Captain Action

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Captain Action, action figure

Captain Action was an action figure from 1966, that came with separate costumes that allowed the figure to change into Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Aquaman, the Phantom, The Lone Ranger (and Tonto), Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon and the Green Hornet. Captain Action was Ideal Toy Company's answer to Hasbro's GI Joe, and the central characters of both lines were created and designed by the same person, toy and idea man Stan Weston.

1 Historical overview
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Historical overview

Toy developer Stan Weston came to Hasbro's Don Levine with the idea of an articulated doll in the form of a solider, a basic figure and with a chance for limitless accessories. Levine and his Hasbro team took the concept, making it into GI Joe, the first modern action figure for boys--and the first to carry that name, an attempt to take the term "doll" away from a toy meant for boys. Weston took his money from GI Joe and started his own licensing company, representing DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and King Features Syndicate.

After the success of GI Joe, Stan Weston's company, Leisure Concepts, then brought the idea of a new 12" articulated action figure to Ideal Toys, who were looking for an action figure of their own to remain competitive in the market. Weston proposed Captain Magic, a many-in-one hero, who could adopt the guise of several heroes, all of whom Leisure Concepts represented. The name was changed to Captain Action, and first marketed by Ideal in 1966.

The figure itself had a rather sad and worried expression, a strange shaped head (so the masks of the various heroes would better stay in place over it) and a more detailed musculature than GI Joe. The original Ideal base for the line was Captain Action in his blue and black uniform, with lightning sword and ray gun included in the box. Separate Superman, Batman, Lone Ranger, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Captain America, Sgt Fury, Steve Canyon and Aquaman costumes (with assorted accessories) were made available; the next wave (1967) added Spider-Man, Buck Rogers, the Green Hornet, and Tonto, with a Blue Lone Ranger variation (matching the still popular Clayton Moore series) and collectible flicker rings in each box.

In 1967, Captain Action proved popular enough to expand the line, adding a partner, Action Boy, and an enemy, Dr. Evil, a blue skinned alien with large bug eyes and an exposed brain, wearing a modified Nehru suit and sandals. Also, a vehicle called the "Silver Streak," a two foot long amphibian car with missile launchers, was added, large enough for both the Captain and sidekick. Several sets meant to be used by Captain Action in his Captain Action identity was designed for the character as well: a four foot working parachute, a jet mortar, a jet pack, weapons arsenal, and several other secret weapons to add to the Action Cave, which the special box for the Streak could convert into. Both the Captain and Dr. Evil received "secret lairs," which doubled as carrying cases for the figures, but which are now quite rare. All this was an attempt by Ideal to build the "Action" line and focus on Captain Action as a hero in his own right, rather than just a base figure for other heroes.

[edit] The DC Comics character

National Periodical (DC Comics) licensed the character from Ideal and published five issues of Captain Action in 1968, illustrated at first by Wally Wood, then Gil Kane. Jim Shooter was the scripter for the first two issues, Gil Kane then provided his own scripts for the rest. The comic book story line had little to do with the toy concept. Moreover, because some of the heroes involved in the toy concept were neither owned nor published by DC, such as Spider-Man and Captain America, who were Marvel Comics characters, the ability to change into different super heroes was dropped. Instead, Captain Action came to be in possession of magical coins, each of which provided him with a spectacular power from the Greek, Roman, and Norse mythological gods (similar to the original Captain Marvel). Captain Action was given a real name of his own, Clive Arno. Further, he was identified as a widowed archaeologist and museum curator, and described as having located "the coins of power" in a buried city; DC also gave him the alternate alias "The Man Of Action," in a nod to Superman's best-known alternate alias, "The Man Of Steel." Action Boy, whose uniform was given a beret, was likewise given a real name, Carl Arno, and described as being Clive Arno's son. Dr. Evil was given a back-story too, as having been the father of Clive Arno's deceased wife before going insane in a mishap.

After just a couple of years the toy line declined in sales, and in 1968 Ideal discontinued it. Though Captain Action was produced for only two and a half years, the characters and accessories have become amongst the most fondly remembered, and expensive, action figures from the era.

Throughout the 1970's, Captain Action leftover uniforms and boots were used on knock-off, blow-molded figures from China (where the original was cast and assembled) and Ideal itself reused the original body molds to rush a Star Wars-like toy to the market, The Knights of Darkness, in 1977. Captain Action collectors would buy the figure (cast in black plastic) often using the hands to replace the sometimes missing hands of the vintage figures. Ideals 'Knights of Darkness' line were deemed copyright infringement by LucasFilm, and resulted in a lawsuit brought by George Lucas, which he ultimately lost.

[edit] Captain Action Returns

After 30 years off the market, Captain Action was revived in 1998 by retro toy company Playing Mantis. Captain Action as the Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon (with a new figure, Ming the Merciless), Green Hornet, and new to the line Kato returned along with Dr Evil. The line met with lackluster sales, and a retooling had the costumes issued separately, along with a revived Action Boy (now called Kid Action, due to Hasbro owning the rights to the name Action Man) and the addition of retro long box packaging. It made little difference in the general sales and the line was discontinued. The second coming of Captain Action ended in 2000.

[edit] Captain Action Today

Currently, Captain Action Enterprises holds the licensing rights to this toy icon, recently inducted into the Toy & Action Figure Hall of Fame. CA Enterprises is working to produce a wide array of new Captain Action items, including statues, toys, comics and apparel.

A new Captain Action comic book is in the works to be published by Moonstone Books. It will be written by Fabian Nicieza.