Friday, March 7, 2014

#389 CAPTAIN PLANET and THE PLANETEERS – CAPTAIN PLANET and DR. BLIGHT (1990)

This TV series started in 1990, and although it was never among the most popular, it was a lot of fun. Ecologism, care for nature and opposition to everything that could be pollutant, was becoming something ordinary. People started being conscious about the need of taking care of our planet, and from this new sensibility, appeared new TV-series and toylines. Another famous one was th
e Trash Bag Bunch. Children were shown the risks of pollution, and what to do in order to take care of nature.



The toyline consisted of two dozens of figures and a few vehicles and playsets. Each figure was sold in blister packs, some of them included one or more accessories. They were released first in 1990 by Tiger Toys in the U.S., although in Europe, the distribution was made by Kenner, and in Canada by Grand Toys. The most notable figures were the Captain Planet (in many different versions), the five planeteers (some of them also in two or more versions) and a few villains, each of these figures had a particular feature or some gimmick, some for example glew in the dark, other produced cold sparks, or had some featured move. Together they make a small and nice collection, although some models are very rare and costly. The figures in the first wave, can be found for almost nothing, they were manufactured in big batches and sold in many European countries, apart of the United States and Canada, but from the second wave on, things get more complicated.


I only have a few figures from this collection, but only these two are complete, I also have some planeteers, and I wish I could complete them some day. Then, I’ll show them. The first one is the Captain Planet himself, the second figure is still carded and is Dr. Blight with MAL the computer.


The carded figure allows me to show the nice packaging, with the action figure depicted in a small square, and also with a short file card of the character on the back. The rest of the figures in wave 1 are shown in two rows, and there is even room for one environmental piece of advice.




I wish there was something like a list of released toys somewhere, but this collection is really a big exception, since there is not much to be found worldwide about them. That’s why I will try to fix it myself. No guarantee on completeness!

FIGURES in WAVE 1 (1990)
  • Captain Planet “Flying” (Red boots and gloves)
  • Captain Planet “Colour Change” (Blue boots and gloves)
  • Wheeler
  • Gi
  • Mai Tai
  • Linka
  • Kwame
  • Verminous Skumm
  • Duke Nukem
  • Sly Sludge
  • Dr. Blight with MAL
  • Hoggish Greedly

VEHICLES and PLAYSETS in WAVE 1 (1990)
  • Geo-Cruiser
  • Eco Cycle
  • Eco Sub
  • Sludge Dump
  • Skumm-O-Copter
  • Toxic Cannon

OTHER FIGURES (WAVE/YEAR OF RELEASE UNKNOWN)
  • Captain Planet “Artic” (White chest)
  • Captain Planet “All American” (Stripes in chest)
  • Captain Planet “Light and Thunder” (Rays in chest)
  • Captain Planet “Pollution Armour” (Pink removable armor)
  • Captain Planet “Power Commands” (Golden chest)
  • Captain Planet “Exploding Meteor” (Golden body)
  • Captain Planet “Tornado” (Blue chest, silver body)
  • Wheeler (Eco commands)
  • Wheeler (Grappling hook)
  • Wheeler (Tread pack)
  • Wheeler (Sparking Action)
  • Linka (Eco commands)
  • Link (Parachute)
  • Ma Ti (Rescue pack)
  • Ma Ti (Rescuemobile)
  • Argos Bleak
  • Commander Clash
  • Duke Nukem

OTHER PLAYSETS (WAVE/YEAR OF RELEASE UNKNOWN)
  • Planeteer Copter
  • Eco Jailer
  • Crystal Matrix
  • Detention Center
  • Air Rover
  • Duke’s Exploding Reactor
  • Toxic Trap
  • Garbage Cannon Truck
  • Exploding Garbage Cans
  • Nuclear Reactor

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN PLANET (1994)
  • Captain Planet “Anti Radiation Armor” (Same as “Pollution armor” in red and yellow with black armour)
  • Captain Planet “Firestorm” (Same as “Tornado” in red and yellow)
  • Captain Planet “Thunder and Lightning” (Same as “Light and Thunder”, in black with silver chest)
A reader of the blog nicknamed 3D2B has a nice blog with the most exhaustive listing of Captain Planet toys. Please check it here: https://planeteernotes.wordpress.com/13-toys-games-educational-tools/

His first comment will be deleted now, because it contains personal data.

FACTS and FIGURES:
  • Name: CAPTAIN PLANET and DR. BLIGHT
  • Toy Line: CAPTAIN PLANET and THE PLANETEERS (Wave 1)
  • Year: 1990
  • Company: Tiger Toys/Kenner (U.S.A.)
  • Size of the figures: Around 16 cm

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Hi Jonas, thanks for the comment, great link! Keep the good work with that blog.

    I was uncertain about publishing your comment, because it contains a private email address. If you want I can remove it, and let a link to the blog only. It is indeed the most complete listing I have seen so far.

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  3. Hi Gog, didn't catch your message... Yes that would be better I guess. Thanks and have a good time. The power is yours 😃 🌐

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  4. Hi. Nice post. Just curious. Is my sparking Wheeler with the fire ring wave 1 or 2? The back of the card has the Planeteer club cut out which does not seem to be present on other figures. Model no is 80-624. Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Togi, Many thanks for the comment! I am afraid I cannot help you much. I would say it is not wave 1, but maybe 3D2B (see messages above), who is a great expert in the toyline, reads your message and can reply.

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    2. Thanks Gog! Loved these toys as a kid back in the day.

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    3. Lucky you! I never had any of these as a kid... but the cartoons, they were great!

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  5. Hey Gog. I’m Glad that you took the time to respond to a very old thread. But if there is any way to contact you privately, I can send you some pictures of my newly acquired collection. It isn’t very big at the moment but you are welcome to use the images as you please!

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    Replies
    1. On the right column of this blog, you'll see a "contact" section with two contributors (it's me both). Click on GOG and you'l see an email address. That's it!
      Cheers!

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