Toy-Ventures: Conquerors of the Stars!

Time for another voyage to the realm of Knock-Off toys, this week we meet the early 1980s 12-inch series called "Conquerors of the Stars" and well, these dudes look really familiar... Join the conversation in our Knock Off Action Figure Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Megoknockoff/ Toy-Ventures Magazine is coming this July! http://plaidstallions.com/reboot/magazine/

Palitoy Commander Power; Fearless Defender of the Galaxy

Fortune smiled on me last month in the form of managing to pick up a Commander Power action figure. 

Known to us kids as Super Joe, the British toy firm Palitoy made some fun changes to the line such as marketing the characters (Palitoy only selected 3 Super Joe characters) in large boxes and more notably changing the name of our star player.

More after the jump:

Star Wars Play Masks by Palitoy

The idea of Halloween style masks being marketed all year long is a wise one to me. I would have been all over this UK display.

Palitoy Talking R2 D2

I love it when I get a new catalog and discover something I'd never heard of. Take this Talking R2 D2 by Palitoy of the UK (Same folks who made this) . I automatically assumed it never got made but was happy to find this on Ebay.

It's kind of rare to find mint boxed but I did notice this kind soul put up a youtube video of how he sounds. What a neat toy!

1979 Palitoy Star Wars Catalog

1979 Palitoy Commander Power Catalog (Super Joe)

In 1976, Hasbro Toys had abandoned the G.I. Joe action figure , the following year Joe returned 4 inches shorter and now in the future as "Super Joe" which lasted two brief years.

Hasbro's UK distributor Palitoy (Who was still busy selling 12" Joes as Action Man) decided to release Super Joe into the United Kingdom. Like a lot of their product lines, Palitoy did a massive rebranding of the concept. Joe became Commander Power and he was only joined by two other characters at the time, Gor King of the Terrons and the Shield. Judging by how hard it is to find the toys from this line, it's fair to summize that it wasn't terribly successful. However, it is quite nice to look at:

Check out the Palitoy Commander Power Catalog here.

More Super Joe:


For more about Super Joe check out our comprehensive Super Joe Gallery



1977 Super Joe Hasbro Catalog


1978 Super Joe Hasbro Catalog

Palitoy Talking Dalek Speaks

I was rather excited to reunite with a working Palitoy talking Dalek this past month.

This toy was my first "Big boy collector mail order purchase" at the yonge age of 13, I innocently sent $25 (US!) to a classifed ad in the back of Starlog.

The next three months of waiting were nerve wracking as I largely assumed it would never come but three months later, it did arrive and was glorious.

While I did sell that one for food money in college, it sparked a life long love of collecting and getting packages.

Below is a video I've thrown together to hear him speak and as a bonus, I threw in the original commercial.

Welcome home old friend.

Mego invades the UK

This picture, from the 1977 Palitoy Bradgate Catalog is so much like my childhood (and adult dreams) it's scary. I love a world where the Star Trek crew can mingle with the Fantastic Four and take on Doctor Zaius.

You can see the whole thing at the Mego Museum.

When the Jedi Return: Make sure your troops are ready

I love this neat British Ad for Palitoy UK, who were pretty confident they were going to sell football fields full of Star Wars toys (psssst they did).

I'm especially smitten with these drawings of the figures which are there because the ad was placed so far in advance of the film.

ROM joins Action Man

A year after Parker Brothers launched ROM in the US, Palitoy their UK distributor, inserted him into their Action Man Space Rangers line which is, a really good idea.

I have to assume one of the challenges of selling ROM was that he was a pricey stand alone action figure made by a company that primarily sold board games. I'm sure Palitoy got him on more store shelves by making him part of the team.

More Rom

1979 Parker Brothers ROM Press Kit

Bulletman International

My passion for Hasbro's Bulletman knows know bounds, the figure in the foreground is the first thing I ever purchased at a toy show (sadly almost 30 years ago). The other two are international variations of the figure that I'm proud to now own, more after the jump!

1982 Meccano Action Man Catalog

Meccanno Action Man 1982



Palitoy Action Man wasn't just marketed to children in the UK it also spread to countries such as France, where Miro-Meccano brought the fuzzy haired, eagle eyed soldiers to market.


