HOOK Mattel 1991



The boy who never grew up....grows up! into Robin Williams peter banning and has all but forgotten Neverland, his band of lost boys, his best friend Tinker Bell and arch nemesis Captain Hook! now he is a hot shot businessman who is so focused with his career he often misses out on his spending time with his own children! When visiting an elderly Wendy (who visited Neverland with Peter as a girl) with his family his neglected children are kidnapped by the dastardly Captain Hook who demands the presence of old adversary  Peter has to try to bring back his old caviller self in order to face Hook and rescue his children with the help of Tink and his band of lost boys, now led by Rufio!

 When Steven Spielberg finally brought the long awaited sequel to J.M Barrie's famous Play to the big screen after years of development (At one point it was to be a musical) the reception was somewhat unexpectedly tepid on release with criticism aimed mainly at the stagey looking sets that make up Neverland, though Robin William's performance as Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Captain James Hook were both highly praised as were the special effects. The Movie was  financially successful on release though perhaps not to the level some had hoped for though it continued to make money on subsequent home video formats and remains a family favourite in the years since!

The action figures released by Mattel to tie-in with the movie saw declining sales after a short period and the second wave had a very limited release making those figures much harder to acquire on the secondary market and so highly sort after by collectors.

Peter Pan: When peter Pan falls in love with Wendy's granddaughter he decides to leave Neverland and all that he once was behind him Eventually becoming an over weight, father of two running a high flying business with no memory of his past life and his friends and foes he left behind! Until His children are captured under mysterious circumstances and he is forced to face his past and remember who he once was in order to save them! One of the complaints often made about these figures are the fact that they don't seem to resemble the Actors who play the roles on screen, though there is no doubt who this figure represents its just a shame that it doesn't look a little more like the Late great Robin Williams who did such a fantastic job at playing Peter Pan!

The figure comes with a back pack contraption that uses a pulley string device in order to represent flight! It is nicely designed looking as though it was something the lost boys might have designed and built! It also works quite effectively and is the perfect accessory for Peter Pan!

 There were several variants of Peter Pan across the entire line with "Swash Buckling" Peter being the second one produced. This figures design hasn't any basis in the movie itself and the head sculpt though similar has some slight differences to the "Air Attack" Peter Pan (The head band is actually sculpted in instead of just painted on!) He also has an action feature: a spring loaded swivel waste and comes supplied with a long sword and scabbard ready to duel with Hook and his shipmates!

Multi-Blade Captain Hook: The nefarious Pirate Captain James Hook  has been waiting for flocking flying Peter Pan  to return to Neverland and he is Ready to wage war against Pan and his tribe of Lost Boys! Hook has Peter's children held captive and even manages to manipulate Pan's son Jack into believing he is unwanted by his father and instead chooses the Captain himself as a surrogate!

There were also a fair few different versions released  of Captain Hook with some being quite bizarre and over the top such as Swiss army Hook and Skull armour Hook along with  this and the slightly more traditional looking "Tall Terror" Captain Hook! Hook was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 1991 movie of the same name but this action figure only vaguely resembles him it's not helped by the fact that the figure has a curious opened mouth expression! But likeness aside this particular figure has some very nice added detailing including gold highlighting on his attire with a very nicely intricately sculpted belt buckle that resembles the front of Hook's ship The Jolly Rodger he comes complete with a concealed hinged sword up his sleeve for a surprise attack!

 

Bill Jukes: Hook the Movie featured many nameless, disposable Pirates so it was up to Mattel to invent a foil for Peter Pan and his Lost boys to face off against between battling the one handed Captain himself and that figure turned out to be a one legged scallywag named after one of the original Jolly roger pirates from the J.M Barrie story Bill Jukes! with no real reference as to he is supposed to be modelled on I can't say if he is a good likeness or not to any particular performer and probably exists just to beef out the toy line! Still it is nice to have another villain figure in the line even if he is just a generic pirate complete with parrot and peg leg!

Ace: As one of the many Lost Boy's in Neverland Ace really only appears briefly and isn't particularly memorable but again this Line needed characters and I guess any one of the lost Boys could have been drawn out of a hat and picked to be an action figure although we did also get Rufio and Thud Butt a few more Lost Boys would have been nice!

The likeness of the actual character isn't too bad he was indeed blonde with a hat and waist coat but this is a very loose representation though he is actually quite a nice looking figure with various bits of armour and other little sculpting details that really give him personality! He comes with a squirting weapon that pegs onto his back but best of all he is also compatible with Ruffio's accessories (Skateboard and glider) he actually fits perfectly on the Skateboard and is even posed to look as though he is riding it the glider (which can also be used as a sail) pegs onto his back

Thud Butt: When Peter first presents himself to the lost boys they don't hide their disappointment in what he has become and the fact he left them in the first place! They reluctantly help Peter to find his old self again though it is Thud Butt who has the most faith in Peter who rewards his loyalty by placing him in charge of the lost boys once his mission is complete and he is no longer required to stay

This is a really nice little figure which has a fairly decent likeness of the character with some minor changes (a little less tartan)!  As far as action features goes Thud Butt's is really fun and interesting! Inspired by a brief scene in the film itself where Thud Butt literally rolls up into a ball and bowls over some pirates during the big fight sequence where Peter Pan and his lost Boys face off against Captain Hook and his Pirates! and here you can create that very moment as the action figure can literally be turned into a human cannon ball!

Rufio: When Pan "deserted" his band of lost Boys it was up to the oldest member Rufio to take over leadership duties so is understandably reluctant to give up his position when the Legendary former leader returns, in fact Rufio has serious doubts that the over weight, pasty faced, bespectacled old man stood before him is even who he claims to be (or at least who Tinkerbell claims he is)! 

Rufio is in keeping with the other Lost Boys in the set but is actually a slightly more accurate representation of his on screen counter part (aside from the added chest armour and war paint plus the fact he doesn't much resemble the actor who played him) there is lots of great detailing across the whole figure making this one of the stand out toys in the set as well as one of the most memorable characters from the movie itself!

The Skateboard with sail/glider Accessories supplied with Rufio are a lot of fun and feel authentic to the style of the movie! as mentioned above they are also compatible with other figures!

Though neither the Movie nor action figures really managed to fully capture the magic of the J.M Barrie Original  in quite the same way as the Disney cartoon had "Hook" is a solid and fun adventure for the whole Family with some really exciting set pieces and entertaining performances from all involved! Mattel's fun but flawed Tie-In Action figures are imaginative and well made and are only lacking in certain areas such as the likenesses though tat all of the figures are original unlike Kenner's "Robin Hood-Prince of Thieves", also released in 1991, which reuses moulds from earlier toy lines!  The planned third wave of figures which were advertised and set to be released before being canned looked as though they might have put right certain flaws! This line of figures are pretty affordable nowadays if you wanted to collect these (aside of course from the much more scarce second wave of toys which are highly sort after and can be rather pricey!) These will no doubt be more appealing if you are particularly fond of Spielberg's take on the classic tale!

The full set of figures available:

series 1:

-Peter Pan swashbuckler

-Peter Pan air attack

-Captain Hook tall terror

-Captain Hook Multi-Blade

-Ruffio

-Ace

-Bill Jukes

-Smee

series 2:

- Peter Pan Food fight

- Peter Pan Battle swing

-Captain Hook Swiss army

-Thud Butt

-Peter pan learn to fly

-Captain Hook Skull armor

-Lost Boy attack Croc

Vehicles/Accessories:

- Lost Boy attack Raft

-Lost Boy strike Tank