GI Joes, Maggi cars, Suprise Pandas and now, a Saffola Man. A brief history of India's freebie toys

Saffola, a company that is mostly known for selling cooking oil, had also ventured into the instant noodle space with their O-shaped oats noodles that are (obviously) called “Oodles”. As a promotional item to up their Oodles sales, the brand has resorted to selling an action figure that comes free with a 4-in-1 packet. 

While the figurine has not been christened yet, it is being sold with additional paraphernalia in a “Superhero Pack” as seen in an Instagram post by curio collecting Instagram account Collectibles of India. Tagging Saffola in the post, the account’s admin went on to write in the caption, “Excited to see a new superhero from India. Hope they spin off storylines around him through comic books and animated shows...possibly?”

It’s an interesting thought as the superhero sports a red-and-yellow colour scheme reminiscent of The Flash or even a domestic superhero like Shaktimaan. With a yellow “O” logo branded on his chest, he also wears a yellow cape and carries a yellow hammer as his weapon of choice. Given it’s a freebie, one cannot expect the most intricate detailing but its overall sculpting is bound to remind collectors (and millennials) of the vintage action figures of the 1990s and early 2000s. 

The 1990s: GI Joes of Complan, Pepsodent, and Calcium Sandoz

There is a GI Joe-like aesthetic to the Saffola hero’s face. And while the GI Joe toy soldiers have dominated American and global markets since 1964 (even spawning three live-action Hollywood movies and numerous animated series), several Indian children would have been introduced to the toy line of the miniature soldiers and agents through freebies with Pepsodent toothpaste and Calcium Sandoz tablets. Free GI Joes were the advertising norm for these two products during the 2000s. 

True to the standard GI Joe packaging, these free action figures also came with their own weapons and other equipment. For instance, the GI Joe called Desert Scorpion came free along with a gun and an actual scorpion toy! Given that they were free, they weren’t the most detailed GI Joes but had enough colour-detailing and bendability to stand out from other free action figurines. In today’s time, these rarities can be sold at decent prices for collectors (especially if the GI Joe is intact and with the weapons). 

Forgotten Figures, a blog dedicated to rare GI Joes, listed out all the Calcium Sandoz figurines and mentions, 

Much earlier than these GI Joes, even the milk powder brand Complan had its own range of “Complan Commandos” that retained most of the physical details and colours of the older 70s and 80s-era GI Joes. 

Issued by the Indian company Funskool (that distributes products by leading toy companies like GI Joe creator Hasbro), the six Complan Commandos were just 5 repainted GI Joe figurines that were rebranded for Complan’s own “toy universe”. Striker, Rocker, Cross Country, Rednok and Canary Ann might not look like the most aesthetically-pleasing Joes but today, they are extremely rare collectibles. 

The 2000s: Cricket Mini-Figures of Pepsodent

Unlike the Complan Commandos and the Calcium Sandoz GI Joes, the Pepsodent GI Joes benefited from less flashy colours and a slightly more realistic human appearance. But it’s not just the GI Joes; Pepsodent succeeded at building a beloved brand of collectibles even from an Indian perspective. These were the mini-figurines of Indian cricketers of that era. 

From Sourav Ganguly to Anil Kumble, Pepsodent replicated the likenesses of these players for adorable caricatures of figurines. While they looked like miniature bobbleheads with oversized heads and smaller bodies, the Pepsodent cricket figures were not bendable. Yet they made for great collectors items, doubling as time capsules for Indian cricket aficionados.

Pepsodent went on to release a few more freebies such as an accurately designed light-cycle from the 2010 Disney film Tron: Legacy but the GI Joe and cricket figures-era is much more beloved. 

1990s-2000s: Hot Wheels and Maggi 

In a pre-globalisation India, when global toy giants like Mattel and LEGO could not sell their products freely and a McDonalds’ Happy Meal was unheard of, freebies were a blessing for the kids of that vintage era. Through Indian distributors, a few cult classic franchises like He-Man could still maintain a limited presence in the Indian toy market. But when it came to American classics like the Hot Wheels cars and the GI Joes, freebies with grocery shop items were the solution. 

