#fightingfuries

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

Hiya Shippers & readers

With the close of June just behind us and a fresh new month before us, I can proudly say we have completed yet another June Long Read. These rounds are usually the length of a full cycle where we gather round and nominate fics over the 45k mark. As covered in our last post, we voted in the very unique A Symptom of Time (series) by fightingfuries.

When I say that we, as a club, loved this fic, I'm not just saying that. The premise, the emotional journey, the comedy. Consider us fully fed and it lead to a very meaty final discussion and submission day

Rating: T (eventually E)

Summary:

"Sure," Shane says easily, like he doesn't believe Ryan for a second. "You're living out the plot of the 1993 Bill Murray vehicle Groundhog Day. Now where does the kissing factor in, exactly?"

"You were all like 'I'm Shane, I don't believe in magic but you should find a tall brunette to kiss.’"

Shane laughs again, helplessly. "I'm the tall brunette? I obviously meant Andie McDowell." He catches himself. "If I had said that, which I didn't, because time loops aren't real."

Or, Ryan is stuck in a time loop and needs true love's kiss to get him out of it. Maybe.

Book Club Thoughts

I do want to at least say that this fic made me feel the way I have felt about fic back when I first joined fandom, what was rekindled in 2020 when the pandemic had so many people in this server writing prolifically but a fic written in this fresh year 2024, it stuck all the points for me in present characterisation, references and especially with the parable of it. I want to read many fics where Shane dirty talks abt the universe or someone else watching them while they fuck. Idk that was really hot to me. I am a particular fan of the scene where Ryan has fully self-actualised and his feelings and love for Shane are so real to him that he's just Zen watching Shane, feeling love for him I really think in these last chapters the author really bloomed in so many ways

Creative Submissions:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT DISCUSSION? CHECK OUT THE FAQ, AND SEND US AN ASK! IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR FIC RECS, PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR READS, NOMINEES AND BOOK CLUB REC LISTS!

[thehauntedinfirmary]

Fic Rec Friday Edition 33

Welcome to Fic Rec Friday!

A Symptom of Time by fightingfuries Complete | 44k words

Ryan is stuck in a time loop and needs true love's kiss to get him out of it. Maybe.

We Have Fun In The Basement by GhostDefiles Complete | 7k words

Shane and Ryan like to have fun in the basement. You're not allowed.

makin' yourself up as you go along bydrunkkenobi Complete | 9k words

Shane steps off-camera and gives her a thumbs up. Ryan squares her shoulders and clears her throat. When Annie gives the signal, she reads from the teleprompter the words that took her over thirty-one years to speak. “Hi. I’m Ryan Bergara and I’m a transgender woman.”

Don't Forget To LycanSubscribe by breathtaken Complete | 24k words

Shane looks up and nearly swallows his tongue as he finds himself face-to-face with Ryan from LycanSubscribe. The YouTube channel that’s consumed most of Shane’s leisure time and pretty much all his waking thoughts for the past two weeks, not to mention a couple of vaguely guilty jerk-off sessions. Ryan’s wearing a white T-shirt with a pair of sunglasses hooked onto the neck and there’s a stray lock of hair curling over his forehead, and he’s even more startlingly attractive in the flesh—which in Shane’s opinion is saying something. He says, “Hi, can I get a—” “Grande iced chai latte,” Shane blurts out, before he can stop himself.

accidentally, the whole thing by Matriaya Complete | 5k words

Shane knows it’s illogical, that there are twenty thousand other explanations for the noise Ryan made and the way the sound of shifting fabric is now issuing out of his phone’s speaker. He sucks in a breath as he tries to parse what to do next, but it evaporates in his lungs when he hears it. His own name. “Shane.”

Want to learn more about The Haunted Infirmary? Check out our pinned post!

[partlyironic]

thanks for the tag @marley-manson this was VERY fun <3

Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!

(links to audios on YouTube below the cut)

tagging: @amrv-5 @billdecker @captainhunnicutt @philgbtqochs @crabsandlobsters @sequencefairy @seefasters @ezrasimp @fightingfuries @waywardmillennial and whoever wants to do it! consider yourself tagged by me <3

(and a bonus. I shuffled past another tune from The Transatlantic Sessions and then felt like it was not in the spirit of the game. but I wasn't sure which one it was. so here is a favourite. a v pretty instrumental from a legend.

