I’ve always thought Indiana Jones was neat, ever since I was a small kid, but my introduction to the whip-swinging archaeologist was actually not  the movies, but from a comic book “annual” of The Temple of Doom that I’d picked up from a car boot sale in Wales. This method of being introduced to existing franchises wasn’t new to me, I first discovered Star Wars by finding a Return of the Jedi annual at a rummage sale near where I lived, and it was a couple of years later before I finally watched the movies.

For ’80s kids, there wasn’t really an abundance of toys based of Indiana Jones. There was a very limited Raiders of the Lost Ark line from Kenner in the same scale as their Star Wars figures, and LJN released three 6″ figures based on The Temple of Doom. But these weren’t something I ever encountered as a kid in the ’90s, scouring toy boxes at car boot sales, so my childhood was woefully devoid of any Indiana Jones themed toys.

Years later, Hasbro released a line of figures from the original trilogy to tie-in with the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but by that time I was too around eighteen and had started to drift off toys. A couple of years later when I started to collect toys again, Indiana Jones merchandise seemed to be quite plentiful on eBay, so I snagged a couple of things like a couple of Lego sets and a few of the Hasbro figures, along with two sets of micro figures that were exclusive to Disney theme parks in the early 2000s. Sadly, the Lego and Hasbro figures didn’t survive my multiple house moves over the years, and ended up being sold in one my collection purges, but I still have those two Disney theme park micro figures, so I thought I’d showcase them on here, along with two other Disney theme park toys from the same line, which I have recently acquired after many years of waiting for some to appear for a decent price on eBay!

 

 

 

 

Micro Action Play Set

 

 

 

The first set in the series is a pack of six micro figures, roughly the same size as figures in the Micro Machines Action Fleet line. The figures include Indy, Marion, Cairo Swordsman, a Nazi officer, a Nazi mechanic and a Nazi Soldier.

All of the figures are very basic in detail, and are lacking any facial details. But most of the characters are iconic enough that this doesn’t detract too much from the figures.

 

 

 

 

Micro Action Motorcycle

 

The second set includes Indy and motorcycle and sidecar,  a crouching Nazi soldier with machine gun and sandbags, another Cairo swordsman and a Nazi pilot. I’m deeply saddened that Henry Jones Senior is not sculpted into the seat of the sidecar, as to my knowledge, Indy never rode the motorcycle without his dad sat next to him. But oh well!

One thing about this second figure set is that size-wise, the figures seem a little bigger than those found in the first set,  even though they’re still from the same line.

 

 

I doubt kids back in 2000 would have noticed the size difference though, and it doesn’t really matter too much. The figures are obviously intended  to be accessories to the  vehicles. Which brings me to the next toy!

 

Micro Action Airplane

Some folk might not realise that the Flying Wing in Raiders of the Lost Ark wasn’t actually a real plane, but it was based on prototype designs of an aircraft known as the Horten Ho 229 which never actually made it into production.

 

Unlike the version in the movie, this plane is devoid of any swastikas on the tails or wings of the plane, probably because Disney didn’t want to be selling toys adorned with a symbol associated with some of the worst atrocities in modern history. So this plane is adorned with the Balkenkreuz, which is still a real life symbol that could be found on Luftwaffe (Air Force) planes back in WW2.

 

 

Size-wise, the flying wing does feel a little bit on the small size, as the pilot who attempts to fire on Indy in the movie (before the behemoth of a mechanic gets in the way) looks to be larger than actual cockpit. Perhaps it’s because I had a childhood deprived of any Indiana Jones toys, but I just don’t care about this, and I would have loved this plane and figures as a kid! Anyway, on to the last vehicle.

 

 

Micro Action Tank

Like the flying wing, the tank also has a basis in real life history.  It’s actually based on the Mark VIII tank, a vehicle used by the allies in WW1, but with some extra added features like the top turret which the Mark VIII lacked.

As a representation of  how the tank looks in the movie, this toy pretty much nails it! I initially didn’t remember seeing all of the “clutter” down the sides of the tank, and had to check pictures of the actual screen used tank online, and it’s very accurate! It also feels more in scale with the figures than the plane does.

 

 

I can’t really fault this toy at all to be honest, it’s such a faithful representation of the onscreen tank, and it feels so chunky and solid in my hand, that it’s definitely my favorite toy available from Disney theme parks.

 

 

So overall, I like these toys. They definitely feel more like toys than scale models, but as someone who likes to pick up toys and go “pew-pew”, that’s what I want. If I’d have had the good fortune to have visited Disney in the early 2000s, I’d have snagged these  in a shot!

The Disney theme park micro collection sadly is not too common these days, but if you can find them for a good price on eBay, they’re definitely worth picking up. When I bought the flying wing recently, the guy I bought it off told me he bought it from geek/pop-culture store Forbidden Planet, so some of them did find their way to retail stores outside of Disney theme parks.

There are probably much more accurate representations of characters and vehicles from the Indiana Jones movies out there these days, but as a fan of both micro playsets and Indiana Jones, these are a firm favourite in collection.

Anyway, thanks for reading!