Phantom toys and action figures.
The Phantom appeared on the Defenders of the Earth cartoon, and was included in the resulting Galoob action figure line. He came with a gun (not his traditional pistols, but something more laser-like) and a whip.
I own this one (currently in storage so I pulled pics off the web), and remember being struck by a couple things...the lack of striped trunks, and the die-cast metal fists. He had a mode of transportation too...sadly it wasn't Hero the horse.
The Phantom Skull Copter! Not gonna lie, I always thought it looked pretty cool, but I never saw it in the store. I only saw the action figures for a brief period, but never saw the vehicles. I've searched eBay a few times, and have bid, but haven't managed to get one...yet!
Galoob hasn't been the only company to make a Phantom figure. Cast Away Toys release a Mego style figure. If you're not familiar, Mego was a toy company that released 8 inch figures, with cloth costumes, in the 70's and early 80's. My first Mego toys were hand me downs, from my cousin who was a few years older than me, but remain some of my best childhood memories so I have a love for this format!
Cast Away Toys released their retro Phantom figures around 2008, and I completely missed them! From what I've seen they did about 4 variants. The classic purple costume, a gray version, and both red (the Italian color preference) and olive (the color of choice in New Zealand).
These seem to be much harder and much more expensive to get your hands on now. I've only occasionally seen them pop up on eBay and when I do the price is high! Luckily I've been playing around with customizing my own Mego-style figures with the help of the repro market. I've already done a few Blue Beetle customs, and the Phantom is my next project! Hope to share the results here soon!
Are you a fan of the Phantom toys? Share your pics and thoughts!
No comments:
Post a Comment