TOYHEM! “A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty ‘Hi-Yo Silver!’…”
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Welcome to TOYHEM! For the fifth straight holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan
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By CHRIS FRANKLIN
My childhood Christmas Eve tradition usually went as follows: As soon as my Mom got home from the Hallmark store she managed, and we had a lighter-than-usual supper eaten, we’d open presents among our immediate family, minus the ones Santa would bring the next morning. Then we’d head down to my maternal grandparents’ house for Christmas with them, my uncle, aunt and cousins. We’d all bring snack dishes to munch on as we waited for everyone to arrive from their various other Yuletide gatherings.
Sometimes we’d get started about 9 p.m., other times it wouldn’t be until after 11! Definitely pushing the amount of time we had before Ol’ St. Nick started making his rounds! I’m not sure what time we got started Christmas Eve of 1981, but I definitely remember two of the presents that I opened in my grandparents’ living room that year, just feet away from the huge glowing C9 bulbs on their Christmas Tree: Two 10-inch-scale action figure gift sets of the Lone Ranger and his horse Silver, and Tonto and his steed Scout, made by Gabriel.
The style of gift set boxes I received Christmas of 1981.
Images courtesy of plaidstallions.com
The Lone Ranger was a character I was well aware of thanks to watching reruns of the Clayton Moore/Jay Silverheels series with my Dad (who was a fan going back to the original radio series) as well as the Filmation animated series then airing on CBS Saturday mornings. I also knew that a new Lone Ranger film had been released earlier that year, but I never got a chance to see it. The 3.75” Gabriel figures released to tie into the film hung around my local Howards department store, but I never saw a figure of the Lone Ranger himself, so I never felt like I could dive into the line. I liked Tonto, sure, but that’d be like buying a Robin with no chance of getting Batman!
But these figures Mamaw and Papaw had bought for me weren’t those smaller ones, these were HUGE! Bigger than my beloved 8-inch Megos. Even as a kid I noted how much nicer and detailed the clothing was on these vs. my Mego superheroes, even the larger 12 1/2-inch variety. I surmised these were “deluxe,” even if I wasn’t entirely aware of what that meant (I had just turned 7, after all). The beads on Tonto’s fringed buckskin, the detailed filigree on Silver’s saddle, down to the Lone Ranger’s removable mask. I wasn’t even sure I SHOULD remove it, considering on the TV series, they NEVER showed Clayton Moore’s unmasked face without something obscuring it, even in the origin episodes! The figures came with comics too, retelling the origin I already knew from the TV series, and tapes of the old radio show I’d listened to with my Dad.
Mamaw and Papaw knew who the Lone Ranger was too, and I can’t help but feel they had more input on these presents than usual. My Mom usually handed over my Christmas list and they paid for a few things that my Mom had probably picked up. But they would have been teens when the radio show debuted, and my grandfather was big into Westerns, and horses in particular, having a collection of horse figurines himself. So, this gift somewhat bridged the gap between his interests, and my own love for masked crimefighters.
Over the next few years, the Lone Ranger and Tonto got a lot of play, despite me not really having any other figures to scale with them. It didn’t stop me from having cross-time team-ups with my Mego Batman and Robin. I distinctly recall the Dynamic Duo “borrowing” the horses, years before Frank Miller made Batman on horseback a thing. Parts from my figures got lost, the mask was replaced with electric tape, and eventually the figures came apart. But those horses managed to survive, with a bit of super glue here and there.
Image courtesy of Tomart’s Price Guide to Action Figure Collectibles by Carol Markowski, Bill Sikora, & T. N. Tumbusch
It was years before I realized Gabriel had re-released these two gift sets from an earlier line of large Lone Ranger toys they had produced in the 1970s. The breadth and width of that line (released by Marx and Hubley in other countries) is truly astonishing, especially considering it only ran for the better part of that decade. The figures, the horses, accessories, playsets and costumes are truly works of art in the realm of toys, especially for the time. Before “collector’s edition” was a thing, this line seemed to cater to a more discerning kid, who expected a little more sophistication in their figures, and period authenticity, similar to the ’60s-era G.I. Joe line, which begat action figures to begin with.
