any Playing Mantis CA fans here?

[rche]

Hiya folks,

I was looking around at the Captain Action Now site and came across some odd info. One would think they would have things written out correctly there, but there you go.

In the history section, they claim that the Kato and Tonto sets were made for the new Kid Action. As far as I can tell, these are straight repros of the vintage Captain Action sized outfit. I am wondering if these really were made slightly smaller for the KA, or if that is just an editing error on the Cap Action Now site. I am assuming it is an error.

have a good time
rche

[Earth 2 Chris]

They were made for Captain Action. I own them so I can vouch for that. There were pics circulated of a Speed Racer set that was meant to be made for KA, and Jonny Quest and Hadji were in the design stages, but that's it for KA.

I remember reading years ago that a rumor persisted that Ideal made a Kato costume for Action Boy. I guess some things never die.

Chris

[rche]

Hiya e2chris,

I knew about the speed racer and hadji sets. I was just leafing through the CAnow site and reading that fellows personal history and involvement with the line when I came across this.

Playing Mantis launched the new Captain Action line in 1998. Their products included reissues of Captain Action, Dr. Evil, and Action Boy (now dubbed Kid Action). Our accessories included uniforms capable of transforming the Captain and his sidekick into the Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, the Phantom and the Green Hornet. Meanwhile, Action Boy received costumes for Tonto and Kato, while Dr. Evil could now disguise himself as Ming the Merciless and Kabai Singh. We also planned sets for Speed Racer, Johnny Quest, Dick Tracy and James Bond. Unfortunately, these products would never see the light of day.

I have had the GH/Kato sets on my radar for a while now, and had remembered seeing the phrase "for Captain Action!" boldly emblazened on the front of the 2nd gen costume packs. So I had to wonder if they did two different sets. I figured it was an editing error on the site.

Are you happy with your Playing Mantis items? As I said, I have had these on my radar since I first saw them at a TRU 10 years ago, but I wasn't collecting 1/6 scale at the time. They have since seeped into the corners of my subconscious and I keep envisioning a CA shelf in my toy space. I just missed out on a set of four PM boxed items for about 70 shipped, but I have a lead on some others.
Should I take the plunge?

thanks
rche

[MIB41]

I'm a big fan of the Playing Mantis line up. In fact I have everything they put out. Unfortunately they never released anything for Kid Action (except in advertising). It would have been great had they created the Speed Racer line but alas, sales were sluggish at best so Playing Mantis pulled the plug.

[Lynn TXP 0369]

The Kato packaged out fit is the same as the PM Kato with the 12" figure. The package only out fit has been updated with new and updated parts.

Kato was never made in the origonal line BTW.

The best PM CA figures are the newest ones in the long boxes, Kid Action, and the 4 out fit only packages, they totally rock.
Lynn

[MIB41]

Actually the Kato outfit set is different from the packaged one (as is the Green Hornet). The costume sets came with face pieces that had removable masks. The earlier boxed set (that where dressed on a CA figure) were entirely different head pieces with the masks molded on them.

[Joe90]

Get them. You may find that the blue Lone Ranger, and The Phantom outfits will be pricey, but they sets are great. I missed out on the super-duper stupidly cheap clear outs, but I got them all for less than retail on eBay.

[rche]

I just missed out on some vintage CA suits on the bay. I was throwing it all at the spidey suit, but ended up second fiddle. Because of that, plus the fact that they all ended within seconds of each other, I did not aim for some of the other sets. The GH went for a good price, and I would have loved to have the Phantom for the $$ it went for. Had I only known there was a sniper crazier than me. : ) Ah well.

[Captain]

I was lucky enough to be in Washington state at the time, and found (and bought)almost all of the PM Captain Action line at ridiculously low blow out prices. It really was a very well done toy line, redo or not.

Just for giggles, heres a link showing the Quest and Speed Racer stuff. By this time, Cap was retired again, and both lines were meant to be traditional figures, not costume sets for Captain Action or the Kid.

Playing Mantis 2001 Action Figures

[cjefferys]

It was a nicely done line, I wish I bought more than I did. I remember KB Toys' website blowing out a lot of this stuff cheap a number of years ago. I tried to order, but they needed a US address and credit card, which I didn't have at the time.

[rche]

... heres a link showing the Quest and Speed Racer stuff. By this time, Cap was retired again, and both lines were meant to be traditional figures, not costume sets for Captain Action or the Kid.

Man, that is too bad. Those were some awesome looking mockups. So what was everybody buying in 01 that beat this stuff out? Hasbro's Star Wars was suffering from prequels, they didn't take off again until the Sith stuff. Were toy sales in a slump altogether?

[Joe90]

So what was everybody buying in 01 that beat this stuff out? ... Were toy sales in a slump altogether?

I think it was a case of us shooting ourselves in the foot. That and bad distribution. I bought The Lone Ranger and Tonto when it came out, at full retail. More, maybe. It was only available up here through specialty shops. They were $60 Canadian a set. I remember other collectors talking about waiting for them to go to clearance. I got busy and they dropped off my radar. In 2003 encountered The Green Hornet and Kato figures for $20 for the pair. That got me kick started and I eventually got the rest.

The best PM CA figures are the newest ones in the long boxes, Kid Action, and the 4 out fit only packages, they totally rock.
Lynn

I never noticed a difference between the retro box figures and the others. I thought it was strictly packaging.

[starsky]

i have the green hornet and kato set.

[jds1911a1]

in the 90's retro launch Playing mantis did indeed make Kato. it is obviously based on a custom made set as the sculpt quality is lower than the true reissue sets but still very cool. nothing against castwaay but CA is 12" or not at all me for

[MIB41]

I was lucky enough to be in Washington state at the time, and found (and bought)almost all of the PM Captain Action line at ridiculously low blow out prices. It really was a very well done toy line, redo or not.

Just for giggles, heres a link showing the Quest and Speed Racer stuff. By this time, Cap was retired again, and both lines were meant to be traditional figures, not costume sets for Captain Action or the Kid.

Playing Mantis 2001 Action Figures

Thanks for those pics Cap. It honestly pains me to think how close we were to having truly "CLASSIC" Speed Racer and Johnny Quest figures of high quality. After the debacle of Speed Racer in the theaters that possibility only drifts farther away.