Possibly the most vintage toy selection shown on NERDSociety.com.  The A-Team action figures–provided by a friend of mine (thank you)–are marked 1983 and have the vintage feel of being on their last legs.  However, we won’t let wobbly legs, chipping paint and missing accessories get in the way of these awesome vintage pieces!

The A-Team was one hell of an interesting show when I was growing up in the 80’s, it had all the classic and most talked about elements such as cars flipping over and people crawling away, a spread of gunfire and no one being killed and actor Tim Donigan as the character “Face” in the first episode to become Dirk Benedict in the rest.  Well, I have something to say about all of that…it was awesome!

Why, might you ask?  Simply put, The A-Team was an action/adventure show featuring a group of mercenaries who were trying to help people—mostly average people while they were on the run from the military police for a crime that they didn’t commit.

My view on the cars flipping and people crawling out—they didn’t need to die, it was network television, they did however have to get their asses kicked and be kept down.  The spray of gun fire and no one dying…if you were in Vietnam killing to stay alive, would you return wanting to kill more???  Some would, but not these guys; shoot out tires, fire warnings and then let B.A. Baracus come beat the shit out of the enemy, no one needs to die.

There, I finally said it; on to the toys.

John “Hannibal” Smith was the leader of the A-Team, based solely on his rank in the army special forces, however, he was also very intelligent and was well remembered as the cigar smoking “I love it when a plan comes together” guy.  A master of disguise and an actor George Peppard played Hannibal to a ‘T’—even if he was a jerk according to sources, he was still a good man outside of acting.

Still complete with his gun belt, this figure has seen better days; however, the smile on his face says he didn’t mind once being a child’s plaything.  A really interesting sculpt makes up Hannibal—he has large joints and sturdy pieces—this figure was made for rough action-packed play!

Templeton “Faceman” Peck was played by two actors as mentioned before, however the final toy took the likeness? Of Dirk Benedict.  Face was a con-man and a damn good one; known for driving a Corvette and wearing fine suits as he screwed over women and everyone else to get what he wanted.

Very friendly with Murdock, he once couldn’t take the crazy pilot being him for the entire episode, so he became Murdock and got taken to the V.A. Mental hospital in his stead! 

In multiple episodes when someone who needed to hire The A-team couldn’t pay them, he would complain to Hannibal who would let it go—of course there were reasons such as a job well done OR they had acquired something more valuable from the enemy and it didn’t matter.

B.A. Baracus—he had a lot of names throughout the series.  His Mom called him Scooter because when he was a kid he would always ride his little scooter everywhere.  B.A. could even be BAD ATTITUDE!  Or, as it really was…Bosco Albert.  It took decades to finally learn that Mr. T was actually Lawrence Tureaud—but, he was highly concerned with the past oppressions and probably spent a lot of time hearing “boy” or whatever from a bunch of bigots growing up, so he became, simply, Mr. T.

Just as well a mechanical genius, B.A. could fix anything and use any and all equipment to build the cool weapon or vehicle in which the team used to thwart their opponents in each episode—thankfully there was always a welding torch around when he needed one!  Known for a million catch phrases and tons of gold jewelry, he had a very soft spot towards children—telling them to drink their milk and grow strong.  Baracus hated planes or flying in general and was always knocked out or in shock when on one, but nonetheless, these things were a part of his character.

The figures detail is nice for being such an early sculpt, he has his gold, Mohawk and even a tattoo—his 80’s attire is just classic and all in all, Lawrence Tureaud was a cool guy and an 80’s icon…(I have to do it)…”I pity the fool who doesn’t agree with me!”

H.M. (Howling Mad) Murdock was played by Dwight Schultz—the last thing I think I saw him in was a Lifetime movie where he was being abused by his wife…of course that was probably like 15+ years ago…Anyhow.  I don’t think anyone at the time could play the character as well as Schultz, he just had that thing about him where being crazy came naturally.  An expert pilot and so much more to the shows core, Murdoch was a favorite of many kids wanting to play “A-Team” in their yards—everyone wants to be the nut huh…? 

I don’t know if the figures eyes were supposed to be looking to the side, but even if they weren’t, well, it really helps bring out the character.  I think he may be one of the few who should have a smile; however, I swear the original commercials had the quote “they are evil and mean” in the theme song???  I don’t think so…early advertising can screw things up can’t it?

Amy Allen is as rare as they come, she has seen better days and appears to have some blood on her arm, but it was a guy’s show after all.  The guys had The A-Team, Knight Rider and Airworlf and the girls had Designing Women, Golden Girls and Dallas…ok well, Dallas is a bad example and so are every Soap Opera at the time, but you get the picture.

Amy was a reporter who traveled with the team to add some female blood into the show, she would usually work alongside one of the group (Face) and do a con job or gain information; either way, the character was pretty cool and a better edition than down the line in the last season where they were working for Stockwell and not helping the beaten down citizens anymore.

Sadly, there is no van…or is there…

The GMC Vandura, one of the top three automobile icons of the 80’s alongside K.I.T.T. and the Duke-Boys General Lee (late 70’s, early 80’s—so call it 80’s).  The A-Team Van as most kids called it was a mobile battle station for the guys and it included everything they needed in an episode such as tools, supplies, mis-firing guns and even the kitchen sink!  OK, well, not the sink…

B.A.’s van was a cool black with some subtle silver and a prominent red racing stripe and spoiler and unlike the Ertl (that’s right, not Matchbox or Hotwheels) van, the wheels were MAG with red and some black making it the coolest custom van around town!  In the series the interior had gray bucket seats and probably some cigar burns—that or pyrotechnic damage if it wasn’t the “hero” car.  I’d like to thank Miss M for sending me this cool Ertl mini car—awesome!

Well, that is The A-Team, an awesome 80’s and retro show with some fascinating figures and other pieces as the vintage toy of the month.

…and remember, there was no need in the 80’s action/adventure shows for killing especially when the heroes were out to help others—do you really think that when Michael Knight screamed at Tanya not to shoot K.I.T.T.s window and the bullet bounced off killing her that he had a smile on his face?  NO, he was the hero out for those in need, as was The A-Team, so I’m pretty sure the guys didn’t want to relive Vietnam all over again on the streets of Los Angeles or in the sticks next door; I for one wanted some beat-em-up action, real men showing that they can win the battle with their fists and not a pop-gun.

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