Classic Toys: The Adventure People

Another entry for classic toys. This one is another Fisher Price production.

The Adventure People were a line of action figures and play sets produced by FP from the mid-70s until mid-80s. These 3 inch figures were around prior to the Kenner Star Wars line and had no built in marketing ploy to advance the line further. But that did not deter the kids who got these for birthdays or Christmas combining them into the Star Wars universe like myself. The Adventure People were pioneers in the small action figure market. 

The Adventure People were cool and durable toys. Just look at that commercial. FP wanted kids,boys and GIRLS, to really play with these figures. Quite a few sets produced centered around outdoor recreation- a camping set with jeep and canoe, a van with a dirt bike, a safari set with truck and tent, a kayak set, scuba divers. Midway through their run, there were more sets and figures geared toward space or sci-fi. 

My small assemblage I acquired as a child. Most were 2nd hand. I only received the Rescue Truck and the Northwoods TrailBlazer sets as gifts. I lost most of the additional accessories over time although I think I have all of the Trailblazer items except maybe the motor for the un-pictured canoe. I remember getting the rare TV Action Team at a garage sale with quite a few other pieces from other sets. Even for a Star Wars fan the TV truck was cool. I got it with most of the accessories too- camera, tower, cables, microphone. Alas, now most of those items are lost.

My collection of FP Adventure People

TV Action Team

I was surprised to discover that the earlier sets (pre-1979) had names for the figures. So the TV crew pictured above- Carol is the lady, Kirk is the technician, and Jeff is the man with the tie. A few of the space items that came later also have names like Clawtron the robot from 1982

Northwoods Trailblazer set

Above in the Northwoods set, the figures are named Hawk (white shirt) and Brad (brown shirt on left.)

I would not hesitate to let my kids play with these toys as they are Fisher Price durable and have a somewhat timeless vibe. I can say that because I am not a collector- more of an enthusiast when it comes to these things. Even I would play with them. They also seem to be a bit more diversified than action figures of the same period- more women and minorities represented in the line and even a few children (from Safari set.)
These toys are hard to come by outside of E-Bay. They were mass produced so there are a lot of them out there. Someplace. Maybe.