I'll never forget my parents getting the Christmas catalogs for sears jc penny's and Kmart. It was a mesmerizing event for me as a kid lol I use to absolutely love seeing toys like these in the catalogs
Those catalogs were magic. I remember going through them and circling every Star Wars figure I needed so I'd get them for my birthday or Christmas. Good times.
These pics make me nostalgic for my viper, stellar probe and scarab. I even had the viper " launch station". I used to pour over the Sears and JC Penny catalogues. Fun times and fond memories.
I bet if they released some limited edition nostalgia toys now, they would be very popular. Everyone yearns for the great days of their youth in the 70s, especially after a lifetime of work, stress and bills.
Seems to me, Mattel should’ve put more money into the television show, to keep the toys going. A no-brainer to sponsor the show tethered to the line, you’ve invested so much in! It’s like business 101!
My 1970s next door neighbour had the BG toys (we went to school together). He gave me quite a few of his toys (either he had little interest in them, or was trying to buy friends?). I benefited from his generosity. Lol. He had SW, BG, and one of the Shogun large plastic robots (Mighty Mazinga, I think he was called?). I never actually owned any (bought for me) BG toys, but loved the look of the Cylon Raider. I still believe the Battlestar Galactica ship designs rival - or better - some of the SW ships. The chrome Centurian Cylon robots were certainly more impressive to look at than b/w Stormtroopers - and they died better onscreen! I have very fond memories of the 1970s toys, and growing up with them.
I didn't discover Battlestar Galactica until the early 80's when it was in reruns. At around 10, I was so enchanted with the show, I would have loved to have had these toys.
There has always been a market for BSG. The problem is that toy companies just don’t see it! It does not help that Universal has virtually abandoned BSG!😡
@@battlestarcollectica7106 I still remember that scene in _The A-Team_ when they're at Universal Studios and a Cylon walks by Faceman (Dirk Benedict) and he's speechless. 😂😂🤣🤣
I remember seeing these when I was a kid. The story I heard was that the Battlestar Galactica "Viper" ship originally fired a single plastic dart from its nose. But I heard the company got sued due to someone choking on one of the projectiles. After this, they changed the design so that the red dart didn't come out of the toy anymore. You could still dry fire it and it made a clicking sound. Anyone else remember this?
They had a recall on the ships that fired the missiles. You'd send in the toy and they sent you a new and "improved" one- for free! Once we got one back and found out that the missiles didn't fire anymore, we didn't send in the other ones that we had. If you really want to know the details... Originally, the missiles could fire about five or six feet. The recall modification made it so the missiles popped out from the toy about half an inch, without actually flying out. I think this was the first of the "dangerous" toys that started getting recalled/redesigned as the public started winning safety lawsuits. Attorneys went full lawsuit-happy in the 1980s. This killed off a lot of the fun toys. Caps for cap guns progressively had smaller and smaller charges until they finally made so little noise that it was difficult to hear the pop from the sound of the gun's hammer hitting it. Skateboarding was nearly completely killed off as parents sued everyone they could so they could pay for their kids getting injured. Safety liability came to affect every industry in a big way.
@@jonathanwoods9843 The strange thing is that the modern toys have shooting plastic missiles again. The newest Paw Patrol and Batman toys have them for sure.
That was a great time for toys in general. I have so many fond memories of going through toy stores in the 70's. The stuff on the shelves was unbelievable. That was before Star Wars and He Man, which is my biggest complaint about the toy channels on RUclips. One would assume there was nothing before GI Joe. BC yours is one of the few who venture into the void ;). Sadly there are so many toys lines that have been lost to memory, simply because they didn't make it into one of the big chain store catalogs.
@@battlestarcollectica7106 That's a tough one, memories going back over 50 years. I went though Ward's and Sear's catalogs, hoping to jar some memories. Which they did, but I remember the toys but sadly no names. Just images in my head, which sadly I can't download. I grew up in Phoenix(and still live in Phoenix), there were toy stores all over town. I remember stores not all carrying the same stuff. The one place that had the most unique toys was "The Broadway", they had a lot of Japanese stuff. I didn't see anywhere else in town. Wouldn't we like to talk to their purchaser back then. My family would go to Newport Beach California every August, my grandmother would take me to several toy stores near there. The selection in those was even more mind-blowing. Going into a ToysRUS, that was going to another planet. ToysRUS didn't get to Phoenix till the very early 1990's. Even then the selection wasn't as good. I'll think on it, see what I can remember.
Aside from my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, my Colonial Viper was my absolute favorite toy of my youth. I played with it until the wings fell off. I wish I still had it.
