Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Ed's Buck Rogers HG Toys Galactic Play Set


Woodsy,

Here's one of about two dozen playsets sitting out in The Cave that I finally took off the shelf and started photographing. 

I don't have all the photos taken yet but this will give you an indication of the treasures within this set.

The playset is based on the television series which ran from 1979-81 and HG Toys did a really nice job in packing a lot of action into a relatively small playset.


There are:

Three distinct sets of figures:

-Character figures from the TV series
-Space Commandos
-Robo Aliens (provided by LP)

Spaceships:
-Two brown Draconian Marauders of the Draconian Empire (the bad guys)

-Two white starfighters
(I still need to apply the stickers onto the spaceships and then photograph them)

-One large flying saucer. 
The words 'Star Station X-5' are molded into the upper hull, and this saucer is a hold-over from previous HG space playsets like their 'Alien Attack' and 'Space Wars' playsets. 

(The box art shows a blue saucer, but I've only ever seen yellow)

Cardboard Graphics:
-Seven separate graphics depicting alien landscapes and a landing strip

From Vegas Base
Ed of The 25th & 3/4's Century





16 comments:

  1. Interesting. Not a fan of the series but I do like the Starfighter design and have the Corgi ones.

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    1. As a playset, this is really cool, but I too wasn't keen on the show Kevin.

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  2. I remember the series as a pretty terrible Space Opera. It had an actor in it that wondered in of Peyton Place, itself a terrible Soap Opera. It had the most annoying robot ever in a movie, at least this playset looks like fun, especially the colourful mountains.

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    1. Yeah that's right. Tim O'connor was the actor I think. There was an even more annoying robot in the second season. Quite good that Buster Crabbe, who was also Buck Rogers turned up in some episodes.

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    2. I remember Buster Crabbe appearing, Kev. He played Brigadier Gordon. As a nod to the past he told Buck he was " before his time!"

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    3. That reminded me that Buster Crabbe had played both Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in movie serials.

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    4. I'm with you there Terra! I don't think I watched more than one - maybe two episodes. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Twiki character was just a cheap knock-off of R2D2 - the cutesy smart-aleck little robot that saves the galaxy nonsense.

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    5. The annoying Twiki looks like the inspiration for the Joan Rivers voiced robot in Spaceballs.

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  3. I watched it for the articles.

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  4. I quite liked the TV series. It was quite light hearted, and Wilma was certainly a draw. I've still got the two Corgi toys. Sadly the larger one has lost it's little figures. I think I've still got a couple of annuals, too.

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    1. I didn't know Corgi made licensed tier-ins to the show Scoop. I shouldn't be surprised though as their fingers were in every TV show pot it seems.

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  5. Paul Adams from New Zealand6/12/2025 7:02 am

    That is a great set, especially the colourful backgrounds. I did watch the TV series, which was fun. It was nice that they had Buster Crabbe in it, given that he had played the role in 1939.

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    1. I was more of a Flash Gordon fan than a Buck Rogers fan Paul. This series came along at a time when I was becoming very disinterested in television in general and I just couldn't bear to watch it. I did however like the original Battlestar Galactica series with Lorne Green.

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