#490 COSMIC COWBOYS – STAR MARSHALL COLT LAEZOR, CHIEF IRON LANCE and IRON JAW (1986)

The Cosmic Cowboys is a relatively unknown toyline made and distributed by Spearhead Industries Inc. by Acamas Toys Ltd. There is almost no information about those companies on the internet, and I cannot add anything, since they are also completely unknown to me.

The manufacturer seems to be Acamas Toys Ltd., settled in Dunham House, Westgate, Southwell, Nottinghamshire NG25 0JH, although the toys were manufactured in Hong Kong.

The Distributor seems to be Spearhead Industries, Inc., settled in 9971 Valley View Road, Minneapolis, MN55344.

What we know about them is that they manufactured and marketed other action figure lines with a bigger success. The X-Changers were the most popular, but there were other, like the X-Troopers, X-Terminators, X-Force or the Battlehawks. All these figures were roughly the size of a Master of the Universe, only slightly taller, since their legs were straight and not bent. They had a muscled torso, and their legs were also attached to the waist with a gum strap, just like the Mattel figures.

Their head are similar to MOTU’s soft heads. The distinctive feature is that feet (or better said boots) and forearms are removable, and can be changed from those of other figures of the same line, or other X-Changers toylines. This snap on/snap off provides further articulation points to the figure.

In this entry I will talk about the Cosmic Cowboys. They are a nice short toyline of only 6 figures, from which I own these three Mint on Card and the figure of Buck Meteor loose.  The cards are slightly bent and the bubble is not perfect anymore, because it is made of relatively thin plastic.

The complete list of figures is...

For the good guys:

• Star Marshall Colt Laezor
• Sgt. Alpha Cody
• Buck Meteor
• Chief Iron Lance

For the evil guys:

• Iron Jaw
• Jake Sidewinder

I bought these three from a friend, and the figure of Buck Meteor (I will show it some other time) was bought in the late 1980s at a street market. At the time I didn’t know exactly what was it, but I chose it because it looked like a MOTU. I need to repair it first, since the gum that attaches its legs to the body is broken. The importer to Spain was HISINSA that was also specialized in plastic kits of cars, planes and so on.

The figures came each with a plastic accessory to its chest, a belt and two accessories either guns or rifles. The guns are common to several figures, but the belt and armor are unique designs, so the line is one step further than most knock-offs in quality.

Another quality mark is the short, but interesting background story of the Cosmic Cowboys that can be read in the next picture.

Further about these figures is that they are today relatively rare, and very difficult to find in good shape and complete. The plastic of the accessories becomes quite sticky and it’s better to keep it far from the figure. The gum of the legs is also a weak point, and cannot be repaired so easily as we repair the Masters of the Universe. Additionally, the removable parts are often missing, or have been changed with those of another figure, and you only have two “half” figures…

In any case, Cosmic Cowboys is one of the coolest MOTU knock-offs ever (If you consider them a knock-off… because they are qualitative toys).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: STAR MARSHALL COLT LAEZOR, CHIEF IRON LANCE and IRON JAW
• Toy Line: COSMIC COWBOYS
• Year: 1986
• Company: Acama Toys Ltd. (Great Britain / Hong Kong), Spearhead Industries Inc. (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 5½’’ or 12 cm