Toy-Ventures: Top Ten 70s Peg Warmers

[@jjlloyd8017]

I'm honestly surprised that R5-D4 was a peg warmer! I loved that figure as a kid.

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh me too but he sure was abundant!

[@VirtualSG]

Yeah, I don't remember it that way either. I didn't have a lot of branded toys when I was a kid, but the fact that R5-D4 was available fascinated me to no end. I also find it difficult to understand why we didn't want Imperious Leader. I sure wanted him! He didn't do anything in the show because he was Imperious F-ing Leader!

[@johnboissy2621]

Same... always got all the droids. Two-One-Bee was my fav.

[@samanthaadams619]

Same here. I loved R5-D4! O_O

[@BrooklynChivalry]

the “Death Squad Commander” was the peg-warmer at local stores in Brooklyn, NY when I was a kid, rows of them everywhere from the Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shop to Korvettes!

[@bdso9593]

Let’s face it. Any figure from Star Trek TMP was a peg warmer. Not many kids wanted figures from such a dull film. I witnessed a kid crying at his own birthday party when someone bought these duds for him. The word Star in Trek and Wars seemed to confuse adults and what a huge difference.

[@nosferatu-369]

LOL! The kid actually cried. They were some shitty dull action figures.😅

[@ryanbarker5217]

they didn't even have guns, which is the same problem i had with the buck rogers figs... wouldn't matter, the latter couldn't keep a thumb on anyway.

[@AvengerII]

The TMP action figures were poorly made by a company not known for doing great action figures that were anything like the Kenner Star Wars line. I saw those action figures in stores, too. The movie plot aside, the toys themselves were NOT appealing to my 9-year-old self. They were UGLY. The movie has to be appealing, yes, but it helps also when the toys are better-designed and better-thought out. Most of these toylines were quick grabs capitalize on trends. In the late 1970s, that trend was the science fiction film revival started by Star Wars but what they failed to realize is you can't just rip off someone else's idea. You have to come up with an appealing spin of your own and nobody really managed that. Galactica probably came the closest -- the TV show actually did half-well and the re-edited pilot episode had a decent run as a theatrical film (which is STILL better than most TV pilots made to date; it's NOT cheap-looking unlike the year-later Buck Rogers theatrical pilot) but the toys were lacking. That brand mainly survives now on nostalgia (there are still many of us who loved the original Galactica) and decently-made models (reissues and new molds) and occasionally good collectible action figures that have come out since then.

[@thelemonddropskid5445]

Spoil kid

[@namelessjedi2242]

True, but I do remember more Ilea figures leftover than anyone else.

[@Wingatewasright]

I loved R5 D4! Over here in England I remember that retailers struggled to sell any of the Ewok figures. I remember our local toy shop having racks of them that they couldn't shift.

[@BrickMantooth]

yeah, the emperor lasted here forever in the 80s.

[@lamarravery4094]

If only if I could go back in time and buy these peg warmer figures, they're worth a lot more now, lol.

[@mpRamosgroove]

"Kids don't want to play with Ernest Borgnine..." HAHAHA!

[@camcordernonsense5264]

I'm guessing here but not even if there was an Airwolf line

[@samanthaadams619]

I actually had two R5-D4s as a kid. Though the one was a replacement after the original had one too many adventures in the bath tub. As I didn't have the honour of having any Black Hole figures, R5-D4 got to be my "Old Bob", with R2 as Vincent.

[@KingRixy]

you can tell how poor my family was, here in London in the 70's and 80's other than a few Christmas or Birthday Star wars figures I only owned peg warmers and a huge imagination

[@enyawd1977]

LOL..."Kids don't wanna play with Ernest Borgnine. They want robots." Truer words were never spoken.

[@BrickMantooth]

As an adult though, all i wanna do is play with Borgnine, funny how that works...

[@katenunyabizness9221]

@@BrickMantooth You know what they say, once you go Borgnine...

[@rumblehat4357]

The only one I had from The Black Hole line was VINCENT. They weren't easy to find.

[@doctorclu]

@@rumblehat4357 Managed to secure a VINCent figure in a trade from a friend. I think Harry Booth was still in stores because I managed to get him, Kate, Alex, Reinhardt. Never saw anyone else. Max was later also traded for.

[@Clay3613]

To quote Tarantino, "I always found it funny that somewhere there's a kid playin' with a little figure of Ernest Borgnine"

[@BrickMantooth]

I didn't know he said that.

[@doctorgoodguy1]

Awww I love R5-D4. In fact he's my favorite SW figure!

[@BrickMantooth]

I had one too, how could I not, we had an abundance in my town.

[@icanliveforever1243]

Wrong! Kids didnt want to play with Ernest Borgenine UNTIL he was Mermaid Man.

