Before I was a blogger I was a toy collector and for some years in the mid- 2000's a full time toy dealer on Ebay.
During those years Moonbase was often home to vintage Action Man and his chums and occasionally his modern reincarnations as well including the impressive Strike Force range of vehicles all found at car boots and fleamarkets.
Here's a rogues gallery of some of the fighting men and accessories that have passed through my hands. The cheaper figures I was never really able to identify [where it says no ID] but they all sold anyway.
Below: no ID
Below: no ID
Below: no ID
Third from left [blonde]: no ID
Below: no ID. Looks like Mego greying that!
Part 2 to follow tomorrow
I can identify Mr Mego grey head.He's Dr. Harry Booth from the Disney movie The Black Hole,played by actor Ernest Borgnine.I'm not sure if that's a Mego body though. It looks more like an Action Man/GI Joe bod.
ReplyDeleteCheers Brian! Harry Booth eh! I agree about the body, its far too muscular and shiny! No idea how I described it on Ebay back in 2007. Hopefully as seen!
DeleteBody looks like a Big Jim body. Hands are wrong to be GI Joe body not to mention the joints are wrong even for a muscle body Joe. If I recall correctly, the large Black Hole figures were on a Captain Action based body which would account for the skin color differences in the pic and the too large head. So what I think Booth there is a mash of 2 different figures.
DeleteThanks Lance. Fascinating stuff. I think you and Brian are both in agreement about that figure in the last pic. Its a mash up.
DeleteWhat on earth's going on, Woodsy? I visit your blog to see some old toys and I'm confronted with rows and rows of pictures of naked men. I nearly choked on a Jelly Baby. Seriously though, I had a few of the cheaper action figures when I was a kid, bought in Woolworth's or even sometimes Safeway's. I still have quite a large collection today, including original Action Men, Tommy Gunns, Captain Scarlets, etc. I guess us lads just never grow up, eh? (Right, now let's see your naked Barbie & Sindy collection.)
ReplyDeleteHope you got that Jelly baby down in the end Kid. Is your stupendous-sounding collection of 12 inch men available to view on Crivens perchance? Heeding your call I have posted a reader's skimpy Barbie rocket girl and a pic I saw on Ebay re. a Glaswegian listing. BTW love your recent Sweeties wrappers post. I was also saddened to read about Opobs and have visited his site. Such a shame.
DeleteA few aside, I haven't got around to featuring them all on my blog yet, Woodsy (at least in close-up), 'cos most of them are packed away now. There are a couple of old posts where you can see a few of them hanging on my wall (before they were packed away to allow some work to be done in the house), but they're dwarfed by other toys. One day I'll dig 'em all out again and do a proper post. Yeah, it's a real shame about Mike (opobs), let's hope he has a good bit of pain-free time ahead of him yet. Glad you liked the wrappers post, but you don't need to be shy about telling me over on my blog - all comments welcome.
Deleteha ha, its a wrap! I shall Kid!
DeleteA villainous bunch, if ever there was, Woodsy, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI think pics 8 & 9 could show what I understand to be a 1970s Football/supporters doll. It had a copy of Tommy Gunn's head sculpt, and may have been sold in team kit or tracksuit?
Pics 11 & 12 show 'Sergeant Mike' (reads, Sargeant Mike, on the box). Made in Hong Kong with a head sculpt copied from 1970s version of Mego's Fighting Yank. Still a nice example of a classic HK KO action figure
Superb Tone. You really know your knockoffs. I should have numbered the photos. So 8/9 is a Football Supporters doll? That's fascinating. Was it available in shops or at stadia? I love Sargeant Mike, thanks for IDing him too! Any ideas about the figure in pic 2? The uniform is Action Team from Germany.
DeleteI'm sorry Woodsy, I don't know how the supporters doll was sold, whether off shop shelves or at stadiums. It's an interesting idea. Wish I knew more about him; although I'm sure that's what you had there based on conversations with other collectors some time ago.
DeleteI don't recognize the figure in the Action Team French Officer uniform?
no probs Tone. some mysteries must remain. I sold the figure years ago without identity.
DeleteWoodsy, one day I would love to read your extended memoirs on your years as an full time eBay toy dealer. So many people do it, but what was it really like, not just an overview but the day-to-day practicalities of obtaining, presenting, and selling the goods. A couple of juicy anecdotes perhaps as well!
ReplyDeleteha ha, thanks for your interest Arto! Not sure its that interesting. I do plan to do a post at some stage about how I started buying and selling toys. As for juicy anecdotes I will have to think of some!
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