When I was a kid, my favorite action figure was Captain Action. He was a GI Joe-sized toy figure that could be dressed as other superheroes like Superman, Spider-man, Batman, Green Hornet, Captain America, and many others. Our cool thing of the week this week is an upcoming reproduction of the hard-to-find Aurora Model Kit of the Captain, which you can read about here.
Captain Action left a huge impression on me when he debuted forty years ago. I've written about him here, here, and here, and he's popped up on episodes seven and fourteen of Radio Free Charleston, and episode ten was called "Captain Action Shirt." So you can see, I'm a big fan. Joe Ahearn is the current keeper of the Captain's flame, and you can check out the Captain Action Enterprises website to see what other cool Cap products are on the way. You can get your own Captain Action Shirt here.
This model kit is being released to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the original release of the kit. It's an accurate reproduction, but it also comes with an alternate head and base, which are improvements over the original. Kit-builders will have a choice. They can make the kit exactly as it was in 1967, or they can build an improved version. Or they can buy two and make one of each. The model kits will retail for $30 to $35 each, which is quite reasonable for a limited edition of 1,000 kits. Comparable "garage kits" often sell for more than a hundred dollars, due to the high costs associated with a short production run.
This project is a joint effort between Captain Action Enterprises, and Moebius Models, a new company dedicated to preserving the legacy of the original, legendary Aurora Model company, which made the coolest model kits of the 1960s and 70s. Other cool upcoming releases from Moebius include Dr. Jeckyll as Mr. Hyde and the legendary Tom Daniel car, Rommel's Rod. This is a cool mission that will shine the warm sunlamp of nostalgia on the arthritic joints of many of us children of the 1960s.
3 comments:
My suggestions are frequently ignored, because the world is a idiot. One of my more brilliant, never-to-be-seen, freely-contributed ideas was for a new CAPTAIN ACTION costume and new base actionfigure.
The mask would be an exact duplicate of Captain Action's own regular head. The costume would be the regular Captain Action costume, only sewed in a different factory from the usual costume to provide a subtle, "special" difference, a barely palpable but initially imperceptible, almost [i]homeopathic[/i] variation.
Captain Action, dressed in this costume, would be [i]disguised as himself[/i]. His condition would mirror that of the working person in society, forced to observe crass convention, a prisoner in his own skin, outwardly confident, but awash in despair. Every child would want to immediatly own this tiny plastic replica of the human condition, and make it fight bad guys and stuff. I even suggested to the manufacturer that a digital talkin' voicebox be incorporated into this new, far more appealing Captain Action. It would play back sayings, spoken mournfully, such as "Existence precedes essence? What then, have I, who lacks an appreciation for both of them cool things?" and "Willie Loman had it easy!"
My eager, generously-contributed suggestion to the toy company was ignored, even though I sent it registered mail and it was accepted with the signature of one "Brenda Wiseman", who refused to take any of my dozens of followup phone calls.
Anyway, that's my fun thing to share with you today. Keep up the good work, and Make Mine Marvel!
Can you please let me know when we can preorder the model I would like to get four kits.Or any thing else to do with Captain Action. Thankyou for your time Ed.
[…] blog, almost nine years ago, and since then we’ve seen him revived as a MEGO-sized figure, a model kit, a comic book, a pulp novel series and as a full-blown 12″ action figure with outfits that […]
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