#238 BIG JIM – ADVENTURE GEAR: COW PUNCHER, JUNGLE GUIDE & SCUBA DIVER (Ref. 7435) (1975)

 Big Jim's "Adventure Gear"

Apart from figures and the vehicles, Big Jim also had a great number of accessories and outfits. There were several types of sets that didn’t include any figures; for example, the “Action Sets”, or the “Mission Packs” (both carded or boxed).

Among all sets, the most simple and cheaper to buy were the “Adventure Gear”. The difference between “Adventure Gear” and the rest of accessory sets is that they didn’t include any clothes, they mostly comprised plastic accessories, that are cheaper to produce than the outfits. This way, Mattel covered a wider price range, from one of these sets to a big vehicle or playset.

They were sold carded, and the cards were all the same, so this way they could be p roduced even cheaper. Some of this sets were also available as “action sets” with some extra clothes, so it might be a bit confusing when looking for names, references, years of release or when trying to identify loose pieces and bits.

I am presenting here three sets I own. Some websites say they were released in 1974, other in 1975, The most complete website to see all outfits seems to be www.bigjimforum.com , most Big Jim references are pictured there.

As said in the title, the references I own are:

Cow Puncher: includes hat, belt, rifle, boots and lasso

Click here to see this item in its original package.

Jungle Guide: includes hat, axe, rifle, boots and leather pouch

 

Click here to see this item in its original package.

Scuba Diver: incluyes flippers, mask with cable (not in the picture) and tank with harness

Click here to see this item in its original package.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: ADVENTURE GEAR (Ref. 7435)
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1975
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Scale: 1:8

#102 BIG JIM – THE WHIP (ref. 9060) (1976)

Big Jim also had some subseries. I have presented here some vehicles and playsets that could be assigned to “adventure” or “sports” subseries, but this one is a little more special. This figure belongs to the P.A.C.K. series, which was created by Mattel in 1975, some kind of counterintelligence strike team, very similar to the one that could be seen at TV in the famous series “Mission: Impossible”. Big Jim became in this series the leader of a group of heroes to hire, or as the acronym says: “Professional Agents, Crime Killers”.

The whip was one of those heroes, along with Torpedo, Warpath and three versions of Big Jim. Mattel finally released a villain to fight and created Zorak. The image of the group was a howling wolf, that every figure has tattooed on their left hands (except Zorak, who does not belong to the P.A.C.K.s).

The line also had their own outfits and vehicles, mostly decorated with the howling wolf logo.

As it can be seen in the pictures, the figure is completely dressed in black, with trousers, shirt, boots, watch cap, plus a brown belt. In the belt, we find again the howling wolf logo.

Apart from the figure and its clothes, in the box were included the following weapons and accessories (most of them are packed and I didn’t want to open them, I guess they are original bagged accs.):

• Bandoleer with 4 Australian boomerangs
• Brazilian “bolos”
• Japanese “shinai” stick
• Angolan bull whip
• Hand sleeve

The story of the Whip tells that he was a sailor that travelled the world learning the secrets of different weapons. That’s how he became the weapons specialist in this organisation. According to Mattel ideas, the Whip is not as strong as the other members, but has a great number of gadgets in compensation. If we compare the figure, we observe, that is has exactly the same body than any other (older) Big Jim figure. Other P.A.C.K. members include an “iron” hand or a mechanical arm, twisting heads, and other features, while the Whip only has the “classic” punch feature.

Another interesting fact is that the whip was later reused in the Masters of the Universe line and given to the figure known as “Beast-Man” or sold in the accessory pack.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: THE WHIP (Ref. 9060)
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1976
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: Around 23 cm.
• Scale: 1:8

#75 BIG JIM – CAMPING TENT (1975)

Another nice set by Mattel for this toy-line is the Camping Tent. I recently found it in a thrift shop. It’s in great shape and includes the original package also in a great shape. Note the drawing on the cover that shows all items included in the box (except the figures), and the price at one flap of the box. This unit was sold in the Austrian supermarket Metro probably in 1975 or 1976, and it costed exactly 198,40 ATS (Schilling), that is around 14,30 Euro.

I guess this set was a great success in Europe, since camping is very popular in centroeuropean countries.

