Growing Up with Toys: Counting Down the 10 Best Action Figure Series (#10-6)

As a young man growing up in the 80s and early 90s, there was absolutely no shortage of action figure lines. Good vs. evil, monster vs. monster, ice cream cone vs. stack of pancakes, man vs. man, alien vs. robot, little pink dudes vs. little pink dudes, blue ants vs. red ants, and sheep vs. pig! Nothing was off-limits when it came to opposing forces! Yeah, yeah, Hot Wheels, Legos and Tiger Electronics were cool, but action figures were my #1 love as kid. Take a trip down Memory Lane with me as I count down my 10 favorites…

#10

  

WWF Wrestling Superstars (LJN, 1984-1989)

I only owned Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake and Junkyard Dog, but I remember all of these figures because I had friends right down the road who were HUGE wrestling fans before I was and they owned all of these massive rubbery figures. That’s what made them so appealing though, their larger than life size. These bad boys clocked in around 12-inches and I remember them being pretty heavy for little kids to be playing with. Many saturdays were filled with going to my friends’ house and playing with their figures while WWF Superstars or WWF Challenge or Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling would be on the TV. My friends also had the ring, where we staged many cage matches. Hm. This could be a very worthy eBay bidding venture.

I seem to remember bonking someone on the head with one of these 5 lb figures (or perhaps being bonked).

Favorite Figures: Hulk Hogan, Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Tito Santana (I don’t know why either), Iron Sheik, Andre the Giant, Miss Elizabeth, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, Junkyard Dog, Cpl. Kirchner, Hillbilly Jim, Big John Studd, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, Jimmy Hart, Mean Gene Okerlund

#9

 

 

Batman/DC Comics Super Heroes (Toy Biz, 1989-1990)

Despite the fact that Kenner’s ‘The Dark Knight Collection’ (launched in 1990) had it all over this line in terms of quality sculpting, Toy Biz’s Batman/DC Comics Super Heroes line still holds a place in my heart. First off, it’s a (cheap) clone of Kenner’s old ‘Super Powers’ line, which I had fondness of. I mean, seriously, they must’ve stolen the molds from Kenner when making these figures, they’re that similar looking, it’s just that the spring-loaded actions that the ‘Super Powers’ line had is absent. I have to admit that the line was pretty cheaply made, Toy Biz was just starting out and had no clue. My Joker had part of his lower leg break off, and my Lex Luthor literally split in half on the very first day I owned him. The Flash was kinda dumpy looking and his little zoom platform he came with to give the appearance of running didn’t really work.

The line originally launched simply as ‘Batman’ and was based upon the 1989 movie. Pretty small line as it only featured Batman (square jaw & round jaw versions), the Joker and Bob the Goon along with some vehicles. Of course, the line was a dream come true for me. My uncle bought me Batman, the Joker, Bob the Goon, the Batmobile and Batplane for one Christmas. It was awesome. I remember feeling bad though because my parents had only bought me the Batman figure that same Christmas and I felt sorry for them thinking *they* would feel bad because I got that figure plus more from someone else. Personally, I didn’t mind though, I’ve never minded having doubles of the same figure, I would usually just turn one into a spinoff character (example: calling the extra Batman simply “Dark Knight”) or an evil version or something. I later was able to pick up the Joker Van at Big Lots really cheap. Well, more like I got my mom to buy it for me. I loved that van!

Anyway, in 1989, there was no way a Batman toyline was going to fail, so after that success, Toy Biz decided to expand on the whole DCU using the aforementioned ‘Super Powers’ knockoffs. Superman was a really cool figure from that line, he came with a kryptonite ring and, through the magic of magnetism, when you put it close to his chest, he would fall down. I always wanted the Riddler, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, but could never find them. The low-quality expanding of the line pretty much killed it and Toy Biz would go on to do wonders for Marvel’s superheroes and eventually get bought out by Marvel.

Favorite Figures: Batman, Robin, Bob the Goon, Superman, Batmobile, Joker Van

#8

 

  

The Real Ghostbusters (Kenner, 1986-1991)

I was a huge “Real” Ghostbusters fan as a kid. I loved the cartoon, but wasn’t really a fan of the movies (and I’m still not to this day). The movies were just too dark and serious for me, whereas the cartoon was a bit lighter (thought it could also get dark and scary at times… the Bogeyman always freaked me out). Well, the toy line was based on the cartoon and much like the cartoon, it had it’s goofy figures as well as freakish ones. My friend had all of the Haunted Humans they were particularly creepy to me, though that whole line is awesome.

There was a line called Monsters that came out toward the end of the line’s run, featuring classic horror icons such as Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the wolfman. I bought the wolfman and monster at K-Mart for a PENNY a piece. Seriously, they were discounted that much and they weren’t even old. I think I picked up two Captain Planet figures for the same price that day as well.

I really loved the Fright Features figures, you just squeeze’em and they make some silly action to let you know the’re scared. The FF Venkman is my favorite from this series, his hair would rise up and his eyes would bug out.

Favorite Figures: Peter Venkman, Fright Features Peter Venkman, The Wolfman Monster, Ray Stantz, Fright Features Egon Spengler, Fright Features Ray Stantz, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Bad-To-The-Bone Ghost, Gooper Ghosts Green Ghost, Mail Fraud Ghost, Granny Gross Ghost, Hard Hart Horror Ghost, Terror Trash Ghost, X-Cop Ghost, Tomstone Tackle Ghost, Fearsome Flush, Green Ghost, ECTO-1A, ECTO-3, Highway Haunter

#7

 

 

Transfomers (Hasbro, 1984-1990)

This would be “Generation 1″ for all you TF geeks. In hindsight, I don’t really like Transformers (the cartoon or the toys) as much as I did back then. Weird. I still LOVE G.I. Joe, but the ‘formers just don’t do much for me. But that’s okay, because we’re talking about my mindset *then*, not *now*.

The big guns I never owned. I never had a Megatron or Optimus Prime. I had to settle for the “mini” Transformers or yard sale worn out Transformers. But for the time, they were still awesome. And as the tale goes, I had friends who had most of’em and I got my jollies playing with their figures.

Favorite Figures: Grimlock, Snarl, Hot Rod, Prowl, Sideswipe, Red Alert, Sunstreaker, Starscream, Bumblebee mini, Cliffjumper mini, Cosmos mini, Seaspray mini, Soundwave, Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime, the Devastator Combiners

#6

 

Super Powers (Kenner, 1984-1986)

It was a series of comics (drafted up by Jack Kirby, no less), a cartoon and a toy series. I actually own most of the Super Powers comics, but have never read them. The cartoon, of course, is awesome and I own both DVD sets. But the toys were something even more special. They were one of my earliest introductions to superheroes and comics and I have fond memories for the Batman figure from this line, which is probably my favorite action figure of all time. Unfortunately, a some point, one of his legs snapped off and years later he went MIA. The Super Powers line also continued the awesome tradition of mini-comics!

Favorite Figures: Batman, Superman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Mister Freeze, Joker, Shazam!, Plastic Man, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, Brainiac

So, who could make my Top 5? You’ll find out soon enough…

A very special thanks to Seibertron.com: The Ultimate Transformers Resource and ToyOtter.com’s Super Powers Archive for the use of their Transformers and Super Powers images! Please visit their sites!

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