Indiana Jones Toys of the 1980s - Vintage Toy Review - Kenner LJN Hasbro 

9:04 they even have the R2 and 3PO easter egg on the Ark, what a nice touch!

I used to see a massive clearance bin at my KB toys as late as 1988 with a ton of Cairo Swordsman figures. I used to frantically dig through it looking for an Indy. Its funny how late in the 80s you could still find some figures from certain toy lines. The same KB had a ton of Rancor Keepers and Admiral Ackbars. Weird.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Indy was more of a role play character than action figure. On time I found a length of black nylon rope in a field as a kid and I was Indiana jones for about a week. I think my parents took the rope away because I was whipping everything and trying to swing from the swing set.

The Indy LEGO line, however, was incredible!

Great retrospective! I had the Well of Souls, Indy, and Marion- then spent the rest of my life pining for more figures. Truly, the best thing that can be said of the KOTCS was that it motivated Hasbro to give Indy another shot in the toy aisles. "These toys belong in a museum!" Great line!

I love this page. So much childhood nostalgia. It always makes me feel that everything is right in the world when I'm looking at the relics of my young life.

Woah nice, Pat Roach had his own action figures. RIP big man. Awesome video as always guys.

I have quite vivid memories from Christmas when I was a kid, and going to my grandparents house Christmas morning, and receiving almost all of the key figures, and the "Well of Souls", as well as the "Map Room" playsets. I was also given a whip, however, because I was limited with my mobility and dexterity, due to my disability, I actually enjoyed many years playing with the Indiana Jones figures and playsets. I did find the truck eventually, and by that time had incorporated the Lone Ranger figures into my Indiana Jones universe. My biggest complaint with the Indiana Jones line personally was the legs spreading wide open when placed in a sitting position. Despite the scene specific playsets and vehicles/vehicle, I used my imagination to create different scenarios around the world, and then came G.I. Joe, and my focus changed, in addition to Return of the Jedi. I was one of the few middle school/high school students probably that was still playing with action figures, but it was escapism for me. I went on to get into Robotech, and collected most of those action figures, and then I saw David Lynch's Dune, and my horizons were broadened out of sci-fi fantasy, into the science fiction/political/ecological,/spiritual directions, and I had the majority of the Dune merchandise, especially once it hit clearance racks. I wish I would have kept better track of these items growing up, but hindsight is 2020. Nevertheless, I'm happy to have grown up with a plethora of action figure lines, and playsets, vehicles, etc. to choose from. I'll always have fond memories of Indiana Jones however, in every conceivable part of the world that I imagined... =)

Guys... Great series. I discovered you just a few weeks ago, and spent most of a day binge watching. Finally, a channel that gets it. It's all about that feeling I had as a kid, and trying to recapture a smidge of that feeling again. Well done, and keep up the amazing work!

I am addicted to your channel. I've watched I think 5 in a row so far.... and still going strong!!!

Revisiting these old classics, this channel gave me a huge appreciation of vintage toys. Can’t believe ive been watching for so long now! Love the channel!

We need a Black Series 6" line like with Star Wars

Its always a good day when a new Retroblasting episode is on :)

I always wanted a classic Indiana Jones figure. I'm glad they eventually gave us a ton of figures from Hasbro and Disneyland

I never saw ANY Indiana Jones figures, vehicles or playsets anywhere near me when they were out, and I don't remember seeing any signage in stores either, and its a shame that Indy and Star Trek never received the figures and playsets they could have. I had the original Mego line, and now the 'new' retro line of Mego style figures, but no Trek movie era 'Monster 'Maroon' uniforms from ST2-6. What I always wanted as a kid, and now, are all my favorite lines in the same scale, for a multi universe crossover battle - Han Solo meets Indy to fight the Imperial and Nazi stormtroopers, Luke and the droids meet Dr. Who and K9, Marvel and DC fight Cobra and VENOM with GI Joe, Transformers and MASK, the TMNT battle the Foot and the Hand with Daredevil, Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, the Shogun Warriors, the MMPR Zords, Godzilla and Gamera fight the Kaiju from Pacific Rim,and Kirk and crew along with Picard and the Enterprises fight the Empire, the Borg and the Klingons and Romulans. Film that BBC, JJAbrams, Lucas, Disney, Marvel, Spielberg and WB/DC!

