And here's the Swordsman

A few weeks ago I posted three of the four Aussie Indiana Jones variant figures, and now thanks to regular contributor and Toltoys afficianado Brody Walker,  here is the last of the quartet; the Cairo Swordsman.

Cheers!

Will

  

More Kenner Indy Goodness

Here we go with another four of the Indy Kenner line of figures from 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

First up is Indy's digging buddy Sallah, played on screen by Middle Earth's tallest Dwarf, John Rhys-Davies. This is the hardest to find of the the figures shown here, and tough to get with a nice clear bubble.  

Next we have the German Mechanic as played by Pat Roach. Roach actually played a series of villains in the first three Indy movies. The tiny wrench accessory from this figures is easily lost.   

French archeologist Rene Belloq is up next, the little paper map accessory that came with this figure is often missing from loose figures. Indy trivia lore states that actor Paul Freeman did in fact swallow the fly that crawled into his mouth during the scene where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark.     

Lastly today is the Cairo Swordsman, along with the Toht figure the most common in the Indy Kenner line. 

Aussie Indy Trivia Time

# 1 Indy's bullwhip is made of Kangaroo hide. 

#2 Indy's hat was listed as an "Australian model" when purchased new in London by the costume department.

#3 The mountaineers challenging Marion to the drinking competition in her Nepalese bar are supposed to be Aussies. 

Keen on more Indy toy info? Check out Raiders of the Lost Toys.

Will 

Kenner / Toltoys Indiana Jones Figures

Nothing screams "Buy Me!" more than a sticker telling you about a fabulous free toy you can't get. While those lucky little sods stateside were sending off three POPs (Proof of Purchase) by the truck-load for their "Free Belloq", little Aussie kids were only allowed to dream about ever owning the famed French archeologist the German's called Bellosh.  

Kenner's Indy line was famous for completely stuffing up the case ratios in the release of the first four figures, heaps of Tohts and Cairo Swordsmen and bugger-all Indys and Marions. 

I have a mate who recalls standing in Adelaide's largest toy store searching through an entire wall of Tohts and Swordsman for either of the other toy and coming up empty. The figures were not re-ordered by the retailers in the quantities hoped, and the line died a slow death after a second release of five new characters.  

The sluggish sales were likely the reason Toltoys opted out of printing their own cards, so we received the US versions with a corrective sticker attached telling us not to send of POPs to the US, although I wonder how many Aussie kids did? Tears before bedtime if they did! 

So here we are all these years later and Indy is back on the big screen, and the first four Kenner Indy figures with the Australian sticker attached are now among of the rarest and most sought-after variations in the Indy collecting world.       

The Marion Ravenwood shown here is the only completely sealed version found to date I believe. The Cairo Swordsman isn't pictured, hopefully one of the Toltoys Mafia will send me a pic after reading this :-)

Cheers!

Will

The Little Aussie Battlers!


It's a pity when a great toy line goes out with a whimper and not a bang, but more often than not that's exactly what happens. Kenner's Star Wars line of 1977-85 was no different. After re-writing toy sale records and re-inventing action figures and film-licensed products the mighty Star Wars line sputtered out over the summer of 1985-86. After a rumoured 250 million figures were sold, the last few releases were dumped in Australia. Why did we get them? Well we're not called the lucky country for nothing mate :-)

Lets go back to Australia in the late seventies and eighties. We didn't get the latest blockbuster Hollywood movies until months after the US, which of course caused a time lag in the wave of popularity for any given feature film. This was great for Star Wars in '77, because by the time it opened in Australia (27 October 1977 - five months after the USA) the popularity was a 'known quantity'. The toy stores were bursting with Star Wars items of all kinds (well not the figures yet, but all the other stuff!) , no empty boxes for Aussie kids! True as it was at the start of the Star Wars craze it was again so at the end. Aussie kids were still six months behind their US counterparts. When little Chuck and Randy grew tired of playing with their tiny space-movie men and moved on to wonderful transforming robots, little Darren and Shane still had a last spot left in their heart for just one (or two) more Star Wars figures.

Which brings me to the image above. Here we have a couple of Niktos on the "Power of The Force" card back. The under-performing sales of the "Power of the Force" line of figures lead to their inevitable demise in the US. But what to do with the left overs? Those last few figures and cardbacks sitting in the warehouse in Taiwan or Hong Kong or China, who will take them? Why Toltoys in Australia of course! Just pop them on a card back and give them a coin (Left over 'Warok' the Ewok coins in the case of the Nikto and At-At Driver) and send them down under, we hear they still love that stuff down there! Problem solved. Fast forward 30 years and you have the hardest to find figures in the entire Kenner star wars line. Power of the Force versions of Nikto, AT-AT Driver and Gammorean Guard. Let's hear it for the tail-enders, the little Aussie battlers!

Will

Have any Aussie toy memories? Post a comment or email me!