Robin Hood Prince of Thieves action figures: the rush to market and reuse of older toys
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- Scott ToyGuru Neitlich reviews the vintage Robin Hood Prince of Thieves toy line and in particular how the rush to get this line to market forced Kenner to make some "creative" choices by reusing figures from previous toy lines in innovative ways.
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And if you already had Ewok village and the Robin Hood figures, you could have the most ambitious crossover.
I would so pay to watch that movie.
@@spectorcreative1872 ewoks vs. Sherwood! Make it so!
@@BanazirGalpsi1968I’ve been working on a script for the past 7 months, what’s your email? I need some feedback
Prince of Thieves will always be THE Robin Hood to me.
Me too. But the Disney is a close second!
I'm pretty sure the first Robin Hood medium to have a middle eastern ally, was actually the "Robin Of Sherwood" Tv series from the mid eighties.
I think you are right!
@@spectorcreative1872 It was. In fact there's a persistant rumour that Azeem in the movie was going to be called Nasir but Mark Ryan, who played Nasir on TV, was a fight arranger on the film and pointed out that the character was under copyright.
Awesome show, the best incarnation of Robin hood ever!
@@craigcharlesworth1538 I heard it was actually Terry Walsh, a stunt man and arranger who worked on both.
@@timrollpickering Oh wow, I didn't know Terry worked on Prince of Thieves. A Doctor Who legend from back in the day!
I turned 11 at the end of 1991. So I was 10 during the summer of 1991. Prince Of Thieves were some of my last toys from my childhood. I got all of them. And Robo-Cop was from the late 80's, not early. Chainsaw was from 1989. I had him and I knew in 1991 that is was him. Still an awesome toyline. I loved it very much.
That is cool that as a kid you recognized the Sheriff/Chainsaw connection. It took years before the internet solved that one!
@@spectorcreative1872 well, it was easy because of how short the time span was in between 1989 and 1991. I was still playing with my Robo-Cop figures. The Super Powers were easy. I was born in 1980, so Super Powers and final Star Wars figures were my first toys.
Actually the bola bomber and net from "bone age"
Really? I'll need to check that out! Thanks!!!!!
The Bola Bomber slinger/top is a re-tool from the Bone Age version,
but with the Bone Age Spear Slinger cart/wheels instead... another Frankenstein!
Wow Bone Age, I'd forgotten about that. Had some of the toys and loved them.
Back in the day, I actually "borrowed" from RH;PoT's for my Kenner, Super Powers line. I took the Sheriff and made him my General Zod. Took his cape to replace my lost Mr. Miracle one. And took Robins bow to replace my lost Green Arrows bow.
Creative imagination can be fun!!
This channel needs to have at least 500K subscribers. So fun and informative
Well thank you! I am always grateful for the support. Please do share these videos with others, it helps!
I believe the net launcher and the bola bomber were actually reused toys from Kenner. The Bone Age line had them. They were really rare if not unproduced.
Was going to say the same thing
They totally were.
And now we know! Thanks for sharing great additional info!!!!
You know I completely forgot about the Robin Hood toy line. I remember seeing them in the stores but I was such a die hard TMNT fan I kept grabbing those up as a kid. Kind of wish I could go back in time and grab some of these!
It was definately one of those blink and you miss them toy lines!
I remember buying and opening the Friar Tuck figure and took his Cape off. Gamorrean guard body from vintage ROTJ
Crazy right! I love it for just that reason.
The wave 2 would have been SO awesome - I have all these figures. I think it's a fantastic line, best soft goods ever on action figures to date. Incredible job by Kenner.
As for role play, I had only just found out about how awesome that Robin Hood Sword and Dagger set is. I now own it - so high in their quality. Kids deserve better toys like that! They also made a NERF style Robin Hood bow and arrow set, pretty cool though I can't get mine to work well. I think the design lacked functionality.
Oh man, every time I see image of wave 2 I just fall back into wishland!
I actually really enjoy hearing about retooled and reused lines. i find that part of the industry fascinating.
Well a lot more on this to come!
I just want to say wow some amazing fascinating stuff! Thanks so much for what I am learning- like a master class in toys!
Thrilled you re enjoying! Any videos you like, feel free to please post on your social media and share with others!
