History of Indiana Jones Toys: Vintage Kenner Action Figure Review 

When i watch the retroblasting video on these indy toys and the guy said about the lack of german soldiers i said about the action force german soldiers..thanks for another great video cheers buddy

I have the Well of Souls. As a kid playing with it, my favorite feature that you didn't show was on the other side of the wall. There was a corpse with it's mouth open. You could put one of the snakes through the wall to create the movie moment of the snake coming out of the corpse's mouth.

I remember back in the early 80’s having the entire line of Kenner’s Indy figures, playsets, and 12” action figure. But the most frustrating aspect was not having the German soldiers to have Indy fight against. I had to purchase the Indy in German Soldier disguise to be a foe. Growing up in the US, I had no idea about Action Man’s German Soldier. Had I known I would’ve sent off for a dozen. Thanks for such a great video.

Glad you mentioned the “Butch Cassidy” action figures. They found a place under the Christmas tree in 1980. Their holsters and spring arms made for “quick draw” but the six shooters got last easily because the holsters were open. And speaking of six shooters, didn’t anyone at Kenner or Hasbro ever realize how much they could’ve charged for REPLACEMENT accessories?

Very good nostalgia-laden video. I have a few of these Indy figures. Well of the Souls is still a prized possession. The only Indy I ever found was the German disguise. I never found Marion either (I "borrowed" a wedding dress figure from a cousin.)

Another great production Tony! There seems to be a little bit of a mystery here though, George Lucas was clearly obsessed with toyline rights and releases during this period of time, makes me wonder why the toyline didn't overlap the movie closer - perhaps he didn't anticipate childhood interest in the franchise?

Great review! Too bad they never did figures for Prof. Jones from The Last Crusade & Willie Scott from Temple of Doom as seen in Club Obi-Wan at the start of the film. Indy as a G. I. Joe! Nice! 👍

Brilliant video. I remember a newsagent near my school had loads of the figures that they were selling cheap (I think for 50p each). This would have been about 1985, so they were clearly not selling well. I regret to this day not buying any.

Another great video and trip to childhood! I had Indy, the swordsman and Toht (who also had the scarred palm). I wasn't worried about a huge toy line because I BECAME Indy: second-hand fedora, whip from Six Flags (yes, they used to sell whips), cap pistol, etc. I thought I was the spitting image of my hero.

Swapped my Mattel Clash Of The Titains Pegasus box set (That I won in a Smith's crisps competition) for the map room set at a comic Mart back in 1983. Those Raiders toys were great!

I started collecting kenner/Hasbro Indiana Jones figures when they relaunched in 2008. Those figures are far superior to their 1982 counterparts. They even had better quality vehicles and German soldiers and Arabs. They went all out in 2008. I wasn't able to find the temple of doom figures until I tried ebay. I found a bundle of those figures on the cheap from China. Surprisingly, they were not fakes. Hasbro probably made a surplus and didn't bother to card them. But I got all the main characters from temple of doom from that bundle, I was pleasantly surprised. I just wish they would've made a One wing German plane from Raiders and the pontoon airplane from the beginning of Raiders. A tank from Last Crusade was another missed opportunity. But I'm happy with what they put out the second time around overall.

Another great review, mate! Thanks for sharing!

Another fantastic video Tony. Thanks!

The Temple Of Doom figure LJN made of Indy looks more like Vic Armstrong, Ford's stand-in lol

I grabbed up a few of the Hasbro ones from 12 years ago and I have to say that the Ark is the coolest thing in any of them... I think I got Belloq, indy with Ark and regular Indy with idol and sand bag.

How'd I miss this one? Great video! The Indiana Jones movies where very edgy for children and I imagine that this led toy producers to be sheepish about making product. My friend found an Indiana Jones figure, but all I ever found was the Cairo Swordsman. Distribution was poor initially here in the USA, but years later I remember the Cairo Swordsman still on the shelves in the early 1990s. My favorite Indy figure is the Disney Parks exclusive from 1997. I found mine in a consignment shop in the Adirondack Mountains on vacation for two dollars. Thanks for your efforts in the hobby of Action Figure collecting and looking forward to your next show.

Awesome vid. Out of all the gold that came out of the 80’s, I always considered this line to be the most under-rated.

I’m loving all your vids!! 👍

Love these vids.. Great work

Excellent job on the video. Really enjoyed it. Subscribed.

Ah... satisfaction! So many things to say... I don't remember anyone having these at all when I was a kid. I always think of the Mego Buck Rogers, Black Hole, Chips and Dukes of Hazzard figures as the bridge between Star Wars and GI Joe. Interestingly, Daisy Duke was also 5 poa in the Dukes line. That 'large size action figure' (doll) has a hat that can't be unseen! The LJN figures are interesting, but like their Dune figures, when the gimmick breaks you can't fix it. I do have to give a positive shout to the toyline Hasbro released to tie-in to the Crystal Skull film. It was expansive and decent quality - and even gave us a few vehicles!

always great content!