The contents of the box are the following:

• vinyl tent
• poles for the tent (5 pieces of two different types)
• 2 vinyl sleeping bags

• table (5 pieces)
• 2 folding camping chairs
• fireplace
• grill for the fireplace
• 2 pots
• 2 dishes
• frying pan
• jar (2 pieces)

The whole set is decorated with some stickers that are easily lost. The complete set of stickers include 3 stickers for the tent, 3 stickers more for each sleeping bag, 2 stickers for each chair and 5 stickers for the dishes, the pots and the frying pan. The stickers that are directly applied over vinyl surfaces are very difficult to keep in good shape, because that vinyl material is flexible and if it’s played enough, they’ll end falling down.

Here are some pictures of the set I took myself. They show Big Jeff (from whom we already spoke here #42) and Big Josh, who is another friend of Big Jim. Among the Big Jim characters, Big Josh is somehow the rude guy, if “rude” can be applied to talk about this toy-line. The looks very much like Big Jim, just with a black beard on his face.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: CAMPING TENT (Ref. 90-8873)
• Alternative Name: ZELT (german)
  
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1975
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: 33 x 38 x 38 cm or 13'' x 15'' x 15''
  
• Scale: 1:8

#56 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE – ZOAR & SCREEECH (Ref. 4014 and 4713) (1983)

 
Zoar (“Barbarian Bird”) and Screeech (“Fighting Falcon”) (with 3 ‘e’s) are two winged creatures (some kind of eagles) from the Masters of the Universe series. Most figures in this series share the casts of their bodies, arms, legs and even heads. Design of this line should have been very cheap, and, due to its great success, very profitable. 
 

When it comes to creatures, the MOTU-series also reused their moulds: The Panther-like creatures “Battle Cat” and “Panthor” where made with exactly the same cast, “Stridor” and “Night Stalker” (the horses) and “Zoar” and “Screeech” (the eagles), too. This occurred during the first Masters of the Universe waves, but in later waves the reuse of casts was not so common.

Zoar’s and Screeech’s accesories are also exactly the same, and in the same colour: a two-piece stand, and a two-piece armour. They both have the same feature: by pressing a trigger in one leg, they flap their wings. As I bought Screeech, the seller had written in his description, that this was some kind of mail-away offer, with bagged weapons. I'm not sure about that, I suspect is not true.

 

About these creatures, Zoar is a transformation of Sorceress, the “heroic guardian of castle Grayskull”, that appears in many comic-books, like the ones following this paragraph. Screeech, nevertheless, is a more obscure character, that doesn’t appear in comic books; probably it was a last minute decision to produce it, since it wouldn’t cost much, and it would be one reference more in the catalogue. Even though the character Sorceress is so popular and appears so often in comic books and cartoons, the figure was not released until 1987, in the 6th wave (and the last one in most parts of the world).

From minicomic: The Search for Keldor

Sorceress cardback illustration (Taken and modified from He-Man.org discussion boards)

From german Interpart comic: "Die Rache des Bösen"

Something that not everybody knows, is the moulds for these birds (as well as for the panthers), were “recycled” from the Big Jim toy line, that at this present time had already been cancelled. Big Jim’s Eagle quickly became a very popular figure in this collection: it was released in the “Eagle Outfit” (Ref. 7308) and in the “the Eagle of Danger Peak” adventure set (Ref. 7365) both from 1974. These two eagles were a little bit different, as it can be seen in the next pictures. Some other time, I’ll talk about these other Big Jim sets.

 As a bonus, I update this entry with the instruction sheets of Zoar or Screeech. Note that the name of the creature is not mentioned anywhere, so it was used for both. The reference number printed is 4014, corresponding to Zoar, which was, as said above, designed first.

Original Instruction sheet in English, German, Italian and French

Same as above, other side.

A very interesting "alternative" instruction sheet is this one here. It's origin is for me unknown, if you can help me, I'd be very glad to hear you!

Alternative instruction sheet in the same languages, unknown origin

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: ZOAR and SCREEECH (Ref. 4014 and 4713)
• Toy Line: Masters of the Universe (Wave 2)
• Year: 1983
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Approx. 20 cm from tip to tip of the wings

#42 BIG JIM – BOAT ‘N BUGGY SET (1973)

Entry #6 dealt with the motocross Honda, so this is the second time that we deal with this toy line from Mattel. This time, another “sports” vehicle: the Boat ‘n Buggy set.

