In 1975 Kenner Toys grabbed the license to a popular ABC TV series and found themselves with one of the hottest toys of Christmas 1975! Seriously, my mom recalls almost being trampled at the local Kresges when moms lined up to get their limited supply of these.
The line's beginnings were humble however Kenner put a lot of effort into the original figure, where others might have simply phoned in an action figure line Steve had a ton of play value. Kenner reaped great reward from that concept.
Kenner would later use this concept on licenses like the Six Million Dollar Man.