James Bond in Wet Suit is one of a series of James Bond toys produced by Gilbert Toys in 1965-66. The sets, in various forms, included up to 10 figures, the Dr No tank, Goldfinger's Laser Table and Revolving Pool Table, the Disco Volante boat from Thunderball, M's Desk, and James Bond's Brief Case sized for the 12" James Bond doll from the same company.
The James Bond in Wet Suit figure included a dual scuba tank that snapped onto his back and a speargun, both of which are loose and are now only found in the blister pack. James Bond in Wet Suit was included in these sets:
Individually packaged on a card blister pack
Sears "James Bond and the world of 007" set
James Bond Action Toy Set 1 (along with Domino, Largo, and the Disco Volante)
James Bond Ten Movie Characters (includes all the 3 1/2" action figures)
The toys came either in boxed sets or as part of a James Bond playset from Sears. Another James Bond toy from Gilbert that was sold by Sears was the James Bond Road Race set. Due to poor quality manufacturing of the James Bond Road Race Set (manufactured in a hurry in Japan) the Gilbert Toy Company went bankrupt in 1966 due to most of these Road Race Sets being returned to Sears. This was the sad end of a company that had been in existance since 1909. This is the same Gilbert Toy Company made famous by their Erector Set. Mr Gilbert passed away in 1961 and the Gilbert Toy Company was transferred into corporate hands. It was the poor decisions of this corporation that managed in the short space of 5 years destroy the oldest toy company in the US. Unfortunately the James Bond toys were a major part of that poor decision making.
Upon the breakup of the Gilbert Toy Company the entire stock of Bond toys was sold off by Sears. This is where most of the loose figures you find come from, they were not necessarily removed from boxed sets. Sears sold the sets with the figures loose in a box along with the other elements of their "James Bond and the World of 007" toy set. This set included also included a plastic version of the Aston Martin, which was not available anywhere else and is exceedingly rare today. The set also came with a cardboard "4-scene stage" to play with the figures in. As you would guess this cardboard stage is almost non-existant today, I personally have never seen one (not even as a kid when I begged my parents for the play set, unfortunately they got me the more expensive Road Race set instead which promptly broke).
Most James Bond in Wet Suit figure toys you will find today come from the Sears playset. James Bond in Wet Suit in the blister pack is still occasionally found and the James Bond Action Toy Sets are more rare.
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