Major Mike Power.
You might remember Mike Power as the "Atomic Man", part of Hasbro's G.I. Joe Adventure Team from the early seventies.
He is a plastic, 12", fully poseable action figure. Being extremely popular the Atomic Man sold over a million times in his debut year, 1975. Thanks to the "Six Million Dollar Man" TV series, children were quite attuned to the idea of "bionic" body parts which helped sell Mike's "atomic" body parts. As the term "bionic" had been copyrighted for the Six Million Dollar Man merchandise Hasbro adopted the term "atomic". Although Mike doesn't have the realistic flock hair of his comrades he does have the indespensible "Kung-Fu Grip" rubber hands developed by Hasbro in 1974 to allow G.I. Joe figures to grip and hold accessories.
Additionally the Atomic Man has an individual head sculpt somewhat resembling Mattel's Big Jim or even Barbie's friend Ken. This is probably due to the brown painted head and Mike's somewhat "clean-cut" appearance. Of course Mike does have a scar on his left cheek which Ken would be jealous of. Interestingly enough GI Joe had a scar on his right cheek and Mike was the first figure in the series to have a scar on the opposite cheek. Apart from these subtle differences Mike's main claim to fame is his plexi-glass atomic limbs and his flashing, atomic eye. While his left eye is painted blue Mike has a rounded lens in his right eye. On the top of his head he has a see through disc covering a hole which lets light in. The flashing function is activated manually by covering and uncovering the disc on his head. No batteries required, just a good source of light and an active index finger. Mike's best assets are his atomic limbs. He has the pre-muscle body shape identical to that of his fellow A.T. members of the early seventies except for the fact that his right arm and left leg are see-through revealing the mechanical parts inside. This does look quite impressive, even now in the 21st century. Logically it wouldn't make any sense to have only one "atomic" leg is an argument which can be heard from the critic's corner. True, but Mike also has an atomic knee & ankle joint in his right leg as well as an atomic elbow joint in his left arm. Mike's right arm is also used to work his propellor-like method of transport, the rotorcopter. A plastic cog below the elbow can be manually turned which in turn spins his right hand that holds the rotorcopter with Kung-Fu Grip. The Atomic Man starred in his own TV commercial and his own full-page, colour advertisement which appeared in comic books.
MIKE POWER BASIC SET
Packaging in a Hasbro retailer catalogue:
Instructions from the back of the packet:
MIKE POWER ADVERT
