Hasbro introduced toy stores to the future of law enforcement in 1988 with their inventive new toy line, C.O.P.S. (Central Organization of Police Specialists) N’ Crooks. These toys came out only a year after Robocop came out in theaters and awakened a thirst for robotic law enforcement. With both adults and children looking for more cyberized excitement, Hasbro was happy to introduce this set of futuristic crimefighters.
The C.O.P.S. was an advanced crime-fighting unit formed to tackle the looming threat of Big Boss and his goons, otherwise known as the Crooks. Their cybernetically-enhanced bodies and tools allowed Hasbro to imagine many new unique accessories and gimmicks. So, this team was fully equipped to take down the dastardly Crooks before they robbed the city blind.
Each of these action figures stood around 6” tall. While every action figure came with at least one weapon accessory, some had a small arsenal. While the original packaging only had the COPS side of the logo, later figures gained the full Cops N’ Crooks logo. Then, the back of each figure featured a small file card that gave basic histories of the characters.
Meanwhile, these toys had a small secret that would make them stand out. To help create the feel of a shoot-out between Cops and Crooks, Hasbro included caps that would make popping noises. Each action figure and vehicle included a roll of these caps.
The C.O.P.S. N’ Crooks toy line lasted for two series with both action figures and vehicles released to stores. In the first series, there were several action figures for the C.O.P.S. side: Barricade, Bullet-Proof, Highway, Longarm, Officer Bowser with Blitz, Sgt. Mace, and Sundown. Hasbro also produced multiple Crooks toys for the first series. These action figures included Berserko, Big Boss, Buttons McBoomboom, Dr. Badvibes, and Rock Krusher.
Later, Hasbro returned to release even more action figures in the 2nd series. The C.O.P.S. side of the line introduced A.P.E.S., Airwave, Checkpoint, Inferno, Nightstick, Powder Keg, and Taser. Meanwhile, the Crooks created for the second series were Bullit, Hyena, Koo Koo, Louie the Plumber, and Nightmare.
The toy line also featured many different vehicles, with some including extra figures. The stand-alone vehicles were the Bluestreak Cops Cycle, Dragster, Pursuit Jet, and Roadster. As for the vehicles that came with extra figures, there were the A.T.A.C. with Heavyweight, Air Raid with Bullseye, Air Speeder with Jail Bird, Highway Interceptor with Roadblock, and the Ironsides with Hardtop.
Even though this toy line gained enough traction to make it to a second series, it quickly faded out afterward. Likewise, the cartoon series that was produced to help promote these toys also lasted for only a short time.
Unlike many of their previous cartoon ventures, Hasbro decided to work with DiC Entertainment to help advertise the toys. The C.O.P.S. was first developed by MGA before Hasbro picked up the toy license. So, Hasbro had little involvement in the creation of the cartoon series.
The series began airing on September 19, 1988. It centered around the FBI officer, Baldwin P. “Bulletproof” Vess, who was determined to take down the vile Big Boss and his gang. After he barely survived a devastating car crash, Bulletproof was given a cybernetic, bulletproof torso. In addition to saving his life, this new torso helped him regain his full mobility.
Despite his cybernetically-enhanced body, Bulletproof realized that he could not tackle Big Boss and his Crooks alone. So, he decided to form an expert crime-fighting team filled with the most skilled and experienced law enforces from across the nation.
The C.O.P.S. unit became filled with members from multiple cities and states, like Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Texas. Its members included P.J. “Longarm” O’Malley, Donny “Hardtop” Brooks, David E. “Highway” Harlson, Colg “Mace” Howards, Stan “Barricade” Hyde, and Tina “Mainframe” Cassidy. There was also Walker “Sundown” Calhoun, Suzie “Mirage” Young, and Hugh S. “Bullseye” Forward. Finally, there was Rex “Bowser” Pointer who never fought crime without the assistance of his dog, Blitz.
This time was fully primed to fight the greatest criminal that came out of Empire City, Brandon “Big Boss” Babel. Despite his criminal enterprise, Big Boss posed as a regular businessman when he was in the public eye. Once he was in the criminal element, he commanded the band of Crooks that included Berserko, Rock Krusher, Ms. Demeanor, Turbo Tu-tone, and Doctor Badvibes. Many more criminals answered to Big Boss, such as Buttons McBoomboom. Otherwise, the C.O.P.S. thwarted various small-time crooks and brought them to justice.
The series had two different catchphrases that would often pop up in each episode. When the C.O.P.S. set out to tackle crime, they cried out “It’s crime fighting time!” Meanwhile, the Crooks had a motto of their own: “Crime’s a-wasting!” So, there was little question about which side the characters were on.
The C.O.P.S. cartoon series aired for one season on CBS’s Saturday morning programming in 1988. From September until December, DiC released 65 episodes filled with crime-fighting excitement. At the end of these episodes were short PSA segments called “C.O.P.S. for Kids”, which helped teach safety tips. Even though most were animated, some of these segments featured real law officers.
Despite the short original run of the series, C.O.P.S. returned to television in 1993, this time with a new name: “Cyber Cops”. Not long after the carton series completed its original run, the reality tv show, COPS, began airing. So, it needed a name change to avoid confusion. It later returned to television with its original name when reruns hit USA Network in 1995.
Aside from the cartoon series, the exploits of the C.O.P.S. were presented by DC in a 15-issue comic series. Like the cartoon series, the comics were published in 1988. These comics gave some additional insights into the characters and setting.
For decades, it seemed that the C.O.P.S. would never reemerge. However, Fresh Monkey Fiction has recently released a brand new series of toys in 2023. Unlike the original action figures, these new toys are only 1.25” tall PVC figures. The entire set features only a handful of characters: Bulletproof, Big Boss, Buttons McBoomboom, Longarm, and Dr. Badvibes. There are also three different variants of the set: full-color, pink, and green.
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