RETURN OF THE GALAXY LASER TEAM

One of the first things I ever blogged about is an assortment of mysterious vintage plastic space figures I bought at a grocery store when I was a kid.



Since then, clues about the series have popped up around the web, and now they are commonly known as the Galaxy Laser Team (except for the time they were packaged as Star Patrol.) They were initially produced at the Processed Plastic Factory in Illinois and sold by Tim-Mee toys in 1978.  Five-inch jumbo versions of the characters showed up in 1979, and later they became a product of Mexico. The set combined the fun of classic, plastic soldiers with our unquenchable craving for all things Star Wars, thus, during the handful of years that they were available they generated countless fond memories in young brains around the globe.

The supply of GLTs on ebay doesn't always match the demand, but now folks seeking a little outer space action have another option.  The entire set has been reissued by Tim-Mee Toys and they are produced from the original molds.



The new 48 figure (and 2 starship) sets are available on Amazon for $12.50. The neon green and fuchsia color combos are gone in favor of the more logical black and gray. Unlike the seemingly random assortments in the sets of yore, each modern bag includes six of each figure design, three in both colors which means that the forces are finally equally matched and countless skirmishes among friends and brothers can be avoided.

Here's a look at one of each of them...


And here's an up-close comparison. The new one is on the right...



The new sculpts seem to be identical to the vintage figures with the slight exception of the robot and the turtle-crab guy.  The robot's back is hollowed out and the turtle's shell is a bit flatter with a pattern of different proportions...


Thanks to a Fun Blog commenter named Gustavo from Buenos Aires we also know that these characters made an appearance in Argentinan Children's magazine called "Anteojito" in 1980. They had their own monthly supplemental story line called "Ekaton, The People Lost In Space."  Here are a few panels...








The full stories are available here...
Episode 1: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?3g2on5...
Episode 2: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?qpxa9c...
Episode 3: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?mbut5d...
Episode 4: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?osy8p6...

It's not clear whether or not the story was designed to promote the toys, or if it's the product of a resourceful storyteller who was inspired by them. Regardless, I think it's thrilling to see artist's interpretation and watch the team in action. Hollywood take note, the world is ready for a Galaxy Laser Team motion picture!