Kenner Duke the Dog

Before becoming a true 70's juggernaut with lines like "Star Wars" and the "Six Million Dollar Man", Kenner was more experimental with their action figure branding, often creating fun generic lines such as Steve Scout and Duke The Dog..

Duke truly was an original concept, never had a toy line such as this been tailor made for a character who couldn't speak!. Duke lasted a couple of years actually and would see TV star "Run Joe Run" added to the line as well.

The basic Duke set includes a cool rope slide, the biggest challenge with the figure must be the fact that Duke can't hold anything save for with his mouth. As you can see by the pictures, Duke was pretty damn big, he'd have intimidated G.I. Joe or Big Jim and would be a huge threat for the Mego Superheroes.

Instead of a cool van (what sense would that make?) Duke gets to lug around a wagon with a searchlight and as the copy states " the rear of the trailer can be opened for additional realism". Additional Realism is the same kind of thing you get when a DVD's special features include "menu" .

Here's where things get a little dumb, Duke has his own Batcave. Complete with "electronic data equipment" (so Duke can track who is in heat this month ) and a periscope, that's right, a periscope! I guess so that can look for other dog's butts? It also has an elevator but no chew toys, old throw pillow or other things a dog likes.

While a lovely gesture I can't imagine the lack of confidence I'd feel were I in a burning building and seeing a German shepard with a backpack running to my rescue. How much water can that hold?

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