1971 Mattel Sea Devils Catalog

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In the 1960s, Mattel had a great deal of success with their “Major Matt Mason” line of toys, but when Neal Armstrong stepped on the moon and discovered nothing, interest in space race toys crashed and burned. Mattel logically thought to spin the concept off to a more earth-bound concept and created “The Sea Devils” […]

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[thunderbolt]

Was there any relationship between this line and the DC Comics Sea Devils book of the early 60s?

[PNGwynne]

Appealing line, Kretor has a Manta & Moray vibe.

[MysteryWho]

Very nice. I find them oddly more appealing than I ever found the Major Matt Mason stuff.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Was there any relationship between this line and the DC Comics Sea Devils book of the early 60s?

I was about to ask the same thing. I keep forgetting this line existed, as if each time I read it about it (mostly here) it's the first time I ever heard of it. I don't think it was even covered in the big Tomart's Action Figure guide, so that could explain it, as that was my early action figure bible for lines before my time.

Chris

[Dark Shadow]

I had Rick Riley and my cousin had Chuck, even though I don't think either of us knew (or cared) they had names at the time, mine was always "The Black Devil" and his was "The Red Devil". My Mom used to "sit" for my Aunt, so some of my cousin's toys were kept in my room. We had an 18" dough boy pool, that was set up in the shade each summer on our back patio which was where we mostly played with our Devils. We each had the propellers, but I don't recall the air pump & hose accessory. I think these were selected for us, because I don't remember seeing them in the store and was never even aware of any additional sets or figures like Zark or Kretor. We had the cereal premium sea creatures and plastic dinosaurs that our Devils would hunt and battle with. I remember getting at least 2, possibly even 3 summers of play out of these guys.

[sprytel]

I had Rick Riley and my cousin had Chuck, even though I don't think either of us knew (or cared) they had names at the time, mine was always "The Black Devil" and his was "The Red Devil". My Mom used to "sit" for my Aunt, so some of my cousin's toys were kept in my room. We had an 18" dough boy pool, that was set up in the shade each summer on our back patio which was where we mostly played with our Devils. We each had the propellers, but I don't recall the air pump & hose accessory. I think these were selected for us, because I don't remember seeing them in the store and was never even aware of any additional sets or figures like Zark or Kretor. We had the cereal premium sea creatures and plastic dinosaurs that our Devils would hunt and battle with. I remember getting at least 2, possibly even 3 summers of play out of these guys.

Thanks for sharing this story. You can tell there are a lot of fond memories there.

[powersthatbe]

cool i have never heard of this line.

[Werewolf]

Really neat looking figures.

[Dark Shadow]

Thanks for sharing this story. You can tell there are a lot of fond memories there.

Thank you for that. I was surprised at how much came flooding back when I saw this posting. I see them now and then on eBay and they bring up some nostalgia, but something about this write up just took me all the way back. That's why I love this place, when it strikes home...it really strikes home. Cheers!

[tatsunokofan]

Hi all!

Was there any relationship between this line and the DC Comics Sea Devils book of the early 60s?

A bit late to the party with this, but no, the Mattel Sea Devils toy line had no connection to the DC Comics Sea Devils. Since there were a few years between the end of the comic and the launch of the toys, it really shouldn't be too surprising. However, I do remember wondering the same thing when I had the toys as a kid and found an old issue of the Sea Devils comics at a swap meet.

James