This toyline was also responsible for Boba Fett's advertised missile launching backpack to be scrapped before release. While playing with the Cylon raider and its spring-loaded firing missiles a kid got shot in the mouth and it accidentally went down his throat and he sadly ended up choking to death. This caused Kenner to retool Boba Fett to remove the launcher feature and weaker springs started being used on toys in general.
I think that 12" Colonial Warrior figure looks like Adama, specifically in the episode *The Magnificent Warriors...* but it's probably just a coincidence. Great to see the Stellar Probe again! Based on your recommendation, I'm partway through *Saga of a Fugitive Fleet* ...and they use the Stellar Probe! 🚀
@Battlestar Collectica: I remember waiting for that BIG Galactica toy, with the little vipers, etc. But, I just never saw it in stores -- at least where I lived. Do you have one in your collection, Collectica? Another great video, BTW.
I do remember seeing all the BSG toys in Toy R Us in Bayonne NJ in 78. I still remember the smell! I even remember seeing the talking Muffet plushie toy, but passed on it due to it looking not "On Model". I still got all those toys. Alsoi rinally got my Cylon Funko Pop figure, my very first Funko and even got all 5 Battlestar 2023 Ornaments so that I can make my 5 ship diorama. Anyone remember the 5 names? Atlantia, Galactica, Solaria(Robert Thurston novel), Pacifica(novel), Colombia(mentioned by cadet Cree), Rycon from "Take The Celestra" episode. I think that was it. Someone years ago mentioned Acropolis but I cant hear is anywhere from the 3 hr. premiere. Thanks for making this vid and keeping us informed. Appreciate it.
@@Jack_Stafford In the Living Legend the Pegasus was deemed lost with the 5th fleet 2 yarns prior to the destruction of the colonies. Hey you aren't the actor are you?
@RichardEKranz really, I always assumed it was lost at the cylon surprise attack. Thanks for letting me know! ( I may be distantly related to the actor but I'm more closely related to the football player LOL)
I had the blaster pistol and the electronic game but weirdly both had lost the BG branding by the time they hit the UK( despite the recognisable Cylon raiders and Galactica on the game screen.
I had a lot of the Galactic Mattel line...including the stuffed Muffit. Only have the space pistol/laser left. But what a line. I loved em as a 8 year old.
I vividly remember feeling depressed when I found out that BSG wasn't coming back for another season. I had all the figures and the missile-firing ships and played with them constantly. Christmas 1979 was the best Christmas ever. I remember getting the Millennium Falcon, Shogun Godzilla and the electronic Enterprise from The Motion Picture.
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Oh, yeah! My brother gave me the Alien that Christmas, too! My mom hated that thing. I had that on display in my room and it moved with me everywhere, until I moved to L.A. My cat swiped it and it fell on his dome and it cracked. I sold it on eBay and, not long after that, NECA released theirs in the OG box. :)
wasnt there a major millions of dollar recall to the ships and toys due to projectile pieces claiming to have injured childs eyes and being swallowed like the blasters? I think the SW brand got it too... I dont remember them shooting projectiles though.
Yes, Mattel recalled the toys (you got a Hot Wheels car if you sent them back) and modified the toys so they would no longer shoot. Just a horrible situation for families that suffered because of the mistake😔.
I _REALLY_ wanted the Galactica Command Ship toy as a kid- but I had to settle for the Stellar Probe, instead... (At least I still have the Board Game!)
I had the Stellar Probe, and I think the Cylon Raider. It always puzzled me at the time that the Stellar Probe looked nothing like anything from the TV show. With hindsight I guess they just took some toy design they had for another line and branded it as Battlestar Galactica to make a bigger range. I think we also had a couple of the action figures, got cheap from a bargain bin. They were much clunkier and clumsier than the streamlined Kenner Star Wars line.
I got that Viper, #2531, for Christmas I got that Cylon Raider for my birthday Next Christmas I got the Viper launch station #2446 I didn't get a lot of toys, but those I got tended to be pretty great.
@@battlestarcollectica7106 The Viper I had, might have been different, now that I think of it. It came apart and was modular, but it shot little red "torpedo" darts out the nose. The Cyclon fighter red missiles didn't shoot. (I heard the shooting ones had been recalled). How do I remember that? That was so long ago.
The success of SW took everyone (including Kenner) by suprise. Toy lines based on movies just weren't a thing at that time, because motion pictures weren't perceived as having the staying power of TV shows. Even Mego's PLANET OF THE APES line was more supported by the short-lived live action TV series than the actual films. Common practice back then was to wait until a series had lasted at least a couple seasons and was a proven success before pursuing the license, so when Mattel seized on BSG they knew they were taking a risk on a property that might've been short-lived.
