STAR Team: Zem 21

In 1978, Ideal introduced the STAR Team. Zem 21 and Zeroid against the Knight of Darkness.

Of course the figures were basically based on Star Wars. Zem 21 being like C3PO, Zeroid being
like R2D2 and the Knight of Darkness being like Darth Vader. I could see it, I was a freshman in
high school at the time.

My younger brother had these figures, I was out of getting figures at that time. He had all three.
His first version of Zem 21 suffered a broken right elbow, I remember fixing it with thick wire,
which we call coat hanger wire because my fathers shirts came back from the cleaners on hangers
with that type of wire. He later got another Zem 21 figure. I remember the Zeroid had batteries
and a switch would make him light up.

Some years ago he decided to give me his toys, after learning I was into collecting. Only Zem 21
remained of the three.



The body seems to be made of white plastic with a chrome covering. Which has rubbed off with
play. His back is labeled as Ideal 1977.



His head and kneck are colored green.



After some time his lower half has become a bit loose, his left foot likes to spin easily. Seems
his lower half is strung with a kind of rubber band.

If interested, this link on Plaid Stallions, a site about '70's toys, shows the complete line.

https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/1978-ideal-star-team-catalog/

There is a member here who has used the arms/hands of the Knight of Darkness on some
figures.

Great figure and a good survivor! The Knight of Darkness and Zem 21 had the same body as Ideal’s Captain action, except molded in black and white plastic, respectively. These bodies were designed by the same team as the Marx buddy Charlie figure, and were similar in function, but very different in parts to avoid a lawsuit from Hasbro. The arm joints are nearly identical, so I’ve used Knight of Darkness firearms and hands to make a few of my Buddy Charlie’s wear black gloves for cold weather operations.



-Nate

Some pics of one of the Knight of Darkness limb donors:



Charlie testing out his new arms:




-Nate

Cool figures guys!

Fascinating figures! I have absolutely zero recollection of Zem 21 or Knight of Darkness figures, which is odd considering the era. Like TNShooter, I was out of the action figure collecting phase of my youth at that time, but I usually had a general idea of what was happening in the toy world. This line completely evaded my pop cultural radar.

Ah yes, it was Nate who used KoD parts. I'm sorry I didn't remember it was you Nate.

Dave, I only knew about them because my brother had them. I don't think the toy line
lasted very long. It was basically a copy of Star Wars characters. I think George Lucas
tried to sue, but so much of the line was made of parts from previous toys Ideal made before SW that
he didn't win. Anyways that's what it says on the Plaid Stallions site.

I happened to notice he seemed a little small while taking the photos, so I measured him.
He is about 25.5 cm (10 inches) tall. A little shorter than Joe or Action Man.

TNshooter wrote:

Ah yes, it was Nate who used KoD parts. I'm sorry I didn't remember it was you Nate.

Dave, I only knew about them because my brother had them. I don't think the toy line
lasted very long. It was basically a copy of Star Wars characters. I think George Lucas
tried to sue, but so much of the line was made of parts from previous toys Ideal made before SW that
he didn't win. Anyways that's what it says on the Plaid Stallions site.

I happened to notice he seemed a little small while taking the photos, so I measured him.
He is about 25.5 cm (10 inches) tall. A little shorter than Joe or Action Man.

You’re right, he quite a bit shorter! It looks like Ideal used the Captain Action body for the Knight of Darkness; and the Action Boy body for Zem 21.





-Nate

I’m liking the look of Zem 21 head sculpt.