These Karate Kid Toys Are The Heroes You've Been Dreaming Of
In 1986, the glory of love was brought to toy aisles with Remco's Karate Kid line of action figures.share
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In conjunction with the release of The Karate Kid Part II in 1986, Remco released a line of Karate Kid action figures that let children everywhere pretend that Miyagido Karate was their local dojo. These 6-inch figures, released in assortments featuring characters from both films (you can see the complete line here), had a special gimmick -- they possessed a "Tri-Action" ability that let them kick, punch and twist by moving the figure's waist on using a lever on their backs.
Eat your heart out, Chop Chop Master Onion.
The line is almost completely forgotten today, which is a crying shame as it offered a realistic alternative to the He-Man, Super Powers, Secret Wars, and Star Wars plastic heroics that dominated the toy industry at the time. Along with the figures, there were several playsets released and even a pair of chopsticks that let lil' Miyagis attempt to catch flies with. The legacy of the line lives on in Funko's recent Re-Action figures from The Karate Kid, and of course, the original ads for the toys live on thanks to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRKRdwOScIQ&feature=youtu.be