This video is a good recap of the accepted BSG Mattel toy line lore. But what if Mattel had picked up the Star Wars license? Would Mattel have seen success? Would Mattel have used a 3/4 inch scale, which combined with Star Wars is what made the toys a hit for Kenner? Would 3/4 inch Star Wars figures with no face paint details have sold? Would Mattel's first run of Star Wars figures been as small as their BSG line? Would Mattel have created any vehicles in the 3/4 inch scale, which is what really made the big bucks for Kenner, since they failed to do so with BSG? Why did the cancellation of the TV show have any impact on the continuation of the line? Kenner produced Star Wars figures based on a single movie which was not even in theaters during their biggest sales periods and only hope there would ever be a second movie released for at least 3 years. The difference between Kenner's Star Wars and Mattel's BSG is not the licensed property, but the fact Kenner went all in and Mattel never fully committed to the product.
We will never know what Mattel or Mego would have done with the license. Kenner was very lucky as had SW been a bomb they probable would had gone out of business.
Glad things went the way they did. Kenner did an excellent job with STAR WARS. The prototype figures, seen in early advertising, had even more detailed painting applied to them before they were simplified for mass production. I don’t think Mattel would have made the same effort.
Everything about Battlestar was mishandled from the beginning. From ABC rushing it to series and the creators having to pivot from a series of mini-series to a weekly TV show at breakneck speed to the way that the toys were produced by slapping the name of the series on to items that barely had any relation to the core show. Let's not even talk about ABC's unbelievably stupid decision to cancel the show because it's high ratings weren't quite sky-high enough due in large part to the short-sighted decisions that they imposed on the show. Galactica could have had so much long-term potential and have been a perennial moneymaker if not for greed and hubris. The cast gave it their all. The production team gave it their all. The fans were committed. The studio and merchandising team dropped the ball and yet the show lived on in the hearts and minds of the fans and series actors. What could have been...
Let’s not forget Universal not taking advantage of the successful movies over seas. GL begged them to make a brand new theatrical film but instead we got Conquest of Earth! 😡😂🤣
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Sounds stupid, but the highest possible. I played it so often I would know when to hit the button and hit them right after they appeared, learning the sequence. Because I haven't played it for decades I can't give you the exact number...getting old you know...fyi: i used a lego head to extend the length of the lever to become fast
I had most of the modular design ships. Everything but the actual Viper, I think. You could mix and match the pieces to some extent. I got some of the early ones where the red missiles actually fired, but they were a choking hazard so they were redesigned for later issues and the missiles only popped out of their tubes by a sixteenth of an inch when you pushed the button. Boo. Lame. My stepfather had the Space Alert game and I used to sneak it out of the cabinet where he was hiding it and play it when he wasn't around. It looks like they tried to do too much, and the quality was really uneven. I remember K-mart marked the imperious leader figures down to a dollar each and dumped them all in a shopping cart in the toy section where they stayed for months. I hope they ended up disposing of them responsibly, because they sure couldn't sell them.
The Imperious Leader was a peg warmer for years! I remember going into K-Mart also and seeing them marked down to .79 cents. This was around 1984!! Thanks for watching!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Here's a hot take on a subject I haven't thought about in over forty years. My memory may deceive me, but I saw the first episode on the night it came out and it seems to me I had already seen the toy ads before that. The toy ads hinted at a really original and imaginative setting, and they were good advertising for the show itself. But they could have been a hundred times better. The 12" dolls looked like s***, and making the good guy a completely generic "Colonial warrior" was a mistake. With what must have been a monster advertising budget they should have paid Richard Hatch or Dirk Benedict Notberbatch a few bucks to make the doll a specific character, and then at least tried to make it look right. I'm not saying that would have saved the TV show, but if both companies had been more strategic, BSG might have been more profitable for both.
No offense, but I'm so thankful Mattel did not get the Star Wars license! I love the Battlestar Galactica toys, but I don't think I would have liked the Mattel versions better than Kenner. Kenner nailed it with the 3.75" figure size. But, you can sure guarantee that I had multiples of all the Battlestar Galactica toys!! Still have most to this day.
Mattel botched it in a lot of ways, They already had a line of figures they could have used to make Great BSG Figures. That was The 10 inch Big Jim line, instead of fowling what Kenner did, and made the 3 1/2 inch figures, that looked like CRAP! All they would have to do is change the heads and make the uniforms, the Bodies could stay the same except they would have to make 10 inch Cylons. And the Colonial Vipers would have to be bigger.
Figures and ships in that scale would have been so much more expensive, that's kind of why the Star Wars figures were downsized, to make the ships and things like the Death Star practical that wouldn't take up an entire room lol
They advertised the Galactica toy but never went into production, no one could by it just see it in the catalog. The launch bay was cool but made very cheap. the other toys were pretty cool though.