[@BrickMantooth]

This is 100 percent true.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

I so wanted a Lieutenant Ilia figure, but all they had was Kirk and Spock. But that beat Scotty, Chekov or McCoy. Persis was my second Silver Screen crush my first was B-Movie Queen Actress Caroline Munroe in: At The Earth's Core.

[@BrickMantooth]

I get that, she was a really beautiful woman.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

@@BrickMantooth Did you know Persis was really shaved bald for that? For a short while we had our own Sexy Lady Yul Brenner to go GaGa over.

[@ikd3240]

I used to have Imperious Leader when I was a kid. I loved that goofy toy.

[@BrickMantooth]

He has his charms.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

The hands were useless.

[@BayRidah26]

I had that toy too🙂 he was a monster and that’s the type of figure li liked. Way more fun than the human good guys.

[@edd4740]

Another R5 lover here! I used to bring him, Power Droid, and Hammerhead everywhere. I had Imperious Leader too. Sure, he wasn’t much to look at but you needed someone to lead the cylons.

[@lonereverie5414]

I remember joking with my parents # 9 yrs old how they were making SW figures of characters with one second screen time, aware of the cash grab. Loved R5, tho

[@t.s.180]

I still have my original Mr. Mxyzptlk purchased some time between 74 and 76. I did not, however, buy Superman because I hated him. But Mxyzptlk was a great villain.

[@BrickMantooth]

Without Superman who did he Arch?

[@t.s.180]

Brick Mantooth Captain Marvel/Shazam.

[@richmcgee434]

@@t.s.180 So they were both trying to trick the each other into saying their respective magic word, then? Genius. That'd actually be a clever comic story. I must admit I'm baffled by the choice to make Myyzptlk about twice his usual height as an action figure, though. I know he can be as big or small as he likes, but still, many of the people who did know the character must have been a bit put off by that.

[@darrenhood4033]

My dad used to work for Toy World as a teen and indeed Star Wars was huge. The line was so big that even before release parents tried bribing managers for first crack at the merchandise, and kids called the store daily asking when the toys would be there. My dad had to hang up on a lot of crying kids between Fall of 77 and Winter of 78. The first cases rolled out and my dad said they had 2, with 24 figures each inside. Stormtrooper, Luke, Darth, and Han sold out instantly, followed by the droids and Chewie, with the slowest sellers being Leia, the aliens and Death Squad Commander. They still sold out though. There were no peg warmers for those first 12 according to him. In late 1978 the Cantina Aliens, Luke X-Wing, and the other droids rounded out the year. R5 and Power Droid were peg warmers. The only reason why they were bought was because of collectors, completists who had every figure, or those with nothing else to spend allowance money on, or confused parents who mistook him for R2 and thought TImmy wouldn't notice the difference. He remembers a lot of R5's and Power Droids being returned after Christmas of 78.

[@BrickMantooth]

I appreciate that insight, thanks for sharing.

[@gavalar7485]

My local toy shop here in Uk :- Benn's Toys in Burnley had a single Twiki figure on a peg for years! I eventually got it when it had been gradually reduced to about 75p and still have it! (I just didnt want to pay full price fir a 2" figure!)

[@BrickMantooth]

Wow, Twiki usually went first.

[@darrendouglas6811]

awwww man, I LOVED R5-D4, I had him pair up with the Death Star droid as an evil version of R2 and 3PO! Still got a soft spot for him, even have the Sideshow version now. It's 80's but the figure that tortured the crap outta me every damn time I got to the shop was General Madine, we waited months for any other ROTJ figures to arrive while he taunted us mercilessly with his 10 seconds of screen time and weird beard

[@BrickMantooth]

It's not that I hate him, I had one too, it's just he seemed to be last picked.

[@darrendouglas6811]

@@BrickMantooth oh I know, nobody could hate the little fella. Can't think what figures were always on the pegs in that era for Star wars. I know I could only get Adama and the Imperious Leader from galactica (who looked like affro'd bubblegum in a mu-mu) and yeah, Draco for Buck. Must admit, I was thrilled to get an Ernie Borgnine, I later scraped the moustache off, made a helmet for Holland and painted him grey to make the Airwolf boys. Durant became Mad Max, the days were loooong before the internet!

[@BrooklynChivalry]

Absolutely! I remember seeing the Imperious Leader and Lt. Ilia were still everywhere into the early 1980s! But R5-D4 was not a peg-warmer here, it was the Death Squad Commander.

[@BrooklynChivalry]

in 1980, Lobot, the Cloud Car Pilot, and the Bespin Security Guards were the Star Wars peg-warmers, and next to them could be found an abundance of the Cairo Swordsman from Kenner’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but I’m getting too far ahead into the next decade.

[@BrickMantooth]

@@BrooklynChivalry Oh yeah, the Bespin security guards, why did they make two of them? I had the mustache dude but as a kid I wished I had the other guy because he was cooler than mustache dude.

[@TimHayes]

@@BrickMantooth Wasn't one black like Lando and another a white guy?

