I was always told that Star Wars was the most successful Movie marketed toy out selling POTA. and what else i have always believed was Star wars set the 3.75 inch figure as the standard not that they were first on the scene ....remember the prototypes were built of of Fisher Price Adventure people.
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Why is Kenner credited for creating the 3 3/4 scale?
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The Adventure People were huge BTW, by 1976 the format was knocked off by many other companies. Here is an article about the trend in the toy industry prior to SW being released:
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I love the FP Adventure People, They were some of my favorite toys as a kid, I had quite a few sets back then. The North Woods Trailblazer was always my favorite, I have a set now on my shelf with a couple other sets from the line.
I've always thought a lot of people must not of had or remember them when they claim SW was the first in that scale.ChadComment
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Oh my goodness, that pic/article is awesome. Adventure People, early Schaper Playmobil, M.A.C.... If I had seen that spread as a 3 year old my brain would have exploded.
And yeah, the Adventure People were actually successful enough that they even had their own knock-off line, although I seem to be one of the only people alive with an active memory of these things. Behold the Tonka Play People (1978-1981):
That newspaper ad gives me the chills, as I actually got the Explorer Jeep set at Christmas '78. Check out this sweet card art, too. So indicative of the era... It's like being back at my family's summer lake house circa 1980:
Sorry if I'm getting too off-topic here. But yes, the Star Wars myth has gotten out of control over the years. Even if most people don't know stuff like Little Legends of the West, you'd think Adventure People and Microman/Micronauts were popular enough that it wouldn't be so hard to do a little basic fact checking.Comment
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Oh my goodness, that pic/article is awesome. Adventure People, early Schaper Playmobil, M.A.C.... If I had seen that spread as a 3 year old my brain would have exploded.
And yeah, the Adventure People were actually successful enough that they even had their own knock-off line, although I seem to be one of the only people alive with an active memory of these things. Behold the Tonka Play People (1978-1981):
That newspaper ad gives me the chills, as I actually got the Explorer Jeep set at Christmas '78. Check out this sweet card art, too. So indicative of the era... It's like being back at my family's summer lake house circa 1980:
Sorry if I'm getting too off-topic here. But yes, the Star Wars myth has gotten out of control over the years. Even if most people don't know stuff like Little Legends of the West, you'd think Adventure People and Microman/Micronauts were popular enough that it wouldn't be so hard to do a little basic fact checking.
True but again I think it was more that they sett the standard as many lines that came out after were 3 3/4" instead of other scales.....Untill Masters of the Universe.Comment
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Yeah, there's no doubt about that. But, it seems to me that the industry (including Kenner) already kind of knew where the market was heading after AP and Micronauts, so I don't think the influence of those lines should be as brushed-over as they often seem to be these days. I think a good analogy would be the (now basically forgotten) Fairchild VES/Channel F, and then Atari's reaction to that, which set the course for the whole video game explosion going forward. The ultimate success gets most of the credit, but the originator is often overlooked.Last edited by El Hombre Nuclear; Aug 7, '15, 1:49 PM.Comment
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Not really sure about them setting the standard either. If that was the case why did Hasbro wait until 1982 to go with that size with G.I. Joe? Why not start earlier? Sure others followed suit but not everyone.Comment
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I don't have access to any of my Star Wars Collecting books right now, and I have a terrible memory these days, but I want to say that this was initially perpetuated by Steve Sansweet in one of his books. I'll hazard a guess and say this earliest one from the nineties:
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Yeah, Sansweet has made a couple of remarks that kind of slagged Mego's exploitation of the Ape's license as "just a couple of dolls with cloth costumes". He wants to rewrite history a little.Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions
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From that book:
"We were hashing it around, "(Vice president of preliminary design at Kenner) (David) Okada says, "trying to decide what to do, when Bernie (Loomis, President of Kenner Products) held up his right hand, the thumb and forefinger apart, and asked, 'How about that big Dave?'" The Designer took a six-inch steel ruler from his shirt pocket, measured the open space at three-and-three-quarter inches, and the two men decided that would be as good a height as any for the hero, Luke Skywalker, with the other figures scaled from there.
Think this story is completely made up? I don't. And while the format certainly wasn't invented by Star Wars and Kenner, isn't it possible that they naturally arrived at the same existing scale as Fisher Price Adventure People and the like, and then used actual Adventure People for their prototypes?
That's a great book by the way, and I'm not a huge lover of Mr. Sansweet.Comment
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From that book:
"We were hashing it around, "(Vice president of preliminary design at Kenner) (David) Okada says, "trying to decide what to do, when Bernie (Loomis, President of Kenner Products) held up his right hand, the thumb and forefinger apart, and asked, 'How about that big Dave?'" The Designer took a six-inch steel ruler from his shirt pocket, measured the open space at three-and-three-quarter inches, and the two men decided that would be as good a height as any for the hero, Luke Skywalker, with the other figures scaled from there.
Think this story is completely made up? I don't. And while the format certainly wasn't invented by Star Wars and Kenner, isn't it possible that they naturally arrived at the same existing scale as Fisher Price Adventure People and the like, and then used actual Adventure People for their prototypes?
That's a great book by the way, and I'm not a huge lover of Mr. Sansweet.Comment
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By that time MOTU had taken over and larger figures with action features had become popular. Also, from what I recall, they couldn't fit the punching, kicking mechanisms into the smaller 3 3/4 inch scale.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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How tall were the Butch & Sundance: The Early Days figures, or Indiana Jones? Would these have been transitional figures before Super Powers?WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.Comment
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