[callabang]

Tagged by @barebevil — pick ten nine pictures from your year that you absolutely love and tag ten people to do the same

It was harder to do this than I thought because of my no-face policy. But also fun to go back through the year :)

I tag anyone who wants to do this but ALSO @manybumblebees @fightingfuries @killjoys-makesomenoise @littleconnections @thesuninperigee @chevalric @love-leah @slowestdive @suleskerry

[matchbox-fighting-furies]

Introducing the Fighting Furies action figures!

In 1973 the British toy company Lesney Products & Co. Ltd began planning what would be their first foray into the burgeoning and lucrative market of boy’s posable action figures and accessories. Principally known for their celebrated Matchbox brand of small replica die-cast cars and extensive range of collectable vehicles, their Fighting Furies action figures would also employ the ‘Matchbox’ trademark, launching first in the U.S.A in 1974 and then shortly afterwards in the U.K and Europe the following year. European trade buyers could instantly order directly from stock and the products promptly began to appear in retail stores around the world, including Canada and as far afield as Australia.  Standing at 21.5cms (8.5”) – but occasionally described by Lesney as being 23cms – they lasted for a run of 5 years in total in Europe and the UK, but soon petered out after only 2 in the U.S.

The two primary figures – Captain Peg-leg Pete (aka Captain Peg-leg) and Hook – were generic and exotic 18th century pirates whose aliases were somewhat insensitive epithets of their physical disabilities, but in the world of 1970s toys, amputees seemingly enjoyed positive discrimination for the job of pirate. Clearly either health and safety standards on-board their respective ships weren’t what they should’ve been, or the joys of lawless buccaneering came with their own perils of the job. It’s unknown whether the recipients of these action figures drew any lessons from the apparent physical dangers of being a high seas pirate but presumably the spoils of violently attacking trade route ships and other vessels in order to extricate them of their possessions so as to boost one’s own personal wealth were sufficient to offset the risks and exciting enough for the protagonists to be considered adventure heroes! Their wayward life of fighting, deceitful disguises and testosterone charged camaraderie were clearly sufficient for children to be wilfully shanghaied into “set the mail-sail” escapades! (And, as for the pirates, this was a time before HMRC, or the IRS, so we can turn a sailor’s patched blind eye to their somewhat carefree enterprise for instant wealth creation and general disorderly antics).

          “While cruising in the Caribbean, Peg Leg Pete’s ship ‘The Sea Fury’ is attacked by the rival pirates led by Hook. As the two leaders battle around the deck the other Pirates marvel at the strength and ferocity of the struggle. Finally, both Peg Leg and Hook burst into laughter, grasp each other’s hand and vow to fight together to capture treasure… The fighting Furies are formed!!” [sic]

The full adventure story from the adventure Booklets/Leaflets included with the Peg-leg and Hook Figures.

The figures featured several innovative features, most famously incorporating the igneous ability to throw a knife or repeatedly slash away with a cutlass via releasing the figure’s spring-action right arm or by repeatedly pumping the button discreetly embedded on their side, under the left arm. Impressively this core feature happily continues to perform in virtually all vintage “played-with” examples and undoubtedly justifies their assertion for fighting furiously. The products also put heavy emphasis upon promoting their design for “Action-Flex” bodies, which allowed for impressively agile poses – although they were susceptible to eventual loosening after heavy use – and the Lesney company had duly applied for patent protection. Furthermore, the Peg-Leg figure imaginatively incorporated into his (bottom of the range) prosthetic leg a “secret” map tightly rolled and hidden inside, which could be removed by unplugging the leg’s stopper! This now lovingly renowned feature typically ensured that every map was destined to be lost as it was notoriously difficult to return once unrolled. (Although the idea was always an ill-considered precaution whenever peg-legged pirates went for a paddle).

Adorned in period style dress the figures were clearly inspired by caricatures established by Hollywood’s portrayals of historic swashbuckling antics and by the Boys Adventure literature of a previous era, but historic sea-fairing adventures, such as those featuring Jason and his Argonauts, continued to be popular in cinemas throughout much of the 1970s. Curiously, Peg-Leg in particular appears to be a cultural hybrid mixing the physical icons of clichéd European pirate folklore with the handsome persona of a ‘leading man’, while both seemingly representing exotic origins and not the stylised Cornish or British influences which might have been expected for pirates produced by a British company. Peg-Leg’s enigma was suitably ambiguous, and the designs sought to be internationally relatable with universal market appeal while clearly careful to avoid any inadvertent copyright conflicts with facets and appearances identifiable as any famous onscreen properties.

