The Beatles (Remco)

The Beatles
Remco
1964

Truly horrifying, or awesome vintage collectible? You be the judge.

In the 1960's Remco began producing a line of toys based on the various television and music icons of the era. Though never officially entitled as such, fans came to know it as the Big Head series. One of the first items produced were four figures based on the British rock group, The Beatles.

Featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, there's not much we can say about the band that we honestly haven't covered in our prior posts about Beatlemania type toys - Nor could we honestly say anything that hasn't been said a hundred times over by so many others - Or that isn't common knowledge at this point.

Each doll was approximately five inches tall, with the head taking up approximately two inches of that encompassing measurement. The series featured real hair, which many people oddly enough cut when they opened them. As a result, opened ones are difficult to find with a full mop top.

The packaging was big on using the "Yeah, yeah, yeah" from the Beatles 1963 single, She Loves You - Which was actually never used for a full Beatles album (with the exception of greatest hits/collections). It featured a small window in the box for the figure to be displayed, and shared half the front of the package with photographs of each member's head. The back of the package was reserved for more photographs of the band, as well as an advertisement of sorts for the series.

John Lennon

Paul McCartney

Oddly enough, the packages themselves don't tell you which figure is inside. Rather, the name of each member of the group is painted on the instrument the actual figure holds.

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

Remco continued their Big Head series with other notable characters, but never came back to The Beatles for updated looks.

These days the figures are fairly common, but still rather pricey. An entire set typically sells for around $400.00 to $500.00 - Mint in the box. Loose ones sell for about fifty dollars each - Pending they have a full head of hair.

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John Lennon - The New York Years (NECA)

John Lennon - The New York Years
NECA
2006


John Lennon - Beatle, rock icon, legendary song writer, and plastic NECA toy. Does that about sum it up?

John Lennon was one of the key founding members of the Beatles, the UK band that went on to revolutionize rock and roll music, and have a legion of fans following them every step of the way. The band produced hit after hit between 1960 and 1970, and when they disbanded suddenly, many people were left wondering where to turn next. To many, The Beatles were everything.

Lennon continued to write and perform music, but did so as a solo act, or in accompaniment of his wife Yoko Ono. Unfortunately his life was cut short in 1980 when he was murdered in the streets by Mark David Chapman.

Though Lennon has been honored many times over since his career started, action figure fans were excited to do so in their own way when NECA released the six and eighteen inch versions of John Lennon The New York Years. The detail in the sculpt captured Lennon perfectly from the infamous photo of the same name.

John Lennon

 

John Lennon (Black and White Variant)

 

18" John Lennon

It's always tragic when someone's life is cut short by a cold blooded murderer, but for those few individuals who achieve public status such as John Lennon, their loss impacts an entire world. Though a great loss, we are fortunate that he left behind his music.

 

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The Beatles Saturday Morning Cartoon (McFarlane Toys)

The Beatles Saturday Morning Cartoon
McFarlane Toys
2004 - 2005

We were very surprised by the reception of our post on The Beatles: Yellow Submarine figures. We knew the group was popular, but we didn't know so many "hits" would amass from one single obscure toy line.

Forty-eight episodes encompass what is known as The Beatles Saturday Morning Cartoon series. While all four Beatles are represented in the series, oddly enough just two people provided all the voice overs; Paul Frees (John and George) and Lance Percival (Paul and Ringo).

Several shorts encompassed each full episode, and each was designed to set up a visual illustration of the full song featured in the skit. Though during this time the band moved on in both look and style in their personal lives, the show insisted on depicting them in their clean suited mop top look. The producers did however incorporate real photos of the band during the intro which showcased their more contemporary looks.

When the series original aired the band voice their dislike of it, and refused any involvement beyond their music being utilized. It was because of this series that when the feature film "Yellow Submarine" was produced that the band declined to be involved in that as well. It wasn't until seeing the finished product of the film that they agreed to provide a live action epilogue.

Much like the Yellow Submarine figures, these Saturday Morning Cartoon renditions are incredibly difficult to track down, especially at a reasonable price. Individual figures can sell upwards of $45.00 a piece, though if you act fast, on occasion you can find them for about $25.00 a piece.

Even rarer is finding someone selling a complete set. If you do manage to find a complete set being sold by one person, a lot of times they seem to think that having said set deems double the asking price.

Paul

John

George

Ringo

Those looking for a cheaper alternative to tracking down all four figures may instead want to focus on this multipack which was released in 2005. It will probably still set you back over a hundred dollars, but in the long run could end up being cheaper than the individual figures, and even includes an alligator.

Below is a fun little video which showcases all three of the different intros utilized for the series from season one through three.

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The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (McFarlane Toys)

The Beatles: Yellow Submarine
McFarlane Toys
1999-2004

Ah, The Beatles.  One of the worlds most influential bands, and leaders of the "British Invasion" of the US in the 1960's.  "1, 2, 3, 4..." were the first lines spoken on The Beatles debut album Please Please Me, and with it history was made.  From 1963 to 1970, The Beatles topped the charts of numerous countries bringing with them a new wave of rock and roll music, love, joy, controversy, and Beatlemania.  They were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - The Fab Four, and for over a decade they dominated the rock and roll scene, bringing drastic change and evolution to the genre.

When the band broke up in 1970 with their final album, "Let It Be", the world of music was turned upside down.  Many fans didn't know what to do with themselves.  They couldn't believe that such a group of amazing artists could go their separate ways.  Several facets came under fire for the break up of The Beatles, but none more than Tokyo born Yoko Ono.

Its impossible to say if The Beatles would have ever reformed.  They sadly never got the chance to.  John Lennon was fatally shot outside of his home, The Dakota, on December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman.  His former band mate, George Harrison, passed away on November 29, 2001 from lung cancer.  All during this time Paul McCartney has enjoyed the spoils of a successful solo career as well as a career with his new band, Wings.  Meanwhile Ringo Starr enjoyed a subtle solo career, and is in fact credited with having the first hit post the band's breakup with "It Don't Come Easy."

All throughout the past five decades The Beatles have also been immortalized in numerous collectibles.  Books, posters, plates, statues, toys and more.  We speculate they will continue to be honored in such a manner long after the remaining members, and many of us are long gone.

McFarlane Toys was one of the many companies to give a nod of appreciation to The Beatles with the 1999-2004 series of figures based on the animated film "Yellow Submarine".  Two series of figures and a re-release of the first series encompass the collection.

What's unique to series one is that Paul McCartney was released with a variant.  To date the version with Old Fred is the most difficult and expensive to obtain.

SERIES ONE (1999)

John Lennon with Jeremy*Paul McCartney with Old Fred*George Harrison with Yellow Submarine*Ringo Starr with Blue Meanie*Paul McCartney with Blue Glove and "Love" Base

 

SERIES TWO (2000)

John Lennon with The Bulldog*Paul McCartney with Sucking Monster*George Harrison with Snapping Turk*Ringo Starr with Apple Bonker

 

BOX SET (2004)

Fab Four with Yellow Submarine

 

RE-RELEASE (2004)

John Lennon with Blue Glove and "Love" Base*Paul McCartney with Jeremy*George Harrison with Blue Meanie*Ringo Starr with Yellow Submarine

 



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