The Bug Men of Insecta by Multiple toys first hit my radar when they rolled into town around 1985 with a new “Toys R Us” store. They seemed to be a mix of MOTU, Sectaurs with a little horror thrown in.

There they sat and sat and sat until at least the mid-1990s when they seemed to vanish from every Toys R Us I visited, in some sort of clearance clean up. I almost never see them at toy shows either, they just vanished. 

Turns out the Bugmen of Insecta are highly collectible now, commanding more than I’d pay for them, which is a shame because their mix of horror and cheapness are now intoxicating to me.

Basement of Horror did an indepth video on this line, check it out here on YouTube.

I think the best thing about the Bug Men of Insecta is their card art, looking at it I guess we all know what happened to Action Jackson now. Above is Grass Hopper man, I’m assuming the Bug Men were meant to be bad guys.

Elephas- Strongman of the Stag Beetles

Webspinner IV- Emperor of the Spider Nation

Tinga Chief of the Killer Bees

Carniva: King of the Tiger Beetles.

Our gallery is missing a shot of Black Widow: Queen of the most vicious Spiders, the only female character (I think) in the line.

MTC made two “vehicles” for the line, which were reused molds from the Dragonriders of the Styx line. One, the Widow Flyer, of which we do not have a photo.  The Widow Flyer was a reused Dragonriders Demon Flyer. The other one was the Grass Sled which was a reused Dragonriders Skull Sled and is pictured above. Photo courtesy of Clam’s Toy Box

1984 Multiple Toys BugMen of Insecta Catalog.

I believe they’re repurposed from another Toyline called “Dragon Riders of Styx” which is interesting because they were made around the same time by a company called “Dimensions For Children”.