Thursday, January 8, 2015

Galaxy Laser Team makes everything gonzo!


I've had several people ask me where I got the green figures that made an appearance at Saturday Night Space Opera last week. The answer is: The Internet!

Okay fine, it was Amazon. Seems like just about everyone remembers seeing those figures, but not recalling where. "When" is always "when I was a kid" which if you're like me, was in the 80s.

The line is called Galaxy Laser Team, though they also go went by "Star Patrol". Tim Mee Toys is the name of the company that's recently brought them back into production, and boy are they doing a stellar job!

The exact set we had on game night were these fellas, the jumbo set:


Back in the day, Processed Plastics was the manufacturer, but a few years ago they closed and sold off the molds (is my understanding anyway). Tim Mee has been reproducing the sets, including this jumbo set which was also produced years ago. If you're thinking that the sculpts look strangely like other popular scifi characters, you aren't wrong. GLT were expeditiously brought to market following that one 70s space opera with that big hairy dude and that short, boisterous robot.


Unfortunately, they're only able to recreate what was originally produced back then. The female space commander at the computer console and the cool "x-fighter" were never previously made as jumbo figures---so no current ones exist either.

I've inquired as to whether these will ever get made or if NEW figures could be designed and released in the same aesthetic as the originals (like say, a female figure with a ray gun, more spaceships, playsets, etc.). The response was along the lines of "we hope so," which I think translates into "we'd love to, but these have to sell well enough to allow us to do that."

So in hopes of someday seeing NEW Galaxy Laser Team members.....

WHERE TO BUY GALAXY LASER TEAM TOYS
You can find them on Amazon for a reasonable price, the regular figures come in packs of 50.
....and if you wanted to make your space adventures Gonzo-to-the-MAX, there's also these sets:

That's a lot of funky fantasy dudes in yoga pants!

BONUS: If you're REALLY inclined to ask for more far-out space and fantasy figures, go "Like" the GLT's Facebook page and tell them how awesome they are/send them a message!

I have several vintage figures from the Galaxy Laser Team, so it was inevitable that they'd find their way to guest appearances here on Exonauts. The Space Yeti inspired a whole alien race I wrote up for X-plorers. I've a fondness for the old-fashioned static-pose, plastic figures of my kidhood. I'm sure you'll see more them here in the future.


To be continued...
A few weeks ago, the jumbo figs were on sale and I acquired several extra sets to use as prizes for some future fun activity. Haven't decided yet if they'll be awarded at a forthcoming Saturday Night Space Opera or part of that world-building blogging event I'd still like to do. Stay tuned!

2 comments:

  1. I loved my Galaxy Laser Team set. I still have a black "Not Darth Vader" in the LEGO box I gave to my kids.

    I've been keeping my eye out for the little grey space soldiers that used to come with Buck Rogers playsets and the Matchbox space vehicle line. They were smaller in scale and great army builders for gaming.

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    1. Fractalbat, that's awesome that you still have one of them! Which Buck Rogers figures are you talking about---can you post a link to a picture?

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