[@scockery]

@@BrooklynChivalry From my memory, most of the Raiders of the Lost Ark Toys were pegwarmers, except the impossible to find Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood.

[@mokwella]

My favorite discovery of a peg warmer was a replacement set of discs for the Star Trek "Tracer Gun." It was a toy gun made by Ray Plastics (and Grand Toys) that was supposed to evoke the hand held phaser weapons from the show. These discs were like little frisbees that shot out of the gun - ZWISH - and in my experience would immediately get lost down the floor vent. They came in a plastic bag that was stapled shut with a bit of cardboard that held the package on the peg festooned with a non-standard Trek logo. I found a set of these on a dusty stand up spinning rack at the back of a small general store in Brandon, Manitoba when I briefly stopped there when I was traveling across Canada in 1988. No idea how long they had been there but they started making them in 1966 and must have stopped sometime before Paramount re-did all the Star Trek licensing in 1979. Of course they are of no use if you didn't have a Ray Plastics gun of some kind - but maybe they would fit the Dinky U.S.S. Enterprise that used similar sized discs? I was tempted to buy them - but decided that would be like disturbing a sarcophagus - and I let them remain on the rack and headed on my way.

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh yeah I bought some of those in Toys R us in Whitby, ON around 1989.

[@diggingattycho7908]

I can't help but wonder what kid is going to have fun with a character with a line like, "My oath of celibacy is on record...". :) Even big kids could be disappointed. :).

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, that was a little curious. Flew over my head as a kid.

[@nehukybis]

@@BrickMantooth Ilia was originally supposed to be a regular on Star Trek Phase II. Let's say Roddenberry was going through a phase. All of his scripts and story ideas at this time were obsessively sexual, and Ilia's race, the "Deltans" were supposed to be hypersexual. Thus the need for an oath of celibacy while serving aboard majority human starships. The part that went over MY head until many years later? The name for the species is itself a sexual innuendo (as in "The Delta of Venus", or the female genital region). Never mentioned again in canon AFAIK so I think the producers gave them hair and changed their name to "Betazoids". EDIT: I got curious whether the Deltans did ever got a mention again in canon so I looked them up on Memory Alpha. There were a few brief references here and there and some extras in STIV and VI who were supposed to be Deltans, but that's it.

[@GeoffreyToday]

In my neck of the woods, Dr. Reinhardt from The Black Hole was the big peg warmer. In fact, he was the only Black Hole figure I ever saw in the wild. I was born in '79, so by the time I was old enough to want Black Hole figures, they were long gone. Except for Reinhardt. Every time my dad would go out of town for business I'd beg him to look for a VINCent toy for me, and never understood why he could never find one. I was too young to understand that the toy line was no longer being made, because my local Woodwards and K-Mart stores had bins of Reinhardts :p

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, the people were not hot sellers in that line at all.

[@rumblehat4357]

R5-D4 was a second wave figure, and since there were only 12 to start, I find it hard to believe kids didn't collect all of them at the time. When I first went to the store for figs, there was a wall of Princess Leia, and ONE Ben Kenobi. As far as Buck Rogers figures, I NEVER saw them in the stores.

[@BrickMantooth]

I think kids bought him but probably not as much as the Cantina aliens or Luke X Wing pilot.

[@steel927]

Fantastic! Ahhh the glory days

[@TheNightBadger]

What a great topic! I always wanted an R5 as a kid. I didn't know the Star Trek Bridge Playset merged with a shuttle playset! I only remember pegwarmers in the 80's due to my age, but the last Jedi figures I remember seeing on pegs in about '89 were things like Bib Fortuna, Ree-Yees, Squid Head, Royal Guard and a couple of the Ewoks.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah Jedi stuff burned brightly but not for a long time.

[@danjohnson887]

"World's greatest merry men"" kind sets up the peg warmer right out if the gate... Lol

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah.

[@Merylstreep1949]

Ooooh, Ernie Borgnine!!! Sideburns, ACTIVATE

[@samanthaadams619]

@@Make_Ukraine_Russia_Again Or use him for parts in a Quentin McHale custom figure.

[@VampireJack10]

I had an R5-D4 as a kid in the 1980s and loved it as much as all my other SW stuff.

[@BrickMantooth]

I'm not suggesting it's a bad figure, it's totally not, I just remember a ton of only them.

[@emmapeel38]

It’s funny that Lt. Ilya was #1. There was a clearance store on St. Mary’s Rd in Winnipeg, that had a ton of them on rack; and it would have been around ‘87 or ‘88 when I saw them! Great video!

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, I saw some in Toronto in the late 1980s too.

[@Getterprime]

Ah, number 9. I got Draco because my mom would not let me get the star fighter or the hatchet fighter. So it had to be a figure and for some strange reason I chose him (I think Buck and at least two other characters were on the pegs). He ended up being used for whatever I needed at the time (General Zod stand-in, disco space pirate, vampire, sometimes good guy, etc.).