That idiotic kid cost me enjoyment of my toy. The missiles didn’t deploy on mine but they did on my cousin’s. I had a starship ENTERPRISE toy that shot torpedoes and I didn’t eat them.
My memory of the Galactica toy line at the time (I was 12) was that it looked cheap and rushed, a lot of the toys were obviously repurposed from previous lines and it could be easily dismissed as a Star Wars rip off, which to some extent it was! All the same, I have fond memories of seeing the stuff around and I still have the boxed and complete missile firing Cylon Raider that got recalled and retooled after the tragic mishap. At least it's an interesting conversation piece as "the toy that emasculated Boba Fett"! 😂
You are right on a lot of points. Had the show continued we would have seen a very “Kenner like” reboot of the line with many new figures and a scaled Viper in 1980.
I was a HUGE Galactica fan during the original broadcasts (I was nine). However, I found the toys to be extremely disappointing. The Star Wars toys actually looked like the ships, guns and characters from the movie. The BSG toy line didn't even have the same font as the TV show, and the toys looked terrible, like Dollar Store knockoffs instead of licensed products. The 12" Cylon just looks like some generic robot, and just what the hell was the "Stellar Probe"? Meanwhile, Kenner made toys that might have doubled as movie props. I never got it.
I had the imperial leader figure, cylon figure & the 12" cylon. I always wanted the two opposing fighter ships. Some of those other vehicle/space ships didn't appear in the movie so I had no interest
The variance in scaling on this line drove me nuts. Still can't wrap my head around the decision to have a line of action figures that don't fit into their respective vehicles...
When you say "The Star Wars Killer" that provokes me in a different way of thinking. Classic Galactica would KILL current "Star Wars". But, no one believes it.
I'll never forget my parents getting the Christmas catalogs for sears jc penny's and Kmart. It was a mesmerizing event for me as a kid lol I use to absolutely love seeing toys like these in the catalogs
I miss those days so much!! Nothing now even comes close.
Those catalogs were magic. I remember going through them and circling every Star Wars figure I needed so I'd get them for my birthday or Christmas. Good times.
Loved the Sears catalog!
The Sears/JC Penny Christmas catalog made my childhood memories amazing. Kids will never know the joy of studying those catalogs, and dreaming.
I agree! What a different world we live in now!😔
@@erictallant4965 You forgot about Montgomery Ward...
@ I did!
These pics make me nostalgic for my viper, stellar probe and scarab. I even had the viper " launch station". I used to pour over the Sears and JC Penny catalogues. Fun times and fond memories.
Great toys! I loved that Launch Station!!
imagine if Kenner got the BSG license...and if they did it as well as Star Wars...imagine the # of figures!
Ok, I don’t even want to think about it! It hurts too much!! 😂
I bet if they released some limited edition nostalgia toys now, they would be very popular. Everyone yearns for the great days of their youth in the 70s, especially after a lifetime of work, stress and bills.
I’ve begged Neca, Super7 and even Mattel. They all say the same thing… No! 😡
@@battlestarcollectica7106 I was pissed off about the lack of merch for the Donald D. Moore reboot... we just got a couple of pretty cool video games.
Seems to me, Mattel should’ve put more money into the television show, to keep the toys going. A no-brainer to sponsor the show tethered to the line, you’ve invested so much in! It’s like business 101!
Mattel was having some financial problems back then. It would not turn around for them until MOTU took off in 1983.
My 1970s next door neighbour had the BG toys (we went to school together).
He gave me quite a few of his toys (either he had little interest in them, or was trying to buy friends?). I benefited from his generosity. Lol.
He had SW, BG, and one of the Shogun large plastic robots (Mighty Mazinga, I think he was called?).
I never actually owned any (bought for me) BG toys, but loved the look of the Cylon Raider.
I still believe the Battlestar Galactica ship designs rival - or better - some of the SW ships.
The chrome Centurian Cylon robots were certainly more impressive to look at than b/w Stormtroopers - and they died better onscreen!
I have very fond memories of the 1970s toys, and growing up with them.
Thank you for sharing that! I loved that Cylon!!
The 70s were a great time to be a kid.
Oh wow, Christmas 1978 was banner for me, I got the handheld Battlestar Galactica Space Alert Game, AND the Colonial Stellar Probe. I was stoked!
Great toys!! Thanks for watching!!
I didn't discover Battlestar Galactica until the early 80's when it was in reruns. At around 10, I was so enchanted with the show, I would have loved to have had these toys.