Over the years I picked up the Lone Ranger’s nephew (and the Green Hornet’s dad or grandfather, considering which version you’re discussing) Dan Reid, as well as Butch Cavendish, the man who murdered the other Texas Rangers, and ostensibly created the Lone Ranger. He was played in the TV series by Frankenstein actor Glenn Strange, so that makes the figure that much more fun for me. I also acquired new figures of Lone Ranger (with his regular box) and Tonto, but I still display them on my vintage horses. And what’s even better, they all live in a collector case that had belonged to my grandfather, and for decades stood in that very room where I first unwrapped those figures, back in those thrilling days of yesteryear. I never fail to get a smile when I glance over at that case. In my mind, the Lone Ranger continues to ride again, and again.
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MORE
— The Complete TOYHEM INDEX of Stories and Features. Click here.
— 13 LONE RANGER COVERS: A CLAYTON MOORE Birthday Celebration. Click here.
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Regular 13th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including JLUCast. For more on Gabriel’s Lone Ranger toy line, check out his friend Brian Heiler’s wonderful Plaid Stallions for an in-depth overview.
December 14, 2023
Spot on, Chris. I’d considered doing an article on the line myself, but I’m glad you reined one in yourself. It really is an incredible line, and in my opinion very underappreciated.
December 14, 2023
Thanks Jim! I liked your pun there, too. I agree, it’s very underrated!
December 14, 2023
I had both horses and Lone Ranger but never Tonto. I grew up with the B/W re-runs for sure. But my favorite was a record recording of a number of those original radio broardcasts. I loved to listen to it over and over. I have the tv show ripped and stored on hard drive waiting for the grandsons to get old enough to be exposed to them. Can’t wait!
December 14, 2023
Great to hear the Lone Ranger love is being passed along to new generations!
December 14, 2023
I love this story. In the early ’70s, I used to listen to the radio show on Sunday mornings. Must have been a small station, or at least a distant one because it was hard to tune in and always staticky. Anyway, I had the Lone Ranger and Tonto and the Tonto Buffalo Hunt set. Pretty sure I had an LR set too — maybe the Missing Mountain Climber? I don’t think I had the horses. What I remember most was using Tonto and the hunt set to build a diorama for class. This was like in second grade. Anyway, of course, one day I came in to find that some mook had wrecked it and stolen the good stuff. I went to the teacher, who said I shouldn’t have brought anything in I wasn’t prepared to lose. Blame the victim!
December 14, 2023
I really wish I’d known about the adventure sets, but of course they were probably long gone by 1981. That sucks hard that some punk stole your best parts, and your teacher didn’t back you up! I had a similar expereince with a stolen Mego Superman figure, but thankfully, I got him back.
December 14, 2023
I, too, was introduced to the Lone Ranger and Tonto through my father, who still watches the show when he can (he’s 88 now). He also listened to The Green Hornet, but I was the one who got to explain to him that LR and GH are related!
Just recently, I was able to read the GH/LR series, Champions of Justice, by Dynamite…and really enjoyed it!
Thank you, Chris…we don’t know each other, but over the years I have developed a fondness for your articles and the podcasts with you and Cindy, as much of what you discuss meets up with how I feel as well. I believe we would have made great friends (I grew up in North Carolina, so you and Cindy sound very familiar to me).
Merry Christmas!
December 15, 2023
My 85 year-old dad still watches LR too! For some reason my Dad knew about the Ranger/Hornet connection and told me about it, so since my main exposure to the Green Hornet was through Batman ’66 (or as we called it back then, simply BATMAN), I just assumed they all existed in the same universe!
Thank you for the kind words about my articles and podcasts. It really means a lot, and I really appreciate it, and Cindy does too! I love North Carolina by the way! One of my favorite states to visit, for sure!
December 15, 2023
When I was about 9 I watched The Lone Ranger before school each morning and dressed as him for Halloween. My costume was a home-made ensemble that included a light blue jacket I had that somewhat resembled his shirt, a mask and toy gun and cowboy hat (What kid didn’t have a toy gun and cowboy hat even in the 70s?).
December 15, 2023
Sounds like a great costume, Warren! I remember buying several cap gun/holster/mask sets that were definitely trying to ape the Lone Ranger. I had a Boss Hogg Dukes of Hazzard plastic white hat that made a great Lone Ranger hat, so I was set for role play! Gabriel also made an official role play set, but I never owned it.
January 18, 2024
This line of Lone Ranger toys was amazing. There was so much to it. And it came out years – even decades – after The Lone Ranger tv show had left the air (all though it lived on in reruns).