Fans of the 1980s toy like Eagle Force need to prick up their ears and get their wallets ready as the 3″ die-cast action figure military-themed toy line is back! Originally designed by Bill Baron and Paul Kirchner, Fresh Monkey Fiction is launching an exclusive line of Eagle Force 40th Anniversary Action Figures, available exclusively with BigBadToyStore.
The new batch of Eagle Force Classics figures stand at 4” tall (1:18 scale) and feature 14 points of articulation and plenty of accessories including extra heads, hands, weapons, and stands. Fresh Monkey Fiction founder Bill Murphy spoke to AIPT about the new figures, which will include 12 figures which are now available on BigBadToyStore.
Questions abound around the project, at least for me, like why launch this action figure line now, is it similar to G.I. Joe, and more. To get answers, Murphy answered a few questions about the new batch of characters, his company Fresh Monkey Fiction, and more!
AIPT: For those who don’t know, what is Fresh Monkey Fiction and why was it founded?
Bill Murphy: FMF is a small indie toy company that is committed to making action figures for fans by fans. We knew there was a market for indie toys that larger companies like Hasbro and Mattel were not going to cater to, so with the emergence of crowdfunding, we started to bring action figures to the market and grew from there.
AIPT: What makes now the right time to launch a new line of Eagleforce action figures outside of it being the 40th anniversary?
BM: Well besides being a great time to celebrate the anniversary of Eagle Force, we also felt that the market for 1/18th scale fantasy-based military action figures is not being served. As a collector, sure I can get a generic military figure, but where is the story behind it? I grew up in the ’80s and every action figure had some sort of mythology. New story-driven toys are not really being done today in this market. Most lines are revisiting the same old characters; we wanted to expand the original Eagle Force line to its full potential.
AIPT: Many unfamiliar with Eagleforce will likely ponder, “How is this different than G.I. Joe.” What is the answer?!
BM: Well on the surface, the lines do play around with the same themes. I think that’s okay, it’s why you can have both DC and Marvel superheroes. It’s really about what you do with the characters. When we relaunched Eagle Force Returns in 2016, it was not a reimagination, it was a continuation of the 80’s line. Captain Eagle was not reimagined, he aged in real-time and is now 82 years old. We could have slapped a new “skin” on an existing character but we thought it would be better to develop a world where not only could the original Eagle Force team exist but we could grow. If I look at what Hasbro is doing now with GI Joe, I love those characters just like everyone, but I know them intimately already. They are not really expanding on them, they are just giving you new toys for the thing that you already love. Nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to create something new that could get fans excited just like I was when I was a kid. This is the main reason we’ve expanded the main Eagle Force line to sub-lines like Eagle Force Mega, Monster Force, Adventure Force, and Ninja Force.
AIPT: Do you have a personal favorite character from the Eagleforce?
BM: Oh, hands down it’s the Cat, thanks to all the work Chris Irving at The Drawn Word has done writing the Eagle Force Pulp novellas and expanding on the character.
AIPT: It sounds like there are some cool surprises in store for the weeks ahead over social—care to tease any reveals?
BM: Well the big thing will be the stretch goals figures that we’ll announce, I hope folks are down for some Eagle Force: Ninja Force ’cause those will be coming soon.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.