There has always been a market for BSG. The problem is that toy companies just don’t see it! It does not help that Universal has virtually abandoned BSG!😡
@@battlestarcollectica7106 I still remember that scene in _The A-Team_ when they're at Universal Studios and a Cylon walks by Faceman (Dirk Benedict) and he's speechless. 😂😂🤣🤣
I remember seeing these when I was a kid. The story I heard was that the Battlestar Galactica "Viper" ship originally fired a single plastic dart from its nose. But I heard the company got sued due to someone choking on one of the projectiles. After this, they changed the design so that the red dart didn't come out of the toy anymore. You could still dry fire it and it made a clicking sound. Anyone else remember this?
Your right about the missile. I believe that some kids actually died. Very sad story!
They had a recall on the ships that fired the missiles. You'd send in the toy and they sent you a new and "improved" one- for free! Once we got one back and found out that the missiles didn't fire anymore, we didn't send in the other ones that we had. If you really want to know the details... Originally, the missiles could fire about five or six feet. The recall modification made it so the missiles popped out from the toy about half an inch, without actually flying out. I think this was the first of the "dangerous" toys that started getting recalled/redesigned as the public started winning safety lawsuits. Attorneys went full lawsuit-happy in the 1980s. This killed off a lot of the fun toys. Caps for cap guns progressively had smaller and smaller charges until they finally made so little noise that it was difficult to hear the pop from the sound of the gun's hammer hitting it. Skateboarding was nearly completely killed off as parents sued everyone they could so they could pay for their kids getting injured. Safety liability came to affect every industry in a big way.
@@jonathanwoods9843 The strange thing is that the modern toys have shooting plastic missiles again. The newest Paw Patrol and Batman toys have them for sure.
April 29th 1979? That was my 13th and I loved the BSG merch
1980 would had been the big year. You would have seen less odd toys and more action figures (which is what retailers and kids wanted!).
That was a great time for toys in general. I have so many fond memories of going through toy stores in the 70's. The stuff on the shelves was unbelievable. That was before Star Wars and He Man, which is my biggest complaint about the toy channels on RUclips. One would assume there was nothing before GI Joe. BC yours is one of the few who venture into the void ;).
Sadly there are so many toys lines that have been lost to memory, simply because they didn't make it into one of the big chain store catalogs.
Couldn't agree more! I plan on looking at some of those forgotten lines in the future. Let me know what you would like to see.
@@battlestarcollectica7106 That's a tough one, memories going back over 50 years. I went though Ward's and Sear's catalogs, hoping to jar some memories. Which they did, but I remember the toys but sadly no names. Just images in my head, which sadly I can't download.
I grew up in Phoenix(and still live in Phoenix), there were toy stores all over town. I remember stores not all carrying the same stuff. The one place that had the most unique toys was "The Broadway", they had a lot of Japanese stuff. I didn't see anywhere else in town.
Wouldn't we like to talk to their purchaser back then. My family would go to Newport Beach California every August, my grandmother would take me to several toy stores near there. The selection in those was even more mind-blowing. Going into a ToysRUS, that was going to another planet. ToysRUS didn't get to Phoenix till the very early 1990's. Even then the selection wasn't as good. I'll think on it, see what I can remember.
Aside from my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, my Colonial Viper was my absolute favorite toy of my youth. I played with it until the wings fell off. I wish I still had it.
That was a great toy! Thanks for watching!
This toyline was also responsible for Boba Fett's advertised missile launching backpack to be scrapped before release. While playing with the Cylon raider and its spring-loaded firing missiles a kid got shot in the mouth and it accidentally went down his throat and he sadly ended up choking to death. This caused Kenner to retool Boba Fett to remove the launcher feature and weaker springs started being used on toys in general.
Yes, a very sad story. 😔 Mattel never got over it as a company.
Oh my God! I would have loved to have had this as a little kid‼️
I know! Mattel really should have issued it!!
I think that 12" Colonial Warrior figure looks like Adama, specifically in the episode *The Magnificent Warriors...* but it's probably just a coincidence.
Great to see the Stellar Probe again! Based on your recommendation, I'm partway through *Saga of a Fugitive Fleet* ...and they use the Stellar Probe! 🚀
The Colonial Warrior is a reissue of a Major Matt Mason figure issued by Mattel in the 1960s. The outfit does look like the one Adama wore!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 - Just like Captain Lazer! 🚀
The Stellar Probe! YES!!!
@Battlestar Collectica: I remember waiting for that BIG Galactica toy, with the little vipers, etc. But, I just never saw it in stores -- at least where I lived. Do you have one in your collection, Collectica? Another great video, BTW.
I think only one or two of those Galactica were made. I’ve never seen one. I wish Mattel would issue it!!
