Battlestar Galactica
If you’re from Generation X, chances are that you spent countless hours in front of the boob tube watching the exploits of the colonial heroes in search of a place called Earth. The Cylons totally creeped me out and I hated Baltar, the human traitor. Battlestar Galactica was definitely one of the best Sci Fi series to grace the small screen.
Mattel produced a line of toys to accompany the film, giving kids the chance to play with all their favorite characters and ships. But they didn’t stop there! Mattel also created toys and ships that were at best “based on” the TV series. There are four main types of toys in the Battlestar Galactica category.
The first set is the 3 1/2 inch figures. Action figures were the staple of every afternoon play date and the BG toys were usually in attendance. Surprisingly, there are only a few of the figures, and some obvious characters like Cassiopeia are missing.
The next bunch of toys is probably the most infamous, the missile firing ships! Reportedly, some kid fired a missile down his throat and choked, causing Mattel to create “peace bonded” versions of these ships. There are pre and post choking versions of a Cylon ship and Colonial Viper, as well as “based on the show” Stellar Probe and Scarab ships.
The third line of toys is less well known. A 12 inch Colonial Warrior and Cylon Centurian. Both toys were very cheaply produced but sport battery powered lights! After Rom the Space Knight, though, these boys are just wannabes.
The fourth group can only be identified as miscellaneous. There’s everything from plastic badges to laser guns and die cast ships that have nothing to do with the series.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:48 am
some of the first waves of ‘firing’ raiders came with missiles other than red, some came with yellow, some with blue, one being rarer than the other, some boxes actually show the yellow missiles……i have a few yellow, but am looking for more, as well as the blue ones!
July 29th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
hi
just like to know where can l get some old toys from the old t.v show.
thank you
July 30th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Hi Clint, easiest place to find them, sadly, is ebay.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
The 12″ GALACTICA figures were awful. They were made from old MAJOR MATT MASON tooling. The 6″ Major Matt had a giant friend named Captain Lazer, who was poorly cast in rigid plastic. This clunky toy was the basis of both 12″ GALACTICA figures.
The whole story is here, with big color pics of all the toys:
http://www.captainlazer.com/a2f.htm
October 13th, 2008 at 3:56 am
I used to have the Viper, The Raider, The Stellar Probe and The Scarab. But I ended up with the peace bonded versions thanks to my mom.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
The other thing we used to have was this gun where you shot the foam rubber Colonial Vipers out of it, and it looked like the launch deck of the Galactica.
November 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I have the Viper, Raider, and Scarab, none of which are the “peace bonded” versions. I also had the 12″ Cylon, but alas he is long gone.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I have the old cylon raider and viper and will sell, if interested. (2 EA)
July 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I have a Tootsie Toy die cast Buck Rogers Spaceship that I can not find any information on anyone have an idea? It has the following on it BUCK ROGERS BATTLECRUSIER TSDM 3030 white and blue in color made in USA it is made to hang on a string approximately 5 inches long.
June 4th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Love this line of toys