Released by LJN in 1984 the "Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom" toyline was shortest lived Indiana Jones action figure toyline. The fact that LJN gained the Indiana Jones license stems partly from the poor sales of the Kenner line and also from the fact that "Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom" was a much darker and violent movie. Kenner decided it would not carry a toyline for such a movie as they only intended to produce toys for children's movies. As a result Kenner passed on the license of creating Indiana Jones toys and it went to LJN instead.

    This line started with the release of a board game by LJN called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Board Game" in 1984. The same year three 5 Inch carded action figures with "Battle-Matic Action" were released. They included Indiana Jones, Mola Ram and the Giant Thuggee. Two more figures were planned of Willie Scott and Short Round however they were never produced. A playset of sorts was also planned but not produced either.

    The reason for the demise of line is not entirely known. It may be attributed to the fact that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" received harsh reactions from viewers and was not as acclaimed or financially successful as its predecessor "Raiders of the Lost Ark". As a result, the sales of the line probably were not very high either and that is why the further planned pieces were not produced as fear of horrible sales probably loomed. Also the figures were not in scale with the previous line so their playability was limited only to the three figures which drastically limited playability over all. All of these reasons are speculation however it is reasonable to assume that at least one of these reasons helped contribute for the end of the line. Overall, the LJN Indiana Jones collection is the diamond in the rough of the Indiana Jones toylines.

Description By: Innis Mason

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