The guy at the end of the interview when he says" who's Indiana jones" i almost had a heart attack

How do you only have 20k subscribers? Your channel is the best most professionally done I've seen. Truly great work. Please keep it up. Thank you

When I was a kid (and even more recently with the Chrystal Skull era release) my issue was how unrealistic the figures seemed. For me, Indy's line had to be insanely detailed, with absurd amounts of accessories. There's a company called BBI cCollectibles, they recently had sold modern military action figures at Target stores. The details were great. The posability, very good, and everything looked to scale. They really shine IMO with their WWII style soldiers, as well as various aircraft and vehicles. What would be fantastic if they did an Indiana Jones line, is that you would have available tons of WWII Nazi soldiers and various vehicles already made to either rebrand as Indy, or simply buy them as they are (as there's no real need to rebrand a nazi) and then they could focus on the basic main cast.

I think I've never seen this toy line in Italy, now I know something more about collecting toys. Very informative as usual! Good job Retroblasting ;- )

If only you could’ve included the 12” Indy too, I sooooo miss mine, but heck! You still crushed it Michael🤪👍

I remember seeing these when the second series of figures came out. The was 3 Indy's per case and only one Marion but a ton of Cairo Swordsmans and Tohts. I believe there was 2-3 fugures of the remaining ones like Sallah. For some strange reason the trucks sent to Toys R Us were always opened never tape sealed. I believe this was done at the factory. Maybe they forgot to add something in the boxes. I wish I bought these on clearance along with the Y-Wings that I still saw at Toys R Us up until 1988-89. Great video!

Another excellent video. I remember very clearly wanting this entire line, but it was difficult to find here, so I only had a few of them. With two large toy stores here, I could still only find them at Payless Drugs.

In my little midwestern town, the only figure I could get my hands on was Toht. I remember wanting Indy but also noticing there was hardly anyone for him to fight. That overall negative impression transferred to the later Temple of Doom versions. And, yeah, by then I was heavily into G.I.Joe and Transformers.

Great history on this line of figures. Thanks for doing the research! I was gifted the shirtless goon guy when I was a child and I still have him. What I loved about him was the action spring arm and I had actually hoped Star Wars figures would have more features like that but they never did. I never found any more Indy figures at the local toy stores back then or I would have added to my one figure collection!

I feel so brokenly nostalgic and happy that I finally get to (soon) have my hands on these, *since Hasbro has confirmed their return.*

The Well of Souls was one of my favorite playsets ever. It saw use, especially the gray plastic mummy, well into my childhood. I never knew there was a Temple of Doom series of toys. I would of gone nuts!

This might be the greatest video on toys I've ever seen. Kudos on your continued great work.

I feel Indy shined better with lego than with the action figures. With that you had the ability to build temples and give him treasures to find. I will admit though, it's rather strange that you can get more figures of Laura Croft than you can with the man that started it all.

Best way to start my Saturday evening. =) Very informative, and you had me laughing at 0:21. =D I don't know if Star Wars toys were still in toy aisles when Raiders toys were released, but I think kids were just more interested in playing with space toys. Maybe at that time when they were given the chance to choose, they'd go pick the stormtrooper rather than the guys in jackets.

I always come back to your Indiana Jones videos. It is one of my favorites! 😙

Thank you very much for saving a very rainy day on vacation (at least for me that is, hehe!). Indy figures were never very present here in germany, except for the LEGO Indiana Jones line. Lego Indy was great and i bought the most important figures

Awesome vid! I still have my original Indy of coarse with his broken thumb. I was never able to find the rest of the line as a kid but I have not stopped looking. I wanted them all cuz I absolutely loved raiders. Really enjoyed the video!

Just discovered this channel and enjoying the nostalgia of my childhood. I used to play with the raiders set when inwas a kid. My uncle had it and left it behind at my grandparents when he enlisted in the marine corps. Haven't seen the set in decades.

Was that guy serious when he said “who’s Indiana Jones?”

Great video! This was one of my favorite line of toys as a kid, so much so, I'm currently in the process of re-purchasing them for my collection.

