Big Jim for 1972

Big Jim for 1972

mattel big jim

In the early seventies, Mattel toys had a big hit on their hands with Big Jim, a nine inch muscle bound sports hero/man’s man who came packaged in his underpants.

mattel big jim
Jim’s entire structure was mostly built on non violent, positive activities such as sports and outdoor adventures. This seems to be the result of parental objections to G.I. Joe in the late sixties, early seventies which caused him to retire and become an adventurer.

1972 saw the introduction of Jim’s pal Big Jack and the introduction of his Dune Buggy but the biggest thing for me is Big Jim’s Camper. I must have spent a bajillion hours with that vinyl paradise. As goofy and safe as some of this stuff looks to me now, I can’t deny that I thought it was the bomb in ’73.

Thirsty for more Big Jim?

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About The Author

Mantooth
AKA Brian Heiler author of "Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings" and co-editor of "Toy-Ventures Magazine". Co-Host of the "Pod Stallions" podcast. Host of the Brick Mantooth Youtube channel, painter, designer, writer, mental health advocate, toy collector, Mego, and Mego Knock-Off enthusiast. I have large feet, ADHD and I live in Canada. Talk toys, not others.

6 Comments

  • Dancin' Homer on November 7, 2008

    I was a Big Jim fan also, though I never had an interest in his many sports outfits. Loved all the “adventure/outdoors” stuff. My favorite was Big Josh and his eagle. Years after I’d outgrown playing with them, I still kept that eagle on my desk, every now and then pressing his leg to make his wings flap.

    That camper was indeed magical – I remember being fascinated by the fact that you could prop up the side of the van on sticks to create an awning. Simpler times I guess.

  • Arkonbey on November 7, 2008

    Oh, the camper. I had a buddy (won’t call him a friend, he once hit me in the head with a rock because I beat him in a footrace) who had the camper. Man.

    I had the Big Jim fishing boat. Hard to place the year, but I also had some Smash-up Derby cars then. Those toys are long-gone, more’s the pity

  • gilligan on November 7, 2008

    Funny, how Big Jim was designed to be a less violent kind of toy for boys…. yet we have Big Jim hunting with a rifle (or is it a shotgun?). Hmmm.be

  • Anonymous on November 10, 2008

    that camper got the hell played out of it by me when i was a kid…..

    dusty abell

  • Arkonbey on November 11, 2008

    gilligan: As long as he was hunting for food and not for a trophy or the joy of killing it’s okay with me 😉

  • Johnny Gage on July 13, 2011

    I'm just a little bit too young to have had Big Jim, but I must say I am mystified by the thinking behind most of his outfits. Why on earth would it be fun to have him dressed up to play a team sport like basketball, but with no teammates or opponents? Why have a race driving outfit without a race car? How could anybody think that Karate and Kendo are somehow related activities just because both are Japanese martial arts? Finally, does every outfit need it's own exclamation point? YES!

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