What a great find! I have to admit, I was giggling pretty good at about 3:46. "And in this corner, we have the tag team of Big Bad John and.... naked George Washington?"
Weird, I hadn't thought of this figure since the 70s. I have a distinct memory of seeing it on the card among other cheap 8-inch figures that were carried by a regional supermarket chain called Scurlock's. I visited Scurlock's every Saturday because they had a great comic book section, which included the seasonal Heroes World catalogs, as well as other funky merchandise you didn't see at the bigger supermarkets.
All I could think of was the old Jimmy Dean song "Big Bad John". He stood six foot six and weighed 245....Big John. Great find and I love how there are still surprises out there in the old action figure world.
This video is a powerful blast of nostalgia for this 70’s kid. At 1:52 there is an ad from “Payless Drug Store” which was one of my favorite haunts in those days. It was actually a very large store, a smaller Wal-Mart of sorts. The one in my town was connected to a “Sears surplus store” good times. At 5:33 the price tag is from “Fred Meyer”, probably the biggest store from those days. There was one about 3 miles from where I grew up. Huge toy aisles back in the good old days. Nice trip down memory lane.
I recognized the Fred Meyer price tag. I remember seeing this figure in the toy section of my local Fred Meyer, in Vancouver, Washington. I remember the figure and think of it now and then, because I recognized the ersatz Butch Cavendish face. I was a big fan of the Lone Ranger line back in the day. I wouldn't have remembered the name of the toy, just that it was Bald Butch.
Congratulations on finally Acquiring not one but two of these figures…am good friends with John(not Big Bad but the good one)and was thrilled when he said that it was going to you
By the way, congratulations on John Bonavita's gift of the Palomino! That is amazing! (Unfortunately, I can't comment on Facebook right now because I've been banned 30 days for "hate speech" while discussing social justice issues with other BIPOC, again, for using the Spanish term for Anglo people, "gringo," which is NOT an ethnic slur).
i bought this guy at fred meyer along with big bad john ,they were rather cheap made and they got ruined in a mego war .however i still have big bad johns head . in my mego parts box ,mine at the time did not have the tatoo ,but did have the gun,shoulder holster & knife .it was 1976 for sure .since i have the head in good shape i may have to get a body and build him up ,nice to see that package again ,its been a long time .i always thought he was the rookies villian ,i had those as well thanks for sharing .didnt know it was rare ,interesting .
Oh thanks for clarifying for a minute there, I was hoping there was a carded Big Bill out there. That totally helps my timeline. The Monsters had catalog # 1006, Mr Rock was 1007 and Big Bad John was 1008. So I guess they were all sold together at some point.
Deep cut as the younglings say. ;) He is very striking in a Dick Tracy sort of way, more like Big Skull John. ^_^ Makes me think of Ming the Merciless too with those arching eyebrows heh. A lot of character for a generic villain, good comparison with Chopper on the role of the toy.
Love knockoffs and ripoffs, but the key for me is that they've tweeked the look enough that it doesnt look like just some shabby copy but instead looks like an original character (even if a doppelganger from a parallel universe, the Super Heroes line). Working there I'd have loved getting to whip up "originals".
Big Bad John had a Big Broad Skull! I don't know exactly why, but I get a Richard Kiel vibe from looking at his face. It's like my mind is adding different versions of Kiel together...the big headed Kanamit alien from Twilight Zone, the bared "grill" of Jaws from James Bond, and the mustachioed version from Happy Gilmore.
I always liked Richard Kiel. He seemed to be a really cool guy. I have a soft spot for a movie he starred in, called 'The Humanoid' (1979). It's shonky, but a lot of fun.
Every time you said big bad John I kept hearing the song . It should be noted when the wrestler Diamond Dallas page was to get into wrestling. Part of sable was big bad John who was a hero or baby face wrestler see he saved the men like in song then DDP and the men big John saved where able to save him in time then after her recovered ddp trained to be a pro wrestler .
Great video. Cool story. Thanks for sharing Your passion and adventures Brother. Thing's happen to Me in two's and three's as well. Awesomeness of a Vintage Toy community You have.😀👍🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇧🌎🎉🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉💯💯💯💯💯