I actually remember back in the day, Alan Rickman was on a late night talk show with the Sheriff of Nottingham figure and expressing his disgust with it. LOL.
Good for him!
I am just gonna tell my kids that the Sherwood forest playset is just Ewok Village V2 😂😂😂😂😂
It is located down the road on the other side of Endor.
I got Crossbow Robin as a birthday present. I loved the fabric cloak
This whole line is so under rated!
Yeah, I figured it out when I was a kid that Kenner was basically reusing the same molding on these figures like I instantly recognized my Green Arrow figure and the top of Lex Luthor was on the Sheriff. I never knew the Sheriff's head was in the Robocop line. This surprises me since I had Robo and ED-209 when I was a wee one. I still have ED-209 on display. Surprised the paint is still good mostly on the top.
Still, I loved the medieval weapons from the Robin Hood line the most. I always gave the Sheriff's sword to my Serpentor (which cause of the golden plastic) he kind lost his thumb because of how much I used him. Well, Overlord took over the sword swinging duties when Serpentor couldn't any longer.
Even using those old molds, yes it still is an amazing toy line!
I actually enjoyed this toy line as a kid. I had most of it.
I wish I had it as a kid! Lucky.
Didn't know about this line when I was a kid, but had quite a big Star Wars collection back then. Star Wars, along with He-Man where my favorite toys ever. And yeah, guess that's the case with pretty much everyone growing up back then. Anyway, didn't know about these Robin Hood figures, so when I found the Tuck action figure at a flea market, I was completely confused. Still bought it, though. How could I not. A Star Wars figure I never heard of? Took me a few years to find out what it was (no Internet back then) :-)
And wasn't life a bit simpler before the internet? Less trivia. But simper.
While Azeem was indeed first introduced in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, they did not come up with the idea of a saracen sidekick type character
Azeem was a "inspired" by a character Nasir, from a TV show (starring Sean Connery's son) Robin of Sherwood, when the film's producers announced they had cast Morgan Freeman to play the character of Nasir they were told they had to change the name after finding the character originated with the TV show and was not part of the "original" legend, unless they wanted to pay for rights to use the charactor.
You are 100% right. I suppose this just popularized it
Thank you for this terrific video! 👍🏻👍🏻
You are most welcome. Suggestions for other videos are most welcome!
After hearing nothing but bitching from other toy channels, we now have a fair counterpoint to toy talks. While I am not in the corporate corner, I have been interested in what actually happens behind the scenes with toys.
And glad I could help with that. Suggestions for topics are always welcome~!
@@spectorcreative1872 gi joe
Careful you’ll be branded an apologist for not liking the bitching. I used to defend Scott on the Marty boards and would regularly get called a Mattel apologist for trying to understand the business behind it all.
@@cut2thechas some ppl arent happy unless they're complaining about something
@@cut2thechas Many years ago, I learned a fantastic word: Ultracrepidarian. It means "Someone who talks at great length on the subject of something they know nothing about." 🤣
Thank you for directing me towards this video. I remember one Christmas me and my little brother getting Sherwood Forest, The Net launcher and the Battle Chariot we played with them for a week as robin hood and then realised we should just use them for Star Wars instead.
I love this line for this very reason!
I'd like to know more about the RoboCop toyline. I had those figures as a kid and lived them. 👍
Nice. Did you recognize the Sheriff when he came out with Chainsaw's head?
The Disney Robin Hood song was by far my favorite. I still sing it sometimes. "Robin Hood and Little John, running through the forest
Jumping fences, dodging trees and trying to get away
Contemplating nothing but escape and finally making it
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day" lol. Your all welcome!
Oh it is the best
I will defend these toys till the day I die. I LOVED them as a kid. I guess because I didn’t most of the super powers figures they used parts from nor did I have Friar Tuck, I wouldn’t have known that they were repurposed at the time. I do remember asking my parents for the Sherwood Forest set knowing we essentially already had it with the Ewok Village, and they looked at me like “nice try”
Maybe it was just down the road next to the shield bunker?
I thought these figures were great because of the cloth that was used for their outfits! It had a premium feel and felt very real. I thought that was going to be the future of action figures haha. I guess that's one reason I had so much Action Man stuff.