In addition to 12" figures, Meccano also brought in the popular 3 3/4" Action Force line that was very popular at the time..

1982 Meccanno Action Man Action Force Catalog


More Action Man:

 

Little Big Man On Motorway Patrol

My pal Dom from Vintage Toyz and Collectibles sent in this new addition to our Palitoy Little Big Man gallery and it's quite a big deal. This is due to the fact that before now, most LBM collectors thought it didn't exist.

It's not everyday a toy never thought to be produced surfaces, it's even crazier when a boxed one arrives, so kudos to Dom for sharing his fun discovery with us.

See more at the Palitoy Little Big Man gallery page:

Action Man for 1976

I'm always perplexed at how much a difference an ocean makes, GI Joe by this time was all about Mike Power and Bullet Man (not complaining!) and kids in the UK were choosing different eras of machine guns.

The UK Force

click to see a larger view

Star Wars Toy Love knew no borders baby.

Action Man Visits a Toy Shop

Tying in nicely to yesterday's catalog, we have another cool toy store appearance by Action Man, well Action Men really as the regular and space version showed up at toy stores across the UK in a special vehicle. They didn't show the car sadly but we do have a sweet, sweet shot of an Action Man toy aisle circa 1979...

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Palitoy Action Man 1979

While G.I. Joe was a fond memory for North American kids, he was living large in the UK under the guise of Action Man. Action Man was not only popular but he was outselling Star Wars action figures, which is no small feat.

What differentiates the line from the G.I. Joe we knew as a kid is that Action Man never lost it's military flavour. Sure you could get an Adventurer with a beard but for the most part, Action Man was a clean cut, rough and tumble soldier (and sometimes space ranger) with a multitude of cool outfits and a battalion of groovy vehicles to back him up.

Included in this great catalog are some shots of my pal Bill Frost's wicked Action Man collection, which includes US characters like Atomic Man and Bullet Man with a UK twist.

Click Here to Visit the 1979 Palitoy Action Man Catalog

More Military Might:

The Force is with Palitoy

I cannot begin to tell you the good times me and that rifle had...

Greatest Star Wars Picture Ever

So let me paint this picture, these kids were winners of the Palitoy "Draw a Droid" competition (which I imagine was exactly what it sounds like) in 1979, the grand prize was a tour of the set for "Empire Strikes Back" where they had Gary Kurtz give them a tour and meet up with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew etc

At the end of the tour, Mark Hamill handed them a boatload of Star Wars toys and action figures. Gah! I think I can see the ULTRA cool Palitoy DeathStar in there as well.

I cannot imagine a better day for a kid, it would take a year of bully beatings and "Mom's new boyfriends" to wipe that smile off my face. Heck, as a kid I was overjoyed simply because I shared a birthday with Luke Skywalker, it goes without saying that I totally hate these kids....

Bear Hugs From Space

I blogged about my fascination with the G.I. Joe intruder last year. I still don't get why Hasbro thought an outer space cave man was a good first nemesis for G.I. Joe but I also can't deny I'm kind of smitten with him.

Above my newest cheap ebay score, a boxed UK version of Intruder. It seems that Palitoy's Action Man also got him as an enemy (although Action Man would get way cooler space villains to fight later on in the 1970s) and he got a super spiffy box. I really love solid box packaging like this, that artwork makes me smile.

Watch out for his crushing Bear Hug! I have a friend who should also come with this warning...

1979 Palitoy Star Wars Catalog

UK kids weren't immune to the awesome, corrupting influence of George Lucas and got Star Wars Mania every bit as bad as we did here in North America.

There were of course, subtle differences as evidenced in this 1979 toy catalog by Palitoy, UK distributor for the Kenner line. Among them you'll notice several exclusives (like the deathstar in the header) and fun prototype items that eventually were changed before release.

In addition to the catalog pages, we also have some cool shots of my pal Bill Frost's carded Palitoy collection, click on any image to be transported to the 1979 Palitoy Star Wars Catalog.

More Star Wars Toys