Battlestar Galactica

This page was originally posted on my other blog, Mikey's Action Figures.

Battlestar Galactica 3 3/4 inch action figures by Mattel, 1978

Based on the original TV series which ran from 1978 to 1979. In Canada, the pilot for the series was also released in cinemas as a feature film. At the time of the shows initial broadcast Mattel produced a series of 10 smaller 3 inch action figures as well as two 12 inch action figures. 

There were six figures made in series one of this collection. My favourite is the very popular Daggit action figure which is hard to find without a broken tail. Two variations of the Daggit figure were made, one with light brown plastic (shown above) and one with tan plastic. Next to Daggit is the figure of Commander Adama and Lt. Starbuck (with a broken hand), both are missing their fabric cape/robe. Unfortunately figures of Captain Apollo, Athena, Boxey, and Lt. Boomer were never produced for this series.

Shown above is Ovion missing his fabric outfit/cape, Imperious Leader with a home-made outfit, and the Cylon Centurian. The silver on his armor rubs off of quite easily so if you have this figure never touch the silver area, only handle the figure by the legs. All six figures from series one were sold separately on bubble cards as well as together in a boxed set. A four pack set was also released without the two human figures.

Series two (not shown) included four more figures: Baltar, Lucifer, Cylon Commander (this figure is the same as the Cylon Centurian only with gold armor instead of silver), and Boray. These are harder to find than the first six and were sold on bubble cards. JC Penny stores also offered three different exclusive three packs, one of which included three of the figures from series two (excluding Boray).

Battlestar Galactica 12 inch action figures by Mattel, 1978

Captain Lazer and the 12 inch Battlestar Galactica figures shown with the 3 3/4 inch figures.

In 1967 Mattel released a 12 inch action figure called Captain Lazer (shown above at far left) as part of their space themed toy line titled Major Matt Mason. The toy line was released a year earlier in 1966 (the same year that the the original Star Trek TV series made it's debut) and featured an assortment of 6 inch bendy style astronaut figures with removable helmets. Captain Lazer, who's name was deliberately spelled incorrectly with a "z" instead of an "s",  was introduced as a giant alien who later became friends with Major Matt Mason and his crew. Captain Lazer's helmet is removable the same as the other astronauts in the series. He has limited posable joints at the neck, shoulders, hips and knees.

Additionally, Captain Lazer has a permanently attached backpack which is actually a battery compartment. There are three buttons at the top of the backpack, one of which operates a "power arm" with a laser gun in his hand that is molded as part of the toy. The gun accessory lights up. Another button activates the "eye beam" which lights up Captain Lazer's creepy red eyes. The third button controls the "solar reactor", whatever that is? I bought my Captain Lazer second hand missing all of the accessories so I've never actually seen the toy work the way it was intended too.

 

Fast forward to 1978, Mattel reissued Captain Lazer as the Cylon Centurion and Colonial Warrior for their 12 inch Battlestar Galactica toy line. The Cylon Centurion (shown above, center) originally came with a removable silver chest plate that I'm missing. There is a lever at the back of his head to make the light move side to side. The Colonial Warrior (above, far right) was a generic character which originally came with a rather flimsy tan fabric vest that is missing. Captain Lazer's head was reused with actual eyes sculpted and painted on, rather than the creepy red lights. Both of these Battlestar Galactica figures have a single lever at the top of their backpacks to operate the laser gun light. 

Battlestar Galactica 8 inch dolls by Biff Bang Pow, 2012
Due to the actor's contracts, the character Apollo was not marketed in 1978. Therefore, this 8 inch series from Biff Bang Pow is the first time that the Apollo character was included in a collection of Battlestar Galactica toys.

Starbuck and Apollo

Commander Adama and Cylon Centurion

The back of the card shows the other two dolls that were available in series 1: Cylon Commander (in gold armour), and Battle Damaged Cylon (grey armour). Both are identical to the Cylon Centurion shown above only the costume pieces are made in different colours.

In addition to being available individually on cards, these two Cylon dolls were released as a pair, without card packaging, inside a retro styled tin lunchbox. This was for an exclusive set available at the San Diego Comic Convention.

Two additional dolls, Lucifer and Athena, were later released on card packaging. A second convention exclusive set was also made that included a retro styled tin lunchbox with three 8 inch figures: Boxey, Muffit (also called Daggit), and a Tucana Singer.

Therefore, this series has a total of 11 dolls in the collection. These last three dolls are the only ones from the collection that were not available on cards.

In addition, photos can be found online that show prototypes of other dolls that were planned for this series but never produced. These include Baltar, Imperious Leader, Lt. Boomer, Tigh and Ovion.

Series 1

Apollo
Starbuck
Commander Adama

Cylon Centurion (silver armor)

Cylon Commander (gold armor) (not shown)
Cylon, Battle Damaged (dark grey armor) (not shown)

Series 2
Lucifer (not shown)
Athena (not shown)

San Diego Comic Con Exclusive sets
Set 1) Tin Tote (lunchbox with large Cylon face illustrated on front) with two 8 inch dolls: Cylon Commander (gold armor) and Battle Damaged Cylon (dark grey armor).

Set 2) Tin Tote (lunchbox with illustrated action scenes on front and back) with three dolls: 6 inch Boxey, Muffit the Daggit, and a Tucanna Singer (alien lady with four eyes and two mouths)

Prototypes only / not produced

Baltar

Imperious Leader

Lt. Boomer

Tigh

Ovion

Home Page