Forgotten Heroes 2026

The World’s first superhero, a Forgotten Heroes 10th Anniversary episode 

"Set free by the Teen Angels from his prehistoric block of glacier ice, comes the world's first superhero, Captain Caveman!  Now the constant companion to the Teen Angels, Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy in their hilarious, and sometimes scary mystery missions. Get ready for Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels!"

A chance encounter at Salute 53 with Jeremy Winstanley Esq. saw me receive an elegant Forgotten Heroes badge, a ten year anniversary special edition no less, and having accepted such a prestigious gift it seemed beholden unto me to take part in this year’s event. Although not blogging as such at the moment, I miss terribly the interaction with fellow chums and what better way to reconnect with some of them than to take part in an event that champions the camaraderie of a group of like-minded individuals. 

Those regular readers of this most humble of web logs will be familiar with the format for this event, but for any new readers* the idea is that during the month of June, you must create a figure of a character who has been unfairly overlooked by the companies who produce miniatures.  It can be any character at any scale, but the first post should provide an illustration of the character, as a point of reference. 

Those regular readers of this most humble of web logs will be familiar with the format for this event, but for any new readers* the idea is that during the month of June, you must create a figure of a character who has been unfairly overlooked by the companies who produce miniatures.  It can be any character at any scale, but the first post should provide an illustration of the character, as a point of reference. 

*other than the nefarious Russian SpamBots, yes I know you’re lurking out there!

The difficulty with any enterprise such as this is knowing where to start.  As soon as I waved goodbye to Jez, my mind started racing at the thought of possible heroes to rediscover, but it wasn’t until I stumbled across Crooked Dice’s 7TV game ‘The Eighth Wonder’ that a tangible thread of an idea presented itself to me.  I had always had an inkling to do something involving those ‘meddling kids’ and had even bought some miniatures, once upon a while a go, but never really explored it further.  Could there be another way to tap into the nostalgia of young Master Awdry’s childhood?

At the end of what had been a good visit to Salute 53, tied and exhausted and safely aboard the train home to the South Coast, my thoughts returned to the idea of a forgotten hero from my childhood.  Captain Pugwash sailed past briefly as did the idea of Wombles recycled from pieces of leftover sprue.  All had their merit, but not quite hitting the mark, but suddenly out of the dim and distant recess of my memory came a rallying cry, 

Captain CAAAAAAAVE MAAAAAANNNNN!

A firm favourite, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, was produced by Hanna-Barbera and originally aired from 1977 to 1980.  If of a group of mystery solving teenagers ably abetted by a monosyllabic hero sounds familiar then you won’t be surprised to read that it was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears who had found success with a similar format for Scooby Doo.  The similarities to Scooby Doo are very obvious and in fact Cavey, as he is lovingly known to the Teen Angels, would see a number of crossovers with not only Scooby Doo, but the Flintstones as well.**

**Wider reading tells me that the format was routinely redeployed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and included such titles as Josie and the Pussycats and the Funky Phantom, although I can’t claim to have seen these.

Captain Caveman is, by my reckoning a genuine superhero.  He has super-human strength and his club gives him the power of flight, albeit temporarily before it fails him!  This same club acts like a bottomless carry bag containing all manner of equipment needed to help solve any given case and what couldn’t be found in his club was often retrieved from the mass of tangled hair that covered his diminutive body.

Now I am hoping that this is going to be a relatively straightforward win, with regards to creating and modelling our prehistoric protagonist, but if experience has taught me anything it is that best laid plans often go awry.  As I type this, I am already wondering if it will be possible to include the Teen Angels themselves and perhaps their equivalent of the Mystery Machine!  Regardless of outcome, I am looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to catch up with a good many of you along the way. 

Captain CAAAAAAAVE MAAAAAANNNNN!