Saturday, June 6, 2015

#553 CON-NEC-TORS – SKATEBOARDER, WRESTLER, SOLDIER and FOOTBALL PLAYER (1990)


Matchbox has rarely produced other toys than die-cast cars and vehicles. This is one of the exceptions. After the success of the Connectables Line (see entries #471, #472 and #473), Matchbox launched another line with a similar approach, only instead of creating vehicles by combining parts, you could form different action figures by combining torso, head and limbs.


Because each figure is composed of 6 parts, there are multiple combinations to generate new figures, even if you only own a couple of figures. A sticker in a 2-pack blister bubble said: “Over 3.5 Million Combinations!”, which should be if you own the whole collection


The characters chosen are popular characters of the 90s and before: there are several monsters and creatures, but also a policeman, a cyborg (in the Terminator style), an american football player, a soldier... all easily identifiable characters.


 

To my knowledge, there were 16 figures made for this collection, which could be purchased individually, in two-packs or in bigger gift sets. In English, the characters had pretty dull names, see list:

  • Monster Fly
  • Football Player
  • Dinosaur
  • Rock Star
  • Vampire
  • Swamp Monster
  • Skateboarder
  • Pterodactyl
  • Sheriff
  • Robot
  • Mummy
  • Cyclops
  • Wrestler
  • Mutant
  • Soldier
  • Indian
In Italian, curiously, the names were a Little bit more inventive.


By the way, this toyline was not only a Matchbox line, it was also produced by Giochi Preziosi. Maybe for this reason, the country in which this toyline had the biggest success was in Italy.

UPDATE 1 (Dec/2021): Soldier and Footbal Player added to the collection!


FACTS and FIGURES:

  • Name: SKATEBOARDER and WRESTLER + SOLDIER and FOOTBALL PLAYER
  • Toy Line: Con-nec-tors / Connectors
  • Year: 1990
  • Company: Matchbox (Great Britain) / Giochi Preziosi (Italy)
  • Size of the figures: Around 10 cm

2 comments:

  1. Juan, muy chulos esos Connectors. Recuerdo verlos en la juguetería de al lado de mi casa y siempre estaban allí. Son figuras que en su momento no me llamaban mucho la atención pero vistas ahora me gustan mucho más. Algunos por sí solos eran un poco sosos, pero una vez combinados con otros personajes la cosa cambiaba y les daba un aire más chulo.

    Un saludo.

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    Replies
    1. !Hola Pablo!

      Cierto que pasaron sin pena ni gloria por las tiendas de juguetes. En aquellos anos había figuras de acción de todo... motivo por el que las líneas más humildes (sin publicidad de TV potente) terminaban por vender muy poco, eclipsadas por otras líneas más populares.

      !Hasta ahora!

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