How the
Corps! came to my collection was already told in the last entry. In this entry,
I will make a short introduction to Lanard, the company that made them, and to
the series self.
Lanard Toys
was founded in 1978 and based in Hong-Kong, although they have design centers
in Europe and the U.S.A.
Even if they were founded in 1978, almost nothing is known of this company
before 1986, the year in which they started their production of “the Corps!”
line. This line was previously known as “Gung-Ho!”, but due to a lawsuit fromHasbro in 1988, “Gung-Ho!” became “the Corps!”.
During many
years, “the Corps!” was the only toy line available in their catalogue. I guess
this line was very profitable, even after the disappearance of Hasbro’s G.I.Joe
in 1994, because Lanard has developed itself to a big toy company, multiplying
the number of toy lines, and improving the quality of their products.
There is
unfortunately not much more information on the web about the company, I don’t
know why. If you try searching information about them, you’ll come to two very
polemic affaires. First is the trademark infringement claim from GM in 2006,
and the second is the violation of a Hasbro patent in 2010.
The first
affair had a great impact in the media, as Lanard was selling without
authorisation a military vehicle which was very similar to the Humvee, even the
words “Hyper-Humvee” appeared on the boxes. Lanard, however wasn’t sentenced
for that but retired the vehicles for sale.
The second
affair ended similarly, as Lanard was producing and selling an air-pistol
similar to the ones produced by Nerf.
Something else I wanted to comment about the corps, is the packages in which they were sold. I have included the pictures of the carded figures so that you can see the original illustrations, which I think they are quite good. Note the halo of the figure in yellow, orange and red, very similar to the one used in Hasbro's G.I.Joe. It is also interesting to note that the figures were packed individually, in double packs or in triple packs. In further waves, there would be even more possibilities to buy packs of figures.
Something else I wanted to comment about the corps, is the packages in which they were sold. I have included the pictures of the carded figures so that you can see the original illustrations, which I think they are quite good. Note the halo of the figure in yellow, orange and red, very similar to the one used in Hasbro's G.I.Joe. It is also interesting to note that the figures were packed individually, in double packs or in triple packs. In further waves, there would be even more possibilities to buy packs of figures.
BENGALA: An Indian soldier! Extremely cool figure. Its turban and the
beard, make it an unmissable figure! Very well chosen are the accessories: the
backpack is a copy of Lowlight’s and the rifle is the optimal weapon to hunt
elephants, or tigers or whatever. I also like quite a lot the colour scheme, in
which the brown shirt gives it the aspect of a desert troop.
Tactical
Profile: Desert and
arid, low mountain survival and tactical expert.
Dossier: Third generation member of the
Royal Bengal Lancers. Works best solo. Prefers advanced guard or scout
positions.
BOOMERANG
BILLY: This figure also has an Australian flavour, since it came with three
boomerangs and a small backpack to carry them. The rifle is a modification of
Lamprey’s and the colour scheme is also similar to a desert camo, ideal for the
Asutralian Outback!
Tactical
Profile: Commands
all ground-to-air defense systems and remote electronic surveillance
Dossier: Former member of the Australian
Armed Forces. Highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and state-of-the-art
weapons systems
JUNKYARD:
The second Black soldier in the collection has a “guerrilla” outfit in grey,
could also be intended as an urban troop. It is also one of the coolest figures
for me that were ever made. The accessories are specially interesting,
including a small rocket launcher and a backpack, copied from G.I.Joe’s Major
Bludd.
Tactical
Profile:
Responsible for all field communications and combat navigation during
operations.
Dossier: Trained in all modern weapons and
communication systems, he developed new satellite based navigation equipment.
JOHN EAGLE:
My favorite figure as a kid, I always though he was some kind of mountaineer,
although it was maybe intended to be a sailor… The weapons do not match very
much the figure, since they are not firearms… but I also loved to play the
silent guy that attacked with his silent crossbow without being noticed, in a
ninja style. Looking for two replacement arms with painted hands.
Tactical
Profile: Trained in
martial arts and a veteran of many long range reconnaissance missions. Former
Special Forces Green Beret.
Dossier: A master of covert jungle
operations. Leading mission strategist.
GUNNER
O’GRADY: My second favorite figure as a kid is a tank driver, a little bit in
the G.I.Joe’s Heavy Metal style. It came with a great UZI, and some futuristic
rifle.
Tactical
Profile: A
brilliant tactician and former Army General he now plans and leads all large
scale armoured missions.
Dossier: Field commander of heavy Armored
Combat Units.
JONES:
Definitely not between my favorites, It came with the same pilot jacket than
the previous figure, a cowboy hut and strange sunglasses. I now think he was probably
made after Wild Bill, and that he should be an aircraft pilot, but I am not
sure at all. The black gun is similar to Dr. Mindbender’s and the grey pistol
seem a little bit like Flint’s
one, although it is clearly no copy.
Tactical
Profile: Counter espionage
and covert mission specialist. Head of Mission
Intelligence Services.
Dossier: Former professor of archaeology and
history, he first saw service in counter espionage operations.
FACTS AND FIGURES:
- Name: BENGALA, BOOMERANG BILLY, JUNKYARD, JOHN EAGLE, GUNNER O’GRADY and JONES
- Toy Line: the Corps!
- Year: 1986
- Company: Lanard (Hong-Kong)
- Size of the figure: 3 ½¨ or 8 cms.
Gran post :) . Pues yo creo que Jones es una copia de Indiana Jones, no sólo el nombre, es tambiéna arqueologo y lleva sombrero. Para mí, parece demasiado un civil.
ReplyDeleteOstras, ¡es verdad!, no lo había pensado nunca, includo después de copiar el "dossier" con lo de la arqueología... no sé qué me ha podido despistar: las gafas, las armas de fuego,...
ReplyDeleteBuen intento de Lanard, pero fallido en mi opinión.
Where can I buy these
ReplyDeleteDepending on where you live, I would suggest the usual auction and online sale sites: ebay, todocoleccion.net...
DeleteIf you want to have them complete (with accesories) they are more difficult to find, but with some patience everything arrives.