In the early 1990s, Sid and Marty Krofft resurrected their 1970s era hit, Land of the Lost (1991 - 1993), and created a remake that achieved good ratings and quite a bit of popularity with young fans. Accordingly, Tiger Toys marketed a whole line of new Land of the Lost toys.
Tiger created a whole array of small action-figures for the series' characters. These included dad Tom Porter (with canteen and back-pack), son Kevin Porter (with cam-corder and walk-man), and daughter Annie Porter (with bow-and-arrow). The other cast members also appeared in plastic form, including the jungle girl Christa (who came with shield and spear), Stink (with running action...), and the baby dinosaur, Tasha.
Representing the bad-guys was the Sleestak leader, Shung, who was sold by Tiger replete with his crystal dagger/sword. Nim, a Sleestak minion was also available.
These figures looked very show-accurate, but even more impressive were the play-sets. The best of these was the Porter Treeehouse of "jungle home playset." This huge set featured "an electronic trip wire with alarm sounds," "wind-up dino bashing mallet" and a "built-in log roll booby trap."
Shung found a home too, in the ancient temple of "Shung's Lair." This villain playset featured an "electronic voice synthesizer" and "voice-activated flashing lights,"as well as over a dozen "weapons and accessories."
Vehicles and dinosaurs also played a role in the line. An "electronic T-Rex" subbed for the dinosaur nemesis Scarface, and the Porters could tool around the prehistoric landscape in their land-master jeep.
I remember seeing all these Tiger Toy Land of the Lost toys in stores, but I was in college at the time, and not buying action-figures or other collectibles. Today, I'd love to get my hands on the treehouse playset, the Landmaster and Shung's Lair, in particular.
But in truth, I have one other wish: I would have loved toys of this quality and accuracy for the original 1974 - 1977 series.
Below, a series of commercials for the Land of the Lost toy line from Tiger Toys:
John these toys from LOTL '91 are impressive. They even made the Porter's SUV vehicle! I agree with you that this level of merchandising should have been done for the original Marshall's LOTL '74. I wonder when the '91 LOTL complete series dvd set will be released, like the '74 LOTL has been, which I will also purchase.
ReplyDeleteSGB
John I actually have the treehouse playset, the SUV and many other figures from the '91 series. But i understand they are EXTREMELY rare to find and I am looking to get a fair offer for their rarity, trying to find those that have been looking for these items rather then just taking an offer from a random toy collector who didn't care about the series, but still looking for what they are going for. If you are still interested in these pieces please email me at jrmosier@go.olemiss.edu with an offer.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Jim Mosier