Toy-Ventures: Mattel's Tarzan or Big Jim?

[@lazarus30001]

"Mattel never throws out anything." LMFAO!!!! BIG JIM!!!!

[@jeremyburdge8573]

Nice video and it is cool to hear the history on Mattel Tarzan

[@newcastle1963]

Nice story about the BIG JIM line, I had a few when I was a kid. 15 years ago I started my BIG JIM collection, now I got more than 100 of them including Tarzan, Grizzly Adams and how the west was won" ,Karl May, all stars, and a multiply of sets and accessories.

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh wow! Nice to hear that Jim is still being loved.

[@billpagan3070]

Wow, love this review!👍 These toys were before my time but I think they would have been fun to play with.😁

[@KevinMayle1974]

Mattel's offerings during the 70's seem like the most underratedly fun toys ever!

[@robbijohnson6983]

Yup I had a big Jim and all his camping gear I had hours of fun.

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

I've just recently become aware of your podcast and these youtube videos. I was a 70's space kid and loved anything with a space or action slant to it. I don't remember the Tarzan line but I might not have been that drawn to it. I remember my cousin having the Big Jim Camper which even I could tell was just my sister's Malibu Barbie's camper van with different artwork and accessories! But I wish now that I had gotten into Big Jim. That was a cool toy line! Thanks for all you do with these vids and podcasts!

[@henryblackmon1013]

I got this Christmas of 78. One of my favorite toys that Christmas!

[@BrickMantooth]

I can only imagine, I would have flipped.

[@robertoacevedo6247]

In the 70s my brothers n I had the wolf pack, and other big Jim's, the Lazer vette the motorcycle with the wolf shaped head, but the Tarzan was so hard to get, I actually had the mego Tarzan, man this stuff brings memories, thanks again.

[@Floyds_Toys]

Had the Tarzan and gorilla set. Found them in a local chain called Toy and Hobby World which was eventually acquired by Kay-Bee. Remember seeing both sets but went with the gorilla because he just seemed cooler to me. Brought them everywhere that summer, really loved that set. On a trip to the beach (always toy horrors at the beach) I lost his foot in the sand and I was devastated. My Grandfather who was a wood carver carved a new wooden foot for him complete with toes and an ankle joint. Sadly, I no longer have Tarzan or the gorilla.

[@seculartapes]

I remember seeing that Tarzan and Jungle Cat set hanging in a short-lived hobby shop as a child and thinking “Hey! That’s Battle Cat!”. Unfortunately I could not prevail upon my parents to buy it for me. I did get a weird Spider-Man web set at that store that came with a tube of some sticky gunk you were supposed to make webs with and a couple of little 1/72 scale figures. I still have Mary Jane somewhere, but the others are long gone.

[@BrickMantooth]

that's the Chem Toy web shooter set, awesome single use toy.

[@johnwild8336]

Thanks for all your work creating this video. Great information that puts the toys first. I would love to own the Mattel Tarzan someday.

[@AnalogToys]

Love it when I learn something new from a toy video. Well done!

[@BrickMantooth]

thank you, I really appreciate that, it's been a rough day and this was really needed.

[@borderruffian100]

Hell yea I wanna grizzly Adams figure!!!....I never new it was a thing

[@BrickMantooth]

Then you're in for good news, they're not terribly expensive.

[@Desslar]

Very informative as always. At 2:05 you said that Mattel had no licensed toy line for 1978, but the Shogun Warriors line is full of licensed characters from Godzilla to Mazinger Z to Raideen and so on. Actually wonder how that line made money with so many licenses to pay off.

[@BrainOfBlood]

Great stuff as always. I have the Ape with all my other apes and kong figures on a shelf.

[@mokeimusic]

These videos are really good! Thanks for making them

[@BrickMantooth]

Really appreciate your feedback, thank you!