[@doctorclu]

Sometimes it is the alternate casting for figures that made them so much fun. I remember Alex from the Black Hole was kinda a heroic "Our Man Flint" style agent in a lot of play.

[@richmcgee434]

Draco makes a fair stand-in for Ming the Merciless - or at least he did when I was young.

[@docwasabassco4139]

As soon as this started I thought, man I hope Ilia is mentioned.That figure was around for EVER.

[@twikirobot6897]

No kid wanted a figure of a bald headed lady 🤣

[@acrovader]

I loved the R5D4 figure as a kid.

[@BrickMantooth]

I had one too.

[@mooseyman74]

Aaah nostalgia 😊 happy times

[@waynedaly100]

I remember every toy shop had a wall of Darth Vaders after jedi, they were selling them off for 20 pence, i got about ten for my birthday lol

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, there were 8 feet of dollar RoJ figures in 1985 at the big Eaton's store in down town Toronto. When Star Wars sales fell, they fell hard.

[@AvengerII]

@@BrickMantooth And that was well before Disney KILLED Star Wars merchandise off for good after The Last Jedi. They cancelled the original Marvel (licensed) Star Wars comic in 1987 and that was one of that company's best-sellers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With no new films coming out and just a pair of crappy Ewok TV films (which I never bought in any format; rented the first Ewok film on VHS and disliked it intensely), Star Wars was dead as a brand by the end of 1986. Heck, if you check the ratings for the original Star Wars movies on network broadcast IN THE 1980s, those ratings were LOUSY!!!! The films did well in pay-for-view and HBO prior to CBS broadcasting Star Wars on network TV for the first time in 1983(?) but the film were never a ratings bonanza on network TV. They were beaten by TV shows and other movies showing on networks all the time. I lived through this, btw. I saw the films in theaters in 1977, 1980, and 1983 and noticed things happening with merchandise. There literally wasn't any new Star Wars merch besides home video releases between 1987 and 1991 (the beginning of the Thawn Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn). They really started cranking up the Star Wars merchandise machine in 1993(?) and all those games (Rebel Assault, The Super Star Wars Trilogy on the Super NES, X-Wing and TIE Fighter, the multimedia Shadows of the Empire, Dark Forces/Jedi Knight fps series), comic books from Dark Horse, and the novels really revived Star Wars and kept it relevant through the Prequels. The last time they DID a Star Wars film series "right" with merchandising tie-ins was the Prequel Trilogy whether people that dislike the Trilogy admit this or not. I'm on the "meh" side with the Prequels but I don't hate them. Now, the Disney films -- THOSE, I HATE! To be fair, the merchandise (based on the Disney films) hadn't been selling well since The Force Awakens (2015) -- there were plenty of 2015 toys STILL on the shelves in 2017, 2018, 2019(!) -- but the crappiness of The Last Jedi killed the last bit of desire for most grown-up kids (40+) and their kids to buy tie-ins into those pretender films Disney made. I'd say Disney drove away at least 50% if not more of the Star Wars fans with their horrible creative decisions and the online antics of the thin-skinned LucasFilm reps and employees who should have known better to stay off social media if they couldn't behave better than 2-year-olds. Model kits and toys based on the original trilogy still sell, though. They probably don't sell as well as they did before Disney mismanaged Star Wars but still better than the Sequel Trilogy.

[@originaluddite]

After Jedi, I remember the big shelfwarmer in Australia was poor old Admiral Ackbar. My family had two of them and made a helmet from plasticine for the second one to be a Mon Calamari pilot.

[@ParumPirum]

What? Vader and Ackbar, you got lucky! I remember a huge pile of Emperor and Imperial Dignitary being sold off when the franchise died out here in Stockholm. now those were some shitty figures! Still bought me one of each though, cause they where really cheap.

[@phantom1592]

When I went LOOKING for Star Wars figures, I couldn't find anything on the shelf except 'Lando in bounty hunter disguise'. My one and only SW figures. :( Can't imagine a wall of Vader.....

[@georgeaitken2719]

I had the booth figure he definitely hung on in my collection through Star Wars action force and gi joe before he was given away in the late nighties

[@BrickMantooth]

Hey, you need somebody to rescue!

[@dennissmith5807]

I remember seeing a ton of Bib Fortunas at Montomery Wards a few years after the SW line ended.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah the Emperor was here until about 1990

[@Clay3613]

Odd, Bib was one of the harder to find main aliens of the 90s POTF line.

[@chiliswerve9457]

When I was a kid, Return Of The Jedi’s Ree-Yees was the peg warmer. I bought a pocket General Zod at my local Hills around 1989!

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah Zod should have likely been on this list.

