Beastman

SUMMARY:
Beastman, the “savage henchman” was produced in Taiwan, Malaysia, Mexico (Aurimat), Argentina (Top Toys), Venezuela (Rotoplast), Brazil (Estrela), France, Spain, and India (Leo). He is equipped with a spring-loaded waist that swings back with a power punch.

The Spain Beastman is characterized by pale, peach-orange skin tones, soft head with white paint and light blue face highlights, as well as white dots in the eyes. Accessories are peach-pink tones, and the head is very soft.

The initial release in March of 1984 would be the Congost, due to it being released with the Congost logo on the card. The figure, harness, and arm cuffs are unmarked. The whip is marked MADE IN FRANCE, and can be found with and without hilt. The hilt-less variant is much less common.

The second release is very similar to the Congost, except that the figure is marked SPAIN. The accessories are generally the same as the Congost. The Spain-marked Beastman has been found with 4+ different whip variants! The standard black handle with black string, a brown string whip (both with and without hilt), and a rarest of all blue string whip (with hilt). Its unclear if this version might have come in a hilt-less variant. Only time will tell. Its unclear to me if the SPAIN marked also released the hilt-less black string version, but anecdotal evidence suggests it was very possible. 

The following edition saw the move to France molds for the figure and all accessories. This figure, known as the reedition, has the same skin and harness/arm pad colors as the Congost but is marked MADE IN FRANCE on the figure, as well as France on all accessories. Another peculiarity of this figure is that the arms are made of a rubber material instead of plastic, so they are soft and bendy. This figure came with the standard whip marked MADE IN FRANCE. This figure is one of the rarest figures to find complete, due to its very fragile arm pads. While the first two Beastmans are found with black leg bands, the reedition is sometimes found with clear leg bands (but not always). 

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Pale, peach-orange skin tones
2. Very soft head with white paint, and light blue face highlights
3. White dots in the eyes

FIGURE VARIANT 1
CONGOST MARKED: Unmarked
HARNESS & ARM CUFFS MARKED: Unmarked
WHIP VARIANT 1: MADE IN FRANCE (Black String with Hilt)
WHIP VARIANT 2: MADE IN FRANCE (Black String without)

FIGURE VARIANT 2
SPAIN MARKED: SPAIN © Mattel. Inc. 1981
HARNESS & ARM CUFFS MARKED: Unmarked
WHIP VARIANT 1: MADE IN FRANCE (Black String with Hilt)
WHIP VARIANT 2: MADE IN FRANCE (Brown String wth Hilt)
WHIP VARIANT 3: MADE IN FRANCE (Brown String without)
WHIP VARIANT 4: MADE IN FRANCE (Blue String with Hilt)

FIGURE VARIANT 3 (REEDITION)
FRANCE MARKED: © Mattel. Inc. 1981 MADE IN FRANCE
HARNESS MARKED: 5043-2269 FRANCE 1981
ARM CUFFS: 5043-2279 FRANCE / 5043-2249
WHIP VARIANT 1: MADE IN FRANCE (Black String with Hilt)

SPECIAL THANKS
Special thanks to Felip Cabedo Fuster, Javier Marco and Dani Ramon for their help!