Captain Action

Captain Action

Captain Action is a 1966 action figure who adorned different types of costumes to enable him to take the identity of super heroes like Spiderman, Aquaman, Phantom, Flash Gordon, Superman and Captain America among others. The toy was manufactured by the Ideal Toy Company although GI Joe was also involved in its production. The designer and creator behind this was Stan Weston who worked with both of these two companies towards the making of captain Action.

Stan first approached Don Levine of Hasbro with the concept of coming up with a soldier doll with a wide range of accessories. This would later become the first action figure toy for young boys. The reason behind this was to completely erase the word doll. G.I Joe became the first toy ever. It was much later that Weston decided to found his own company and start reproducing the Captain Action toys. It’s through his company that the Ideal toys were formed. This was a way of coming with a new brand of toy that would enable him remain in the competitive market. Initially, Weston had come up with the name ‘captain magic’ for his toy. It’s this kind of magic that would enable it to take the form of several super heroes. However, in 1966, the name was replaced with Captain Action.

Ideal’s captain action had a strange look especially with his head. This would enable it to take in various masks of other super heroes quite easily. The original toy had him in a black and blue uniform, a ray gun and a sword. It came with different accessories and clothing that would transform him into Superman, Buck Rogers, Sgt Fury, Lone Ranger, Tonto, Steve Canyon and Green Hornet amongst others. These were contained in a box that came with every purchase of the toy.

A few years later, the sales of the famous Captain Action declined drastically forcing Ideal to discontinue its production and sale. Its two year prominence came to a standstill in 1968. However, this was not the complete end of the toy. It would later be reproduced in comic books. In 2008; 40 years later after its sudden death, Captain Action regained its prominence when a series of the same was released. Some of the characters were retained in the series while others were created. The series is still ongoing up to the present date.

Other than being reproduced as a comic book or a series, Ideal’s Captain Action toy re-surfaced back in the market in 1998. This time round, it was under the Playing Mantis Company. The packaging of the toy was more upgraded and had additional accessories in the box. However, it lasted for just a while before getting discontinued later on in 2000. As of 2005, the licensing rights of the toy were given to Captain Action enterprises. The toy as well as its accessories is hard to find today and the price of them goes to very high prices. Apart form that, there are comic books of the same that are still being published and its series is still running.