[@brianartillery]

Saddest example of peg-warming ever, had to be in my local big toyshop in late 1985, early 1986. A complete wall of 'Palitoy' (I'm in England) Star Wars figures, including the last 17. The shop was selling them at a huge discount - any three figures for £1. (I had a set, and didn't need any more), and yet nobody was buying them. A few weeks later, they were all gone. I saw a staff member from the toyshop (now closed down, as is usual), and asked him what happened to all the Star Wars stock. His reply was heartbreaking. It was: "In a skip (dumpster), and then landfill, most probably."

[@BrickMantooth]

Wow, I remember in 1987, the Downtown Toronto Eaton's had eight feet of them for $1 apiece. I spent 120 on all the major characters.

[@josmo1363]

I'm a Star Wars fan that grew up in the 70-80's and loved all things Star Wars but I still gotta say, that Star Trek playset looked pretty sweet BTW I had an R5-D4, wish I hadn't lost the bloody thing

[@BrickMantooth]

i am hearing that an awful lot.

[@josmo1363]

@@BrickMantooth the playset or R5-D4?

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

ME: I didn't know R5-D4 was a peg-warmer. I doubt I could find any SW characters who could be disliked so much for reasons. ROSE TICO: Let me introduce myself

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh yeah, Rose and Ric Olie say "Hold my beer", uh oh, here comes Yarna !

[@nehukybis]

I got the Penguin and Mr. Mxyzptlk figs and they became part of my Star Trek crew. Penguin was Harry Mudd and Mr. M was Cyrano Jones.

[@BrickMantooth]

Brilliant.

[@JAbell1966]

I think a lot of the problem with Ilia was that she was made in the Starfleet uniform instead of the little white dress that she wore for at least 80% of the film. An overall problem I had with most 3 3/4 figures from Mego and Mattel was that neither company wanted to paint the eyes in on their figures.

[@rumblehat4357]

JAbell1966 as a kid, I tried to draw Starbuck's eyes in with a ball point pen.

[@jamesschulziii9098]

I love 70s toys and the ones before. I'm 46 years old btw . I currently collect Star Wars the Black Series but I do remember the Vintage figures from my childhood. 😍

[@Gojitron1]

I got Ilia AND Kirk and Spock for .50 cents at Child World back in '81 or '82. Was there a peg warmer for Micronauts, I wonder? The clear Time Traveler maybe?

[@BrickMantooth]

I really can't personally remember seeing one micronaut more than the other but if i had to bet, I'd say time travellers because they made so many.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

I loved my gray (not clear) time traveler.

[@nehukybis]

Time traveler was cheap though, and came in different colors and chest packs. I bet a lot of parents on a budget bought them.

[@johnszczecina]

You are right on target about these being the top peg warmers. Also, no one wanted the power droid from the Star Wars collection in the '70s.

[@lonereverie5414]

He did have that great Patrick MacNee voice though

[@BrickMantooth]

Count Iblis!

[@lonereverie5414]

@@BrickMantooth They probably got him in the studio just for one day & asked "by the way would you mind reading these lines too?"

[@doctorclu]

@@lonereverie5414 Patrick MacNee: "Sure, would you like for me to read the phone book while I'm at it?" Producers : "Yes please!!"

[@dukeman3ca1]

Haha. I remember Lt. Ilia in a woolrorths here in New brunswick, Canada around 87 as well !

[@p.d.l7023]

I had that Ernest Borgnine figure.

[@Diabolik771]

Quite accurate. I did have fun with Draco, making my own stories up and making him a Space Kung Fu expert. Now I would put all the Buck Rogers, Black Hole, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek figures in my Star Wars Cantina display.

[@ebransc09]

Kids wanted an action figure of Ernest Borgnine as himself

[@BrickMantooth]

Damn straight!

[@GreyHulk2156]

This probably explains why I only ever had an Imperious Leader (and an Ovion) figure from the Galactica line as a young child.

[@TimHayes]

I remember having Woolworth's in my hometown,but don't recall having Woolco stores here. Sad they went the way of the dinosaurs!

[@FuzzyDan]

Ha! Harry Booth. Out of all the Black Hole action figures my parents could buy me, the two they picked were Harry Booth and Dr. Durant. I often used them as practice dummies for Darth Vader's lightsaber training.

[@BrickMantooth]

the two guys that die!

[@tonyeckman4822]

Ernest Borgnine as Jonathan Corbis (The Devil's Rain)...Now I'd definitely buy that figure! Imagine it with the additional choices of either plain Jonathan Corbis or Satan Corbis. A must have.

[@robertpeck5488]

Everything sold by me, all the ones that you bought up sold out like the other ones in the line the peg warmers was the Waltons figure line from Mego the Kresge by me had some of them until the 90s .

[@ilj1259]

My Toy R Us when I was a kid had a lot of Mego Hulks and Spidermans on clearance as well as the mego Teen Titans. I think every kid had Hulk and Spiderman and nobody wanted figures that looked like little kids.... lol great stuff.

