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Something I've always wondered...with the Mattle BSG line, why no Applo, or boomer even? With figures like Ovion & Borat, I was always left scratching my head.
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sigpic Ultimately, I serve only one master... pure logic! -
Hmmmm....
Good question. They might have produced the figures off of preliminary sketches with minimal notes and didn't know who was important and who wasn't. They may have picked characters that were more playable; Apollo and Boomer would be more guys in tan, like Starbuck.... so they may have passed. The Ovion is unique, and cool; so even though they were only in the pilot, they made for neat toys.
Don C. -
The story I've heard is that Richard Hatch wouldn't allow a figure. I've always been partial to Don's thoughts on it though, it's just another guy in the same uniform as Starbuck.Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions
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That doesn't make sense because He he obviously didn't have any problem with the cut out figure on the Trix cereal box or all the other BSG mercandise at the time that had his likeness.
That makes more sense. They probably just thought alien figures would sell better than Starbuck with black hair.I've always been partial to Don's thoughts on it though, it's just another guy in the same uniform as Starbuck.You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...Comment
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That Galactica is sweet." But you can't kill me, i'm a Genius "Comment
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The Galactica looks like it would have been expensive for the time, but that Landram looks just like what they had in the show, I would have wanted that. As a kid I used Fisher-Price Adventure People to fill out the crew.It's all good!Comment
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I LOVE looking at the Galactica and LandRam toys.. I don't have the 'thousands' to purchase them, but I'm still scratchin' my head as to why the LandRam didn't make it down here in the US. (I know the cancellation halted a lot of distribution plans..).
Hatch, action figure story..?? I heard the same story about him refusing the figure plans back at the 20Yarhen LA Con. Eh, it could be true, but I'm doubting it. 'Corporate Universal Studios'..? They were convinced they had a winner, so they would have just pushed forward and created the figures.
BUT, some points do come to mind..:
1) Why Starbuck? Initially, as you've probably all read.., the Starbuck character was originally just going to be 'one of the pilots', until he started gaining some recognition with the female audience. So the 'logical decision' would have been Apollo, since the original concept was to focus on 'the family' (Adama, Athena, Apollo, Boxey).
2) Producing another tan figure..? Not necessarily. As with the ESB jacketed Han Solo, I could see another figure being done with a jacketed Hatch. Molded, probably not because all the other figures were pretty 'mono-colored' except the boots, hands and heads. It could have been a vest or something disappointing like that (like the 12" Warrior, which was pushed out much earlier).
I do agree on the aliens focus.. Mattel was trying to compete with Kenner with their SW line, so naturally 'variety is key'.
david_b
Peace.. Through Superior Firepower. 
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I've always doubted the story of Hatch not allowing a figure made in his likeness. Would he have any kind of pull at all to make such a demand? I doubt it. I'm sure it was a standard part of the contract back then where merchandising rights of the actors' likeness was a part of the deal. If Hatch didn't like it and didn't want to sign the contract, Universal would just have found someone else for the role. Only a big star would have had any kind of power to get Universal to back down on a contract provision like that.
I'm sure that Mattel just rightly thought that aliens and robots had more appeal to boys, so why make two figures that would look very alike (Starbuck and Apollo) when they can make a cool looking alien, even if he just briefly appeared in one episode. If the line was continued past the second wave, Mattel could very well have thrown in some other human characters like Apollo.Comment
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Yeah, I am sure they just felt the aliens and Cylons would sell better. Makes sense to me, since I only cared for and had the Cylons and aliens as a kid.Comment
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Hmmmm....
It's possible Hatch had the rights to his own likeness at that time. The Star Wars thing was still pretty new, so the merchandaising might not have been a big enough deal for Paramount to want all the cards. (Or it MIGHT have been, but the contracts were inked before Star Wars mania hit.)
Don C.Comment
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I believe we're all in agreement here. Again, it's down to 'who was in the room when decisions were made'..
We'll never truely know, unless there's some R&D memo about the planning of the toyline that mentions decisions, or some character's name 'lined-through' and rejected for some reason.
So, other than using toyline common sense (aliens, variety, Starbuck).., who can really call Hatch on his story...? Who really cares at this point..? Fun for speculation, though.
I do agree that if the series would have continued on, an Apollo, Boomer, and perhaps some a Viper vehicle or two would have been considered, pending Mattel's profits margin.
I'm STILL drooling over that Galactica and Landram...
Peace.. Through Superior Firepower. Comment
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I think if that Galactica had come to be, it would have annoyed me the same the Dinky Enterprise annoyed me back in the day. (e.g. the lower hull opening up for a shuttle craft). Regardless, if it had come out I would have begged and pleaded for it, but things opening up that shouldn't (or didn't look like it should on the TV show) always bothered me as a kid
. Ironically, I was the same child that thought the Mego Batmobile was spot on. Weird.
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