Friday, November 9, 2007

Captain Action - Going Retro

Captain Action was an action figure from 1966 that came with separate costumes that allowed him to change into Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Phantom, The Lone Ranger (and Tonto), Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon and the Green Hornet (No issues about copyrights then - the world was a simpler place to live in). Captain Action was Ideal Toy Company's answer to Hasbros' GI Joe. However, Captain Action had more natural hands for holding weapons and stuff, unlike GI Joe. A sidekick, Action Boy, and a mortal enemy, the blue skinned, exposed brain, bug-eyed alien Dr Evil was added in 1967. Unfortunately, Captain Action only lasted two and a half years.

Captain Action was revived in 1998 by retro toy company Playing Mantis. Captain Action as the Lone Ranger and Tonto, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Green Hornet and Kato returned to do battle with Dr Evil who could disguise himself as Kabai Singh and Ming the Merciless. A revived Action Boy (now called Kid Action, due to Hasbro owning the rights to the name Action Man) was also released. The second coming of Captain Action ended in 2000 because of lacklustre sales as much more detailed and collectible figures were appearing on the market, thanks to Dragon.

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