seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Luca Wolenczak

Hello all and welcome back to the seaQuest MPS Blog.  Today is a short one, with proof that a Canadian Lucas Wolenczak exists.  I have yet to add this action figure to my set, but one day...

Blurry Canadian Lucas with a US Darwin.

Next Time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: A Blue UEO Beret.

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, The Regulator

Hello again from the seaQuest MPS Blog.  Up now is the last of the Canadian action figure series that I have in my collection; although, I do have something extra to post tomorrow to finish up Canadian action figure week.  Today's action figure is The Regulator, aka Leslie Ferina.  One thing I liked about seaQuest's first season was the way characters, in particular Bridger, had a history with other characters.  Hence, why Bridger knows that The Regulator is Leslie.  It made the show feel like a lived-in environment, which was missing in the second season, but kind of happened again in the third season.

Front of Canadian The Regulator.  As with yesterday with the Canadian O'Neill, The Regulator's bubble is not in great shape.  It is dented and cracked, and the card is covered with price stickers.  Still, these Canadian ones are hard to get hold of, so I am just happy to have one, despite the condition.  I always thought this figure was cool, as it came with The Regulator's organtuan best friend called Verne.

Back of Canadian The Regulator.

Next Time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: A confirmation of Canadian Lucas.

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Lieutenant J.G. O'Neill

Here we go again on the seaQuest MPS Blog.  Today is Canadian O'Neill. 

The bubble on this action figure is in terrible shape, but the rarity of the Canadian series means this is the best I have been able to get...so far.  As with several of the other action figures in this set, O'Neill has three different price stickers.  The green Toys-R-Us price sticker shows the seaQuest action figures started at CA$6.99, but they lowered the price to 3.98 and then 1.98.  Indeed, I still recall seeing US seaQuest figures warming the pegs at stores back in 1994.  In particular, Captain Bridger was overpacked, with some stores having nothing but Bridgers on the shelf.  Playmates made way too many of the seaQuest figures, thinking the show was going to hit big like their Star Trek TNG line, which ran during that latter show's height in its later seasons.  They should have learned from the action figure line by Galoob, which did not do that well during the first season of TNG.  All this means that the seaQuest action figures will probably never be worth that much...but they are still very cool.

The back of the card.

Next time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: Canadian The Regulator

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Chief Crocker

Good morning from the seaQuest MPS Blog and we are now over half way through Canadian action figure week.  Today is Canadian Chief Crocker.

This is one of the better condition Canadian card fronts that I have in my collection.  No price stickers and only some shelfwear at the corners.  You can see on the left side the large blank space where the US cards had the character's photo and name.  They really should have added something there, perhaps a ship or a dolphin, because it just looks empty.  I am also not sold on the pink color of the sticker with the character's name.  I wonder why they went with that color, as opposed to a nice ocean blue?

Back of the Canadian Crocker card.  Apart from the damaged corner, the card back is in decent shape.

Next time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: Canadian O'Neill.

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Lt. Commander Katherine Hitchcock

It is that time again on the seaQuest MPS Blog and we continue with the Canadian series of seaQuest action figures.  Today is Lt. Commander Katherine Hitchcock.  Same deal as before, action figure and accessories are like those in the US, but the card is the single generic bi-lingual version with a pink name sticker on the bubble and a barcode sticker on the back of the card.

Front of the Canadian Hitchcock card.  This one has no price stickers, but several prominent creases.  Again, the much smaller production run for the Canadian market means getting hold of the Canadian series is much harder than their US counterparts.

Back of the Hitchcock card.  One thing that is evidence is how much better looking the accessories on the card are than the ones included with the actual action figure.  Look at the paint job on the Sea POC, Vo-Corder, Stun Gun, and PAL that are on the card vs. the lack of paint job on those with the figure.  Still for a mid-1990s action figure, these are not too badly put together.  The H. R. Probe is a cool addition, despite the fact that they kind of forgot it in the show.

Next time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: Canadian Crocker.

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Commander Jonathan Devin Ford

Good morning from the seaQuest MPS Blog as Canadian Action Figure week continues.  This time around, it is Canadian Commander Ford.  Again, the figure and accessories are the same as the US release, and the card is the generic Canadian one with the addition of the pink Ford sticker on the front and the barcode sticker on the back.  As with Bridger, the Ford figures were individually numbered.  This Ford is 0290, but as seaQuest figures have six digits, I imagine this is a printing error with the last two digits missing.

Canadian Ford's front, despite a few creases and price stickers, the card and bubble are in decent shape.

The back of the card is again the generic card with all the biographies and accessories, even if the figure does not come with those accessories.  In fact, despite only Hitchcock having the Hyperreality Probe, it appears on every Canadian card.

Next time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: Canadian Hitchcock

seaQuest Action Figures, Canadian Series, Captain Nathan Hale Bridger

Greetings again from the seaQuest MPS Blog.  This week is focused on the M of MPS, exploring merchandising through the Canadian release of the seaQuest action figures.

In the United States, Playmates released a total of nine seaQuest action figures based on the show's first season.  Bridger, Ford, Lucas, Hitchcock, Crocker, O'Neill, and the Regulator were the initial release on the first wave, with Darwin and Dr. Z appearing in the cases a little later on.  Another time on the seaQuest MPS blog I will run photos of the US versions, which can be commonly found online, through ebay, etc.  The seaQuest figures share much with the then running Playmates Star Trek action figure line, from the general design and layout of the card and bubble, to their size and level of detail.  They are decently designed action figures with likenesses that are on par with the mass-produced action figures of the time.  Of the nine released in the US, seven appear to have made it to other territories, i.e., Canada and Europe.  As far as I have been able to determine, Darwin and Dr. Z were never released on Canadian or European cards.  The rest are out there, but as the markets in Canada and Europe were smaller, fewer were produced for those territories.

My collection of Canadian seaQuest action figures.  The only one I am currently missing is Lucas Wolenczak, but I was able to confirm the existence of a Canadian Lucas through searching online photos.

Front of the Canadian Captain Nathan Hale Bridger action figure.  As with all the Canadian releases, the card is a generic card and does not focus on the specific character.  Instead the name is included on the pink sticker.  As the Canadian release had a significantly smaller run to match the population of Canada, it was not cost effective to design and produce multiple character cards.  Much of the text on Canadian Bridger's card is in English and French, to match Canada's bilingual nature.  The action figure itself and the accessories are the same as the US release.  During this era, Playmates individually numbered their action figures, and this Bridger's number is 049019.  This suggests the Canadian version was packaged towards the end of production run.

This is the back of the Canadian card.  Again, all the Canadian action figures have the exact same back, with the abbreviated biographies and generic description of accessories.  Also, the character biographies are limited to the seven released action figures.  The only thing that changes on the card is the barcode sticker, which identifies the specific figure.

Next Time on the seaQuest MPS Blog: Canadian Commander Ford.