I was flicking through my old copy of Tom Tumbusch's seminal book Space Adventure Collectables and was reminded that Captain Lazer had another life beyond 1967.
Mattel upcycled the blue Captain ten years later.
He stepped into the Mattel dream machine and came out in 1978 as the Seventies style icon Colonial Warrior and the Darth Vader wannabe Cylon Centurion.
Complete with chirruping back pack, disco chest plate, flashing eyes and lazer hand stump, these cool dudes were part of Mattel's Battlestar Galactica line and a bid presumably to save money on moulds. Get the Captain out I hear them shout!
It makes sense to go for the big guy. His Doctor Spock looks were enough to get him noticed, never mind his toned galactic physique. He was standing blue and tall decades before Doctor Manhattan too.
So, having been a big fan of the blue man in his first incarnation back in '67 I can't help but wonder whether those fine accessories I loved so much - proto-light sabre, glam rock boots, purple bed-table shield and Achilles' space helmet - would fit the new Captains from the Seventies?
The '67 helmet fitting the '78 Cylon Centurion maybe academic anyway as his chromed robo headpiece may not even come off! This is something I just don't know.
I'd love to see a mash up of the three Captains. What Marvel and DC would call a crossover where the Mattel universes of Major Mat Mason and Battlestar Galactica jam together like a supergroup.
Maybe the Colonial Warrior cruising in the Firebolt Laser Canon, maybe Callisto gun-stringing a Cylon Centurion and just maybe all three Captains staring each other out.
Does anyone have all three figures?
I had the Cylon for a while, I think the backpack was similar, but both body moulds were radically different. The limbs were possibly the same. Colonial Warrior has normal painted eyes and a new sculpt for the head, Cylon had a ridiculously oversized chrome helmet on a black body.Weapons amounted to a single lightsaber type attachment. Not great toys by any means
ReplyDeleteSounds like a Housemartins song that Bill, "I had a Cylon for a Wile"! ha ha. I thought Mattel had re-used the whole Lazer body and head for the Colonial Warrior. I'm amazed they changed it so much.
DeleteI had a Cylon and it was identical in moulding to the Colonial Warrior. Both used the Capt Lazer mould but were painted differently/cast in different colors.
ReplyDeleteBackpacks were the same also. The belt buckles were changed so they did not have the L on them from the original. Both new versions had the same knee high boots, button western style shirt of Lazer's, same wrist cuffs, elbow bends and gun in the hand. The big differences (besides the belt buckles) was the new head sculpt for the Cylon, (I'm fairly certain the Colonial head is Lazer's with a new paint job but have no concrete proof) , the chrome plated overshirt for the Cylon and the fabric tunic for the Colonial Warrior. Remove or peek under each of the new "shirts" and you'll see the good captain's shirt lurking underneath.
http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr197/joesef7/IMG_20160416_070709_zps9o12ntok.jpg
More research in from the field! Head does look the same. It was a bit of a dig to find pics of the Capt minus his helmet.
DeleteAs a bonus, cylon with the chrome armor removed to show the body!
http://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/14659361_1696601610658369_6747351114724671488_n.jpg
http://buybigbang.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_0956.jpg
great digging lance! they all look the same to me too except for Cap Lazer who is a little taller. Fascinating stuff!
DeleteMore great digging Lance! Love that naked Cylon! He's even got the chest light! I wonder if anyione has ever dressed the Cylon or the Colinial as Cap Lazer with his helmet, boots and light sword? A fascinating subject this.
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