Have It Your Way, with Universal Monsters.

I'm trying to remember the last time that anyone had even a halfway decent fast-food premium, and it was probably back in '97 when Burger King put out a small set of Universal Monsters figures.




Aside from the "gill-man" who squirted water, all of them came with a little playset/prop. Shown here is Frankenstein with his operating table, Dracula was paired with a coffin, and the Wolf Man had a weird sort of cellar door thing.

They were a pretty decent take on the old Remco 3 3/4-inch monster figures, and for what they were, they had great play value.

Spring Cleaning.

It's that time of year again, when I sort through all of the boxes and plastic totes full of magic and wonder, and decide to clear a bunch of it out. Time to move on, and find new homes for all kinds of treasures... that are mostly toys.



But seriously, I've finally come up with a plan for where I'll be putting things in my new studio/office in the next year, and I can pretty much tell what I do and don't have room for now, so...

Here's where it's all at.

My auctions will come and go over the next few months as I dig around and find things. Check in every now and then if you can. Thanks!

Print: Digital Retro

It's always nice when you find something that lets you know that there are people out there with exactly the same odd little obsessions as yours. Yesterday I picked up a book printed in 2004 by Gordon Laing, that pretty much describes the contents of over a dozen giant brown boxes that I have squirreled away in my basement.




It's a brilliant book, that focuses on "low-cost" home computers and game consoles from the mid '70 to the late '80s, with tons of photographs of original models, and designer interviews. The author also fills the paragraphs and margins with cool trivia and invaluable historic information. Did you know that there was a connection between the Commodore 64 and the Atari ST? (Of coarse you did.)

For a guy with an admitted love for dusty old, yellowing plastic boxes... this book is perfect.

(Published by Sybex, Inc. 2004 -- ISBN: 0-7821-4330-X)

Ad Space: Burger Time

Sentinel of the Spaceways!

As Hasbro's new Marvel Universe figures keep rolling out, I'm finding myself somewhat on the fence about the line as a whole. The 3 3/4-inch Silver Surfer figure is a perfect example of what works and doesn't work with this line so far.



I love the packaging, and though I'm not personally big on having a huge collection of carded figures, there are for sure a few--including this one perhaps--that I would like to keep carded.

Before I whine about what bothers me with this figure, I'll just say up front that I do think that this is a nice toy. Hasbro has put some care into constructing a reasonably decent and play friendly figure here, with a good sculpt, simple but well done paint, and solid build quality.



My top two complaints with this one, are that he suffers from having a bit of a "pea-head," which seems all too typical when it comes to Silver Surfer figures. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen one from ToyBiz, Hasbro or anyone really that was handled perfectly.

Criticism number two, is that though the articulation is good for a small figure like this, it's not exactly great. He's a little bow-legged actually, and I think that a better ankle joint might have fixed that. As far as poseability goes, I'm starting to wish that Hasbro hadn't decided to go with a fixed waist on these figures also. A swivel or even a second socket would have made this one amazing.

I've been known to fiddle with a toy for ages to get the pose that I want, but for the shot below it took far too long even by my standards. Silver Surfer is extremely light, and though he will stand if balanced just right, there's very little room for error if you bump him... especially if you're trying to get him to hold his board. I can't help but think that a variety of hands, with different gestures or grips, would have been a nice addition here.



Stands in general are a good idea for this line, and it's really fortunate that the Surfer comes with one as part of his character.

And speaking of characters... I'll repeat again, that though this figure could use a little improving, I'm more than happy that it was made at this size. The Silver Surfer has always been a favorite of mine, if not because he's a cool throwback to the '60s, then at the very least it's because he looks awesome posed alongside Galactus.


   

As always, larger versions of the images can be seen by clicking on them, or by visiting my Flickr page -- here.

The War Between the States.

It's weird what you'll find at a garage sale sometimes. A while back I came across a decent sized bag of plastic soldiers from throughout the ages. Mixed in where these four small figures of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant.





Also included was this tin mansion with a tiny Louis Marx and Company logo on it, that I've only recently come to recognize as part of the massive "Battle of the Blue and Gray" playset from around 1960.

Funny how there wasn't a single Confederate or Union soldier in the entire bunch though... must have all been lost in the field.

Shiny Plastic Disk: Kikaida 01 Box Set

A few years ago I made a kind of New Year's resolution that I wouldn't be buying videos of any kind anymore. Mostly because I'd become frustrated with the ever changing media formats, but it also had to do with the fact that I was spending too much money on things that weren't exactly special. I mean... why own something that you can either rent or watch on cable over and over again?

