Mattel’s Pulsar and Kenner’s Six Million Dollar Man Action Figures
This 1977 newspaper ad brings together two toys of the seventies and makes many (at least, I hope I am not alone) race to eBay to search “just in case there’s a deal.” Mattel’s Pulsar (commercial posted here) looks like it could have been inspired by the success of the Six Million Dollar Man action figure, so it is only fitting that the ad features both the Mattel toy and the Kenner action figure that I believe affected Mattel’s design.
Love the old ads. Had a Six Million Dollar Man as a kid, with the red jumpsuit!
I had a Pulsar and his life support center–a goofy hunk of plastic with ponderous dials and hoses all over it. Pulsar himself was kinda cool, but he didn’t have a stitch on Steve Austin. Aside from the visible chest with beating heart gimmick, his other draw was that his face opened allowing you to insert a “mission disc” with a lenticular sticker on it. Maybe him and Steve could just be buddies instead of rivals?