Saturday, September 17, 2011

Ideal Evel Knievel Silver Hi-Jumper

This is the Ideal Evel Knievel Silver Hi-Jumper cycle from 1977. This is one of the most rare Evel Knievel toys ever produced. In 1977, Knievel had a controversial parking lot altercation with a writer that slandered him in a "tell-all" book. The writer left the incident with two broken arms and Evel was left facing jail time. Rather than continue to produce toys that used the Knievel name, Ideal Toys chose to end their relationship with Evel rather than risk losing money on a toy line associated with the then-maligned Knievel name.

Consequently, some Knievel toys did not make it to production or were canceled not far into production. The Silver Hi-Jumper set was one that ended up having very low production numbers. Information online is sketchy but it seems that somewhere between 1000 and 1500 of these sets made it to toy shelves before the final curtain closed on Ideal's mighty and lucrative Evel Knievel toy line.


The full-set included the Silver Hi-Jumper cycle, Energizer (winder), a white-suited Evel Knievel figure with helmet, and a red ramp. If I'm not mistaken, this was the only vintage Knievel cycle set to come with a jumping ramp in the box. Other sets like the Scramble Van and the Stunt Stadium (both forthcoming in reviews) included ramps but not a cycle.

This particular Silver Hi-Jumper pictured was acquired by me about a year ago. It's missing some silver paint here and there but is in nice condition, otherwise. It runs and nothing is broken. A blue-suited Evel figure is standing in for the white one that would have originally come with this set.

The cycle itself is actually a repaint of a much more common Knievel toy cycle called the Trail Bike. The Trail Bike body was black plastic with chromed engine and tail pipes but the Silver Hi-Jumper is painted in reverse with an all-chrome finish and black engine and tail pipes. Although, the distinction between the two bikes is somewhat minimal, the rarity of the silver bike makes it one of the line's "holy grails."

I didn't have this cycle as a kid. In fact, I had never heard of it until more recently when researching the line of Evel Knievel toys. However, I came across this example for a screaming deal and had to pick it up. I was very glad to add it to the collection of Knievel toys I've gathered over the years.



This is the box that the Silver Hi-Jumper cycle set was sold in. I love these old illustrated, no-window toy boxes.

Every year, we make a few trips to Evel's hometown of Butte, Montana for some of my boys' soccer games. Last year, we stopped at Evel's grave to see his final resting place and pay our respects. Evel was one of my biggest heroes as a kid and it felt pretty neat to be able to walk right up and visit the grave of such a famous and iconic American.

The backside of Knievel's grave was inscribed many years ago. Evel intended that this stone be erected as a commemoration of his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974. When that didn't pan out, the stone was put into storage. Later in life, as Evel struggled with illness, he pulled the stone out of storage and had it transported to Butte to be used as his headstone.

18 comments:

  1. GREAT post! I was unaware of this Knievel toy- Really looking forward to the other stuf you have, Man!

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  2. ...Also, I appreciate the nice pics, and respect a man who does his homework.

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  3. Awesome! I didn't have the silver one but i guess what would be the standard one as a kid and loved it!

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  4. Never heard of the silver one before.

    These were such great toys. The newer ones I bought my kids were good but not near as durable but even without knowing who Evel was they had a blast with it.

    That for including the grave side visit to!

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  5. I'm gonna win the one on ebay in about 23 hours. How do we know if it is just a repainted trail bike or not. Couldn't I repaint a trail bike and have a silver jumper? Also, how do we know that a chinese factory didn't reproduce some of these. Especially the ones that are popping up everywhere that are "NIB" or "MIB"

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    1. Anonymous,

      I've been watching that ebay auction as well... not to bid but just out of curiosity. These RARELY show up for sale on ebay so I'm not sure which ones you are referring to that are "popping up everywhere." There were Trail Bike reproduction sets produced by Ideal (now owned by the Slinky people) around 2006 or so but those do not feature an all-chrome body on the cycle. Their Stunt Cycle reproductions do, however, have chrome bodies but they are easily distinguished from the Silver Hi-Jumper due to being a different mold. It's my opinion that if these were being reproduced, we'd see them on ebay much more frequently...and, honestly, I don't think there's a big enough base of vintage Evel toy collectors that even have knowledge of the Hi-Jumper to make reproducing them very lucrative. Also, the chrome paint scheme on the Hi-Jumper is actually vac-metalized, a factory-produced process that can't really be reproduced at home with a can of chrome spray paint... it just doesn't look the same. I've tried touching up some older chrome tailpipe pieces and what-not and it just doesn't match. So, I would be confident that the one on ebay is authentic.

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    2. hi what is the going value of this hi jumper set ?

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  6. and are they that rare ? i alway's thought the strato -cycle was the rarest ? what makes rhe silver high jumper rare ?

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  7. Anonymous... It's hard to say what the going value of this set is because it shows up so seldom that it's hard to get a good "read" on what it typically goes for. There was an auction for a loose with box set that sold on ebay this past week for $305. Personally, I was surprised that it didn't go for much more. I have noticed, though, that most all of the Knievel toys have taken a big price hit in this economy

    It's my understanding that the Silver Hi-JUmper is more rare than the Stratocycle. I definitely have seen more Stratocycles for sale on ebay, over the years, than Silver Hi-Jumpers.... if that's any indication. Some reports (and this kind of stuff is hard to validate) have the production run of the Silver Hi-Jumper at around 1000 to 1500 units produced. That's a really, really small number for a mass-market toy.

