What Weren't They Thinking?

[Falstaff13]

I started the thread about surprising lines the other day, a sort of "What were they thinking?" one about odd choices for action figures. This got me thinking about "what weren't they thinking?" in terms of real misses that could have been cool toy lines during the vintage era. I thought I'd offer ones I'm sorry didn't happen and see who else has some choices.

Wild Wild West (either in the Johnny West line/style, matching Gabriel's Lone Ranger or a smaller line, with a train playset. You could have Artemus Gordon with disguises/false faces, Miguelito Loveless, etc.

Kung Fu Given the crossover appeal of the show (western and martial arts), I am surprised there wasn't a toy produced.

Dark Shadows--I know this is now being rectified, but a great Barnabas Collins figure from that era would have been awesome.

Kolchak the Night Stalker I don't think the show was ever enough of a hit to drive this one, but I'd have been a fan.

I'm sure more will hit me.

Hugh

[Captain]

Kind of funny you mentioned Wild Wild West and Johnny West. when Marx conceived its 12" action cowboy figures, they were originally going to be based on licensed properties...the Daniel Boone tv show (and the designs stayed pretty much the same when Daniel Boone became..Daniel Boone sans license, and the indian sidekick was later resurrected (with the newer more articulated body) as Chief Cherokee).

The James West character was designed and ready to go when Marx desided to take the GI Joe approach and make the line an in-house project. Over time, Sam Cobra used the James West body and gadgets, and the Robert Conrad head sculpt was given to Captain Tom Maddox of the Best of the West-Fort Apache Fighters line. Several folks have done head swaps to make the James West character. Zeb Zachary, another Fort Apache fighter, was originally meant to be based on a Jesse James tv show from 20th Century fox. The show wasnt picked up, and the head was retooled a bit (bugle blowing lips, hair shortened) for use as Zachary.

Some have also said that Sherrif Garret looks an awful lot like Dean Martin, and the General Custer head sculpt looks a lot like an actor who played him in a short lived tv series as well...cant recall the name?

Actually, some have surmised that the Jesse James show's not being picked up may have been the deciding factor in Marx's creation of the Johnny west line instead.I'm glad they went with Johnny. He had a long life, and was a childhood favourite of mine!

I also know first hand, for a fact, that the new Marx was going to produce John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and others, back in 1999, 2000. Sadly events turned sour as events behind the scenes made a mess out of Marx for a long time. It looks like things are getting back to normal now, but it may be some time before we see Marx as a brand again.

[Falstaff13]

Thanks for a wealth of information. There was a Custer series with Wayne Maunder in the late 1960s, so that might be the one?

I'd heard rumors they were going to bring Jim West into the Johnny West line but never heard this detailed an account. Many thanks for the info. I would have loved one with a trick boot with a knife blade, etc.

And I'd have loved if they'd completed those in 1999. Sigh...

[HardyGirl]

Shaun Cassidy had a doll, but all David had paper dolls and Colorforms. Unfair, I tell you.

And of course I had to solve the problem of no Rick Springfield doll by making one myself. I may have to do that w/ David.

[apes3978]

Kung Fu Given the crossover appeal of the show (western and martial arts), I am surprised there wasn't a toy produced.

I agree with this one... It's a great show, often credited as starting the "Martial Arts" movement in the US... Plus, you and I have the same idea of the show's "cross-over" appeal... I'm not counting on seeing a line from EMCE, CAW, Zica or the like any time soon though...

Another show that should have been made into a line of figures: LAND OF THE LOST... You could cobble together half-***ed versions of Will and Holly if you customize Brady kids from CTVT, an Alan Virdon figure easily becomes Uncle Jack, but I'd have to look around a little more to find someone that could be used for Rick Marshall... The humans are easily covered by customs, but the Sleestak and Enik the Altrusian are not easy fixes unless you buy high-end customs... If you're able to do that your Sleestak "army" may not make it past one due to cost constraints (but that's not the point of this post, what a seller charges for their stuff is up to them)... It's too bad that movie was such a horrid farce (which should NOT have been made), had it been done in the tone of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy film (think along the lines of Jurassic Park or King Kong 2005) there would have been more of a chance at marketing decent items, which may have included Sleestak warriors... No one can say if they'd have been Mego style though, but it would have been cool to have them even in the 3 3/4" scale...