I just wish wave 2 was made! That King Richard was awesome
Excellent !
I have these toys, loved them as a kid, cloth good outfits were so cool. Idea for a future video, Arco The Other World toys. Very fun and very cheap back in the day
I'll add that to the list!
I got a few Other World toys one year for my birthday. My favourite was the Froggacuda. As with every nifty creature or character I take a liking to, as soon as I read or watch the media tie-in, that character or critter dies within seconds of being introduced. 🤣
@@Beedo_Sookcool
I know these are cheap bendy figures but they have their charm!
Someone has already mentioned this line in the thread and I second his suggestion.That line is Arco's The Other World series from the early 80's.A line of 3 3/4 bendy barbarians with glow in the dark weapons.A great assortment of mounts and even the Castle Zendo playset.How can a person pass up a review on a line with a character named Frogacuda.
There was a Frogacuda. I am all over this!
Froggacuda ruled. One of my favourite creature figures as a kid.
I'm still convinced that an Ivanhoe story would have made for a good sequel to the Prince Of Thieves. Prince John could have been the main villain and it just felt like it could have been a natural flow into that story.
Oh totally! That book is underrated now.
Ugh, and sit through another two hours of Costner's dull, non-English accent? It was only worth watching for Alan Rickman, he hams it up so well that it balanced it :D
Another awesome video
Glad you continued to enjoy!
Glad to find someone else who loves the Disney Robin Hood as much as I do, that movie gets a lot of hate for some reason.
Does it? Shame on those Robin Hood Haters! We even have toys of it now from Super 7.
Dont know if someone else covered this, but Sherriff's medal was recolored and used for Two-face, the crossbow from Robin and Will was retooled for Poison Ivy. The tree fort arrow launchers were from Swamp Thing.
Also, The bola bomber was a combination of two unproduced Bone Age accessories and the net launcher was also an unproduced Bone Age toy.
I did not know that! Awesome, thanks for posting.
Love your videos ! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge ! Btw did Kenner keep the fire pit gimmick where you can roast action figures for the Robin Hood Line ? Again great content!
I don't actually have either toy, I'll need to check in the images.
the 2 "original" small vehicles came from a kenner toyline called bone age "tangle trap" in the net shooter and the "bolo launcher" fires the rocks.
Yes indeed!
I had most of this toy line as a kid. I always wondered why Robin Hood had a "G" on his belt.
And there you go! G is for Green Arrow.
I never even knew this line existed till a few years ago.
And knowing is half the battle
Great episode
Thrilled you liked! Please share with others if you can. It helps the channel a ton
Now I wanna see a Robin Hood movie made up of DC characters, Star Wars and Robocop.
Green Arrow could be Robin Hood, Ewoks could be the merry men, a gamorean guard as Friar Tuck, Robocop as the sheriff of Nottingham... the list goes on! Kevin Costner could be King Richard at the end!
Hell, while we're at it, let's have other characters slinging arrows with Robin Hood, I'm sure people wouldn't mind Hawkeye and Legolas too :D
I would so pay good money to see that!
It's funny that the mix and matching of toys from that era such as Batman, Robocop, Demolition Man etc, I find more interesting than the actual toys themselves. Never liked any Kenner toys of that era. In school a Star Wars fan I knew told me about the Sherwood Forest toy in class...the day after he bought it.
Yeah sometimes the story behind the toy can be even more interesting!
Wow. This is somehow an example of both a lack of creativity, and an amazing feat of creativity. I guess the fact that the creators were on a crazy deadline tips the scales in a favorable direction. Fascinating revelation!
Crazy right. Once you see it you can't unsee it
gosh, I remember my cousin and myself being in love with the mythos of Robin Hood and had all the figures, we would build up large forest dios, and use ewok village since my cousins were big star wars fans too. we loved the disney animated robin hood too, so it would basicly be live action human version during play.
Now that sounds awesome! I so wish I had these toys as a kid.
When you mention that a leg is retooled without the articulation does that mean that a new mold has to be created or do they just grind into the existing mold to create a new upper leg for the existing lower leg (or new lower for existing upper whichever). I assume when they remove detail (such as with the Gammorean Guard Chest) that they just add material to fill in the negative of the detail inside the original mold.
