Galoob's Unifighters

[toyboxraider]

Does anyone have any useful images or information on the line by Galoob known as Unifighters. I ran across one in a lot I recently won on ebay and really like the figure. It has to be one of the best GI Joe type figures I have seen in a while.

It really is well done for a knock off. The way I determined he was a Unifighter was that under his boot is the date 1990 L.G.T.I. Which of course is Lewis Galoob Toys Inc. With that information I did a google search and it sent me to Yo Joe.

Unfortunately I can not take a pic of him right now with my wife out of town, but he is the same size as the joes with blonde hair (looks like Duke in a way) he has a blue shirt and black pants on. The pants have yellow and red thigh and knee pads with black boots that have blue buckles on em.

Plastic quality is very good, as is paint.

YoJoe has a news article about the series but I still have not found any pics on them yet. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ghouldrool]

So that's what it is. If you'll notice this lot, I have one of those figures in it as well. It's a dead ringer for yours.



My figure is top row, far left. I'll take a better pic when I have it in hand. It's still with my friend in the UK.

[toyboxraider]

Yes it sure is Ghoul, they had a very limited use of parts that they recycled to make 15 figures with 5 major ships. I will post the article from YoJoe.com -


UNIFIGHTERS - THE LEAST-KNOWN KNOCK-OFF
-by Corey Stinson <[e-mail]>

There have been a variety of imitators to the GI Joe 3 3/4" throne
throughout the 80s and 90s. The most notable are those that most GI Joe
collectors have probably heard of before: The Corps!, Remco's US Forces:
Defenders Of Peace, etc. I doubt, however, that the major of our readers
have heard of the Unifighters!

The Unifighters were a line of 3 3/4" figures and accessories produced
by Galoob in 1989/1990. Like the other knock-off action figures discussed
in this newsletter, the Unifighters are designed and articulated exactly
like GI Joe 3 3/4" figures. The series includes a grand total of 15
figures. The figures were seperated into groups which were Air Force
Combat Jet Squadron, Navy Combat Hocvercraft Squadron, Marine Combat
Chopper Squadron, and Army Battle Tank Squadron. Each figure came with
a helmet, a couple of guns, and a piece of an overall larger vehicle.
For example, the Air Force Combat Jet Squadron include three figures.
Each figure came with a section of the overall larger jet aircraft.
Individually, the pieces are designed to fit on or be ridden by a
figure. The vehicle pieces then fit together to form a larger military
vehicle. This idea was most likely borrowed from the Transformers'
individual-robots-merge-to-form-larger-robot concept.

So, Galoob borrowed some formats and concepts from what was probably
still the two most popular toy lines at the time: Hasbro's GI Joe and
Transformers. Unfortunately the end result must have flopped in the
toy stores because the Unifighters were being clearanced a year later.
The line probably failed for two significant reasons. First, the vehicles
looked fairly nifty once assembled but as individual pieces used with
the figures they looked very hokey. Second, the figure assortment was
ultimately made up of just five different body pieces - that is to say 5
different heads, 5 different arm sets, 5 different chests, etc. Then,
the pieces were mixed and matched and repainted to ultimately derive
a 15 figure assortment. The repetitive nature of the figures does not
go unnoticed.

Even given the aforementioned problems the figures in this line are
probably some of the highest quality GI Joe imitations ever released,
surpassing the Corps! and all the rest in construction/plastic quality
and sculpting. The figure accessories (excluding the vehicle components)
were also very good- especially the helmets, which were highly detailed
and even had clear plastic visors in some cases.

The Unifighters were released in an individually carded configuration
as well as boxed sets which featured all the figures and vehicle
components for a particular group. Because they are so difficult to
find, and because most dealers appear to have never heard of the line,
one wonders if they ever saw widespread release in the U.S.

Conclusion: the Unifighters will defintely be of interest to GI Joe
3 3/4" collectors that like knock-off lines as well. These figures
will also give you something almost intangible to hunt for at those flea
markets and toy shows! You may have an unidentified Unifighter figure and
not even know it. Look for the following on the bottom of the figures'
boot: L.G.T.I. 1990. (L.G.T.I.=Lewis Galoob Toys Inc.)