Great review Brother! I do not think I ever owned any of these! They did seem awesome👍

These figures are genius, the truck, the staff and miniature city play set, the 12 inchers, all great.

As a longtime Indiana Jones fan, I'm still really disappointed at how Kenner handled Indiana Jones and how little he got. This franchise deserved so much better than how it was treated

I wasn't able to get one but a relative of mine had Indiana Jones. I was so jealous lol. Great review

Love the vid. I will never understand why toy companies slightly change the scale of an action figure. Kenner, 3 3/4" then LJN makes a 5" action figure. Kids can't play successfully with the figures from both manufacturers. In addition, Sideshow made a 1:6 figure, and a figma was made as well. The pinnacle of any Henry Jones Jr collection is the McCoy Indiana Jones 1:6 scale action figure. Shoe laces, woven whip, pleated detailed jacket, socks. Even the pants are awesome; the Fedora is perfect! It looked like you may have had it on the table, I could not tell though.

I loved this video. I would like to watch one about Kenner's Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Greetings from Mexico City. Rock On!!

Great video. I enjoyed it.

Fantastic video

Another great review. I had some of the figures, the Map Room playset ( which when you look into the headpiece of The Staff of Ra it shows the location of the Well Of Souls) and the army truck. I also had the 12 inch figure ( which I still have someplace), but I remember there wasn’t hardly any merch around when I was a kid, Raiders was a hugely successful movie but nothing for the kids to buy, Hasbro really dropped the ball on that one. Plus there was still Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe available and MOTU was in its way. I did pick up some figures when KIngdom was released but they weren’t that good. I just discovered your channel and it really brings back a lot of memories for me, I love the vintage commercials you insert as well. I look forward to the next video.

Nice work man enjoyed the video

Nice video lots of info

I had all this and go joe and the butch cassidy, Lone Ranger lines and the entire mash set. I incorporated it all together with Star Wars sometimes. I used toht as the ambassador of cobra since he did the hitler salute and the burn almost looked like a cobra brand. We had an old chiminea with a flat wall on the other side and I pretended that the cobra base was in side. The sidewalk that went down our back yard was a road and I set up the joe base and mash base in the yard. They had Indiana help the joes find the cobra base. It was so much fun.

Fascinating history lesson

I like the 80’s vintage tv to recreate the commercial watching experience!

Awesome thanks , want the 12 inch Indy figure would be great 👍🏾🤙

I'm not so sure that I ever wanted to play with Indiana Jones toys but I wanted to be Indy my whole life.

Holy crap. I had more of these than I figured. I knew I had Indy, but I'd forgotten about the Ark itself and the Map Room (no one who had that thing could ever possibly forget it upon seeing another one, though. HAHAHAHAH. They manspread. LOLLLL... Holy hell, I had the Streets of Cairo, too. You don't forget those baskets or molded-unposable squatting Marion (you know what a kid sees when he looks at that, right? Marion must've eaten some bad Indian food.) Geez, this is bringing back memories. A...cloth fedora? Glad I never saw the larger figures. Without 5 o'clock shadow, Indy is just Han. Oh, and it was clearly the Temple of Doom Indy I had. Even though the figure itself from the Raiders set looks far more familiar (it's entirely possible I had both and my mind is conflating them now), I remember the bag and action chopping motion too well. 14:56. Oh look, they made a Dave Mustaine figure. Who knew. 😂 _"In the final scene, Indy rides off into the sunset, with many fans believing they'd never get to see another Indiana Jones adventure on the big screen."_ And this belief was held for almost twenty years until we collectively decided we were proven right!

I *LOVED* these toys when I was a kid! I had everyone one of them and all of the playsets and vehicles. (I was a completionist even at that young of an age)... I still have them all... Displayed nicely in my toy collection now! To me, there is something about still having the exact toys you played with as a child as part of your collection. It has way more meaning than if you just bought one now to complete your collection! It takes me right back to when I was a kid laying on the floor playing with the figures! (Although in my mind I was in the Sahara Desert and not in my bedroom)... Great review and video! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!! 🤖🤓

You would think that with Kenner making very obscure Star Wars figures, that wave one of the Indy line didn’t feature such favorites as... Nepal drinking competition guy, Captain Katanga, Kid with bowl of dates, and FBI Porkins.

if i remember right, the hasbro series had the OPPOSITE problem of the kenner one: TOO MANY indy figures and not enough bad guys in the first wave. not that i wanted villains cause i dont actually play with my toys anymore. i just wanted an indy cause these movies are awesome. i grew up seeing them in theaters (and drive-ins) also, i just found your channel :)

I saw Raiders I believe at the drive in and Kingdom of the Crystal skulls in the Cinema both when they originally came out. A dream come true for me happened 3 days ago when I got to see The temple of doom at Theaters. They are showing the trilogy )not the crystal skulls unfortunately) here in Sydney in Feb of 2021!!. Can't wait to see the last crusade which is now showing. Star Wars OTC is playing too!. Great video A.T. I myself enjoyed collecting the 2008 Habro line of Indy figures and dolls.