[@ARCWuLF]

I'm actually a bit surprised by R5-D4 -- my cousin and I used to pair him with the Death Star Droid to make an evil version of R2-D2 and C-3PO when we were kids. I was always disappointed that Kenner never released more Astromech droids, so R5-D4 was a pleasant addition to my playtime.

[@BrickMantooth]

I'm certainly not pooping on the figure, had it and it was welcome. I just remember a glut of him and power droid. In hindsight, I should have chosen power droid.

[@ARCWuLF]

@@BrickMantooth Oh, I know; I was just surprised that there would be so many of them warming the pegs.

[@robertonline6543]

Love to see that commercial, awesome!!! Ernest borgnine!

[@rickyg.4004]

Hey, great video. Subscribed. I was born in '83, so I don't really remember seeing any of these growing up. I'm sure they were in the toy aisle at the local Hills, I just never noticed them.

[@BrickMantooth]

Thanks for the sub! I'm sure there was real treasure in that Hill's clearance aisle.

[@bozotheclown169]

thought Decker would be #1 peg warmer. remember seeing Decker and even Spock and Bones TMP figures etc but not Ilia (shops probably chucked those out) and couldnt find a Kirk figure anywhere in the early 80s (maybe kids desperately wanted a TJ Hooker action figure..even if it was in a Starfleet uniform?) one kid actually brought his Kirk figure into school and remember staring at it in wonder.... had to wait until the Ertl Trek III figures to complete my all star startrek line up of Kirk, 2 Spocks, Bones, Scotty, and ...Decker

[@johnkirk2863]

I must of been the exception..I loved R5 D4 LOL

[@BrickMantooth]

I liked the figure but I just noticed there was an abundance out there as a kid.

[@rgd963]

I purchased a carded Goldlfinger figurine from gilbert in a old convenient store/post office in 1987!

[@BrickMantooth]

Wow, that may be a record. I bought a Comic Action Heroes Wonder Woman while purchasing cigarettes in 1989, that's probably my best one.

[@rgd963]

@@BrickMantooth M was with him i guess Fat and old guys just don't sell, outfits that warm the shelf,G.I.Joe Dangerous Removal, Action jackson Surf and scuba, snow mobile outfit and all the sports outfits. I purchase the last AJ snow trooper in a old Drug store 1985 because i gotten a nude superman for 50 cents and wanted to dress him.

[@SkotNealey]

that explains why i bought the pink BSG guy and Ilia became a super hero in my universe named Terestrial ...i was always wanting cheap toys, i guess.

[@gregoryreed4866]

Man! Your toy stores really held on to them for years not in Cincinnati, there would be peg warmers but I never remembered seeing them into the next decade

[@zzzombie888]

I used Draco as my "The Master" lol

[@BrickMantooth]

WHo was your Doctor?

[@zzzombie888]

@@BrickMantooth oddly enough I used for some reason, a draconian guard that had a broken Airbornes legs lol

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

@@zzzombie888 I think Brick meant which figure you used as Doctor Who? I could be wrong though.

[@camcordernonsense5264]

At first I thought of the Lee Van Cleefe show.

[@AgentM79]

I hit the Subscribe button. Excellent vid, here. I remember seeing the Lt.Ilia figure in abundance at Play World and Toys R Us well after ST-TMP. Black Hole figures that weren’t robots were also in abundance. The Buck Rogers toys were interesting. The boxes looked great, but the toys required so many decals to be applied it was almost like building a snap-together model kit. I loved my Laserscope Fighter, though! The action figures were junk. A shame. The show deserved FAR BETTER.

[@BrickMantooth]

Thanks! Yeah the Black Hole people lingered a long time didn't they?

[@carlosescobar6973]

I buy all of them no matter the popularity

[@nicholascordray3523]

I also would have loved R5-D4. It would have rounded out my collection and playtime so well. Unfortunately, my parents were the ones buying me my Star Wars toys and only focused on the main people.

[@johngeraci3887]

I remember seeing in Toys r us the Mego hulk all over the place in the 80’s

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh yeah, close out Hulks were abundant.

[@bucksky619]

Any kid who watched Super Friends knew exactly who Mr. Myxyzptlyk was

[@BrickMantooth]

It didn't mean they wanted his action figure.

[@richmcgee434]

They also knew he wasn't normally the same height as the Joker, which probably did not help sales.

[@DanBriggs3000]

An honorable mention (although from 1982) is Toht from the Adventures of Indiana Jones Kenner line.

[@BrickMantooth]

Oh he'll be on my 80s list for sure.

[@TimHayes]

The Devil's Rain was a cool little drive-in flick! Sad an Ernie Borgnine devil cult leader figure would be cool for Halloween! :)

[@BrickMantooth]

There is an action figure by Tomland Toys that is definitely based on Borgnines monster makeup in "The Devil's Rain" unlicensed of course.

[@TimHayes]

@@BrickMantooth Surprised Severin Films didn't bother doing a licensed one since they made some related merchandise for their bluray release of The Devil's Rain.