I put up a crude web page about a year ago to draw some attention to
this toy line, it can be found at
<http://webusers.anet-stl.com/~stinson/uni>. For the record, the
Unifighters toy line consisted of:

Air Force Combat Jet Squadron which formed Giant Jet Fighter:
1. Col. Jetplane Johnson w/ Attack Jet
2. Sgt. Bomber O'Neill w/ Bomber Jet
3. Sgt. Bullseye Foley w/ Fighter Jet

Navy Combat Hovercraft Squadron which formed Giant Combat Hovercraft:
1. Cmdr. Hammer Smith w/ Gun Hovercraft
2. Capt. Shark Rogers w/ Missle Hovercraft
3. Sgt. Rammer Wilson w/ Attack Hovercraft
4. Sgt. Jumper McCoy w/ Battle Hovercraft

Marine Combat Chopper Squadron which formed Giant Combat Chopper:
1. Major Rip Powers w/ Machine Gun Chopper
2. Lt. Slammer Preston w/ Mini-Chopper
3. Sgt. Storm Stevens w/ Missile Chopper

Army Battle Tank Squadron which formed Giant Combat Tank:
1. Col. Kicker Kelso w/ Artillery Tank
2. Sgt. Animal Anders w/ Targeting Tank
3. Pfc. Gunner Jones w/ Machine-Gun Tank
4. Pfc. Raider Nelson w/ Crane Tank
5. Sgt. Jammer Jackson w/ Missile Tank

I'll close this article by thanking Ed Mundy for turning me on to
the Unifighters...

[Ghouldrool]

Yes, i found the article. Indeed, I noticed the bright colours and the same build first and foremost. It's also not the first time I've seen these - I saw some in a lot on Ebay a few months ago. Sadly, there was a lot of genuine old Joe in there so the bids went too high for me. The url in the article seems to be dead, though.
Good hunting, I was curious about these myself. Knowing what to look for always helps a lot!

Oh I was wondering, do these have the bicep swivel or no?

[toyboxraider]

It was the first time for me, at least attributing them to an actual line and not just seeing them and assuming they were Joes over the years. Now that I have learned all my Joe info, I know what is not part of that collection.

I really like the bright colours and I think they go well with some of the 90s Corps figures.

They do have swivel biceps.

[toyboxraider]

Dude, I love the helmet! If you ever want to get rid of him let me know.

This one has the same body as mine with red hair and belongs to the Air Force group I imagine, from the head gear.

Cool figure man.

[Grizzlor Adams]

That's pretty cool. I've never seen these guys before, but I'm definitely intrigued. Thanks for the reference pic.

[Ghouldrool]

Here's mine!



Charming figures allright, though I can definitely understand why demand for these was low at the time.
Still quite happy with it

[Grizzlor Adams]

Here's the little fold out that came with the vehicles.

[THE KNOCK-OFF MESSIAH]

man everytime i see these i cant believe i missed them as a kid. how the hell didnt they blow up? the gear and rides are fantastic. gi joe really boxed them out...and i had stuff from every other 3 3/4th but didnt even see,hear or know about these. but i guess it was the year. 1990 i kinda slid from joes and the like. by 92 it was over for me

[toyboxraider]

I think they were right out of our age brackets for toy play around 1992. Am I right on that Clam or D?

[toyboxraider]

Yeah, I know that they were produced in 90 but for some reason I have it in my thick skull that they did not hit the stores till 92. I could very well be wrong though.

[Ghouldrool]

Sometimes, figures just pass you by, it happens. I come across Power Commandos on the Dutch market but I never ever saw them in stores, I would have noticed. Also the secondary market here is flooded (relatively) with those EMPACT/ Adventure man figures, which also missed the big toy stores here for some reason. They must have been in discount stores I never check, because I check the major toy stores every week for Star Wars, I would have seen them!
Unifighters - same story although I can't fathom which outlet carried them and it must have been terribly briefly at that. I can hardly find them in lots here if at all. The only one I have came from the UK.

[Grizzlor Adams]

I had never heard of these as a kid, but they really are above average. Recently, I had a great stroke of luck with this line. Clambo's complete collection attests to that. Actually, there are still single carded figures available on everyone's favorite Spanish auction site. You gotta pay in euro. Which isn't that great for those of us in the US, but still they are available.

[urbansaboteur]

Hey.
I have just started a group on flickr.com, my aim hopefully is to collect some information and pictures for Galoob's Unifighters.
The group can be found here:
www.flickr.com/groups/unifighters/pool/
I'd appreciate any help on information and any of you are welcome to join the group if your interested in Galoob's Unifighter figures.

I only have 1 figure right now, which I think I have identified correctly as Animal Anders. Here is a picture of him.
www.flickr.com/photos/superiorraw/3888851812/sizes/m/in/set-72157622249762386/
Does anyone have the above leaflet images in a larger file or if possible can one you join the group and upload the leaflets of the unifighters to the group?

My aim hopefully is to have a gallery of each of the figures characters and any merchandise available to look at on flickr.

Thanks for any time or help with this little project.
Rich

[ucsf]

Finally, managed to snatch one. It's pretty cool, and kinda charming. I wanted one, since I'm aware of this toy line exists. The plastic feels really fine and sculpting-wise it's very good.