With
the high-profile release of The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
in theaters, Gabriel Toys had high hopes that it could re-capture the magic of
Yesteryear and its 1976 Lone Ranger toy line.
Unfortunately,
the movie proved a bomb, and Gabriel’s merchandise was largely ignored in the
post-Star
Wars toy marketplace. Cowboys
and Indians had become passé, and outer space toys continued to be the rage
(until The Masters of the Universe and later Transformers came along…)
In essence, Gabriel recreated the toys of their earlier line, only in a much
smaller mode.
Here,
characters such as The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Butch Cavendish and General Custer were created in fully-poseable 3 ¼ inch variations. Because of their diminutive
size, these toys did not have the removable clothes items or hats that their
predecessors did, which made them somewhat less fun to play with.
Gabriel also released smaller versions of
Silver and Scout, the heroes’ steeds.
I
remember, I bought all the Legend of the Lone Ranger action
figures at Englishtown Flea Market in 1982 -- still on their cards -- for a
dollar-a-piece. At that point, however
(I was eleven, I guess…), I never really played with ‘em. They have managed, however, to stay in my
home office collection to this day.
Wasn't it the plans to make this movie that was behind the lawsuit to prevent the actor from the TV series making public appearances as the Lone Ranger? I must have been about ten when that happened so my memory is vague but I recall that it was a PR disaster for the producer and that some people felt it served him right when the film bombed. I do remember it also inspired an episode of "Night Court" too!
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