Going by the adventures, which were provided throughout the pair’s accessory packs, it’s clear that the handsome Peg-leg, with his thick slick locks of Hollywood hair (and, as were the rules of the time, his more European appearance) was the leading man, with Hook occupying the traditional and period device of the faithful sidekick established by, among others, Batman and Robin, the Lone Ranger and Tonto (in an ill thought through contradiction to his ‘Lone’ claim), the Green Hornet and Kato and even Robinson and his companion Friday. Regular references throughout the product line to the Spanish Main, pinpoint their adventures to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and indirectly indicates that Captain Peg-leg, with his dark features and skin tone, might have been the only Spaniard named ‘Pete’?

The Pirate figures and their default outfits:

Described as “savage” in official Matchbox literature, perhaps disconcertingly they were both weaponised with their own cutlass and a hand dagger. Being avid sword fighters, it was easy to press their buttons: literally! Tucked away on their side, under their left arm, was the all-important button which raised and released their spring-action right arm for “Fantastic press action sword fighting!” This could also be deployed manually for “Fabulous knife throwing action”; helpfully speeding up the process of losing these little accessories.

While the typical loss of the hidden map from the Peg-leg figure is notorious and it rarely survives in situ, many vintage “played with” examples do at least manage to retain the leg’s end plug (if not the figure’s small knife) but less well recognised is the fact that every loose and played with example of both Hook and Peg-leg will inevitably no longer be sporting their tiny “gold” plastic ring (unduly added to the independent little finger of their sword fighting hand). These usually forgotten and overlooked micro-accessories – which weren’t transparent, or skin toned, but were golden yellow with a bulge on the outer side and representative of the typical bling such characters would wear - are only ever to be found on mint boxed examples and even then, they may already have fallen off and are languishing somewhere within the packaging. Ironically however, you just might be forgiven for suspecting that their primary purpose was to ensure that the cutlass remained securely held in the figure’s hand while still displayed in the product’s corner window packaging (and for rapid sword fights), as they were fitted to the finger after the sabre and its hand guard were embedded into and over the toy’s grasp, helping to keep it in place.

Both figures were kitted out in colourful period piece attire, although which period exactly is anyone’s guess, but a loose placement might point to the late 18th century. Their default outfits are satisfyingly vague enough for their mystique to allow imaginations to run unhindered and they generally rustle up the spirit of non-specific exotic south seas tailoring. Hook sports his own pair of striped European style socks and colonial style buckle shoes while Peg-leg could seemingly afford more luxurious knee length swashbuckling boots – only without any buckles - as he only needed the one for his left foot. Both sport natty gold braid waistcoats – although Peg-leg insists upon wearing an undershirt as he’s the leader and is clearly less barbarous - and presumably in the interests of keeping in touch with their more fashion-conscious sensibilities both wear bewilderingly bonkers long and flowing silk like sashes around their midriffs of bright yellow and a vivid orange. Owing more to the 1970s, these cost-effective adornments added a flourish to their appearance although they look too synthetic or invented when compared to their optional accessorised outfits which were sold separately.

The figures themselves were exceptionally well designed, articulated and unusually poseable with sharply detailed sculpting in the faces; although Hook can appear half asleep depending upon his eyeliner paint job and appears to be perpetually staring at your shoes. Such was the effort, originality and pride taken in these new action figure designs the product packaging boasted Patent Pending status and the ‘Pat. Pend.’ logo was prominently shown.

Captain Hook evidently paid pleasing and careful attention to his appearance, sporting a huge purple chest tattoo and presumably regularly spending hours carefully shaving his scalp and leaving only one rigorous side-of-the-head patch to grow lusciously long? And after grooming his moustache he seems to have still found time to apply some very effecting eye mascara; careful to look his best for any pirating escapades. (This would also save time if heading straight out after work on a Friday). Hook’s enigma is aided by a general complexion indicating the character’s potential east Asian origin – making him the only one of the team destined to convincingly sport the optional Kungfu Warrior outfit - while his default garbs allude to western Asia; all happily helping to underpin his ‘of no fixed abode’ elusiveness.

