Of all the toys that I wanted in the 70s there are few that were as desired as this Lone Ranger line from Gabriel. Like the Mego Superheroes that I loved, these cowboy figures were nine inches in height, had cloth costumes and came with lots of accessories, costumes and creative playsets. The horses and figures could be posed in a thousand different ways and that gave them a high playability factor.
After this line (and especially after the release of the popular figures from Star Wars) most figures you could buy were reduced to 3 3/4 inches or less. Their articulation was reduced to nothing and all the detail I loved was removed to save on the cost of production. Even the colorful boxes were replaced by something more generic for every figure. It would be decades before action figures returned to their glory. You can look at the difference between the two lines and understand why I concider the later line such a let down.
Reduced in size and paint instead of cloth for costumes.
Today let's look at the figures and horses that you could purchase. I only included a few examples of the terrific box art. You can see everything over at the Plaid Stallions website. Come back tomorrow for a look at the cool costume and accessory packages that also came with this line of toys.
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11 comments:
Wow. The notorious Butch Cavendish. I wish I had one of those figures. These came out in the 70s and I was in my 20s and doing things 20 yr. olds did, so I missed them.
Hey, there will probably be a new line of Tonto and Lone Ranger figures to coincide with the upcoming Johnny Depp movie -- get ready, Cal!
No doubt. I think it's a Disney movie and they do like to put out the toys. I wish I could go back in time for these old one's though. They were just so well done.
Actually, one correction, they were 9" in height, not 8". They used the same mold as the Denys Doctor Who and Mego Flash Gordon lines, and the Maxx figure a few years later.
They're great for replacing the typically busted ankle joints on the Tom Baker figures.
Wow. Thanks for taking me back. My friend had The Lone Ranger & Silver, and I had Tonto & Scout. Then a few years later, I melted Tonto's head with a match and threw him in the river so my parents wouldn't find out. Ah, the '70s...
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I had, I believe, the Lone Ranger in the big size. It bothers me that I never had a single Classic Mego (I had many toys that were made by Mego, but not the cool action figures). I got my first one just a few years ago; an excellent shape, almost fully equipped Dr. McCoy. Of the larger figures I did have for sure were a bearded GI Joe with Kung-Fu Grip (natch), a Big Jim (easily the most homoerotic of action figures), and then Steve Austin, Oscar and Bigfoot from the Six Million Dollar Man.
Oh, and a big size Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. How could I forget them?
After having those Joes, Jims and Megos I couldn't go small so I ignored all the little Star Wars figures until the Super Powers and Secret War superheroes.
The Lone Ranger line of the 3 inch ones was to do with the Legend of the Lone Ranger movie. I loved the figures. Although I did put superglue on Wild Bill and set the glue on fire making a spectacular hole in his chest...
SEE...you would have never done that to a larger figures. I put my original Darth Vader in the way of a model rocket launch to get a picture and his face was melted off.
Wow...I never even knew that Gabriel had all those other characters. It blows my mind.
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