Toy-Ventures: Matchbox Fighting Furies 

I got these as a kid loose from a garage sale.had no idea what they were,and then forgot them.till I saw that picture.

The kid in that commercial somehow manages to look both 7 and 70 years old at the same time.

One of my fondest memories was waking up Christmas morning and finding these figures and the playset downstairs.

Awesomeness! I had Cap’n Peg Leg as a kid, and for a long time had no idea that there was a map hidden in his leg until one day the plug came out by accident 😅

MAN YOU ARE LIKKIN ME WITH THESE FLASHBACK TO MY CHILDHOOD .

I loved these I played with them a lot it was Christmas present a good memory

These toys grabbed my attention as a child. Played for hours with the pirates playing out entire movies in my head.

So glad you covered these. I couldn't pass the tub of my older brothers forgotten toys without pulling the map out of the peg leg carefully studying it and carefully putting it back in the leg. 👍

I remember seeing these in the Monkey Ward Christmas catalog oh I think 76 or 77.. So wanted these and that stupid Big Jim and Action Jackson

Come for the toys, stay for the solid lifestyle advice.

Great memories flooding back, watching this. I had Pegleg and hook. I also remember having at least four of the outfits - one eyed sailor, red coat, samurai and captain blood. My lasting memory is of how nice the outfits were. Detailed and well made. They played well with my Megos.

I didn't have any of these figures, but I remember them well as my best buddy had them. His mom "indulged" him a bit more than my father did me. He owned both primary figures as well as the second version of the ship/carrying case. I vividly recall the hidden treasure map chamber of the peg leg, but apparently I forgot the dolls could swing their arms for Errol Flynn type escapades. So thanks for listing those details. I also assumed that Mego owned them, but I guess a lot of kids just figured the same scale figures all came from the same company. But Matchbox, eh? I love the history surrounding these toys. Thanks for researching and sharing that information!

As a kid I never had them, but BOY they looked awesome and intriguing! As an adult the only one I have is a loose but complete Ghost of Captain Kidd. He's amazing!

Absolutely love this line. Never heard of them till now but am a huge Pirates fan.

Nice video, certainly enjoyed staying up for it here in the UK. Just love that marketing advert with Mason Reece, pure TV gold!

I rember these fondly I had Peg Leg Hook and the ghost. I also had the ship and a few playsets. I am not sure anymore which playsets I had but I know I had the one witg the Spanish armor and thr little cannon on the barrel. One of my favorite hidden features was that the way the designed peg leg he could where the hard plastic boots to cover up his peg leg so you could do a befor and after he lost his leg adventure. These where great thanks for showing them.

I had Captain Hook and Pegleg. They really were wonderful figures. With a ton of features and accessories. The sword fighting/knife throwing worked better than you would think. With much more movement than Big Jim’s Karate Chop. As for why Pirates? There was a brief resurgence of interest in pirate subjects in the early 70’s. I think much of it stirred up by Disney surrounding the adding of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to the newly opened Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. MPC had a line of PotC model kits out with rubber band powered action features. Disney’s Treasure Island got a theatrical re-release in ‘75. A lot of Saturday Morning Cartoons featured pirate elements. There was quite a bit of kid interest for a few years, until the run up to 1976 and the US Bicentennial overwhelmed it with more Colonial/Revolutionary stuff. (If you’ve never seen them hunt down the Hector Heathcoat cartoons.)

Great Video ! Thanks Brian ! So Many Happy Memories Playing With These With My Pop !

Had it as a kid growing up in the Netherlands.1976. Good stuff!!

I was just a little to young for this.....but.....wow! Would have loved this as much as my super hero’s.

I remember the British television adverts, especially the hidden treasure map in the peg leg. Never owned any though, saw them in the shops.

I don't recall knowing about these at the time, or probably would've dressed up the Fantastic Four like this and reenacted them the Thing becoming Blackbeard in that old reprint I had. But, I do know I definitely had one of the triangle-like pirate hats from some yardsale and recall some frilled/laced jacket. No memory of using either much other than to see what Spock looked like in them. Always nice to learn more of the backstories of childhood memories.

Great figures!

I had Peg Leg and Hook! They were great! So much fun, and beautifully made...

I had all three!!! I loved these guys!!!

I kinda remember these & , ya , pirates were still cool to kids in the 70,s , somewhere behind Knights , cavemen & Spacemen.

Now this toy line I vaguely remember but only through Catalogs like the aforementioned Sears Wishbook (and possibly the Eatons Xmas catalog as well?). Both the product and the packaging looks fantastic.! It really looks like some work was put into the toy line. In many ways the accessories/costume sets remind me of the sixties Captain Action costume sets.

Absolutely loved this line as a UK kid in the 70s. Even had the captain Kid figure boxed. Now sadly lost to the winds of time. So colourful and as you say made with a lot of love. Those two examples you bought looked in great condition!

