The Black Hole Action Figures

I have vague memories of seeing Disney’s The Black Hole as a kid, but remember almost nothing about it except for the robots. VINCENT and the evil red robot, Maximillian, stayed with me for many years, but I still can not tell you one thing about the movie’s plot. There was probably a black hole in there and some guy with a beard, but that’s all I’ve got.

In the years since the movie came out, I never came across the action figures until recently when I stumbled upon them in a Facebook live auction. If you haven’t participated in one of these auctions yet, it’s kind of like rolling the dice and praying you don’t get ripped off. There are no governing authorities, and I’m sure Facebook will eventually say they violate its terms of agreement, but until then, deals can be had!

I got these in an auction where just four other people were “in attendance” and none of them, including the seller, knew what they were, as they were only interested in oil cans and marbles, which is pretty much the staple of most Facebook auctions. The seller called these “space dolls” at one point, so let’s just say I got them pretty cheap.

The figures were produced by Mego in 1979, and are reminiscent of the Dukes of Hazzard and Micronauts action figures they produced around the same time. Large screws are in the elbows, and the crotches and thumbs were destined to be broken, but the articulation is pretty great!

VINCENT and Maximiliian are so much fun, despite them not being able to stand on their own — they come with a clear plastic stand that allows them to stay upright. Those stands can be harder to find than the figures. There is a BOB figure out there, but he wasn’t included in this lot, and I doubt I’ll ever have the desire to add him to the crew because he’s pretty rare and doesn’t come cheap.

The Black Hole line of action figures has one of those mythical holy grails of action figures — the Humanoid figure is almost impossible to find, and when one comes up for auction, it usually sells for many hundreds of dollars, especially if it has its cloth cape. I most likely, won’t be getting one of those anytime soon.

These figures are some of the earliest articulated action figures produced, and have somehow survived the last 40 years without getting lost or broken, and I’m happy to have them in my collection.