Tools can be modified at a cost, but then they can;'t be modified back. But less cost then making a new tool.
That buzzsaw gun from the Robocop vandal was used for a GI JOE I believe too. Something from 1989 or 1990
Yes, I think you are right!
The Ewok Village Crossbow and Net Thrower Ballista were re-used in Battle Trolls (the Batman troll and the Cyclops Deluxe respectively)
I did not know that! Thanks for adding the info. Most appreciated
Right, and Battle Trolls figure accessories were from Bucky O'Hare, Swamp Thing and Cowboys of Moo Mesa, too.
I love the movie. The action figure line and accompanying toys . . . not so much.
I did think the Robin Hood version of the village playset was better because it had leaves on top of the tree trunks.
I totally agree with that!
Kenner reused the GI Joe Firebat and mixed it with parts from Aliens vehicles to create a VR Troopers vehicle. They also straight reused a vehicle from the Cops N Crooks line to create another VR Troopers vehicle. How did Kenner use Hasbro molds? Well VR Troopers came out in 94, and Hasbro bought Kenner in 91. Neat.
That is a great example and I was not familiar with it. Awesome addition! Thanks!
Oh man did i remember this toy franchise; my cousin showed off the hang-glider gimmick and thought it was cool. I wasn't too big on the film or toys...yet...wished they .made Robinhood Men in Tights toys!
I want all the Mel Brooks films as toys!
I actually think the Sherwood Forest play set is better looking than the Ewok set. The tree tops kinda set it off.
I can't disagree. I like the tree tops
This old line needs a retro reboot so bad. I hope companies like Neca or Super7 makes new Prince of Thieves toys. Neca could make a few of them into the 8-inch Retro Cloth line. It would be pure gold!
This was top of my list of toy lines I tried to get a 6" SA line made of. Just couldn't get the backing!
@@spectorcreative1872 wow that’s interesting. But I think it’s only a matter of time before someone rolls the dice and makes them. Like I said, Neca seems to slap together anything they can get their hands on. It’s such a wonderful movie. That Bryan Adams song is so nostalgic too. I miss those times.
With horrendously displaced accent action! 🤣 Kinda wished I'd picked up the Sherwood Forest playset when it went on clearance, to augment the Ewok Village.
A great way to get more Endor!
Not one of the best movie lines Kenner did but there were some gems. The Robin Hood Battle Wagon made so much more sense as a toy to me than the Ewok version. The minor changes made what was a mediocre toy at pretty good one. I always the foliage was a great addition to the Ewok Village and really improves the look of the set. There's was a minor resculpt on the village to accommodate this addition. A number of years ago I bought some spare Sherwood foliage to add to my Ewok Village only to find out it doesn't fit.
A lot of this was because the Robin Hood line was rushed to market and Kenner did not have as much lead time
The Congo line heavily reused Jurassic Park and Aliens toys, and it was a great way to get missed items.
Oh I should do a video on that!
And here I always thought the Sheriff head was just a failed attempt at making an Alan Rickman sneer, but I could never understand why they gave him that crazy punk haircut and a headband, when no such look appears in the film...
Mystery solved! Thanks SC!
Crazy toy story right?!
Do you think the rocks for the Bola Bomber were from the mold for the Ewok Catapult?
I hear it was from a Caveman line Kenner tried
In mid 80s we had robin of Sherwood tv series which did a lot 6 years earlier that the Costner movie did the magic the azeem type character the wooded home etc
I loved this line of figures used Kenner green arrow and ribin body and gamorian guard for friar new it them as had originals lol I used to use my dungeons dragons figures fighting robin
All together. We're men. men in tights
"From hense forth, all the toilets in the kingdom will now be known as...Johns".
We roam around the forest looking for fights.
Poor narrator trying to come up with bow wielding heros..... and forgot green arrow. Probably the closest to Robin Hood character
Thought it was odd too seeing as how he was the brand manager for DC Universe Classics.
@@aximusprime yep. That’s kinda embarrassing
Point well taken.
Also, the fact that Kenner Green Arrow was used for the Robin Hood Costner body and arms lol this line used a lot of Kenner parts. Friar Tuck is a Gammorean Guard
And Wilford Brimley from the classic motion picture event "Hard Target".
