Evel Knievel: The Toy That Dared You to Break It!

If you were a boy growing up in the seventies, most likely you were an Evel Knievel fan. The greatest daredevil of all time. His death defying motorcycle jumps were legendary and his toys were no different.

Released in 1973, Evel Knievel “King of the Stuntman” was a six-inch-tall bendie that rapidly became Ideal’s best seller. Wearing his famous red white and blue uniform, this figure, like Evel himself, dared us to break it.

1970’s Evel Knievel six-inch stuntman figure

The cornerstone of the Evel Knievel line was the famous stunt cycle. Which featured the “Energizer.” You cranked up the Energizer then launched your Evel over whatever make-shift jump you made out of brinks and boards.

The many accessories originally capitalized on Evel’s “real-life” motorcycle jumps. There was the Stunt stadium and the Scramble van. There was even a “wink” to his infamous Snake River Canyon jump with the “Canyon Sky Cycle’ rocket. As the line began to age the accessories began to take a bizarre turn. Drifting away from his motorcycle and car stunts to strange sets such as the Skull Canyon set, complete with a monster. There was also a figure where he dumped the motorcycle completely and became an arctic explorer.

1970’s ad commonly found in comics

Ideal milked everything they could from the Evel Knievel line up through 1977. Including a figure of his teenage son Robbie and a series geared towards girls called Derry Daring.

In spite of all of the twists and turns in this line… the iconic stunt cycle alone, puts Evel Knievel as one of the most memorable toys of the seventies.

We recently produced a countdown of the five coolest action figures from the 60’s and 70’s. Watch below why we feel Evel Knievel is in the top two.