[@alexnejako777]

I had the Space 1999 ship and it was a great transport for 3 3/4 figures. Sold in 92 for 20 smacks at a garage sale for college money

[@jimgillespie6109]

THANK YOU for confirming that the Tarzan toys came AFTER Big Jim! There's another channel where it has been claimed (at least twice) that Tarzan came before Jim, and that is definitely not how I remember it.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah that's complete misinformation.

[@anarchorepublican5954]

...most of the auction sites list Mattel Tarzan as 1971, not 1978...is this error common?...

[@BrickMantooth]

It's because the Big Jim body was patented in 1971.

[@anarchorepublican5954]

@@BrickMantooth ...that explains it, thank you....your nostalgic video inspired me to ebay repurchase some very old buddies: "big Jim" Tarzan with gorilla...and Big Jeff🔪🎋...and a Mego Tarzan (Type 2) w/o the long underwear...and a Mego Invisible man...Christmas is coming...and They're gonna all look great swinging from my Tree on Christmas Day...🎄🦍⇠🎅🏻????

[@danfinn2210]

We had a sports store in Central N.Y. called Marjax and they had both Grizzly Adams and Tarzan in their toy section.

[@tzgaming207]

5:04 "mattel never throws out anything" 😂

[@noahhenson1669]

Excellent, informative video! I had a LOT of the toys pictured or mentioned in this vid, including Pulsar, the entire Kotter collection (with their vinyl-and-velcro schoolroom playset!), a couple of Shogun warriors with Godzilla, a number of Big Jim figures, and the Mego Tarzan. I did not, however, own the Mattel Tarzan figure or his animal friends. Despite being an avid viewer of the Filmation Tarzan series at the time, I somehow missed the figure in stores. Like every other red-blooded male child in the world at the time, I was heavily into Star Wars, so that line probably ate up my toy budget. Pity, as I would loved to have owned a Tarzan even if he was just a Big Jeff repaint.

[@rick.7075]

Awsome video..love all these figures

[@RiderOrigin]

Great work as always with so much research you incorporated into the video; toy history is always fascinating for me. Still waiting for a new modern Tarzan toy line that captures that John Buscema look if not one that merely poses well. 5:14, hahahaha, could never be more true except when they toss qc out the window.

[@paulnkiki68]

I remember seeing these in the toy section of a Sears store in my neighborhood. The Tarzan set looked cool but I was more interested in Star Wars stuff at the time.

[@JFStan]

I have a Grizzly Adams in the box, autographed by Dan Haggerty himself. As he signed it, he told me the network made $300 million on product licensing for the show but he never got a penny of it, as deals like that just weren't common practice at the time.

[@seventiesfan5980]

I was fortunate enough to find a Mattel Tarzan with his knife and his gorilla on Ebay a couple of years ago. I was able to afford them only because of a couple of gift cards I got for Christmas that year. Hopefully someday I will be able to afford Tarzan's French lookalike Rahan, who is part of a French GI Joe line called Group Action Joe. I do have the Rahan board game and a few of the comics. I've got a few Tarzan items in my collection- the two Mego figures, the Mattel figure, two of the Dakin figures, several comics, a DVD set of the Filmation cartoon, and a couple of coloring books.

[@BrickMantooth]

I want a Rahan too!

[@Gootie29]

I love that Tarzan figure! What is that music you play at the beginning of toy-ventures? It’s frickin cool!

[@WildSide_Est2024]

I'd like to know this too.

[@senojor]

Tarzan looks like a lot of fun. Never had one. I would actually love to have a Grizzly Adams figure. I never watched the show but people sometimes joke that I resemble him.

[@wsatterfield3314]

Great show. I have grizzly Adams and tarzan with ape MOC. Best toys ever.

[@jamespero6803]

Being a big motu guy i would love both tarzan sets.. Mattel was going to use the gorilla in motu as well. I believe theres a prototype, they slapped on some armor and named him gygor or something like that

[@BrickMantooth]

That does not surprise me at all, i'm shocked they didn't. It's a very well made toy.