[@andrewminelli5744]

So cool Great Vid. I worked at TRU ( Toys R Us for you civilians ) in the late 80's I remember some of the Peg warmer figures of that time.. Like Krang from the TMNT, Couldnt fine a Leo or Mike to save your life but I remember the end cap was full of Krang. BOB from Batman Movie, No Batman or Joker, but Bob as far as the eye could see. You couldnt find any of the Real Ghost Buster guys but the rack was full of Tombstone figures.

[@BrickMantooth]

thanks for the intell! Bob the Goon will be on my list but I was flirting with using the old lady as part of Ghostbusters.

[@andrewminelli5744]

@@BrickMantooth Her Too!

[@jamesschulziii9098]

I'd of played with an Ernest Borgnine figure.most 3 3/4 figures would've made good if not great star wars cantina aliens

[@GarysActionManChannel1970]

The Gargon and Rom always seem to be gathering dust and with boxes always opened

[@BrickMantooth]

Wow, those are items i wish i owned MIB.

[@GarysActionManChannel1970]

@@BrickMantooth In 1980 was in department store (name escapes me) and there was a large box full of ROM figures for clearance- each had been opened

[@One21Jiggawatts]

The enterprise playset looks cool.

[@BrickMantooth]

It is a cool, i just did a video about it last week, check my channel.

[@tjschuessler257]

Awww. Lt. Ilea. I loved her. 😭

[@BrickMantooth]

I had one as a kid!

[@tjschuessler257]

@@BrickMantooth I did too. Bought her and another figure (Kirk? Decker?) and the Bridge playset while visiting grandparents. I remember my mother was not impressed with the bridge that had to be glued and reglued together. Watched your video review of it the other day, in fact!

[@adorkability]

I had Lt. Ilia, but yeah I seem to remember being the only one in my group of friends who wanted her. I still have my R5 and Imperious Leader. Most of my friends had R5, but IL was a rarity in my area and I only got him by trading with a buddy who lived out of town.

[@BrickMantooth]

Interesting, apparently judging by things, they all went to my Woolco.

[@countofdownable]

Owned Lt Ilia, Imperious Leader and R5-D4.

[@catfishcooler1566]

R5-D4 is the REAL hero of Star Wars. He destroyed himself to save the Rebellion.

[@andrewtaylor940]

I would add any of the female 8” Mego figures. Lt Uhura and Batgirl come to mind. The only thing that might have limited the eternal peg warmer status was they were produced in lower numbers. And what was that horrible Space Caveman bad guy that the final waves of classic GI Joe had? He was probably the worst that I remember. On the girls side, what was that horribly creepy doll of Barbie’s younger sister, that went through puberty as you twisted her arm? My cousins had one. It still gives me nightmares.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah i flirted with Intruder being Joe's peg warmer.

[@lonereverie5414]

Just like I passed on the Rancor Keeper back in the day I passed on the Penguin. I didn't think action figures should be fat lol

[@BrickMantooth]

There is an argument that overweight and shirtless may not be a good seller.

[@TimHayes]

@@BrickMantooth We needed a Metal Bikini Huttese Harem Girl Leia to go with him and maybe add another figure from Jabba's Palace. :)

[@guardian08527]

Born in 1980, I was barely conscious by 1985. The Star Wars peg warmers I remember, or really the only ones I remember seeing at the very end were the Emperor and Gamorrean Guard. Also I think the B-Wing was the last vehicle I remember seeing. Not that it was an awful toy, it was one of the best! I don't remember seeing the Power Of The Force figures at all.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah I barely remember ever seeing those either and I was born in 1970!

[@ajogg]

lol I had a Mr Mxtplyk, but I knew who he was because I read comics at the time and he appeared on SuperFriends. Of course he wasn't as popular as the Joker, Riddler etc.

[@BrickMantooth]

Agreed, those guys were the A-Listers.

[@chadkimmel8957]

I wanted R5-D4 as a kid!😂

[@MrColuber]

Huh. I have R5-D4. One of the first Star Wars toys I had, along with that droid with the insect head.

[@BrickMantooth]

Death Star Droid.

[@MiniatureMasterClass]

Current TOP TEN action figure peg warmers: 1. Rose Tico 2. Rose Tico 3. Rose Tico 4. Rose Tico 5. Rose Tico 6. Rose Tico 7. Rose Tico 8. Rose Tico 9. Rose Tico 10. Rose Tico

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, Hasbro maybe overestimated her popularity. Even Ric Olie sold better.

[@p.d.l7023]

I had Bones McCoy from that Star Trek movie. The bald chic weirded me out though.