Although seemingly planned alongside the original two pirate figures, children would have to wait until 1976 for the additional action figure of The Ghost of Cap’n Kidd to join the range along with his inventive harnessing of the luminous glow-in-the-dark fascination bestowed upon all children of the 1970s. No doubt in clear support of unadulterated spookiness Cap’n Kidd’s ghost figure would actually glow in the dark, recreating the only spectre of ghostly goings-on acceptable to young minds and his loose, semi-transparent, pale remnants of perished clothing would work harmoniously with his underlying skeleton as it glowed. Physically the figure followed the same established build as the others but was made entirely in a light lime-green coloured plastic with the all-important luminous paint providing his USP ingeniously and selectively applied to the body and face in stripes and blobs to rather convincingly create the appearance of a glowing skeleton after lights-out! He had the same sword slashing “action arm” but his outfit and accessories were decidedly minimal with only a weatherworn skimpy shirt and frayed pants, a hat and one miserly sword. Even his boots had been spirited away; although his tricornered hat and cutlass did glow-in-the-dark in their own right.  

Many will report that there were only ever three official figures formally created for the Fighting Furies Pirate line, but wait, was there a fourth!? There is also the Falcon bird of prey figure included in the Hooded Falcon Adventure pack, but regrettably it wasn’t equipped with the same press-button sword fighting action.

*** Find out more about the Fighting Furies Adventure packs or checkout all 9 Fighting Furies posts! ***

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

O' blessed shippers & Readers

We are here again and it's summer again and as I mentioned in our last, it is June which of course means, we are doing our annual Long Read. It's where we nominate our favourite fics over the 45k word count and we spend three exciting weeks reading through a story that's just a little bit longer than usual. For this month, we chose A Symptom of Time with its sequel Like a Little Clock by fightingfuries and for the first week we're easing our way in reading just chapters 1 & 2.

So far we're all a mess at what we all agree is some stellar character work and some hilariously on point dialogue jogging us through the experience of the time loop trope and we're excited to get to chapters 3&4 this week because there's nothing we love more than a trope that's been executed with that special shyan panache

Rating: T(eventually E)

Summary:

"Sure," Shane says easily, like he doesn't believe Ryan for a second. "You're living out the plot of the 1993 Bill Murray vehicle Groundhog Day. Now where does the kissing factor in, exactly?"

"You were all like 'I'm Shane, I don't believe in magic but you should find a tall brunette to kiss.’"

Shane laughs again, helplessly. "I'm the tall brunette? I obviously meant Andie McDowell." He catches himself. "If I had said that, which I didn't, because time loops aren't real."

Or, Ryan is stuck in a time loop and needs true love's kiss to get him out of it. Maybe.

Book Club Thoughts

the author has quotes in the beginning of the chapters and ...I love it because at first you think "oh some random words" and then it's more than random words, which gives rereading value of this fic 10000500%

I love how much angst [Ryan] has over shane being so annoying about believing him

can we talk about that? How this author tapped into something about shane and ryan that we are all unable to look at for too long ...in that they are Mortifying

i'm so curious about what's next, are they just going to keep alternating time loops? progressing one at the time but never on the same page until the end?

I didn't expect to get feelings about Shane admitting that he's in one and it's probably not the first time he has to say it and the way it's written here is masterful

when their kiss happened and got Ryan out of his loop I immediately predicted that Shane would be stuck in a loop and y'all, I was giggling and kicking my feet when that prediction rang true

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT DISCUSSION? CHECK OUT THE FAQ, AND SEND US AN ASK! IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR FIC RECS, PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR READS, NOMINEES AND BOOK CLUB REC LISTS!

[thehauntedinfirmary]

Fic Rec Friday Edition 28

Welcome to Fic Rec Friday! With this series, we're aiming to make a contribution to fic reading and engagement within the Shyan fandom by publishing a periodic recs list containing fics selected by our members. So sit back with a tasty beverage of your choice and welcome in the weekend with this week's selection - and feel free to like and reblog this post to spread the word!

L'appel du Vide by orphan_account Complete | 6k words

Eldritch Abomination Ryan wants to try something.

eyes of doe & thighs of stallion by Anonymous Complete | 8k words

Ryan has never been called "pretty" before.

A Symptom of Time by fightingfuries WIP | 29k words

Ryan is stuck in a time loop and needs true love's kiss to get him out of it. Maybe.

With A Little Help From Our Friends by quackers Complete | 4k words

Everyone thinks they know Ryan and Shane's secret. Everyone. They might be wrong.

Want to learn more about The Haunted Infirmary? Check out our pinned post!

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

Shippers & readers!