Retroblasting I am always happy to see I new episode you guys help me with my vintage toys and I always enjoy your videos and I hope you don't quit

I’ve seen some of The Raiders stuff go for higher prices on EBay than Vintage 1977 Star Wars toys. But that Well of Souls with the Ark in it is quite stunning!

Lol dud fourth film The duck of death…I mean the dial of destiny says “hold my beer”. Great video!

6:43 - The Nepalese Thugs - Sounds like the name of a band!

I really hope Hasbro watches this for insights on how to organize the Retro line that was revealed yesterday. I don’t have any Indy figures, but Michael’s video makes me want to get into the retro line.

It's 2023 and we are getting the figures rereleased plus new ones!

Indiana Jones was one of my favourite shows I also love the action figures.

Yo! I just gotta say you both are the best!!!! I've recently stumbled across your channel and I love it! Super smart and funny and I digggg the opening theme song! Please make more episodes and stick together!!!!!

This belongs in a Museum

I still have a vintage Indy figure.

As a kid of the 2000s, I have to say I was enamored with the Indiana Jones toys from Hasbro. I had ones from Raiders and Crystal Skull and they were a hoot. Never once did I think about how the legs were kinda spread out, because the articulation on all the figures were so good! And you failed to even mention the most interesting part of that line, which was the "classified" objects inside the paper crates. It made you feel like you were unearthing a true artifact, and it always something relevant to the movie and figure of choice.

I had every figure and playset for the Raiders line except for the Belloq in the ceremonial robe. We were never able to find him. We looked in every store we could in at least three different states and even wrote Kenner. They didn't have any to send us. The others in the line were never a problem. I've since lost every piece. It's the toy line I most wish I still had from my childhood. All I have left is one Indy with no arms and one leg.

Buck Rogers and the Baroness in a Land-ram... Now THAT would have been an interesting episode! LOL:) Love the intro! OL J R :)

Another great video! I have this complete line carded and boxed (plus the Kenner and Parker Brothers board games), and I absolutely love it. And yes Ken Hayward.... that is R2-D2 and C-3PO sculpted on the side of the stone cover in the Well of the Souls play set.

Another AMAZING review. Loved it!!

The only time I saw any Indiana Jones toys was when my parents took me to Disneyland for the first time in the 80s. I've never even seen a commercial advertising the toys.

Another great video ! I always enjoy watching your videos. They are well researched, well shot and well written (funny yet informative !). I'm a big toy/movie fan and couldn't have cared less about the Indy toys ( I guess some movies don't really translate well into action figures). I hope you make a video about the movies that should have had toy lines but never did. I don't remember seeing toys for Krull, The Never Ending Story or The Last Star Fighter but I wish they had action figures for them. Looking forward to your next video !

Can't believe this was over 2 years ago. Where does time go?

Hey Mike & Melinda-- I adore this Video and I too grew up with Indiana Jones and had all the Kenner Indiana Jones--- I remember the Well of the Soul Playset, The figures are long gone but i have the New Indiana Jones Figures Hasbro did a few years ago--- Thanks so much for a very incouraging Video.

Amazing video! Great work Retro-Blasting

Sorry to say but my favorite Indiana Jones figure is the one made by the Japanese company Max Factory. It is a 5 1/2 inch Indy in his generic outfit and it is part of their Figma line.

This channel is really cool!- and informative. keep up the good work!

holy shit! i had that streets of Cairo playset. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

Thank you so much for doing these vidioes!!! Im wright there with ya, grew up the same way. Every vidio captures my childhood with nistalgic accuracy, thank you!😊

I think it's possible that the Indiana Jones toys never took off because the movies might be a little too gory and scary for kids. The first film has a climax where ghosts fly around everyone's faces melt, and in other films there are people getting stuck on spikes, heads getting sliced off, skeletons, Donovan's terrifying rapid decaying at the end of Last Crusade, etc.

I love the kenner line,wish i had them as a kid but saw them only once that i could recall,and no indy in stock. it is too bad the line didn't do better,it would have been nice to see toys for the other two movies. This was another great job by the retroblasting team.

A friend of mine actually knew Brian Dennehy personally, and I told him to tell Mister Dennehy the joke about “possibly the only Brian Dennehy action figure” showing him a picture of the action figure itself. He apparently was rather amused.

Awesome channel! I am so glad I found this!