[@seventiesfan5980]

"Where is Lt. Ilia? That unit no longer functions." Somehow I knew Ilia would top your list! No pegs were warmed in the stores I visited. I have all but Chopper from your Top Ten. I got the six Star Trek the Motion Picture crew members in 1979, and I've taken good care of them. I never saw the aliens or I would have gotten them also. I have every version of Mxyzptlk that Mego made including the Lili Ledy one. I think the Mattel Battlestar Galactica line was doomed from the beginning. The little known Imperious Leader and even less known Boray had action figures, but major characters like Apollo, Athena, and Cassiopeia didn't. During the Star Wars mania of 1979, I got a Cylon figure for fifty cents. I remember the big red Lionel Playworld price sticker with ".50" on it.

[@BrickMantooth]

From what I understand from interviews, the Battlestar line sold well until the series left the airwaves, then it died fast.

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

I didn't know that Welcome Back Cotter, had a toy line, until I saw it on Pawn Stars.

[@josephgioielli]

I freaking loved R5-D4 from the moment I saw it in the film. I was so happy when the figure came out. I just thought that flat top looked way cooler than R2 and his chrome dome. Power Droid was cool to. I mean, as cool as a walking battery pack can be.

[@BrickMantooth]

Nothing against the figure, it was colourful and interesting, just probably over stocked.

[@NeoGee]

I had and still have both R5-D4 and Imperious Leader!

[@BunnySconce]

I remember the GC Murphy in NW DC seemed to have surplus Jawas.

[@BrickMantooth]

Really? I loved that figure.

[@BunnySconce]

Oh, I bought one. And you need at least three.

[@Chapwiththewings5roundsrapid]

If only that motivator hadn’t failed. It might have been oh so different for R5-D4

[@lamarravery4094]

And the empire would have had the hidden plans, movie over.

[@TimHayes]

Probably a number of the final 17 Star Wars figures I'd switch out with The Imperious Leader or Lt. Illia. I like the look of both figures. So Stormtrooper Luke or Imperial Dignatary I think are more worthy peg warmers. :)

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah the 1980s episode will feature some Return of the Jedi characters.

[@p.d.l7023]

I remember that there was a bin of Princess Laya in her maroon gear from the second movie.

[@DavidMedina-ou2kf]

Do a Top 10 80s peg warmer edition!

[@BrickMantooth]

I did.kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6GUqatmnrqdj80

[@DavidMedina-ou2kf]

@@BrickMantooth Thanks! Great one ! Now onto 90s

[@retrovideogamevault]

I had R5-D4. And Doctor McCoy from that Star Trek line.

[@brucegrossman3531]

I had R5 D4 and used it all the time in my droid playset.

[@BrickMantooth]

the droid factory? That was a cool set!

[@brucegrossman3531]

@@BrickMantooth totally would spend hours with it.

[@kibagami74]

Lt Ilia was one of my earliest crushes. Better her than Ernest Borgnine, I always say. In fact, I owned an Ilia figure, a Harry Booth figure , an Imperious Leader and of course an R5-D4. Sadly, I don't think I ever bought a Draco, I'm ashamed. I owned 4 out of 10 though, that's not bad.

[@BrickMantooth]

I owned 6 out of the 10, I just realized that, had a lot of fun with all of them, including Harry Booth.

[@RogueTwo]

Some of these I can't comment on as they're either from lines that I didn't collect, or don't really remember all that well. If I recall correctly, between my sister and I we had all the Welcome Back Kotter figures that we'd gotten for Christmas, but I can't remember ever seeing them on the shelf. But I remember what peg warmers the Imperious Leader, Draco and Lt. Illa were. The Imperious Leader was screwed over by the decision from the network that the Cylons were to be robots, not cyborg reptilian aliens, so they edited the pilot to make sure we never got a good look at him, and then replaced him with Boltar in the series. And as you say, all Draco's scenes ended.up on the cutting room floor. And then there's Illa. Truth to tell, I liked her and was intrigued by this new alien species. But I was clearly in the minority in that, as I remember buying one of her that I found on a KB Toys' shelf in the mid 80s alongside some clearanced Star Wars figures.

[@BrickMantooth]

I owned a Lt. Ilia and Imperious Leader as a kid, I wasn't immune to their charms.

[@RogueTwo]

Interesting thing about my Imperious Leader, at some point the glue on his headgear gave out and popped off his head, leaving no damage or much residue, or even revealing an indentation of some sort to hold it on. Just a normal (alien) head. Suggesting that it had been intended to be removable all along. I liked the look without it and just kept the headgear as removable.

[@doctorclu]

@@RogueTwo Fascinating.

[@doctorclu]

Hey cheers to the Mego for making a female character (Ilia). First off, Persis Khambatta was hot. I knew it at age six, and I remember being conflicted because she was hot, but bald. But she was hot. Anyway, I loved the character, and it might have been one of the first I bought, though in the end I eventually found all the Star Trek main characters still on pegs, I want to say by the time Star Trek II was in theaters. My other point is that so many action figure lines have left out important female characters (Pirates of Dark Water I'm looking at you...). So kudos to mego.