Funny I have all these MOC still - I didn't bother w/the meh vehicles but Sherwood Forest has been a tough find and actually looks great. I noticed the many of the re-uses even back then.
I'd love to have this toy for this reason alone
I'm sure there were a ton of kids out there who always wished they could have had the old Ewok village playset were more than happy to pick up the Sherwood Forest playest.
My brothers had one of the Robin Hood figs and the generic goons figs; I thought they were respectable figs at least
I almost did buy one back in the day, exactly because it was the Ewok village. But alas, 13 years old me wasn't exactly swimming in cash either.
Yeah funny, I think the Sherwood set actually makes a better Ewok Village than the original.
@@spectorcreative1872 The leaves definitely breathe some life into it. The original version has an almost post-apocalyptic vibe to it, like the forest died off in a drought and you're living in the dried out husks of dead trees
I have alot of the robin hood figures, they are pretty cool
I have most of the set carded. Still hunting down Will Scarlet. They are pretty sweet.
One difference with the mold reuse from He-Man to Demolition Man is that Mattel owns He-Man, and I presume that they can reuse the mold however they like. I'm guessing that if Mattel had made Gygor well before Gorilla Grodd, they might have been able to reuse the mold.
And mold reuse back int he 80s and 90s wasn't as big of a deal too.
The second wave only had a couple of sets of photo samples made. There was a second wave of beta vehicles, but they only went to sculpt. I got offered one of the sets about 7 years ago. I wasn't able to buy it, but I was totally tempted! I created a April Fools figure from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. It was called Gren Sleeves. I posted it on my website. Someone sent me an offer for it, but I can't let it go! Its ridiculous!
I so wish that second wave was made. The world needs more Sean Connery figures.
@@spectorcreative1872 agreed!
I knew the Star Wars connection for the figures but not the DC one. I do remember that for a while at conventions people would try to sell Sherwood Forest as the Ewok Village to make more money. And when I pointed out once that a vendor had mistakenly marked Sherwood as Endor I was asked to leave his booth in a less than polite manner.
"less than polite." Ha. ;-P
That is very neat to know.
Glad you enjoyed! Neat is just what I go for!
I had the Robin Hood and Sheriff of Nottingham toys as a kid. I actually lost Robin Hood's bow and arrow in a forest.
Irony thy name is playtime
NICE!
Glad you enjoyed. Suggestions for future topics always welcome.
@@spectorcreative1872 Cheers!
As soon as I saw that Sheriff of Nottingham I knew it was the body of Lex Luther in his power armor. The bands are a dead giveaway.
The head was a bit tricker to nail down. For me, the Friar Tuck Gamorrean Guard takes the cake!
Nobody has ever been or will again be better at parts reuse and kit bashing then the Kenner crew. Respect!
The bola bomber and net launcher might come from another Kenner Line. Unproduced, but it was either a never manufactured Ewoks or the also never made second year of Bone Age. (I don't have time to dig net for catalog scans right now, sorry)
Yeah I have been wondering that. It feels like both likely are from something. I"m sure it will be uncovered. Maybe in this comments section!
What I find so peculiar is what prompted all
of these toy manufacturers to keep producing these lines of movie inspired action figures that generally didn't sell.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Indiana Jones
Clash of the Titans
Dune
Willow
Dick Tracy
Last Action Hero
Godzilla
...and the list goes on and on.
With the exception
of Star Wars and Batman, most of these toy lines just ended up on the clearance aisles.
What prompted them was Star Wars. The risk of having a small toy line that doesn't sell (especially if costs are kept low by reusing existing molds) is worth it for the small chance that the movie turns out to be a mega hit like Star Wars. Remember, people thought Star Wars might flop. All of the toy companies that turned down Star Wars before Kenner took the license have been kicking themselves ever since.
Before SW movie toy line did not sell. Part of why no one wanted SW.
That's very true. You know just ten years prior to Star Wars, 20th Century Fox released Doctor Doolittle which they must've thought would be a surefire smash hit, so naturally they marketed the shit out of it. There were toys, board games, bed sheets, coloring books, school supplies. To quote Yogart in Spaceballs, "Merchandising! Merchandising!" They were literally cramming the movie down the public's throats...and it ended up being one of the Sixties' biggest bombs! You just never know.