[Captain]

Thanks for a wealth of information. There was a Custer series with Wayne Maunder in the late 1960s, so that might be the one?

I'd heard rumors they were going to bring Jim West into the Johnny West line but never heard this detailed an account. Many thanks for the info. I would have loved one with a trick boot with a knife blade, etc.

And I'd have loved if they'd completed those in 1999. Sigh...

Yep, thats the Custer series. If you look it up and compare the actor to the toy you can see they are dead ringers.

The original Jim West prototype popped up a few years ago, and the one thing it did have that Sam cobra didnt get, was a trick boot heel that held a skeleton key. Apparantly the heel wouldnt stay on, so it was dropped when the figure went into production...and explains where the little key that came with Sam went, and what it was for.

As for the 99 lines....now that its looking like some of the Marx legal issues are over (well, the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel anyways) you may yet see them. dont know if they will involve me again, as different people are looking like they will be running things for Mr. Horowitz, but if I hear anything I'll post it somewhere at the museum here.

[Captain]

A couple of coulda shoulda lines I always wanted actually almost made it to the shelves. The Phantom and Doc Savage...both would have been Mego lines. I'm not sure if doc would have been 8"...or maybe even 9"?
Phantom would have been part of the WGSH line I imagine.

A couple other lines I wanted were Simon and Simon (with Dodge Power Wagon), Magnum PI, and Star Trek II. Magnum was done by LJN (although he sure looks like a Mego leftover) but they were rare. I never even knew they came out until I saw one a couple years back.

[Bruce Banner]

I always wanted a Grand Moff Tarkin figure in the original Kenner Star Wars line.
I always thought it was a glaring omission that they didn't actually make one until the line relaunched in the 90's.

[Falstaff13]

I always wanted a Grand Moff Tarkin figure in the original Kenner Star Wars line.
I always thought it was a glaring omission that they didn't actually make one until the line relaunched in the 90's.

Agreed. He's actually my favorite character--I love when Vader is choking the Imperial officer, and Tarkin tells him "that's enough," ending the display of the Force. Too bad Peter Cushing did not live long enough to enjoy the boon his old friend Christopher Lee has.

[PoorMansJB]

The James West character was designed and ready to go when Marx desided to take the GI Joe approach and make the line an in-house project. Over time, Sam Cobra used the James West body and gadgets, and the Robert Conrad head sculpt was given to Captain Tom Maddox of the Best of the West-Fort Apache Fighters line. Several folks have done head swaps to make the James West character.

It's stated on a number of sites that either Conrad or CBS or both nixed the West doll. I could easily believe it was Conrad; somewhere I have an interview with him making a statement along the lines of "no kid of mine is ever gonna be found playin' with dolls."

I've always wondered why the full cast of Lost in Space never saw production. There was a Japanese line with just Smith, Penny, and Judy. Trendmaster brought us Smith, Don, Will, and Judy. Metropolis currently has everyone but Will and Penny available; fingers crossed they'll all get made. Plenty of opportunity, too, to double-up, what with the classic silver flight suits and three different seasons worth of terra firma outfits.

An odd suggestion, I know, but for years I've wanted to see Alfred Hitchcock surrounded by his leading ladies: Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedren, etc. ... a sort of modern Six Wives of Henry the Eighth.

Though I'm not a huge fan of westerns -- save for WWW, but then, it's not really a traditional take on the genre -- on either the big or small screen, it is curious that with as mush source material as was out there that the only cast I can think of to actually appear as action figures was Bonanza.

[LordMudd]

I've always wondered why the full cast of Lost in Space never saw production. There was a Japanese line with just Smith, Penny, and Judy.

Ok, now that just sounds kinky. Leave it to the Japanese.

CCC.

[PoorMansJB]

I've always wondered why the full cast of Lost in Space never saw production. There was a Japanese line with just Smith, Penny, and Judy.

Ok, now that just sounds kinky. Leave it to the Japanese.

CCC.

I'm 98% sure Harris was gay ... which probably only makes it weirder.