He tried to make Ram Man a new currency in 2011 - how did it go?

Fifteen years ago, Jamie Moakes had a dream: to convince people the 1980s action figure Ram Man would soon be worth a bomb.

Moakes, from Colchester, was inspired by the rise of "cash for gold" schemes. Who, he wondered, ever decided gold was valuable?

So he turned to mass-purchasing Ram Man, a minor character in the 80s TV show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, to make it rare and thus a valuable commodity.

With the release of the new He-Man film in June, the BBC revisited Moakes, 42, to see how he got on with his lofty plan.

"He was a bit bullied in the show because he doesn't move. All he does is ram and looks very different to the other toys," Moakes said of Ram Man.

"It felt like you were trying to make a hero out of something that's not there and it really struck a chord with people."

Moakes was inspired - and annoyed - by the boom of TV adverts urging people to sell their gold for cash during the 2008 financial crisis.

He explained: "Gold has this sudden value and everyone's buying it and the value goes astronomical.

"I was like, that's only people randomly deciding it's worth money."

And so his quest began. Choosing Ram Man as his sidekick, the 42-year-old scooped four action figures in one day.

His efforts were boosted by a successful bid to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011. With it came a large audience open to his salesmanship.

Each show would end with a Ram Man being auctioned off, allowing the crowd to determine its value.

"I had a slideshow trying to convince people Ram Man's worth money," laughed Moakes, who now lives in Greenwich, south-east London.

"It was tongue-in-cheek, but also wasn't at the same time."

Moakes, a tile seller by trade, confessed to having spent thousands of pounds accumulating almost 300 Ram Man figures since 2011.

He has purchased them for prices between 20p and £800, both at home and as far away as Chicago in the US.

Moakes even scooped one on his honeymoon in Paris, he proudly boasted.

"To me, it's not about the money, it's about convincing people to look at value differently," he added.

However, the Ram Man enthusiast is no financial expert, so he called on Prof Eric Smith, from the University of Essex, to help him.

"I took a colleague and we met him in a pub. We were amused by his way of thinking," Smith recalled.

"It's quite a clever experiment to do, but as an economist I did think, good luck."

Asked what advice he gave Moakes, Smith chuckled: "Don't spend too much money trying this."

But Moakes believes if the stars had better aligned, Ram Man could have been what Bitcoin became.

He continued: "It's 100% what I was trying to achieve and talk about. Would I have done a Ram Man meme coin back then? Totally.

"I've learnt changing the value of something is easy. Making profit out of it is a different thing."

Moakes hopes the new He-Man film will boost interest in Ram Man and with it, lead to a surging price rise in his action figures.

"I love the idea of someone going to finish their He-Man collection, only to find they can't find a Ram Man anywhere - despite him being a minor character," he adds.

"They'll find you have to pass this almost drawbridge to get them, mostly from me."

Smith said Moakes was clever in trying to corner the market.

"If you have unique access to a resource, you're a monopolist because you're the only person who can sell it," he said.

There is a problem, though. While maker Mattel has never said how many Ram Mans were produced, it is estimated to be about two million.

So, how much are Moakes' 300-strong collection selling for?

"I try not to say because it tends to anchor the price," he said, remaining tight-lipped.

"That does give me power, but that's the point, right?"

When told Moakes remains undeterred 15 years on from when they last spoke, Smith could not hide his delight.

He said: "I have a soft spot for these quixotic adventures, people who are experimenting and trying to explore the world around them.

"I'm thrilled that he's still going at it and I wish him well."

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