being born in 1960 I'm too old to have played with Mego's Eagle Force from 1981.
But it would have been fun.
I first got to know Eagle Force in perhaps the single best old toy collection I ever bought in my toy dealer days. In fact it was at the start of them circa 1991. A work mate told me her teenage son wanted to off-load his old toys for some cash so I went round after work and wow!
I got the lot for fifty squid and was well chuffed. It kept me happy for months that year -
two large boxes of mixed ambrosia like Star wars toys, two Dinky FAB1's, Batman figures, A Green Hornet die-cast Black Beauty, hundreds of loose action figures, some boxed stuff and
.... an Eagle Force R.I.O.T boxed tank complete with figure. I remember he was a sort of die-cast metal and rather portly soldier with a beret and a beard, who I later found out was called Harley, the ace mechanic.
This wonderful boxed tank and figure eventually made it onto the shelves my toy 'shop' in the cellar of my old house, where my young nephew saw it one day and that was that! i think its still at his house!
I've seen a few Eagle Force figures at car boot sales since then and they feature in my now well-thumbed copy of Action Figure Collector, my old car boot bible!
So I was pleased to see the old metal heads on You Tube. There's quite a few film clips and here are but two. Enjoy and let me know if you have any Eagle Force!
But it would have been fun.
I first got to know Eagle Force in perhaps the single best old toy collection I ever bought in my toy dealer days. In fact it was at the start of them circa 1991. A work mate told me her teenage son wanted to off-load his old toys for some cash so I went round after work and wow!
I got the lot for fifty squid and was well chuffed. It kept me happy for months that year -
two large boxes of mixed ambrosia like Star wars toys, two Dinky FAB1's, Batman figures, A Green Hornet die-cast Black Beauty, hundreds of loose action figures, some boxed stuff and
.... an Eagle Force R.I.O.T boxed tank complete with figure. I remember he was a sort of die-cast metal and rather portly soldier with a beret and a beard, who I later found out was called Harley, the ace mechanic.
This wonderful boxed tank and figure eventually made it onto the shelves my toy 'shop' in the cellar of my old house, where my young nephew saw it one day and that was that! i think its still at his house!
I've seen a few Eagle Force figures at car boot sales since then and they feature in my now well-thumbed copy of Action Figure Collector, my old car boot bible!
So I was pleased to see the old metal heads on You Tube. There's quite a few film clips and here are but two. Enjoy and let me know if you have any Eagle Force!
I don't remember Eagle Force, although they look well made, Woodsy. I do remember the ultra-extensive 9.5cm Palitoy/Hasbro plastic Action Force/GI Joe range though. Action Force/GI Joe were always car boot faves in the 80s-90s. Eagle Force looks to be about the same scale, with a similar theme. I guess they were market rivals? Wonder how long Eagle Force lasted? Great find with the TV adverts! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tone. It was a great looking RIOT tank I got in the collection I bought. the action figure was inside and a nice surprise. I imagine die-cast action figures are unusual in the action figure world. I think Bill has an interesting metal man with a spaceship. Can't think of his name.
DeleteEagle Force did not last long. They were essentially the last toy from Mego as they closed up shop at the end on 1982. They were about 2/3 the size of GI Joe RAH/Action Force figures.
DeleteOdds are the metal man Bill has in one of the Zee Toys Metal Men. Info here http://www.zylmex.com/ look in the 79 and 80 catalogs. You will probably recall them from the Firebirds spaceship line featuring the mole, TB1 and TB3.
Interestingly enough, there's another tie in the Gerry Anderson beside the TB clones. Major Mercury's (of Metal Men) jet pack is heavily based on the landing gear pod of a Space 19999 Eagle. https://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l250/pict/142672987443_1.jpg
superb info Lance. I like Zee's Firebirds too! I think Bill has featured Metal Man on the blog years ago. It looked great too. The link to the Space 99 Eagle is super. I shall blog that one soon.
DeleteNever heard of these before, but I was never into action figures, which were a little late for me. I found the tank interesting, it is an American M551 Sheridan light tank, which could fire either normal shells or the Shillelagh anti-tank missile. I do remember building the 1:76 scale Airfix kit. The Eagle Force toy seems to have come in two versions. The Talon Tank in green, with a sort of battering ram/snowplough that fits on to the front, for the Eagle Force good guys; or the Rampage Tank in brown, without the battering ram, for the R.I.O.T bad guys.
ReplyDelete