They were as cool as hell: Pirates will always be cool - I acquired mine from a schoolfriend who had been given Messrs. Pegleg and Hook as a present, but didn't like them - he didn't even open them, and I swapped my unmade Aurora King Kong, Godzilla, and Forgotten Prisoner kits (which he wanted desperately) for them. I bought a couple of accessory sets - one of which contained a special boot that fitted over Pegleg's peg leg, and the glow in the dark 'Ghost of Captain Kidd' figure. Tragically, they all vanished when we had some work done on the loft in about 1985. 🙁

Wow I had that set with the bird and haven’t thought about it until this video. All my memories came flooding back. I was obsessed with characters with birds for some reason.

Got two today and love these: I need that ghost

Thanks for the great video. I love this range of toys. I had Cap'n Peg Leg and Cap'n Hook as a boy as well as a number of the Adventure sets. I loved playing with them back then and I have a modest collection of Fighting Furies again now.

I had the 2 figures and the ship play set for Christmas which I loved not knowing anything about them.We had SEARS outlet stores where for 50 cents,I got in a plastic bag the ghost of Captain Kidd figure. They had a big box of those Wasn't marked as any character, just a cool glow in the dark figure which I put 2 and 2 and figured out it was part of the pirates line.

I remember getting one of these guys for christmas and a bunch of the outfits I even got one of those perate chests jewelry cases to put the fighting furies outfits in good times

My brother and I got these and the ship for Christmas. They were tons of fun! We played with these more than our Mego Marvel figures.

Another Great Video!!! I always wanted these toys, but unfortunately I never got them.

Another fantastic video from Brick Mantooth, that entertains, informs and brings back happy memories.

Another great video Brian. Makes me now appreciate my two Furies. I have them both loose (in bad shape) in my customs bin and a mint in box Capt Peg Leg which I was selling but now it’s off my for sale list and on own shelf again in my personal collection. Thanks for making be even more super sentimental about these unappreciated gems. I’m a 1974 baby so use old timers should stick together. 😉🙏

I used to pour over those Matchbox catalogs as a kid, wondering why Zeller's never carried any of the cool stuff. Adventure Force 2000 and Fighting Furies were The Ones That Got Away (though I managed to score a single AF2K playset at Biway a few years later). Congrats on the pickup!

I had Peg Leg, Hook, the ghost and the carry case. I've been thinking about them lately, they were a great set and I really enjoyed playing with them when I was a kid.

These look older than they are. Pretty cool. I would have liked this.

I remember seeing these at Toys and Wheels in Canada when I was a kid and wanted them so badly. Only ever got the Hooded Falcon set which I used on my Big Jim figure. With the resurgence of nostalgia I wish a toy company would re-release all of these. This is something that is sadly lacking in boys toys anymore. I miss the concept of the razor and razorblades marketing.

This line is begging for a revival!

Had Pegleg and remember the hidden map in his Pegleg. Another great video Brian👍

Awesome 👏. love all of them but My Fave it's peg leg.

My friend had some of these and they were so cool

I was completely unaware of this line and now I am obsessed with it! You're doing great work, sir!

Love this!!! I did not know about this.

Had hook as a kid. Got several now.

They really are magnificent and I do remember them but I think against superheroes and action man they faced a tight market in the UK

I used to have them ,and they where to cool , I remember how I was shocked that there Wasa treasure map in the woodleg of the pirate

I hope you had the FF figures alongside the pirates done by Mego they would surely complement each other.

At first i read "Fighting Furries" hehe

Fighting Furies should be revamped into 3.75 O Ring Figures.👍🏾

I'm from Scotland but only ever had one of these to my knowledge. It has to have been a cowboy with a quick draw action because he definitely did not have the peg leg, but he looked like the pirate with the black moustache. You pressed his back to activate his arm. I was more an Action Man, Evel Kneval kid but I'd love to know which figure it was so I could track him down again. I though he was a Palitoy Little Big Man but I doubt he was due to the face and quick draw action.

I've got them including Cpt Kidd , and in the group .I've also created a live CPT Kidd

I loved these!

I had Peg-Leg, and remember the map in his leg. Don't know what happened to him though. In my memory, he was smaller scale than 8", like 5" or something? But obviously that can't be right.

Captain Peg Leg would have made an excellent ZORRO range 😉

Love these. Next tome you go lemme know and I’ll join you

Neat'O Brother. Thanks for sharing 😀 👍 ♥️ 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🎉 🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉💯💯

I had Cap'n Peg Leg, and was seriously upset when i lost his hidden map.

So it's possible if you mix the lines to get a dozen or so pirates and thus make a full crew.

Quality toys. They deserved a better fate.

Eek, there should have been a Mason Reese Content Warning. Old wounds, reopened! ;)

Captain Hook looks like dr. Steel.

Still trying to figure out (aside from the fact that I'm old) why I have zero memory of this line.

Gotta disagree with you. As a British kid in the 70's, pirates were still VERY much part of popular - and kid - culture. We only had 3 tv chanels back then, the movies they showed were mostly old black n white ones - us kids loved the war movies & the pirate movies. Probably far off exotic lands were strong in our minds because "The Empire" was still in living memory - we had grandads who had served & worked in these impossibly glamorous sounding places. AND we are a tiny, seafaring nation - nowhere in Britain is more than a couple hours from the sea. So yeah, seafaring adventures, pirates and "X marks the spot" treasure maps were very strong kid currency in 1970's Britain.

What ? No British Naval officers ?