Love him or hate him, if you were alive in the 1980s you can’t have missed American comedian Paul Reubens in the guise of his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman. Star of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, an enormously successful and groundbreaking Saturday morning television show for kids in the US, worldwide audiences were first introduced to him via Tim Burton’s debut film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which turned the road movie on its head and Pee-wee Herman into a cult favourite.
The last couple of decades have been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Reubens, both professionally and personally, but finally, Pee-wee Herman is back with a hit show on Broadway starring all the old Playhouse gang, so to celebrate (as I love Pee-wee to bits) I thought it would be fun to look back at this vintage Matchbox Pee-wee Herman action figure that was issued at the height of Pee-wee mania in the late 1980s.
A great likeness of Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee was issued alongside all the Playhouse faces such as Miss Yvonne, Cowboy Curtis, King of Cartoons, Pterri, Conky and even Chairry (to name but a few) and is an excellent likeness of Paul Reubens. At a whisker under 6-inches tall, Pee-wee is a great height for display and has ten points of articulation – not bad for those days when elbows and knees weren’t always bendable! A second Pee-wee figure was also produced with his famous red scooter and crash helmet, whilst this is the simpler of the two. I was delighted to find him still wearing his cloth jacket, the accessory that seems to have most readily been mislaid with this figure. I assume the jacket must have originally been glued together as if buttoned – it is now open, but there are faint traces of adhesive along the edges.
Pee-wee Herman copyright and date
Hitting toy store shelves in 1988, this figure is date stamped 1987 on the back. In 2007 Neca reissued a set of vintage-style Pee-wee’s Playhouse figures that all look remarkably similar to the Matchbox originals, so much so that until I held this online purchase in my hands and could check the copyright information for myself I wasn’t entirely certain which version I had. I haven’t actually seen a loose Neca Pee-wee to be able to compare and contrast, however. If anybody has one, feel free to leave a comment below.
A gorgeous figure and an absolute must for Pee-wee Herman fans!
Pee-wee Herman, 5, 246, “doll”
Kang says
I was never big on the show or figures but i had a little cousin who was.All day he’d run around laughing and talking like pee-wee herman.Good kid,annoying as heck though.