BACKBIONIC ADVENTURE SET: Test Flight at 75,000 Feet.
In 1976, Kenner released 3 Bionic Adventure Sets for the 12" Steve Austin figure. Each set dressed Steve for a particular mission.
This particular outfit prepares Steve for a test flight at 75,000 feet. I appreciate Kenner being so specific. I'm sure Steve would have needed a completely different outfit if he were to be conducting a test flight at, say, 45,000 feet.
The set comes with Steve's orange jumpsuit, helmet, boots, goggles, altimeter (to be certain that the test flight happens at 75,000 feet), and a blue plastic non-functional parachute pack... which should come in very handy should Steve need to fool someone into believing he's wearing a parachute. Maybe OSI spent too much money on bionics to afford an actual parachute. I know for a fact that GiJoe was outfitted with an ACTUAL parachute around this time. Why not Steve? Come to think of it, there were scads of dime store quality toys with actual parachutes. You would think that Kenner and the OSI would have spared the extra 50 cents it would have taken to help protect the 6 million dollar investment they had in Steve. Ah, well... hindsight is 20/20.
I also wonder if the other Test Pilots are jealous that Steve has a Six Million Dollar Man patch on his jumpsuit? Show-off. Very covert, Steve.
I really like the vintage art on these sets. I especially appreciate the cardboard Steve Austin portrait to help the buyer visualize what the set will look like on the figure.
In the drawing Steve has a very broad chest and some stubby arms doesn't he?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was an ejection seat incident. They say you could be up to three inches shorter after ejecting from a plane.
I want a patch for my jacket "The Six-Million-Dollar-Man in Debt".
Now that you mention it, his arms are stubby. Maybe it was the ejection seat in combination with using his arms to break his fall from 75,000 feet. We know the parachute didn't help.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the debt thing. I need a patch, as well. Who knew getting a kid braces was as expensive as getting a bionic eye?! I didn't.
Bionic teeth huh? "We can rebuild him."
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they didn't make the parachute work?
I had a Batman and a Spiderman that had a parachute that worked. They were a blast!
I wish you had pictures of the actual figure using the suit so i can get an idea of how well it looks with it. But if the parachute didn't work I would have made it myself with a plastic bag.
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