Cool video,watching this again after a long time!

I never knew the heritage of the Kenner figures. I loved Indy with the holster. Still have the pistol and whip but, yup, broken thumb. The truck was one of my favorite toys because it was the first clearance toy I ever bought with my own money. I think I paid $2.99. One of the rare boxes I kept because it was a "trophy."

I know that the Kenner line is “where it’s at” in terms of nostalgia, but I grew up with the Hasbro line. My childhood was filled with those figures and I had 8 German soldiers and the German trucks! My dad was the one who got me into the franchise as that’s what he grew up with and it made me love History and filmmaking at the same time. I still have all my figures at my house, but I have longed to one day complete the line cause I missed out on all the Temple of Doom figures and am missing figures here and there from Crystal Skull (even though it did suck). I did get all but Elsa from the Last Crusade which is my favorite in the franchise. I also have seen that San Diego collection and do like those as well even though they’re expensive. As a kid I also used to dress up with a fedora and satchel all over the place especially when I went camping. Those were the days!

This is one of those toy lines that I never saw in stores, and it's a shame. A friend of mine had the truck, but I guess the doors were long gone when we were playing with it. About 3 years ago I got the Hot Toys "Raiders" Indiana Jones, and while a lot of collectors said it didn't resemble Harrison Ford, I compared the figure to the film source and it seemed pretty accurate.

Great job RB!!!!!!!!

I remember seeing some of those modern Indy toys a few years ago, and while I thought it was a cool idea, I never thought wow I need these. I collect almost exclusively Star Wars vintage to modern. I even have a small GI Joe collection. But I never really wanted the Indy stuff. Great movies, but just didn't feel the compulsion. Great video though, and maybe in my collecting travels if I come across some Indy stuff, I might give it a try. Thanks again Retroblasting!!!

Micheal, I appreciate your thoroughness with the Indiana Jones toy line. It was what I was looking for! I want the vintage line in my hands so bad and wanted more info on it. You satisfied my appetite for more info and than some! Thank you!

"the figures hit the clearance bins rapidly and toys like Streets of Cairo, Toht, and the Cairo swordsmen languished on toy store shelves for years, alongside LJN's Dune line" HaHaHa! Boy, that takes me back to 1985, when I was perusing the bargain aisle of my local Toys"R"Us, where I indeed saw a Streets of Cairo playset and a few Toht figures, along with MANY Dune figures and vehicles. Thanks for the flashback, RB!

They actually planned on realising Belloq in his pimp pith helmet aswell as Satipo in a temple playset including the idol, a map , a giant spider web , a break away wall , a pair of torches , a backpack and a skeleon. They aswell planned a ravenwood bar playset including a table and chair , a coal poker and fire place , Toht and a nepelese thug a barrel of whiskey and some bottles but due to the lines poor reception they never made it pass the development stage.

This is my favorite RetroBlasting video to date...

Excellent episode, as usual...great job and PLEASE keep 'em coming our way! Yeah, I remember looking for/wanting Indy toys for "The Last Crusade" back in the summer of '89, but of course, no dice! But I get it I guess, especially after seeing this...AND in addition to Indy movies being a bit more "adult oriented" as I've seen others talk about on here, in the summer of '89, I guess Kenner focused more on the blockbuster "Batman" movie merch...a HUGE deal at the time that even I couldn't resist as a young fan! That being said, in retrospect, the "Batman" line had its share of duds/issues, but popularity goes a long way I suppose (especially when young)...! *shrug*

Kenner killed this line, itself, by short packing Indy and Marion. And those Desert Truck Playsets sat on the shelves into the late 80's. I'd like to see an NECA line of 6" super detailed Indiana Jones figures, spanning all of the films.

After a few years of collecting i finally saw through my Hasbro Indiana Jones figures and got the last Crusade and Raiders figures of the main line that I needed I may one day re-buy the Kenner Belloq and Well of Souls or even Marion to "complete" my Kenner Indy figures, but for now I'm good

All that picture of Lucas and Spielberg needs is a Yacht Rock soundtrack 🛥

I would never have thought there would be 2 Pat Roach action figures, mental.