A product of the Swiss multinational Nestle, Maggi was introduced in India in 1982 and soon became synonymous with instant noodles in the country. While Maggi continues to be a staple in Indian households, only the 90s-era kids would remember the time when Maggi actually offered free Hot Wheels!

Yes, the line of Mattel’s Hot Wheels cars known as Second Wind were sold in India along with packets of Maggi. While most of the cars were in white, some rare editions in blue are also held in high value by Indian collectors. The underside of the car would reveal Mattel’s copyright along with a date of 1975. 

That is because even though these cars were sold in India in the 90s, the Second Wind cars were introduced in American markets in the 70s as an attempt to create a sleek car with a stretched and triple-pointed hood similar to the Mach 5 in the popular anime series Speed Racer. Initially, Speed Racer refused to sell its rights to Hot Wheels, prompting Mattel to come up with their own range called Second Wind. By 2008, with The Matrix directors The Wachowskis adapting Speed Racer for Hollywood, Mattel finally secured the rights for designing an authentic Mach 5. 

However, much before the Speed Racer movie, a lucky bunch of 90s kids in India would have laid their hands on pop culture history while slurping on their Maggi noodles. In fact, the Maggi freebies also featured the noodles’ logo on the hood!

That is not all. The early 1990s also introduced 6 other Hot Wheels cars as a part of the Maggi Wheelies line. Yet again, the Instagram curator Collectibles of India comes to aid as the account features one of these Wheelies, a vintage black-coloured “Nestreeter”. 

The post’s caption reads that such cars “could be acquired by redeeming 5 empty packets of Maggi and paying an additional amount of Rs.5”. The Hot Wheels era eventually gave way to the early 2000s when the noodles came with a free red-and-yellow car. The plastic model looked more like the skeleton of a car and obviously was no Hot Wheels, but it still was an amusing blast from the past regardless. 

The 2010s: Gems Surprise Pandas

While Maggi has curbed down on the freebies, other foreign but “Indianised” brands have had successful toy runs. British confectionery giant Cadbury is a major example that created a line of Gems Surprise Pandas in the 2010s.

These were complimentary gifts for buying a packet of Gems, Cadbury’s line of multi-coloured pill-sized chocolates. Each of these Pandas wore a getup specific to a particular profession. So, one could come across a Doctor Panda or a Magician Panda or even a Pirate Panda! 

Following the Kinder Joy approach, Gems sold these Pandas in “Surprise Balls”. The ball would contain a packet of Gems along with one of these Pandas. Collecting them all like Pokemon became a craze for a time as was even evident in Gems' hilarious advertising.

One prominent example was an ad that found two old men intensely discussing their Panda collection and bargaining over the toys. The ad campaign was centred around the apt motto, "Raho Umarless (Stay Ageless)". 

Even though Gems has also had some well-received free toys such as four aliens from Ben 10 and several superheroes from the Justice League, Surprise Panda was obviously their most creative and diverse line of toys. 

The 2000s were an interesting era indeed, with globalisation introducing more companies and retail chains in the country. Happy Meals gained traction in Tier-1 cities. Pokemon tazzos and 3D cards became more diverse with Cheetos gaining the monopoly over them. Even Kissan’s ketchup bottles included free Pokemon finger toys (which could be literally worn on a finger). Then, of course, Crax’s entry in the chips market added to the randomness of free toys (with fake vampire teeth, a toy fighter jet, and a skull ring being some of the examples from the 2010s). 

Now, in an era when even Indian McDonalds is going down a cheaper route of adding children’s books in their Happy Meal instead of more detailed and vibrant action figures, it is understandable that no companies would afford a figurine that is larger in size than a Gems Surprise Panda! In this sense, the Oodles superhero might be an exception for Indian metropolitan kids who are growing up with arguably overpriced Kinder Joys. 

Freebies might not carry the same level of artistic detail and they might not amuse kids anymore but with Saffola Oodles’s superhero pack, one is bound to remember the vaguely-documented history of Indian freebies.