Movie Toys From The '80s That We Forgot Existed
Movie merchandising is an accepted part of big-time blockbusters, but the 1980s really took this phenomenon to another level. When He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe showed toy companies what was possible by making a half-hour show just to introduce and promote characters for a toy line, they were desperate to get their hands on any existing intellectual property. As it turns out, not all movies make great toys.
It seemed like everything got a toy spinoff at that time, even R-rated films and movies clearly for adults or about characters who were bad. The answer was to sanitize everything in a cartoon spinoff and release it with a toy line. These days, the movies may be remembered, but not many of the toys.
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Of course the smash hit Ghostbusters would have a cartoon. Unfortunately, that name was already taken by another cartoon show, so The Real Ghostbusters and their line of toys debuted in 1986.
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The Gremlins figures were made well and just as scary as their movie counterparts. Maybe a little too scary.
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After being the bad guy in the 1988 film, Beetlejuice became a good guy in the subsequent cartoon and toyline.
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Action movies with high body counts and hard R-ratings in the 1980s seemed to get children's action figures. 1987's RoboCop was no different, releasing a toy line and cartoon.
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All three Indiana Jones films from the '80s - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple Of Doom, and The Last Crusade - had a series of action figures. The problem was, there weren't many characters kids wanted to play with outside of Indy.
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The Karate Kid toy line had figures that were posable and came with removable clothing, so they could trade outfits.
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