Great video it brought back some good memories the Raiders of the lost Ark figures from kenner where cool figures I remember getting a few figures that my parents bought me back in the day at Gemco if anybody remembers that store . They where very hard to find and got lost with the Star Wars toy line

Great job as usual, M&M. Y'all need to open a flashback college, Retro U.

I remember having Lone Ranger figures and a town set. Figures were like "8-"10. Really cool. Horses too with saddles and gear.

Dude, these toys were so awesome to me as a kid. The horses! Loved all the Lone Ranger and Zorro toys!

I introduce my five-year-old son Indiana Jones we started with... the Temple of doom and all of its horror and nightmares ... and he loved it. So we went through and watch all of them. I had one Inda figure he (my son) ask if there where more to play with (like the Star Wars toys he plays with * Modern) so I went on line and found them - he loves them . We found the truck and some stuff from the crystal scull ... he likes Inda

wow, as expected a really good episode. I own an one of those Hasbro crystal skull Indiana Jones action figure who gathering dust on the shelf.

Cool videos. Walk down my childhood. Thanks...

Much as I loved Star Wars, from the moment I saw Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Indy forever took my heart and mind, and my ESB Bespin Han Solo became Indiana Jones because Indy in the German uniform disguise was the only Indy figure you could ever find around here

My cousin had these. He wouldn't even let me touch them, because he thought they were so precious. I bought my own a few years back. What now, Robbie?!

I had an extensive Star Wars and GI Joe collection, and the 12" Indiana Jones doll, but never even saw this stuff. Wow. But you don't even mention the 12" doll from 1981.

Great review! One of my favorite toy lines next to Star Wars & Thundercats. ;) It's just tragic how Hasbro or nobody else was able to do Indiana Jones justice. I can only imagine how cool it would be for Hasbro to remake a few of the Indiana Jones playsets w/today's sculpting technology. And, my God! Can we ever get a decent Harrison Ford headsculpt? Is it really THAT hard?

are the old Kenner Indiana Jones figures of Indy remolds of the Kenner Han Solo figures?

Yea they might have been trying to catch our attention rather than the kids. To me the item that stands out the most from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is, the Toys R Us exclusive Jungle Cutter vehicle, that thing was sick looking.

You got me into collecting the hasbro figures. Thank you Next is the Kenner line.

I remember being a kid and unable to get these figures in Canada. I was 7 years old and asked for them for Christmas and my mother could not get them. and she said she searched all over. I was so sad. Indiana Jones captured my imagination as a kid, but I couldn't get anything. She failed me as a parent (j/k). If only the Internet existed back then. I did have a boat load of Star Wars figures and the Lone Ranger figure though for whatever that is worth.

R2 - D2 and C3PO can be seen in that stone covering the ark in the well of souls set. Just like in the movie.

Another phenomenal video, made me want some of those!

I had some of the crystal skull toys, the jungle cutter and the temple of akator playsets were really cool, spent hours having adventures with both toys. i never minded the figures then, i just accepted them for what they were. I remember the figures being on store shelves for maybe a year before they disappeared back to disney parks, then they just disappeared there too not long after

I had so many of the Indy toys, but the problem with Indy action figures as opposed to a line like Star Wars, is Indy is the only major character who does action figurey things in the films. Beyond that there isn't a lot of playability. What are you supposed to do with Toht for example? Or Belloq? Neither of the main bad guys is involved in an action sequence (Toht's in the Nepal bar scene but mostly stands back and watches). Another problem was the Raiders playsets. The Well of Souls set fell spectacularly short, while the map room and marketplace sets were utterly pointless. It's a shame The Last Crusade never had a toy line, I would've loved to see a Grail Temple set. Still I loved these toys at the time.

I would actually LOVE to see a video essay on why Star Wars is so astronomically more popular than Indiana Jones.

I personally love the 2008 toy line despite the Indy problems in it. I grabbed a fair amount because I was working at TRU at the time, I even have the playset which isn't horrible. We only got one case of the Last Crusade figures though and all I nabbed were Henry and River Phoenix. Never saw ToD figures in stores but I got what I'm assuming are either "Midnight run" or totally bootlegged off eBay and I got the SDCC set from a very generous friend.

Reviewing this video now on 2022 I do hope Hasbro releases 3 3/4 inch Indy figures and not just 6 inch figures!