[@burningdaylights]

I've been a Tarzan fan since I could remember, but never saw one of these when they were out. I was lucky enough to run across a loose one in the late 90s at an antique mall, though. I think I paid $10 or $15, and picked up a loose knife off eBay.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Who made the Kwai Chang Caine action figure? (Kung-Fu TV Series) I remember seeing it's box at Mervyn's the same Time I saw the Grizzly Addams & Nakoma figures.

[@BrickMantooth]

The Kung Fu figure was made by Durham Industries but it wasn't based on Carradine or the TV show, just a clever Knock off.

[@andrewtaylor940]

Is the Gorilla the one that had wheels on the bottom of his feet, and a bottom on his back that caused a grabbing/crushing action from his arms? I remember such a gorilla from back then, but I don’t remember which line it was from?

[@BrickMantooth]

No wheels but there is a lever on his back that makes his arms flail.

[@Floyds_Toys]

The animals with the wheels on the bottoms of their feet are from the Marx Buck Hunter Safari line. I have the lion & tiger. I believe there was a gorilla, rhino, elephant and crocodile.

[@scottmartin7645]

Wow! I never saw these at all. Cool idea. Too bad it never expanded on the adventures of Tarzan.

[@deadbeatdynamo]

Wow, that Ben figure is awesome. Would love to track that guy down.

[@Gutmunchers]

I have the Grizzly Adams in box that appeared on Pawn Stars and is signed by Dan Haggerty.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Ron Ely (Doc Savage {1975} Superman {1991} on Superboy) played Tarzan in the 1966-1968 Tv series Tarzan. But IDK if he ever had an action figure of his likeness?

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Why didn't Mattel use the big Jim figures for Battlestar Galactica with retooled heads and new BG accessories?

[@BrickMantooth]

Cause that would have been awesome?

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

@@BrickMantooth Imagine Lucifer with karate chopping action.

[@shavanzar]

Had this figure with the cat. Cool video

[@BrickMantooth]

thank you! Wish I owned the cat,

[@ShadeofJeremy]

I don't remember these at all. But I liked Tarzan so I would have wanted them I'm sure. And I enjoyed Grizzly Adams as a kid and I'm sure I'd have liked a set of those as well.

[@e-maginethise-t3935]

I been looking for a western stagecoach for my 3.75 figure collection

[@BrickMantooth]

Empire Toys made one, so did Kenner, I'd try eBay.

[@DougPalumbo]

I love these adventure themed figures and sets! Too bad they have long since fallen out of favor. If I had the infrastructure, I’d start up a FP Adventure People style set of figures and accessories. I think it could be quite popular!

[@DougPalumbo]

Yes but I prefer the 3 3/4” scale.

[@RaymondCastile]

The Chap Mei sets at Toys R Us were great adventure-themed toys.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

Wal-Mart and Target sell similar sets but with smaller scale figures. They come with everything!!!

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Imagine a fusion of The Adventure People & Big Jim's The P.A.C.K.! The sturdy play-ability of The AP with the outfits articulation and accessories of Big Jim.

[@jjdigitalvideosolutionsllc5343]

I had a gorilla that looked like that. The arms were activated with a dial on the back. I think a net and catapult were part of the gorilla set. There may have been a rhino too. Was what I'm describing part of Big Jim?

[@ryanbarker5217]

what else was that gorilla used in? it looks familiar....

[@BrickMantooth]

Big Jim.

[@zakhoiraq]

I have the Grizzly Adams. Definitely, a great likeness. I also have Tarzan, the Ape and the Panther.

[@robertonline6543]

Nice...

[@colinmathura-jeffree9829]

Id love a Grizzly!!!!! I had a native American as a kid in New Zealand that was bigger than my Megos so I called him Apache Chef from Super friends....---Ive subscribed.

[@stanleyteriaca2184]

Is something about the Shogun Warriors coming?

[@BrickMantooth]

I just did a Godzilla video.