I do remember seeing all the BSG toys in Toy R Us in Bayonne NJ in 78. I still remember the smell! I even remember seeing the talking Muffet plushie toy, but passed on it due to it looking not "On Model". I still got all those toys. Alsoi rinally got my Cylon Funko Pop figure, my very first Funko and even got all 5 Battlestar 2023 Ornaments so that I can make my 5 ship diorama. Anyone remember the 5 names? Atlantia, Galactica, Solaria(Robert Thurston novel), Pacifica(novel), Colombia(mentioned by cadet Cree), Rycon from "Take The Celestra" episode. I think that was it. Someone years ago mentioned Acropolis but I cant hear is anywhere from the 3 hr. premiere. Thanks for making this vid and keeping us informed. Appreciate it.
Thanks for all that info! I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of all those Battlestars. Very cool!
Surprised Pegasus wasn't one of them?
@@Jack_Stafford In the Living Legend the Pegasus was deemed lost with the 5th fleet 2 yarns prior to the destruction of the colonies. Hey you aren't the actor are you?
@RichardEKranz really, I always assumed it was lost at the cylon surprise attack. Thanks for letting me know!
( I may be distantly related to the actor but I'm more closely related to the football player LOL)
That white BSG blaster reminded me of the toy guns I owned. Can't believe anyone in their right mind would have mistaken them for real guns!
I agree! 🤣
I had the Galactica launch tube toy that shot viper flying darts out the front. Maybe in 79 or so. 1:48
That was a great toy with the two soft foam Vipers. Wish Mattel would reissue it!
I had the blaster pistol and the electronic game but weirdly both had lost the BG branding by the time they hit the UK( despite the recognisable Cylon raiders and Galactica on the game screen.
That is interesting! I’ve never seen a generic version of that game!
I had a lot of the Galactic Mattel line...including the stuffed Muffit. Only have the space pistol/laser left. But what a line. I loved em as a 8 year old.
I had both the 12” figures as a kid and loved them. I miss those days!! Thanks for sharing your memories!
I vividly remember feeling depressed when I found out that BSG wasn't coming back for another season. I had all the figures and the missile-firing ships and played with them constantly. Christmas 1979 was the best Christmas ever. I remember getting the Millennium Falcon, Shogun Godzilla and the electronic Enterprise from The Motion Picture.
Your right! 1979 truly was an amazing year for toys! Don’t forget Kenners huge Alien came out that year as well!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Oh, yeah! My brother gave me the Alien that Christmas, too! My mom hated that thing. I had that on display in my room and it moved with me everywhere, until I moved to L.A. My cat swiped it and it fell on his dome and it cracked. I sold it on eBay and, not long after that, NECA released theirs in the OG box. :)
Omg I had some of the Battlestar Galactica toys.
Fun stuff!! Thanks for watching!
No wonder I had trouble finding Galactica merchandise, the show had been cancelled over a year before I even saw the first episode..
Still makes no sense that show was canceled!
wasnt there a major millions of dollar recall to the ships and toys due to projectile pieces claiming to have injured childs eyes and being swallowed like the blasters? I think the SW brand got it too... I dont remember them shooting projectiles though.
Yes, Mattel recalled the toys (you got a Hot Wheels car if you sent them back) and modified the toys so they would no longer shoot. Just a horrible situation for families that suffered because of the mistake😔.
I had the gun, Viper, hand held game and 2 Cylon raiders. This toyline had so much potential
It really did! Mattel had big plans for 1980 but it all ended (which shocked Mattel)!
I _REALLY_ wanted the Galactica Command Ship toy as a kid- but I had to settle for the Stellar Probe, instead...
(At least I still have the Board Game!)
It would have been a best seller!!
I had the Stellar Probe, and I think the Cylon Raider. It always puzzled me at the time that the Stellar Probe looked nothing like anything from the TV show. With hindsight I guess they just took some toy design they had for another line and branded it as Battlestar Galactica to make a bigger range. I think we also had a couple of the action figures, got cheap from a bargain bin. They were much clunkier and clumsier than the streamlined Kenner Star Wars line.
You hit it on the head! Just imagine had Kenner or Mego picked up the BSG license. I can see it now!! Ships, playsets and terrific figures!
I wonder where that prototype Cylon at 3:15 ended up.
Everything was thrown out! When Mattel decided to cancel the line they cleaned out their BSG area almost overnight to make room.
I got that Viper, #2531, for Christmas
I got that Cylon Raider for my birthday
Next Christmas I got the Viper launch station #2446
I didn't get a lot of toys, but those I got tended to be pretty great.
You got the best that Mattel made! Thanks for sharing your memories of receiving them!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 The Viper I had, might have been different, now that I think of it. It came apart and was modular, but it shot little red "torpedo" darts out the nose. The Cyclon fighter red missiles didn't shoot. (I heard the shooting ones had been recalled).