Released in 1973, this set is a huge blue buggy (it was also released in other sets in yellow), with two seats, steering wheel, and very nice stickers. The car is equipped with a tow-ball (a “tow-bar” actually) in which the boat trailer can be towed.

This trailer is nothing special, is white and has the same wheels that are present in the buggy. It doesn’t have any feature apart from being towed and carrying the boat.

The boat is more interesting, because it’s made of plastic and it floats. It consists of several parts: two seats (thwarts), the engine and two rows that fit two holes at the sides. Although it’s a bit unstable, it can carry up to two figures. The main problem is that the plastic is relatively thin, and it breaks easily.

To complete the set, there are three more accessories: a box to carry fishing apparel, a fishing rod with a rather long thread and a hook, and a big fish. The box can be placed at the back of the buggy, and the rod seems to be missing the handle (I have it somewhere, just didn’t know it was from here, until I saw other pictures today). The fish can also be played in water, because it’s made of the same plastic than those inflatable mattresses we take to the beach.

The box is enormous. The front is printed in colours and presents a very nice illustration in which Big Jim fishes while Big Josh drives the buggy. The back of the box is printed in black and red, and shows a child playing with the figures. One of the sides shows the contents of the box. Unfortunately mine is not in its best shape, but it still looks very nice.

The figure in the pictures is Big Jeff, one of the friends of Big Jim. He’s blond and fits somehow the image that people have of Australians. In the first wave of Big Jim figures (1972) there are surprisingly no villains, just Big Jim and his friends Big Jack, Big Josh and Big Jeff. Chief Tankua was a native American character, that was also friends with Big Jim, and then there was Dr. Steel. He doesn’t seem like a friendly guy, so most children chose him to play villain. In the second wave, it was released as a part of the P.A.C.K., what proves him to be a good guy.

It’s curious, that when it comes to toy figures, children always prefer heroes better than villains. Some collections like this one, started without a villain, to introduce in the second wave of figures Zorak (1976). Zorak did not look like a man, but some green-faced creature.

I recently read, that Hasbro also had that marketing politics in mind when they designed the G.I.Joe: ARAH line. They didn’t want to include any villains on it!. M.A.S.K. (Kenner) is another toy line in which the good guys are much more numerous than the bad guys. Other companies that tried to be fair and made so many villains like heroes, had to correct their politics, and include more heroes in following waves, see for example Dino-Riders (Tyco). It’s an interesting topic to discuss, but this article ends here. Maybe some other time?

Leave me a comment if you wish!

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Boat & Buggy Set (Ref. 8890)
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1973
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: Buggy approx. 30 cm. Boat approx 35 cm.
• Scale: 1:8

#6 BIG JIM – MOTOCROSS HONDA (1974)

Big Jim was born in 1972 under the inspiration of Hasbro’s Adventure Team/ G.I. Joe. Mattel needed a figure to compete in the toys-for-boys market against them. They already had Barbie (since 1959), which was (and still is) a huge success. G.I.Joe was pioneer in action figures for boys, proving that also boys could play with “dolls”. This was at the time a huge conceptual change in games for boys.

If it worked for Hasbro, why wouldn’t it work for Mattel? G.I.Joes are soldiers and Adventure Team are men of action and adventurers, while Big Jim are just normal people: they play sports, ride motorbikes or horses, and have fun and adventures with infinite playsets. Big Jim is somehow a cross-over between G.I.Joe (discriminating figures for boys) and Barbie (discriminating figures for girls). This toy line was intended for North and South America, as well as for Europe. It was in Central Europe that it got to reach its highest popularity, since centroeuropeans are reluctant to anything that reminds them of war or weapons.

One of the most prolific branches of this series was sports. For sale were numerous blisters with the appropriate sport attires: boxing, baseball, diving, skiing, basketball… as well as boxes with the corresponding accessories, like a handle for figures to fight against each other, or this motorbike.

A perfect replica of a Honda Elsinore CR250M model at 1:8 scale, in gray with green numbers, as seen in many competitions in the 70s. At the pictures in this entry, we can see Big Jack wearing the pilot attires. There is a more suitable pilot attire for motocross, but I don’t have it. Unfortunately some stickers (Honda emblem and green stripes over the petrol tank) are missing. The handlebar is very fragile and can be very easily broken.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Honda Motocross (Ref. 7373)
  
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1973
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: 27 cm
• Scale: 1:8