[@DavidMiller-vp6wc]

big Jim was huge in France....also Matle used a lot over the barbie campers and cars for Big JIM

[@charlescheely4916]

Would love to know what song is on the intro!

[@BrickMantooth]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y16Tp5ebpNqXp5o

[@charlescheely4916]

@@BrickMantooth thanks I knew it sounded familiar!

[@BrickMantooth]

@@charlescheely4916 been in my head for like 30 years now.

[@loganjorgensen]

Yeah wouldn't mind having a Grizzly Adams, wasn't much chance for a Haggerty action figure afterwards other than Elves in 1989 lol.

[@Gojitron1]

Do you know who did the card art? It kinda looks like Joe Kubert's style.

[@BrickMantooth]

I wish I knew, I really like it.

[@scarygary111]

I have a mailer box Ape with net launcher....it has a Big Jim instruction insert though....

[@jimkuna8687]

I used to watch Grizzly Adams now I havevitbon DVD still a cool show love the bear ben.

[@jwebstersmithii7459]

That intro song is dope. Who is that?

[@e4b611]

HI Brian, Great video! I have a question, with all this collecting of classic toys I find myself, now getting up in age, what to do with my collection? I mean I can't take it with me when I go up to the great toy store in the sky, I could have it buried with me LOL, or I could leave it to my kids, but I know they'll never appreciate it like I do and probably sell it. Do you have any plans on where your collection will go after you go? Thought this might be good topic for a video? Anyways keep up the great content, still like watching your videos on Saturday mornings with a bowl of sugar cereal, reminds me of the cartoon Saturday mornings when I was kid..

[@BrickMantooth]

Well, I don't really have an answer for that. I do foresee a day when I tap out for sure and that's why I make these videos. It's a love letter to these things.

[@ryanbarker5217]

had i children, i suspect my worldly possessions would be up for estate sale/auction before my corpse began to turn cold in my pine board abode. ungrateful little theoretical bastards! anyhoo, will them as you would any other doo-dad. if it means that much to any kid in particular, they can purchase what they want from the estate, the value to be determined by the executor. it's hard to parse a collection betwixt people, though, and from a practical standpoint they really don't want half a collection, but that's okay, it'll get snapped up by a 'dealer' and eventually wind up in a collector's hands, someone who always wanted it. don't allow them to pick a piece to remember you by, that's asking for a rift. if you want them to have something, be specific about that in the will. otherwise it's someone trying to get the most expensive item, then the oldest says they get first pick, then the sibling says they took care of you more so they should be first pick, someone says you would have wanted them to have something specific, another says you told them they could have it.... ugh, just don't do it like that. otherwise it'll get sold and the proceeds divvied up. the best thing to do is the most obvious and most overlooked: *ask* them if they want the collection, if they want just a piece, or that it won't offend if you they don't really want any of it.

[@retrouniverse2.0]

Someday I'll find a Tarzan to go with my Ape.

[@THX1968]

Ooooof! That Tarzan is expensive.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, they're a little pricey.

[@nicholassheffo5723]

KOTTER was a hit TV show, but the toys flopped, esp. since the cast was apparently unhappy with the face sculpts.

[@steverino6954]

Wasn't Tarzan friends with the apes?

[@BrickMantooth]

They would occasionally tussle, I think it's how the apes settled their differences in the books.

[@tikielvis]

I still have my gorilla.

[@NerdRageAgainsttheMachine]

I remember BEGGING my mom for a Big Jim PACK, figure no go but she did get me Grizzly Addams. which I adored until i realized how boring the show/character was..

[@stevejones7079]

I had a grizzly Adams,Zeb Machanan and had Big Jim and Big Jack when I was younger I was good kid to my dad.

[@carlosescobar6973]

Sadly non of them 😔

[@Busk_N_Groove]

While “Makin’ it with Mattel” rolls of the tongue nicely, it’s a bit dodgy sounding…

[@robertgriffiths1724]

That bear is correct

[@jimkuna8687]

Shit big jim all the way!!