 1970s then you can bet that Steve Austin’s boss at the OSI – that’s the Office of Scientific Intelligence to any readers too young to remember cult TV show The Six Million Dollar Man – the always dapper Oscar Goldman would certainly be in the running for top prize!

Kenner did a wonderful job with this 12-inch figure – the attention to detail with his plaid jacket (including buttons), dazzling green turtle-neck sweater, tan trousers, as well as socks and slip-on shoes, was absolutely spot-on. As with their version of Lee Majors, the likeness to actor Richard Anderson was also extremely good. Honestly, what vintage action figure collection would be complete without one of these figures!?

The Human Torch meets Robin in a mega Mego mashup!

Collecting vintage 8 inch Mego action figures from the World’s Greatest Super Heroes line can sometimes bring some fun surprises as we saw a while back with my Superman figure …

Star Wars Variations: Sand People aka Tusken Raider

George Lucas just can’t stop meddling with those Star Wars movies! Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace will be hitting cinema screens all over the world AGAIN this weekend – only this time in 3D. The 2D version was already bad enough, so I think I’ll pass on that one…Instead, let’s take a look back at a vintage Kenner Sand People action figure from the original trilogy, indeed from the very first Star Wars movie, which is nowadays known as the rather less catchy Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

The Six Million Dollar Man on a critical assignment…to Mars!

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him… We HAVE the technology!

That was the promise made, week after week, during the opening titles of the hit 1970s television show The Six Million Dollar Man. It made total sense, therefore, when Kenner and General Mills acquired the toy license to manufacture the action figure spin-off merchandise in 1975, that kids should also be given the chance to rebuild their own 13-inch version of Steve Austin, the Bionic Man.

The decision to make the Six Million Dollar Man action figure so interactive, issuing him with interchangeable “Critical Assignment” arms and legs, a bionic eye you could actually look through,

Evel Knievel by Ideal

For anybody who was a child in the 1970s and watched his death-defying leaps over buses and other mind-bogglingly risky motorcycle stunts on television, Evel Knievel was nothing short of a legend and an iconic figures that seems to define that era. My sister and I were huge fans, yet this 6-inch Evel Knievel action figure by Ideal Toys never made it into our toybox as kids, so I was really pleased to track one down recently online.

As well as the sheer lunacy of some of the daredevil stunts that Evel Knievel attempted, he was also famous for the number of bones he broke in some of his more spectacular crashes.

Jack the Daredevil Sport Plane Pilot from the Fisher-Price Adventure People

If vintage action figures and toys can indeed be viewed as part of the cultural record of earlier decades, then for me personally, no figures scream “1970s” louder than those wonderful Fisher-Price Adventure People! Available for about a decade from 1975 onwards, more than 70 different figures were eventually released – mostly, but not exclusively, male figures sporting stylish flared trousers, like this very early Jack the Pilot here, date stamped 1974. These solidly built 3¾ inch figures were aimed at encouraging kids’ interest in exciting jobs and played on the intrinsic glamour of adventurous or dangerous occupations – years before Village People took YMCA to the top of the charts the Fisher-Price Adventure People already had a Construction Worker, Biker, Cowboy and Policeman on the team!

Sea Shark Diver from the Fisher-Price Adventure People

Kenner’s 3 ¾-inch Star Wars action figures turned the world of movie tie-in toys on its head and became one of the world’s most popular collectible lines ever. Before those toys were even a twinkle in the eye of a Kenner executive, however, the very first 3 ¾-inch line of action figures and vehicles was launched in the US in 1975 and went on to influence all those that followed – the Fisher Price Adventure People!

These sturdy little figures were clearly designed to encourage kids’ fascination in exciting jobs and just about every adventurous occupation you could think of was covered during the decade that they were in production – there were racing drivers, skydivers and pilots, to name but a few, as well as several different divers like this chap here with the Tom Selleck ‘tache.