The Simpsons/Mattel

* Save Blinky Bart
* Series 2
* Argentina Barts

### Location

Argentinian figures are typically on eBay.Save Blinky Barts are in private collections.

## Product Information

### Year(s)

1990 (Save Blinky Bart)1991 (Series 2)

1992 (Argentina bootlegs)

During the show’s first season run, Simpsonmania was rising at a rapid pace as many viewers tuned in to laugh at the absurd nature of the animated sitcom. Though despite being mainly intended for adults, kids got in on the action as they wore merchandised shirts to school (which had strict enforced bans) and played with action figures marketed specifically for them. The latter is what we’ll be looking at in this article.

## **Summary**

In 1990, Mattel obtained the rights to produce a line of action figures based on *The Simpsons.* They produced seven 3” action figures of the main family, Nelson Muntz, and Bartman. Each figure came with its own individual blister card showcasing character specific art and featured unique accessories including five mini word bubbles with pre-printed phrases from the show that could be placed over the heads of each character, making it look like they are talking. Also produced was the Sofa & Boob Tube playset with a television that can change slides, 11 inch dolls, water squirters, and “Rev n Go” racers made by Arco, a British subsidiary of Mattel.

While it may have been decent for its time, Mattel’s *Simpsons* line failed to match up to the hype and popularity the show bolstered throughout the 1990’s as its first and only line sold very poorly. Some of the reasons as to why it never fully took off could’ve been due to an overflux of *Simpsons* merchandise, a dip in the show’s popularity, competition from other action figure lines (*Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, Marvel), and a difficulty in mining good toy concepts from the show (especially compared to the faithful World of Springfield line by Playmates).

## **Save Blinky Bart**

Save Blinky Bart is an extremely rare variant of the Series 1 Bart Simpson action figure that was slated for release in December 1990 as a mail-away promotion which could be bought through postal after purchasing 3 Mattel *Simpsons* figures between December 1st 1990 and March 31st 1991. The re-painted figure in question featured white and green sneakers, green shorts, and a white T-shirt sporting the words “Save Blinky” along with a photo of the three-eyed fish itself. Actual information about the figure aside from its mail-in coupon was very scarce, but it seems that it was only promoted in the United States as those outside the “Land of the Free” were not allowed to order it. That was just one of the reasons why “Blinky” Bart never made it to the masses aside from the whole line selling poorly in general. It disappeared for quite some time until April 2003 when Simpsons Collector Sector wrote an article about the figure showing up on eBay where a description revealed that it was part of a promotion from Child World/Children’s Palace Toys stores before the company went out of business and may have never been released commercially. In August that year, another article about the figure revealed that ezboard member oggiedoggie offered the Blinky Bart on sale through the message board and SCS webmaster phalen180 purchased the figure. Though the very next year, he would sell Bart on eBay to jop8ball who purchased a mint condition *Simpsons* poster from Child World for Save Blinky Bart, including the mail away coupon which itself is arguably even rarely than the actual figure. 5 billion units of *Simpsons* merchandise has been sold throughout the series’ lifespan, but Blinky Bart is for some collectors the “holy grail” due to it's overhyped scarcity.

In May 2009, a seller’s eBay listing of *Simpsons* memorabilia included another Save Blinky Bart action figure, although it was not noted in the auction. The buyer who won the bid had emailed the seller for a closeup of Blinky Bart to confirm its inclusion in the lot. The seller sent an email response with the photo attached and the interested party won it for $400 with the Bart included. It is believed that the lot’s proprietor was someone who used to work for 20th Century Fox and got a hold of some of the show’s discarded memorabilia.  The winner of the 2009 auction would later sell Blinky Bart on eBay in March 2010 for $1,200 where a buyer from Paris acquired it. Seven years later, @simpsonscollector found the rare figurine on an eBay auction in 2017 and was able to acquire it.

The amount of these mail-away figures has been greatly exaggerated, often cited as being limited to only '3' figures but over the years this has been quickly debunked with many cropping up for sale. As of 2023, there are between 5-10 known copies currently in circulation, with only one figure that is truly unique with two left hands which was featured on the actual mail-away coupon.

## **Series 2**

Shown in a 1990’s issue of *Tomart’s Action Figure Digest* was a catalog preview of what would’ve been Series 2 of Mattel’s *The Simpsons* toyline. While featuring the same limited articulation and interchangeable word balloons from before, many of the new concepts abandoned any attempt to be faithful to the television show which was a common practice for the toy industry until Playmates released their *Star Trek* line in 1994. More variants of the Simpsons family were planned with Hawaiian shirt Homer utilizing the Poltergrill, flower dress Marge with a grocery cart, and Bart Simpson having at least four in total with one in a black shirt that came with a lawnmower, him in a baseball uniform with a bat in hand, a ninja disguise with crossbow, and caped daredevil outfit with skateboard and a new head mold showing bandages on his forehead. This gimmick may have been made as a response to the sports costume variation figures made by Playmates for their *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* line. By far, the most unique figure that would’ve been included in this series was Krusty the Clown whose accessories would’ve been a giant mallet and cream pie that could sit on his head. Two playsets were to be made for the series with one being an original “vehicle” for Homer modelled after the Nuclear Power Plant he works at, and the other a grotesque, gaudy version of the Simpsons’ family car with bright colours and exploding feature. These may have been done as a response to some of the playsets Hasbro made for their *The Real Ghostbusters* and *Beetlejuice* products.

Regardless, Mattel quickly retired their second series of Simpsons action figures. Very few of the prototypes survived.

## **Bootleg Barts**

While some of the Mattel *Simpsons* products are definitely a rarity to find nowadays, there were three additional figures produced and sold only in Argentina. They were three renditions of Bart that feature him in black and white ninja outfits along with a Superman-style costume. While the packages share a similar style to the Mattel series and definitely uses the same mold, the carding makes no reference to Mattel or any other toy company for that matter. Given that the release date was 1992 which was long after the Mattel line was distributed in the United States, it's quite obvious that they were explicitly made as bootlegs, yet no real confirmation has been made. Though it's important to note that toy manufacturers had a notorious habit of selling their molds to foreign toy manufacturers in the 1980’s to 1990’s once popularity dwindled in the US. And that may be the case with these guys.

Some of these Bart bootlegs have popped up on eBay auctions online where they fetch for upwards to $200.  Regardless if they get purchased or not, these figures are in safe hands and therefore: **FOUND.**

## **References**

1. ↑ https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/The\_Simpsons\_Mattel\_action-figures
2. ↑ https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Save\_Blinky\_Bart\_figurine
3. ↑ http://www.simpsonscollectors.com/releases.asp?sid=85
4. ↑ http://thetoybox1138.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-simpsons-mattel.html
5. ↑ https://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Bart-Ninja-Spanish-Argentina-The-Simpsons-1990-Action-Figure-Mattel-RARE/274400951447