Other Adventure Dolls: 1967 - 2002

Here are some other "Adventure dolls" series....

Fighting Furies, 8 inch doll by Matchbox, 1974

This series of pirate dolls by Matchbox is not very well known, though very well made. Above is Captain Hook who was depicted as the villain in some of the packaging artwork, but in at least one case was shown as a companion to the hero Captain Peg-Leg. I love that this doll has one tuft of rooted doll hair on the side of his bald head! He also has a button on the side of his torso to operate the doll's arm for "knife throwing" action. His only hand is shaped to hold his sword and looks very similar to the hand on Kenner's Craig Cub doll, shown below. I'm missing Hook's vest, sash and sword. The small yellow dagger seen on his waist is from one of the many costume accessory sets.

 

In addition to Hook and Captain Peg-Leg, Matchbox completed this set with the Ghost of Captain Kid, which is an awesome looking figure and glows in the dark. A very impressive pirate ship playset was also produced. Matchbox also made a western series under the Fighting Furies brand, with characters Black McCoy, Crazy Horse, and Kid Cortez. Sundance the horse was also made as part of this set.

Official Scout High Adventure, 9 inch doll by Kenner, 1974 - 1975

Here is a toy that Kenner made many years before they became known for their popular Star Wars action figures. However I think this doll has the wrong head. This is the head of Craig Cub from the "Official Scout High Adventure" collection on the body for the Steve Scout doll from this series (which has brown hair), and the Steve Scout outfit. The Craig Cub outfit is dark blue and fit made to fit on a slightly shorter doll body, as the Craig Cub doll is shorter than the Steve Scout doll. Bob Scout and Dave Cub African American dolls were also made for this series along with adventure vehicles and playsets. 

Each of the dolls have a saluting action arm and the hand is shaped in the official scout salute position. (It's been many years since I was in scouts, so I can't recall what the name of the salute was.) This is a lesser-known series and in my experience the dolls are not easy to find, even on e-bay. This is a neat collection and I wouldn't mind completing the set someday. Below is a closer view of the face, hand and costume.

 

In the 1970s it was very common for toy companies to use comic book advertisements to promote their "dolls for boys" collections as well as smaller sized action figures. Shown below is a comic book ad I found for Kenner's Official Scout High Adventure series. Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Advertisement from DC Comics, Kamandi Vol.4 #26, Feb 1975, p.5

  

The Ultra Corps!, 12 inch dolls by Lanard Toys, 1999

This series of dolls was produced at the height of the 12 inch doll "war" between Hasbro and Mattel in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The demand for this type of 12 inch doll was such that it allowed for copycat products with no distinct brand name to thrive. Among these, one of the better quality series to be offered was "The Ultra Corps!" by Lanard Toys in 1999. Above is Avalanche in Arctic Patrol outfit. This doll is very well-made with solid plastic, and the legs are more easily posed than Hasbro's G.I. Joe or Action Man dolls. The outfit is also well-made with thick, durable fabric. Several vehicles were also made as part of this series. Below is the back of the package showing the six characters in this collection. Many other characters were also available.

 

Wild Ones Adventure Crew, 7 inch dolls by b-bel, early 2000s

 

This is a fun and well made collection of 7 inch dolls made in the early 2000s. There were four dolls in the series, two of which are shown above next to the Mego 8 inch Spider-Man for size comparison. 

Each doll has 18 points of articulation. If I'm not mistaken, these dolls have the same bodies as the Madelman dolls, which are very popular in Spain. I really don't know much about Madelman dolls, but I think they may have been introduced in the 1960s after Hasbro's G.I Joe became a success. Madelman dolls were made with many different themes, in vast collections based on aboriginals, military, astronauts and many, many others including one based on Superman. To my knowledge Madelman dolls weren't sold in North America, so this Wild Ones series might be the first Madelman-like doll series to be marketed here, but I don't know enough about them to say for sure.

Here is Red Dogg the rock climber. The doll comes packed with lots of gear: helmet, backpack, tools, rope, belt, etc. Unfortunately one important item was missing...the hook for the end of the rope was not included even though it's shown on the back of the card, below. Aside from this however I still really like this figure. It comes very close to being as awesome as a Mego, but I like the 8 inch format better.

 Here is Red Dogg's pal Wolf Brat the Scuba Diver. He comes with a bunch of gear as well. This one still has the original price tag which says $12.99. Below is the back of the card.

Here is the picture from the back of the card showing all four figures in the set. I have the only two that were sold on cards. The guy with the blond hair came boxed with a bicycle and the guy with the beard came boxed with an underwater ship of some kind. A jeep or truck vehicle and a large hang glider were also sold separately in boxes, but I don't recall if figures came with them.

Text and photos copyright Mike Artelle, 2011, 2015, 2023