We've hit the halfway point in our June Long Read and believe me when I say, all of us were hard pressed to not read the rest of it one sitting! This week, we did some screaming as we read chapters 3 and 4 of A Symptom of Time by fightingfuries

As the plot continues to unfold and the mechanics of the time loop requires a lot of compromise, the book club was devastated and excited by the reveal at the end of chapter 4

Rating: T (E eventually)

Summary:

"Sure," Shane says easily, like he doesn't believe Ryan for a second. "You're living out the plot of the 1993 Bill Murray vehicle Groundhog Day. Now where does the kissing factor in, exactly?"

"You were all like 'I'm Shane, I don't believe in magic but you should find a tall brunette to kiss.’"

Shane laughs again, helplessly. "I'm the tall brunette? I obviously meant Andie McDowell." He catches himself. "If I had said that, which I didn't, because time loops aren't real."

Or, Ryan is stuck in a time loop and needs true love's kiss to get him out of it. Maybe.

Book Club Thoughts

I kept going back and re-reading [chapter 4] because it makes me so sad and it makes every time their kisses went a little further hurt all the more Even though this story is told from Ryan’s point of view, I just love how the writer wrote Shane because I feel like I understood all of his motives and thoughts without having to read from his pov Like you know people often alude to them ghost hunting in AU's or whatever but this is more connected. It kind of makes me think of that "Ryan pictured shane at his wedding because they spend so much time together" like he's exploring new things and Shane is there and it's like ghost hunting but not. I’ve been having a blast trying to predict which way the story is going to go; I love how idiotic they’re being about this whole time loop business and the fact that it takes Steven calling Ryan out on it for him to actually try to start thinking about solving it another thing I wrote a note down for are the philosophical implications of the lottery being "random". first, this of course is used to demonstrate that shane has tested it. but second, how does that work? is everything else not random? are our choices so set in stone by the choices we made before, and so somehow only these numbers are random every day? is there anything else that is truly random? I loved the way that the passage of time was shown via the shows that they were working on; it was a very immersive aspect because I feel like this is what they would be relying on, using them as markers when time is nebulous.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT DISCUSSION? CHECK OUT THE FAQ, AND SEND US AN ASK! IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR FIC RECS, PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR READS, NOMINEES AND BOOK CLUB REC LISTS!

[callabang]

have you ever gotten one of your fics bound? or have any recs for where to get them done?:)

i actually DO have one of my fics bound (pics below the cut), it was a gift from my dear friend @fightingfuries !! but i'm not sure where you'd go if you wanted to commission someone to do it, my apologies

[matchbox-fighting-furies]

The Matchbox Fighting Furies Adventures!

Each Fighting Furies action figure and their six original accessory adventure packs all included their own adventure “booklet” (which could be better described as a leaflet) in order to fire the imagination of the little hands and minds they were intended for.

The adventures

A decade before the Masters of the Universe toy range had the celebrated idea to create their own character creations supported directly by their own comics (and as supplied with each figure), Matchbox had already been dreaming up adventures to illustrate with each of their own unique characters and even portrayed them – in similar fashion to the Lone Ranger Rides Again toy line – in comic strip form which were run as full-page advertisements in boys comics.

Not only were the figures themselves supplied with their own backstories, but the separately sold packs of outfits and accessories were also served with their own episodic adventure tales, ingeniously incorporating the very outfits and paraphernalia each story employed and duly describing the sets as ‘Fighting Furies Adventure Packs’.

In one such action adventure – the ‘Spanish Main’ – the accompanying story retells the account of how our two likely lads opportunistically spy the crew of a Spanish shipwreck hauling its cargo onto ­the beach of the ‘Fighting Furies island’ (presumably being where the Furies spent their days off).  Accompanying illustrations show Hook and Peg-leg relishing the fun of dressing-up in a full Spanish uniform disguise and cheerily waving at an unsuspecting Spaniard as they approach; upon which Peg-leg energetically shoots the unsuspecting guard at arguably un-sportingly point-blank range (seemingly in the face and using a pistol omitted from the actual disguise pack) to successfully commandeer a wooden chest full of the finest silverwear booty! Thankfully, as was typically the case with all their capers, we’re spared any major moral concerns as its clear the military convoy are not victimless and continue their own habit of seeking ill-gotten plunders and the story recasts our seafaring rouges as anti-establishment figures resisting boorish authoritarianism. But Peg-leg, ever the master of subtle body language, shows his dominance within the team by brazenly standing upon and pinning down their newly acquired wealth, thus subliminally claiming primary ownership (of which he chooses to share), as the duo celebrate. The more modest Hook meanwhile demonstrates restraint and how well their working relationship is blossoming by not-so-much as mentioning that Pete is damaging the goods and whether or not he would mind not resting his big filthy wooden stump inside their treasure chest full of precious tableware?

