Seeing as the film was released on Blue Ray and DVD this week, I thought it would be fun/sad to take a look at the action figures we got screwed out of when the film was in theatres.
As the Star Wars franchise started to slow down with the finality of "Return of the Jedi", Hollywood scrambled for another big Science Fiction franchise and "The Last Starfighter" looked like it was the one. The movie tied in America's love of video games with an honest to goodness space adventure, it was also the first movie to use CGI effects. Licensors lined up, Atari had video games ready, Marvel did a tie in comic and Galoob was ready to unleash a line of action figures. Sadly the film was a disappointment and the line never saw release, here is what we missed out on.
Click Here to Visit the PlaidStallions Last Starfighter Gallery
More Space Action Figures:
screw figures! I'm still waiting for a 1/48 scale model kit of the GunStar.
ReplyDeleteThis seemed like an ill-inspired toy line. All they needed to do was do GunStar and figures of the main characters and it would have sold huge. They just wrongly assumed that the Star Wars model would carry on to other sci-fi.
You know what, it never has. Movie after movie released the whole cast of characters and nobody cares like they did for Star Wars.
And so the world misses its chance to have a Robert Preston action figure, since the Victor/Victoria toy line was also a flop.
ReplyDeleteArkonbey- That's a really strong point on the Star Wars methodology, maybe only Lord of the Rings make it work in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteAction figures had the fab five: Star Wars, G.I. Joe,Transformers, D.C./Marvel Superheroes and He-man.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, nothing else has ever come close. Although I really dug the movie as a kid and would have loved the Gunstar to play with.
Not that the film hasn't had its share of fans. I myself have a fondness for it. But then again, I also liked The Sword & The Sorcerer. Dammit! Where were the toys for that?!
ReplyDeleteOh, well.. Here's hoping that Clash of the Titans will give us some awesomeness of toyhood.
I'd murder for these.
ReplyDeleteMurder I tell you!
LoL, I was about to drop a line from the movie, then remembered I was going to misquote from Enemy Mine, not Starfighter.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I remember that movie, and fantasizing that one of my fav arcade games would talk to me personally and tell me to help them with their cause. Like Xevious, for example. Heh.
Man I woulda totally killed for that Gunstar! That's too bad.
This is the first I'd ever heard of the Action Figures! Probably better for my wallet that they didn't come out, as they'd be at a premium now and I'd have to have them.
ReplyDelete