How do I remember that? That was so long ago.
The success of SW took everyone (including Kenner) by suprise. Toy lines based on movies just weren't a thing at that time, because motion pictures weren't perceived as having the staying power of TV shows. Even Mego's PLANET OF THE APES line was more supported by the short-lived live action TV series than the actual films. Common practice back then was to wait until a series had lasted at least a couple seasons and was a proven success before pursuing the license, so when Mattel seized on BSG they knew they were taking a risk on a property that might've been short-lived.
I agree but based on the numbers the show should have been given a second season. The decision to cancel shocked everyone involved.
This video is a good recap of the accepted BSG Mattel toy line lore. But what if Mattel had picked up the Star Wars license? Would Mattel have seen success? Would Mattel have used a 3/4 inch scale, which combined with Star Wars is what made the toys a hit for Kenner? Would 3/4 inch Star Wars figures with no face paint details have sold? Would Mattel's first run of Star Wars figures been as small as their BSG line? Would Mattel have created any vehicles in the 3/4 inch scale, which is what really made the big bucks for Kenner, since they failed to do so with BSG? Why did the cancellation of the TV show have any impact on the continuation of the line? Kenner produced Star Wars figures based on a single movie which was not even in theaters during their biggest sales periods and only hope there would ever be a second movie released for at least 3 years. The difference between Kenner's Star Wars and Mattel's BSG is not the licensed property, but the fact Kenner went all in and Mattel never fully committed to the product.
We will never know what Mattel or Mego would have done with the license. Kenner was very lucky as had SW been a bomb they probable would had gone out of business.
Glad things went the way they did.
Kenner did an excellent job with STAR WARS. The prototype figures, seen in early advertising, had even more detailed painting applied to them before they were simplified for mass production. I don’t think Mattel would have made the same effort.
3/4 inch?
Everything about Battlestar was mishandled from the beginning. From ABC rushing it to series and the creators having to pivot from a series of mini-series to a weekly TV show at breakneck speed to the way that the toys were produced by slapping the name of the series on to items that barely had any relation to the core show. Let's not even talk about ABC's unbelievably stupid decision to cancel the show because it's high ratings weren't quite sky-high enough due in large part to the short-sighted decisions that they imposed on the show.
Galactica could have had so much long-term potential and have been a perennial moneymaker if not for greed and hubris. The cast gave it their all. The production team gave it their all. The fans were committed. The studio and merchandising team dropped the ball and yet the show lived on in the hearts and minds of the fans and series actors.
What could have been...
Let’s not forget Universal not taking advantage of the successful movies over seas. GL begged them to make a brand new theatrical film but instead we got Conquest of Earth! 😡😂🤣
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Yes. Missteps every step of the way.
They should have pushed for a cartoon BSG, and help sponsor it.
That would have been great idea! Universal really had no idea about BSGs potential!
What do you mean, No Smoking signs in the lunch room??
It was the seventies!
Lol! I guess Mattel was cutting edge (unlike some of their BSG toys!). 🤣
Best handheld game. Still have it boxed.
It was fun then and now. What was your high score?
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Sounds stupid, but the highest possible. I played it so often I would know when to hit the button and hit them right after they appeared, learning the sequence. Because I haven't played it for decades I can't give you the exact number...getting old you know...fyi: i used a lego head to extend the length of the lever to become fast
I had most of the modular design ships. Everything but the actual Viper, I think. You could mix and match the pieces to some extent. I got some of the early ones where the red missiles actually fired, but they were a choking hazard so they were redesigned for later issues and the missiles only popped out of their tubes by a sixteenth of an inch when you pushed the button. Boo. Lame.
My stepfather had the Space Alert game and I used to sneak it out of the cabinet where he was hiding it and play it when he wasn't around.
It looks like they tried to do too much, and the quality was really uneven. I remember K-mart marked the imperious leader figures down to a dollar each and dumped them all in a shopping cart in the toy section where they stayed for months. I hope they ended up disposing of them responsibly, because they sure couldn't sell them.
The Imperious Leader was a peg warmer for years! I remember going into K-Mart also and seeing them marked down to .79 cents. This was around 1984!! Thanks for watching!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 Here's a hot take on a subject I haven't thought about in over forty years.
My memory may deceive me, but I saw the first episode on the night it came out and it seems to me I had already seen the toy ads before that. The toy ads hinted at a really original and imaginative setting, and they were good advertising for the show itself. But they could have been a hundred times better. The 12" dolls looked like s***, and making the good guy a completely generic "Colonial warrior" was a mistake. With what must have been a monster advertising budget they should have paid Richard Hatch or Dirk Benedict Notberbatch a few bucks to make the doll a specific character, and then at least tried to make it look right. I'm not saying that would have saved the TV show, but if both companies had been more strategic, BSG might have been more profitable for both.
