Raam-Boh! Force of Free-dum!
… haven’t heard that? Well, I’m sorry you were born in a less awesome decade.
My quest for military figures and vehicles has brought me back to the golden age of action figures, and no toy line better epitomizes the 1980s better than Rambo: Forces of Freedom by Coleco.
I suppose we could talk about the political and social ramifications of an “R-rated” movie about a PTSD victim who becomes a guerrilla fighter that frees POWs from those dirty communists becoming a Saturday morning cartoon action hero. But that sounds like it sucks. So let’s stick to the action.
Sadly, I don’t have any of the vintage Rambo toys any longer, and I don’t have a 6-inch scaled Rambo… yet… so we’ll just use some other 6-inch figs to fill in. In something of a rare occurrence then, and a NEVER occurrence now, the Rambo toy line was 1/12 scale, complete with vehicles and a bigass playset. This one here serves as the base for General Warhawk and his agents of SAVAGE, which is pretty much Russians, Libyans, Torch, Ripper, a black-clad Storm Shadow from GI Joe, and a big ex-Nazi type.
Best ’80s bad guys ever.
I’m just bummed they don’t have an analogue for Bennett from Commando. Anyway, these guys would run their illegal war on Tierra Libre from a base like this. Accurately described on the box and bio, this is more of a forward operating base than a headquarters, but it’s still absolutely awesome.
Features were abundant: the watchtower has a trap door that drops an unsuspecting interloper into a cage. That cage can also be left free-standing outside the tower. The observation deck has a 240 Bravo on a pivot, a 30mm grenade launcher, fixed binoculars, as well as antennae, radar, and searchlight positions. Most of these can be moved around however you like. On the ground, you’ve got a small communications hub (with headset!), a 25mm Anti-Air twin cannon on a tripod, a RPD machine gun also on a tripod, and crates full of guns and ammo.
No joke, this playset came with a crate of AKMs (AK-47 in common talk) and M60s. Holy cow. There’s also a bunch of ammo canisters to keep the beasts fed. And to keep the tower stalked, there is a winch that can be used to raise a platform up to the obvs deck — mine’s missing a couple ropes, but it works pretty well still.
This playset absolutely screams to be played with. The attention to detail on everything from the tower construction to the weapons would make G.I. Joe blush. It’s a shame the figures themselves don’t tend to age this well and the vehicles veered more to the silly than this pretty serious playset. Seriously, Rambo should’ve had a Huey to drive around, not some silly jet that he flies bare-chested.
I think retail on this monster was around $40 back in the day, and that would’ve been a good price even then. I stole this one on eBay for just a bit more, and now I need another one.
If you happen upon one of these in your attic or at a swap meet (remember those?), it is absolutely worth your time if you like 6-inch accessories. Like I said, this thing is a paint job away from being right up there with the best of today’s offerings… that is, if people still made playsets.
They should.
Awesome write up! What chopper did you use for the background, though?
I may have a couple extra of those ropes. If I can find them I’ll let u know and mail them to you. I had this as a kid and I got a MISB one a few years ago for cheap on eBay. Strange thing about mine was that it was not in a retail box. It was in a sealed brown box with minimal printing.
How did Rambo get onto so many toys and things? I used to have a Rambo kite. Rambo is effing violent. That’s kinda disturbing.
“No Corey (or Dillon, or whatever dumb name), I can melt more Viet Cong with napalm, I should be Rambo this time!”
Loved this!
Oh Yeah! Rambo! I loved these figures as a kid and the cartoon was AWESOME! I had the 6 wheeled jeep, the jet and the bad guys motorcycle but never got the playset. Never realized the Rambo figures were 6 inch? Might have to track some down. Cool article and brought back some great memories!