Rambo The Force of Freedom

Taping into the recent success of the G.I. Joe a Real American Hero roadmap, Cleco decided to take a chance with an in-demand child demographic and enter the military toy space with a licensed release of one of the most popular films in 1985.

Pulling away from the popularity of the three and three-quarter-inch size action figure made famous by Kenners Star Wars and Hasbro’s G.I. Joe a Real American Hero toy lines, Coleco decided to produce a more prominent six and one-half-inch articulated action figure with a variety of realistic weapons and accessories.

The blockbuster action film Rambo: First Blood Part II was released to theaters on May 22, 1985, and grossed over 300 million at the box office. A sequel to the popular 1982 movie First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II is the second installment in the Rambo franchise. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as former US Army Green Beret John James Rambo, an incarcerated post-Vietnam war protagonist, who strikes a deal with the government to document the possible existence of missing POWs held in Vietnam. Along with the returning Richard Crenna, who reprises his role as Colonel Sam Trautman, the two find themselves under strict orders not to rescue any POWs or engage with any combatants. When Rambo defies his orders, he is abandoned by the government operation and forced to rely on his rugged skills of combat to save the American POWs.

Coleco was not the first licensed toy company to produce toys for the Rambo franchise. In 1985, LJN manufactured a line of Rambo branded electronic water guns and survival toy gear. LJN, unfortunately, failed to secure the action figure license; however, it is safe to say that the detail and durability of the Coleco Rambo series produced a phenomenal line of toys in the mid-’80s.

Coleco Industries, Inc. is an American company established in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg and was originally the “The Connecticut Leather Company.” It wasn’t until the 1980s when Coleco finally found their success with toys and is best known for their mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and the Colecovision game consel. Heavily focused on entering the dominant action figure market, after a dismal effort in sales from Coleco’s first action figure release, Sectaurs, in 1985, the toy company was looking for the perfect action figure opportunity and found both success and controversy with the Rambo license.

The series one release of the Rambo, The Force of Freedom toy line, consisted of twelve, six and one-half-inch action figures, four vehicles, four boxed weapon accessories and one playset. Each action figure came with a large variety of detailed weapons and accessories, more so than other similar toy lines at the time. The detail of the included weapons and many of the boxed accessories were extremely accurate to actual military-used equipment, allowing for a more realistic play future. Many action figures were equipped with spring or wind-up activated motorized mechanisms, which proved an innovative play feature. In addition, many of the accessories had spring action firing capabilities, which provided additional action-packed experience during play.

With the success of Hasbro’s introduction of WWF superstar Sergeant Slaughter to the G.I. Joe team in 1985 as the official G.I. Joe drill instructor, Hasbro considered adding Rocky Balboa to the team in 1987 as a physical training instructor. When Coleco picked up the license for the Rambo toy line in 1986, Hasbro decided to scrap the Sylvester Stallone-based character for alleged similarities and conflict of interest. After a very successful NFL rookie season, Hasbro then replaced the G.I. Joe roster slot with NFL superstar William “The Refrigerator” Perry of the 1986 Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX Champions.

All of the original series one action figures were released in 1987’s series two with the exception of the “Nomad” action figure, who mysteriously disappeared. A second 1987 series release of six new action figures with additional elbow articulation was added to the lineup. An additional 7th “Muscle Power Rambo” action figure was also a prototype and is rumored to have never been released in the United States although he does appear on many of the series two card backs. Sales of the toy series two line in 1987 started to drastically decline, primarily due to the mature and violent nature of the R-rated films, once parents finally caught on to what their kids were playing with.