In other stories, such as the mysterious “Hooded Falcon” the alleged “adventure” is sparse and simply asks several questions, inviting us to fill in the gaps and decide the details.

“The Fighting Furies cross to the Barbary Coast and wait out to sea for well-laden merchant ships to leave their ports. How do they know which ships have the best plunder? Who is the Mysterious, enigmatic figure, who is seen everywhere with a Falcon on his wrist and known only as the ‘Hooded Falcon’? Who is sending messages to the ‘Fighting Furies’ ship, via the well-trained bird? Peg-Leg or Hook?... Or both?”

The Hooded Falcon Adventure.

All that said, these glorious but brief tales are genius outlines – sidestepping the absence of any movie, TV or comic book tie-in – beautifully designed for children to re-enact and embellish with their own little Peg-leg and Hook effigies. But with all the reckless abandon encouraged by their Adventure sagas and Disguise packs, the chronicles and descriptions potentially employ two interpretations for the products. Not only can our debonair heroes readily evade detection with their deceitful but brave use of playing dress-up, but the action figure toys themselves might also be disguised by switching identity and becoming a wholly different character, such as a Spanish Officer, a Japanese Pirate leader or by adopting the rather dapper disguise kit for Captain Blood.

The Capt. Blood Adventure set can be interpreted either way as a decidedly problematic plan is retold within its own “adventure booklet”, when Peg-leg and Hook both simultaneously disguise themselves as Captain Blood in order to pilfer the keys required to get their hands on Blood’s maps which in turn pinpoint his buried loot. Blood, who’s main pastime was apparently terrorising the island of Haiti, seems particularly irked by the exploits of our happy-go-lucky team and with seemingly little regard for a fair trial he keeps things simple by exercising his pursuit of their “destruction”. This refreshingly uncomplicated plan instantly formalised his self-proclaimed status as the Furies “sworn enemy”.

It’s a shame Matchbox never produced a Captain Blood figure or maybe some generic journeyman figures – perhaps representing British Redcoats – for the boys to tackle en-masse; instead of just fighting spookily familiar looking characters robed in different frocks or apparently just endlessly duelling with each other? Two years into their reign – one year in Europe - our pirate duo were eventually joined by a third figure in 1976 to share their rough seas adventures but unfortunately for them he wasn’t a new drinking buddy or a nemesis they could easily enjoy running through with cold steel as he wasn’t of this world, being nonother than the Ghost of Captain Kidd! Presumably inspired by the folklores and legends of ghost ships, the Fighting Furies toy line was decades ahead of a certain Hollywood movie franchise (starring Mr Johnny Depp) and was a fictional world happy to ignore the sage advice about there being too many Captains. (Or was that Chiefs?)

However, the interpretation of what constitutes a ghost is seemingly a bit befuddled in the world of Matchbox figures as according to the associated literature and comic story strip advertisements, when returning to Jamaica’s Port Royal Kidd’s ship was mutinied and he was duly murdered, where eventually his body would be abandoned on a tropical island leaving the sun to bleach the bare bones of his rotting corpse. This physical skeleton, and what remained of his clothing, then rises as Captain Kidd’s Ghost?! But considering the brutal murder by his crew, the theft of his ship and the disregard for his mortal remains, Kidd’s ghost rather magnanimously is only hellbent on revenge via his chosen technique of “swordplay”. This is pretty reasonable of him and arguably a proportionate response. Its left to us to assume, on seeing further promotional material for the products, that he also indulges in being a massive nuisance and being generally disagreeable to the totally unimplicated Captain Peg-leg and Hook while they’re no-doubt just trying to go about their daily business. According to the further detail included with the figure, after striking a reef his ship sank along with his coffin which is retrieved by the survivors, intent on claiming an unspecified reward, and brought ashore. Upon opening it his bones absorb the sun’s rays! Then “at midnight, re-energised, his Ghost with fantastic swordplay takes a terrible revenge”.  

               Full page Ghost of Cap’n Kidd advertisement circa 1976.

Alas, no such imaginings accompanied the more subdued enthusiasm of the two blister-card Disguise Packs (containing two additional costumes) released in 1976 and we can only draw inspiration from their names: Buccaneer Captain and Spanish Officer.

(More adventure details for the 1976 Western series of Fighting Furies available in a separate post).