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    1. THANKS BRIAN HOW MUCH MORE DID YOU THINK THE SILVER HIGH JUMPER WOULD SELL FOR ON EBAY ? I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE IN YEAR'S WITH THE BOX AND THE RARE RED JUMP RAMP THE RAMP IS ALWAY'S LOST AND THE BOX IN BAD SHAPE IS THE SILVER HIGH JUMPER THE LAST OF THE EVEL KNIVEL STUNT CYCLE TOY'S TO COME OFF THE ASEMBLEE LINE ? HOW RARE IS THE SUPER JET CYCLE IN THE BOX? THANKS BRIAN

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    2. I'm not really sure what I was expecting the Hi-Jumper set to go for. I guess I was surprised that there wasn't any kind of bidding war over it. It was in fantastic shape, too. One thing to keep in mind is that EK stuff is not selling for as much as it was about 5 or 6 years ago. A sealed MIB Stuntcycle is currently going for about HALF the price they were going for then. So, I would expect that if the economy were better, the Hi-Jumper would have sold for much more.

      I don't know if the Hi-Jumper was the last toy off the assembly line. The EK Fast Tracker and Sidewinder ( I think that's what it's called) are also extremely rare. I'm not sure where the Hi-Jumper fits in with the release of those other two vehicles.

      The Super Jet Cycle isn't all that rare. For some reason, it does seem to be a tough find in loose, good condition. However, sealed MIB examples seem to be plentiful. I just noticed a Buy It Now auction for sealed Jet Cycle for only $125... a steal compared to the $185 or so I paid for mine (MIB one) about 10 years ago.

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  8. HI BRIAN I HAVE A ????? THE PICTURE OF THE SILVER HIGH JUMPER ON THE EVEL KNIEVEL BOX SHOW'S A SMALL FRONT FENDER IN BETWEEN THE FRONT FORKS BUT EVERY SILVER HIGH JUMPER I HAVE SEEN NEAR MINT AND THAT'S NOT MANY BE CAUSE THEY ARE SO RARE DOE'S NOT HAVE ONE !!!! IS THAT A MISPRINT ON THE BOX I KNOW THE TRAIL BIKE HAS A LITTLE PLASTIC SILVER ONE ? JUST WONDERING THANKS BRIAN

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    1. The Hi-Jumper should have a small black fender above the front wheel as shown on the box. Mine is missing it as was the one in the recent ebay auction. However, I have pictures from an old ebay auction of a newly opened, mint Hi-Jumper set that shows the bike to have a black fender. So, I assume all that don't have the fender lost it somewhere along the way.

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    2. IF IT DON'T HAVE THE LITTLE BLACK FENDER HOW BAD DOES THAT HURT THE VALUE OF THE SILVER HIGH JUMPER ? I KNOW 2 GUY'S THAT BOUGHT THERE'S NEW AND AND ONE DID'NT HAVE THE LITTLE FRONT FENDER AND THE OTHER WAS MISSING DECALS THEY CONTACTED IDEAL TOY COMPANY AND THE REP TOLD THEM THAT SINCE THEY WERE GOING TO QUIT MAKEING AND SELLING EVEL KNIEVEL TOY'S THAT HE WAS'NT SURPRIZED THAT SOME TOY'S NEAR THE END OF PRODUCTION WERE MISSING PART'S BECAUSE EVEL KNIEVEL WAS LET GO OVER THE BASE BALL INCIDENT BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT MAKEING ANY EXTRA PARTS FOR THEM I KNOW SOME OTHER GUY'S THAT COLLECT EVEL KNIEVEL TOY'S AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD BOUGHT SOME OF THE SILVER HIGH JUMPERS THAT WERE MINT SEALED AND THEY OPENED THEM TO CHECK CONTENTS AND THEY WERE LIKE ONE WAS MISSING THE DECALS ONE WAS MISSING THE RED RAMP AND ONE OF THEM SAID HE HAD ONE THAT CAME WITH A SILVER FRONT FENDER AND ANOTHER FRIEND OF HIS OPENED HIS AND HAD A EXTRA HELMET AND DECALS AND FENDER THE REP TOLD THEM IDEAL TOY COMPANY WERE TRYING TO JUST HURRY AND GET RID OF ALL EVEL KNIEVEL TOY'S SO THEY COULD MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE WHAT DO YOU THINK ?????

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  9. FOR GOT TO MENTION THAT THIS ONE GUY I KNOW WAS AT A EVEL KNIEVEL TOY CONVENTION SOME WERE AND WAS TALKING TO A OLD REP THAT USE TO WORK FOR IDEAL TOYS AND HE WAS TELLING HIM ABOUT PARTS MISSING ON A LOT OF EVEL KNIEVEL TOYS NEAR THE END OF PRODUCTION AND HE BROUGHT UP THE SILVER HIGH JUMPER AND HE SAID THAT SOME CAME WITH THE FRONT FENDER AND SOME DID'NT AND SOME EVEN CAME WITH A SILVER FENDER AND SOME CAME WITH A CHROME FENDER I BET THAT ONE IS RARE ?? WHAT DO YOU THINK BRIAN?

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  10. HI BRIAN I BOUGHT A SILVER HIGH JUMPER AT A YARD SALE COMPLETE EXCEPT IT DOE'ST HAVE ANT DECALS OR THE INSTRUCTIONS AND THE LITTLE T SHIRT COUPON DO YOU KNOW WERE I COULD FIND THESE AND TO BUY THEM ? ARE THE REGULAR STUNT CYCLE INSTRUCTIONS THE SAME ? THANKS IS ANY ONE MAKEING REPRODUCTIONS J.D.

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  11. I briefly met Evel Knievel around 1994 when he came into the bar at the restaurant I worked at. Boy, he only wanted to drink.

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  12. Great info here! I see there's a hi-jumper with box in good condition listed on eBay right now. Very tempting!

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