Great vid as always. Finally started on my Kenner Indy collection in earnest recently. It's a tricky line, because while relatively small, it can be tough to find.

I was the right age for these but I never saw them anywhere and didn't know they existed.

1:22 seconds in you can see the guy/extra walking down the road in 1980s shirt and blue jeans!

I love your videos Tony

Awesome video, could you maybe do the history of Jurassic Park Kenner figures?

I don't remember any of these Indy toys because I never saw them. And I used to always scour the toy sections of the Autumn / Winter Argos catalogues, and my mum's Littlewoods one. :-0

I laughed out loud when you commented about Indys God awful hat lol, funny thing is in the commercial they used a more solid better looking fedora for the 12 inch figure. Also is weird that they didn't have the rights to use Jhon Williams theme in the toy commercial lol

I'd wondered what happened to this video after watching it yesterday morning. Like I said then, the only Raiders' toy I had was the 12 inch Indy figure. Unless you want to count the Atari video game cartridge too (which I still own today).

Firstly, great video! 😁 I am originally from the UK and became an Indy fan after seeing Last Crusade at the cinema. Which part of the UK are you from?

I tried to find these back in the day, but the stores in my area only ever had the damn Swordsman.

I do remember seeing the original set of figures in the old 'Forbidden Planet' store in Denmark Street, London. I actually picked them up and looked at them, as I was interested to see if Toht had the scarred hand (he does) - but at the time, I wasn't collecting action figures, being more interested in getting records. I always used to visit the shop, as it was full of fascinating stuff. What do I think now? I think "D'oh!" should cover it.

I've always felt Kenner wasn't really interested in this line, hence the small amount of figures and playlets. Still, I liked the Kenner toys. I'm still kicking myself for not picking up the large size Indy figure on clearance at Toys R Us.

Hey, Indy's pants weren't cocky, lol!

I wish kenner had done a temple of doom line like the raiders one. That would have been awesome

I have all 3 original Indy movies on VHS.📼

There were only two 3.75 inch figures my parents didn’t get for me in the 80’s. I didn’t have Marion Ravenwood or Belloq in Ceremonial robe.

I love chewbacker!

You know what's odd, I never saw any of these around when I was a kid...

I still have my Indy in Arab Disguise figure which still, amazingly enough, has his gun! I also still have mu LJN Indy but he never did much for me...

Hi,great video I just subbed and am working my way through your videos.Can you tell me what is the book at the start of this video,I’m try to find some good action figure collector guide books.Thanks

Could you even get these in the uk back in the early 80's i dont remember them

my first kenner vintage star wars action figure was also chewbacca

Great vid, really cannot believe that there is no IJ PC games being made.

Where do u get ur hat from?

Nice outfit.

LJN had to compete with GI Joe, Masters of the Universe and the monster hit that year, Transformers. Kenner found the same problems with Raiders in 1982. While the film was a hit, the play value of an archaeological explorer is limited to just digging things up, where Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, and GI Joe had much more to offer in imaginative play. Kids could grasp the good guys soldiers vs evil terrorists angle of Joe, or the everyman He-Man, or the space battles of Star Wars. Indy couldn't compete with that, he was too grounded, too vanilla. Hasbro would learn this the hard way in 2008 when they tried to market the toyline again, with similar results. Indiana Jones may not have had a good figure released at retail, but the lost wave boxset that was exclusive to Hasbrotoyshop and SDCC gave us possibly the best looking Raiders Indy figure. That's a shame too. It was limited and extremely pricy on the secondary market.

I would love a 6" Indy series like the Star Wars Black series. Doubt we'll ever see them though.

If Kenner would have released the toys just before the movie hit they would have done much better I think! I love Indy after Han Solo. Han even died cool! Last Crusade was the last of the good ones for me.

Im collecting the hasbro figures because they have the most figures and have the best articulation sure indy has a weird face but im buying these to play with not to display

Didn’t England get a playset of the biplane from the first act of raiders?

I still have my Indy figure in a box somewhere. Not at all mint,it was well loved.

The 4th movie 12 inch figures are awesome. You didn’t cover them

I have some of the newer figures.

This guys intro is straight up Michael Jacksons BAD

Great character but, Indy isn’t “Timeless though” ! He is trapped in his hay day in the 1930s. The 4th IJATKOTCS instalment showed this to be true and that Indy couldn’t be reincarnated like James Bond !

These are so great, they go with gi joe perfect Doupt we will ever be able to buy gestapo action figures for the masseshow cool would it be to put an ak in the Arabs hand to fight the joes or cobra

Hah hah, Beloq came with an Urim and Thumim?!

Great video! Such a shame that "Crystal Skull" is such a terrible movie.

11:29 WTF

Yeah except it looks nothing like Harrison Ford lol

No Wehrmacht, just gestapo

Excuse me sir I couldn’t complete my homework because of a mime that is Asian that’s is brown that is bad at math that is having a seizure...and likes slidingintothemDm’s

Clunky junk