No offense, but I'm so thankful Mattel did not get the Star Wars license! I love the Battlestar Galactica toys, but I don't think I would have liked the Mattel versions better than Kenner. Kenner nailed it with the 3.75" figure size. But, you can sure guarantee that I had multiples of all the Battlestar Galactica toys!! Still have most to this day.
I agree with you! Kenner was innovating while Mattel was resting on past successes!
Mattel botched it in a lot of ways, They already had a line of figures they could have used to make Great BSG Figures. That was The 10 inch Big Jim line, instead of fowling what Kenner did, and made the 3 1/2 inch figures, that looked like CRAP!
All they would have to do is change the heads and make the uniforms, the Bodies could stay the same except they would have to make 10 inch Cylons. And the Colonial Vipers would have to be bigger.
The problem was retailers wanted action figures in the Kenner scale. Mattel had no choice but to comply.
Figures and ships in that scale would have been so much more expensive, that's kind of why the Star Wars figures were downsized, to make the ships and things like the Death Star practical that wouldn't take up an entire room lol
They advertised the Galactica toy but never went into production, no one could by it just see it in the catalog. The launch bay was cool but made very cheap. the other toys were pretty cool though.
Mattel had major plans for 1980. Ships, figures, playsets…. All plans thrown in the garbage! 😔
Lets not forget a kid choked on a toy missile from that line. Big lawsuit
Yes, just a horrible incident!
That stupid kid. Ruined the chances of getting a Boba Fett figure with a working missile
That idiotic kid cost me enjoyment of my toy. The missiles didn’t deploy on mine but they did on my cousin’s. I had a starship ENTERPRISE toy that shot torpedoes and I didn’t eat them.
My memory of the Galactica toy line at the time (I was 12) was that it looked cheap and rushed, a lot of the toys were obviously repurposed from previous lines and it could be easily dismissed as a Star Wars rip off, which to some extent it was! All the same, I have fond memories of seeing the stuff around and I still have the boxed and complete missile firing Cylon Raider that got recalled and retooled after the tragic mishap. At least it's an interesting conversation piece as "the toy that emasculated Boba Fett"! 😂
You are right on a lot of points. Had the show continued we would have seen a very “Kenner like” reboot of the line with many new figures and a scaled Viper in 1980.
I was a HUGE Galactica fan during the original broadcasts (I was nine). However, I found the toys to be extremely disappointing. The Star Wars toys actually looked like the ships, guns and characters from the movie. The BSG toy line didn't even have the same font as the TV show, and the toys looked terrible, like Dollar Store knockoffs instead of licensed products. The 12" Cylon just looks like some generic robot, and just what the hell was the "Stellar Probe"? Meanwhile, Kenner made toys that might have doubled as movie props. I never got it.
Mattel was the wrong company for BSG. Just imagine if Mego had the license! What could have been!!😥
I had the imperial leader figure, cylon figure & the 12" cylon. I always wanted the two opposing fighter ships. Some of those other vehicle/space ships didn't appear in the movie so I had no interest
The Scarab and Probe Ship were created by Mattel BUT supposedly based on rejected BSG designs. I’ve yet to find proof of it but still kind of cool!
RIP Apollo
The show deserved a second year!
The BSG toys were awesome.
Mattel was not the right company for BSG but they did make some cool stuff!
The variance in scaling on this line drove me nuts. Still can't wrap my head around the decision to have a line of action figures that don't fit into their respective vehicles...
If BSG had a second season we would have seen a HUGE expansion of the figure line. A scaled Viper was planned as well as a playset. We were robbed!!
@@battlestarcollectica7106 UGH! We were ROBBED!
I had a cylon and the daggit
Very cool toys!!
I have all the Galactica figures. But none of the ships/vehicles.
Most collectors are just into the figures. Part of the reason is that the ships are not scaled to them. Thanks for watching!
FIRST!
Congratulations!!
If Galactica 1980 was better, toys would have likely continued.
By the time G80 premiered it was over. Retailers had moved on from Galactica and Mattel put their efforts into Flash Gordon.
That lazermatic pistol looks a bit.....suspicious
🤣just a horrible example of label slapping!
When you say "The Star Wars Killer" that provokes me in a different way of thinking. Classic Galactica would KILL current "Star Wars". But, no one believes it.
Times were different back in 1978 and Mattel was an arrogant company!
I had many of these. It's too bad they were of such low quality and screen-inaccurate.
There is a story as too why the toys were not that great. I’m about to drop an episode about sales that may surprise you!