A New Marshall in Town

There's a new Marshall in town... 

...And he's here to ensure the citizens of New Texas can sleep safely at night...

...Here his call - "Eyes of a hawk! Ears of the wolf..." 

..."Strength of the bear! Speed of the puma..."

...He is...

..Bravestarr!

Marshall Bravestarr was one of only two figures I owned in the original Mattel line as a kid and believe it or not, the second was not Tex Hex. No, it wasn't even his trusty steed, 30 / 30. It was the bartender, Handlebar. While I liked the cartoon a lot as a kid (and even more so as an adult), I never really got into the toy line. By 1987 - 1988 I was way more into G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Nintendo Entertainment System. However, this didn't stop me from dabbling in what looked cool at the time.

Doesn't he look cool?

He's got all kinds of good stuff which comes with him that scream at kids, "BUY ME!"; Major articulation, two great weapons - With a holster for the pistol, Kerium nuggets, a vest and hat (which is apparently difficult to come by these days) and let's not forget the quick draw action button on his back. About the only thing they missed on this guy was a slot on the back of the vest to pop the rifle onto, but who really needs that when it fits so well in his hand?

I love the fact that this figure is so well articulated that you can pose him in so many positions. His heavy weight and sturdy plastic make it so you can great action stances. The way you see him in the above photo is how I actually have him displayed in my cabinet - Which personally speaking I think looks so dang cool.

It seems Mattel spared no detail when it came to producing this figure. I mean, come on - They even emphasized the guy's butt crack in his pants for his very tiny and oddly shaped behind.

Okay, so maybe the back side of him doesn't look as cool as the front.

If you slide back up towards the top photos showing the close ups, really give them a good once over and take in all that great detail in the sculpting. The shirt and pants have a whole lot of meticulous detail in terms of making the hard plastic actually look like fabric for clothing - An effect which I believe is pulled of beautifully. Believe you me - You'd pay big bucks for a figure like this these days at your local toy store.

Not that these figures were cheap in 1987. At $8.99 - $9.99 they were some of the most expensive figures on the market. Compare this price to that of the average G.I. Joe ($3.49 - $3.99) or He-Man ($4.99) figure, and you can see how these toys weren't exactly priced to move. 

Uh oh...

You didn't think that just the Marshall would come to this party, did you?

Oh, no, no, no.

Not if the vile Tex Hex has anything to say about it.

Admittedly I feel like there was a missed opportunity by Mattel to incorporate a battery operated glowing eyes feature. That would have been really awesome for this character especially in light of those deadly looking red eyes.

Tex Hex essentially features the same guns as Marshall Bravestarr with the exception of them being gold. He also includes two sweet looking knives as well as a black hat and "vest" which are unique to the character. Lastly, he comes with two additional pieces of Kerium.

The toy also features all that great detail to the clothing as noted above - Which is admittedly no different in style from that of Marshall Bravestarr. So I guess with that said, it's kind of no surprise that it would. In fact, now that I really look at him, I dare say this is the exact same sculp from the neck down. Well...Isn't that cheap of Mattel. No surprise at the end of the day, but cheap nonetheless.

Well, that really wraps up about all I can say about these two figures. I hope you've enjoyed looking at them with me.

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Bravestarr (Mattel)

BraveStarr
Matttel
1986

BraveStarr was a space Western animated television series that was created by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke. The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication.

However, in 1986, a year before the TV series premiered, Mattel released an action figure line based on the Filmation cartoon series. These figures were large for the time at nearly 8 inches tall and came in a windowed box with artwork at the top. Each figure had a unique action feature and was packaged with several accessories, as well as one or more Kerium nuggets.





The only eight figures produced in the series were; Col. Borobot, Deputy Fuzz, Handle Bar, Marshall Bravestarr, Outlaw Skuzz, Sand Storm, Tex Hex, and Thunder Stick. A second series was slated for release, but was cancelled shortly after the animated series was taken off the air from lack of public interest.

A few vehicles and playsets made their way to store shelves with the first and only series of figures. They included; Skull Walker, Thirty Thirty (who was technically a character), Stratacoach and Fort Kerium.




The Heroic Laser Fire Backpack and Evil Laser Fire Backpack which were released with the Marshall Bravestarr and Tex Hex figures were also packaged individually and sold as accessories. A two pack of the two figures was also released.



Sadly, not too many people remember the show itself, but truth be told, it wasn't all that bad. It just couldn't compete with the stronger cartoons that were running such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, ThunderC.A.T.S., G.I. Joe, and Transformers. Still for those who enjoy it, it is a true treasure of their childhood memories.

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