PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

The PopCult Toybox: Catching up with Captain Action

The 4.5" Captain, from Fresh Monkey Fiction
The 4.5″ Captain, from Fresh Monkey Fiction

While we’ve been wallowing in the wonderfulness of JoeLanta and GI Joe for more than the last month, there have been significant developments in the world of PopCult’s other most-favored action figure, Captain Action.

Work is progressing on their next four costume sets. Superman, Batman, Brainiac and The Joker are tentatively scheduled for December of this year. Meanwhile the folks at Captain Action Enterprises and Round 2 Corp. are keeping their Marvel Comics plans close to their vests. The animated Captain Action pilot is still in production, and Ed and Joe are sure to be pitching it to prospective broadcast outlets all year.

While all that is happening, the Captain Action brand is invading three new scales of collectible figures, and we have a new pulp-style novel and a cool comic book crossover with our buddy, Art Baltazar.

ladyactionoct2013First up we have the impending debut of Lady Action, Captain Action’s female counterpart, as a 16″ Tonner Doll, appearing for the first time at the TonnerCon in Chicago in one month. This event will see a Limited Edition Lady Action, with an additional, convention-exclusive, Wonder Woman costume into which she can change.

This is the first appearance of Lady Action in any form outside of the comic books, and it could be the prelude to Captain Action himself showing up in Tonner form.

Ed Catto of Captain Action Enterprises will speak at TonnerCon, and it’ll be cool to see if they can pull off this intriguing crossover of collectible giants.

1zicaCAEspecially exciting news for action figure collectors is the announcement of a deal to bring Captain Action to the popular 3 3/4″ scale via Zica Toys. Expecting to hit hobby shops and comic books stores later this year, the Captain Action small-scale line will see Captain Action, Dr. Evil, Action Boy and most exciting of all, The Silver Streak, his way-cool amphibious vehicle, brought to life in a size compatible with the 1980s GI Joe figures.

Craig Owen, owner of Zica Toys, says, “ZICA Toys is very happy to be working with Captain Action Enterprises on bringing the exciting characters of the Captain Action universe into 3.75″ retro figure format! This scale will allow us to do a lot of really cool stuff with the property in addition to just making the action figures. My favorite thing about the smaller scale figures when I was a kid was the vehicles and play sets that went with them, and I can definitely see some exciting possibilities for these with Captain Action!”

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Not content to invade the world of high-end fashion dolls and small-scale retro figures, Captain Action is also going to “guest star” in the “Amazing Heroes” line of 4.5″ action figures, coming soon from Fresh Monkey Fiction. This line of figures will be funded through a Kickstarter campaign (we will post links here in PopCult as soon as it starts in July), and is essentially making public domain and independent characters into action figures that will be made in the style of the 1980s Marvel “Secret Wars” line from Mattel.

I never collected the Secret Wars figures, but I have to admit that these guys look pretty tempting. These are also available for pre-order at Big Bad Toy Store, but the Kickstarter campaign will offer extras and exclusive figures.

51S-meLqVdLWith so many figures coming out, we mustn’t forget that Captain Action is back in print with “Hearts of the Rising Sun,” a new pulp-style novel by Jim Beard. You might remember “Riddle of the Glowing Men,” the first Captain Action pulp novel that I raved about last year.

I haven’t had a chance to read the new book yet, but here is the PR blurb, “ACTION IN JAPAN! While on assignment in Japan, Captain Action is haunted by the woman he loved and lost years ago in the underground kingdom beneath Siberia. When she mysteriously begins reappearing during his clandestine mission to witness a newly discovered power source, agent Miles Drake begins to question his own sanity. Forces are at work to steal two naturally formed energy stones whose limitless power in the wrong hands could destroy the world. When he begins to suspect his alien nemesis, Dr. Evil, is behind these attacks, Drake has to utilize his most daring disguises ever to learn the truth and ally himself with an old vigilante hero from the past. Now the one and only Captain Action must walk a delicate tightrope between old and new allies while attempting to discover the source of the threat to the Hearts of the Rising Sun. If he fails, mankind is doomed!”

It looks to be as much fun as the first book.

10245492_10152069073713857_463545251763318679_nSpeaking of fun, we wind up our look at Captain Action’s many irons in the fire with “Captain Action Cat,” by Art Baltazar and Franco. This is a fun hybrid, combining Captain Action with Baltazar’s Action Cat. Art has almost turned into a genre, with his Tiny Titans book from DC Comics, “Itty Bitty Hellboy” from Dark Horse, and Action Cat from his own Aw Yeah! Comics among many other titles for other publishers. He’s also a rabid toy collector.

Captain Action Cat #1 will hit hipper comic book stores Wednesday, and you can find a preview at Comic Book Resources.

So you can see, all is not quiet on the Captain Action front. Check back with PopCult for more info on the first Superhero Action Figure.

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