Yet another company that has disappeared leaving no trace at all on the internet. Probably because it disappeared long before the common use of Internet was established and nobody has written anything yet.
What seems clear to me is that LarGo is probably a Hong-Kongese company with its headquarters in New York, so, officially, it is an American company, but the production was made in Hong Kong and the kind of toys they produced were very typical of those years, could be classified as novelty toys. Remember that Bruce Lee was American and Hong-Kongese. Also note that he died in 1973 and this toy was made later.
Apart from this series, about which we will talk next, they also made play-role weapons set for Rambo or Silverhawks, the kind of blisterpack with a gun, a knife, a compass and a couple of bits more that can be found not in toystores but in fairs and popular events. Both series mentioned seem to be built with an official license, they are not bootlegs or knock-offs, they look 100% legal.
This Bruce Lee series is the only series with action figures I have found on the Internet. They also had one line with plastic figures, some kind of beast-warriors that ride giant insects called Stingers and Wings, and a subline of The Legend of Bruce Lee, also with PVC plastic, static figures.
Finally, I have seen pictures of a Robotech robot character, but I am unsure if it hat some action feature, or if it was articulated.
Back to the figures, the blister pack is very nice. It shows a very well designed logo and a picture of Bruce Lee. It is also kind of original because it includes two figures placed left and right, leaving some space in between.
The first figure is Bruce Lee, with black trousers (real cloth) and naked torso. It comes with one accessory or weapon. The face is well casted, this figure really looks like the martial artist.
The second figure is an unknown character with moustache. This figure comes with black trousers and black and red kimono shirt. It also comes with a bo. I assume this character is a bad guy, maybe THE bad guy, since is the only figure I have seen in this collection other than Mr. Lee, although it sometimes comes in an all-black outfit. The moustache and his angry gesture also goes in this direction.
The figures come with articulations on waist, neck and arms, but the legs are fixed.
The weapons are not very realistic. Unfortunately, the nunchuck from Bruce Lee is made of yellow plastic, but well, it is a toy from the 80s and for kids, not for adult collectors. And despite this, I love these figures.
The importer of these figures for Spain was again Hisinsa, that during the late 80s brought us lots of bootleg figures in this style.
FACTS and FIGURES:
- Name: BRUCE LEE and UNKNOWN CHARACTER
- Toy Line: THE LEGEND BRUCE LEE vs BATTLING MARTIAL WARRIORS
- Year: Around 1987
- Company: Largo Toys (U.S.A. / Hong-Kong)
- Size of the figures: 14 cm (5,5'')
Me encanta este blister, es una maravilla.
ReplyDeleteEl material vintage relacionado con las artes marciales y la cultura ninja y concretamente relacionado con Bruce Lee tiene un gran atractivo, y es que no es para menos.
La fiebre ninja lo invadió todo. Qué afortunados fuimos por vivir aquellos momentos...
Volviendo con el blister, el hecho de que se trate de un pack doble es otro gran punto a favor. Todo lo que tiene de sencillo lo tiene de bonito.
¡Gran pieza!
Pues fíjate que a mi no me llamó mucho la atención, y lo compré solo porque me pareció barato. Hubiera preferido algo más próximo a Motu, pero poco a poco me va gustando más el arte del cartón, la figura que es mejor que otros muñecos del mismo estilo (está hecho con finura). Y trae el sello del importador Hisinsa, ¡lo que era empresita ha hecho por el mundo de las figuras de acción en España! ¡Gracias por el comentario!
DeleteThe figure on the right looks like Lee Van Cleef, who did make a few martial arts movies
ReplyDeleteHi, many thanks for the comment! For me Lee Van Cleef is more related to western movies, but it's true he also started some martial arts movies, so this figure may be inspired by him. The mustache looks similar! Good point!
DeleteHi Gog !
ReplyDeleteAs a 80s baby, I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee and other kung fu movies. Recently I was researching about a kung fu movie I was watching as a kid that I couldn't find anything about for years since the moment I watched it on TV 25-ish years ago, and I found it !
Also I remembered I had this toy figures of Bruce Lee and the the "mustache guy" as well so I tried to find it and I found your post, I had this same package and this same figures as well.
I think the "mustache guy" could easily be Hwang Jang Lee, Korean actor and marshal artist who played this go to villain role a lot in Hong Kong and later Korean marshal arts movie productions, IMO the guy is the ultimate kung-fu villain. Also he filmed a lot of movies with Dragon Lee ,a Bruce Lee knock off from the early 80s, so I believe it could maybe be him.
Cheers
Hi! Thanks for the information, I am not very familiar with Bruce Lee's movies. I think I have seen no more than 2. I will keep this comment in mind next time I see one of his movies.
ReplyDeleteAbout the toys, I was surprised to find these figures, I know lot of bootleg lines with ninjas and warriors, but these with real characters, that is, licensed, are rarer. If I am not wrong with the year of issue, the figures came a bit too late,they might have been more popular a few years earlier.
Thanks for the comment!
Cheers,
Juan