I would absolutely love to work for Mattel
Was there ever a toyline for the Robin of Sherwood the series back in the 80s? Great video on a great film.
Not that I know of, a great Robin hood though. We are getting a Disney Robin Hood finally from Super 7
@@spectorcreative1872 Cool. Yes, one of the best takes on those legends.
Wasn't there a range of Street Fighter toys that borrowed a lot of GI Joe parts too?
Yup. Vehicles too
Yeah, that's because it was a crossover with GI Joe if you saw the ads and file cards, so it had more leeway/wiggle room. A more blatant ripoff was the first Mortal Kombat line as it was not a crossover.
@@dubuyajay9964 What's really odd is with the Mortal Kombat figures is that Toy Island got the license later and used up-sized Hasbro molds for 5" or 6" versions of some character.
You say the 80s a lot, Im pretty sure this came out in the early 90s
good point.
“Sherwood Forest doesn’t have giant monster skulls.”
That’s a bit of creative license I feel they should’ve taken with the toys. Really could’ve given the franchise room to expand into, based off of English myths as it is.
Clearly they should have!!!
This is interesting to me because I would dress these figures up in other costumes and use them as stock characters when I was first getting into character design as a kid.
That is really cool. I always wish stock figures were made but form being on the other side I can see why not.
You forgot Green Arrow, he practically is Robin Hood!
Good point
Has anyone asked around at Hasbro (since they bought Kenner) if the new vehicles for this line might have begun as Ewok versions of the mini-rigs? "Just off camera" things designed for use with the Ewoks that simply didn't make it to production in the SW line?
Oh i think so indeed
The H on Demolition man *always* stood for John Spartan.... There's an H in John. Makes sense. Totally not just cheaping out.
Oh course! You so solved it. Nice.
what i wonder is how the modify the molds.
Ah that is a whole other video topic for an upcoming topic
Wow, to cool. I even had a few of these back in the day and didn't put it together (Or forgot, I'm old, lol.) Sadly when I went into the Army the folks gave all my toys away thinking that I was a adult now and wouldn't want them any more. I know their mistake now.
Ah yes, the lament of letting go of our childhood toys! I know it well
Look at hasbro with the black series line same ol thing.
You mean how the Jedi all have the same body and stuff?
The Robin hood Playset looks cooler
wish I had both
Me too. My friend Shawn had Ewok, I didn't have either.
Can’t wait to see your video when you get your snake mountain,
Yeah...ummmm. I never ordered one. ;-(
@@spectorcreative1872 😱😱😱
This is a great video, if you missed Ewok stuff first time around these sets are perfect for repurposing.
Yes they are!
Edit: I’m sorry it’s wordy. But it’s worth reading,
Man it’s a shame you can’t really do stuff like this anymore. I mean think about it, Mattel currently owns the license to Jurassic Park/World and is using it to make some really good dinosaur toys for that line, I myself even have a few, including the Giant Indominus rex, Blue, Scorpius rex, Indoraptor, Spinosaurus and Brachiosaurus toys. Now imagine if they took the sculpts and tooling they made for jurassic Park and used them to revive DINO RIDERS!!!! WOULDNT THAT BE AWESOME?!
Like it was before my time and My Childhood Mattel Dinosaur line was Extreme Dinosaurs (also deserving of a revival) but i still think Dino Riders looks awesome and the idea of rebooting it with Jurassic Park Style dinosaurs would be AMAZING
I tried so hard for Dino riders classics!!!
@@spectorcreative1872 awesome. They should’ve listened to ya man. That would’ve been rad XD
Have you done a video about tooling? Why is it cheaper to re-tool than to create something new? Is someone literally taking a copy of the old mould and reshaping it? How much is really saved by using these moulds and not changing them? Wouldn't creating a new one be a relatively tiny cost?
Here you go!czcams.com/video/bInK-LQot4o/video.html
@@spectorcreative1872 Thanks. That explains everything.
Even as a kid I recognized the playset as the Ewok one.
I think it was located just down the road on the other side of the shield bunker
So, when toy companies pulled this "recycling" stunt, did anyone else just say "what the hell" and use your Ewok village WITH the Robin Hood playset thereby expanding your playset "real estate"?
