1978 Mattel Battlestar Galactica Catalog

Several months before it's TV Debut Mattel Toys debuted their merchandise based on the upcoming series titled "Code Name: Galactica" which we all would come to know as "Battlestar Galactica".

20th Century Fox would promptly ligitate the makers of Galactica for copyright infringement but the one thing that Galactica had over Star Wars was the availability of toys by the time the public caught their first glimpse of a cylon.

Mattel made a smart move in captilizing on the vehicles of the show and obviously felt there weren't enough so they created variations on the theme.

These vehicles of course shot missiles which caused a commotion when a young child was killed by one getting lodged in his throat. Mattel issued a recall for those ships and replaced them with models where the missiles did not discharge.

These 12" figures are obviously early mock ups as they differ greatly from the final product. Both of these figures are based on Major Matt Mason pal Captain Lazer which explains the Cylon's "L" belt buckle. I've said this before but Mattel has always been a bit if a recycler of toy concepts and molds, it's probably why they are so dominant in the marketplace.

The Viper launch station was a very clever resue of the Mattel "Flyin' Aces" concept.

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