Of course this was only possibly if you could convince your parents it was a "totally different" toy.
Parent : "Didn't you get this same thing last year for Christmas?"
Kid : "No no, that was a STAR WARS toy, and COMPLETELY different!"
Nowadays, you could NOT get away with this. In the 80's most studios were just thrilled you were making toys. Remember, NO ONE wanted to make SW toys. Movie toys did not sell.
It's it me or are some modern action figures of a lesser quality than what I remember as a child? My sons have DC action figures approximately the size of power ranger "dolls" I had as a kid, but they don't articulate at the elbows or knees, feel mostly hollow and generally, in my opinion, just suck.
Could each toy line having to have its own specific moulds have contributed to a decline in quality? Due to increased expense? Or am I imagining it?
Oh it is not just you. Costs have gone way up and many toys are cost-reduced
Really surprised Kenner didn't get in trouble for the re-use they did
Their agreements with Lucasfilm or other licenses probably didn't have any provisions preventing them from reusing the tools they created for other toylines. Their practice was probably the catalyst for why moving forward licensors prevented such a thing from happening again.
Back then it wasn't a big deal to do this. Something that would never fly today.
Not sure I'd call Robocop early 80s since the original movie and first cartoon series were approx circa 86.
Point taken
I don't have a problem with reusing tooling. I see the mixing and matching and redecoing as a test of creativity. The only problems are when the parts don't make sense. Like if a part with obvious tech detailing is reused as flesh. See the 1993 Street Fighter figure Zangief for an example. He has the legs of the 1991 BAT v2 figure, leaving him with odd grooves and devices on his thigh.
I'll need to check that Zangrief out. Too funny.
it's a bit off topic, but, yeah, i used to be a lawyer. i can assure you that there are many things that people do for fun that make them happy that are absolutely horrible for the people around them. drunk drivers often love driving drunk, and many meth addicts love robbing people. you being happy is not all that matters, not if you live in a society.
Man, and here I thought Ivanhoe was the story of a Russian farmer and his tool.
That was the unlicensed sequel.
Another example of toy mold crossing multiple franchises would be from Hasbro. They used redecoed GI Joe vehicles in their Street Fighter II toyline.
Technically, the SF II toyline was considered a subline of GI Joe.
And knowing is half the Street Fight.
@@user-do2ev2hr7h which were all repurposed ninja force body parts!!! I remember ryu and ken had the slice body
@@sliderx1897 IIRC the tooling was supposedly designed to be used concurrently. I'm pretty sure the fact they had the Chun Li mold is the only reason we got V2 Scarlett, who was the first female figure since the 1987 series (with each wave prior to that having 1 female character).
Hasbro did use much of that tooling again in the MK toyline, which didn't include any of the GI Joe branding.
@@user-do2ev2hr7h oh thats right i forgot about the MK toys! I always assumed they were also gi joes
I had an Ahzeem. My brothers tortured him to death with an exercise bike. My dad consoled me by telling me they'd just turned Ahzeem into Worf.
Well, 1: we should get your brothers back, 2: sounds like a great dad.
My Robin Hood would be men in tights but they will never make toys out of that one. I think that Robin Hood was homages in one of the Tom and jerry animated movie.
I so want Mel Brooks toys
@@spectorcreative1872 such a missed opportunity for Spaceball figures
I’ve been able let “excetera” go (it’s “et cetera,” btw) in all your videos…but “foilage?” I can’t do it. It’s “foliage,” sounds like “FO-lee-edge,” not “foy-ledge.”
I can not pronounce any language
@@spectorcreative1872 I thought you were doing a Simpsons reference. Marge pronounced it that way and annoyed Lisa. (I can't excape Lisa, my little walking liberry.)
Wow, who know ? Being older, 60's, the toy line wasn't as memorable as the ones from my youth, but it was a fun movie, and the toy line, which was plentiful then, is a nice memory. Oddly enough there is a booth at a ped. mall nearby that is selling the figures by the gross, in M.I.B. condition, not reproductions but actual items from that period. Makes one wonder where they acquired so many.
Another nice and informative video, Scott. Great narration.
So glad you enjoy! And grateful for taking the time to post a comment!