Killing off my DVD impulse buy habit had a side effect that I didn't expect though, and it was that when I came across something genuinely special, I didn't feel so terrible about spending the money.

This box set from JN Productions that presents all fourty-six Kikaida 01 episodes on six disks, is exactly one of those things.



I grew up watching Ultraman on a local (Channel 44 I think) San Francisco Bay Area station back in the '70s, and when the internet made the world a smaller place a decade or so ago, I fell in love with all kinds of other Japanese heroes. Kikaida 01 was one of those shows that I'd read about and found clips to look at, yet I hadn't actually watched an episode until I came to own this brilliant box set.



From the back of the packaging...

"Kikaida 01 features the exploits of android, Ichiro (Ikeda Shunsuke), who transforms into Kikaida 01 to stop the evil Hakaida Force from obtaining a secret that will allow them to conquer the world - until the sinister SHADOW organization rises to threaten them all! Aided by his brother Jiro-Kikaida (Ban Daisuke), Kikaida 01 hurtles into battle against the robot monsters that threaten mankind.

Kikaida 01 explodes with non-stop stunts by Sunny Chiba's Japan Action Club and an exciting score by Watanabe Chumei. Don't miss this limited-edition release of Toei's superhero classic!"

So, lets sum the show up: androids, motorcycles, fighting, stunts and robot monsters. Seriously, what more do you need?! The shows are in Japanese with English subtitles, and all of them together run about 18 hours and 55 minutes... which is a mind-blowing amount of fun.

These disks, along with a lot of other excellent DVD collections and Japanese superhero merchandise, can be purchased from the real-life heroes at Generation Kikaida (generationkikaida.com), who are currently running some great "special deals" that are worth checking out.

Secret Clown Business.

People will always say that clowns scare them, but those are probably the same people that would spend hours cranking away at the lever on a Jack-in-the-box when they were kids.



This version from around 1953 by Mattel, features a series of fantastic illustrations on each side, as well as an admittedly creepy armless clown.



Aside from the obvious clown thing, these music boxes share a similar feature in that they should both play "Pop Goes the Weasel", but are sadly broken. Again, try to imagine the number of times that someone scared themselves with these things before they quit playing music.



From around 1971 we get a more "mod" version from Mattel, that sports a pair of clownish flipper arms and some crazy spring loaded eyes.



To be honest, I've never understood the whole "clowns scare me" thing. Oh sure, I recognize the creepiness and all, but I can't imagine running from one in terror.

Or perhaps I just haven't met that kind of clown yet...


     

Also from around 1953, comes this wind-up acrobat clown by Mattel, that I admit is particularly weird... as well as incredibly charming.

A Galaxy (Not So) Far, Far Away.

In '93 when the first series of Star Wars Galaxy trading cards premiered, they were just about the last thing that I would have been interested in. As a matter of fact, aside from my old shoe box full of Topps cards from when I was a kid, I didn't care much about trading cards at all.

Series four of the Star Wars Galaxy Topps line is currently turning up at hobby shops and retail locations like Target. Though I may not have cared about the non-film related subject matter back when this line started over fifteen years ago, I find myself having a lot of fun with it now.



There's always something to be said for the fun of buying a pack of cards whenever you visit a store. That kind of casual and random thrill is timeless, and though this series of cards has its flaws (like earlier Galaxy card sets), it's just as much fun to collect as any Topps line.



But the concept has perhaps grown more relevant in recent years, given that with the feature films behind us, all new Star Wars material will be part of the "Extended Universe." With the series four cards focusing on current material like the Force Unleashed video game, and the Clone Wars cartoon series, suddenly the idea is more than just something designed to appeal to the most hard core fans.

Love Apokolips Style.

Waves six and seven of the DC Universe line have been turning up sporadically at best, but they're well worth hunting for, if only to score your own 6-inch plastic version of the best married couple in comic books.

(As always, you can click on the image to see it larger, or go -- here and visit my Flickr page to see more.)

Jawa + Droid = Fun

I turned into one of those "things were better back in the old days" kind of guys a long time ago. But occasionally I'll admit when one of the golden treasures from my past has been bested.

A great example is this new Jawa with WED Treadwell Droid figure from Hasbro.



As much as I love the '70s Kenner Jawa, it wasn't much of an "action" figure, and honestly, if you played with Star Wars toys back then, you probably found yourself leaving the little guy behind pretty often.

Fast forward to today, and Hasbro has once again done something that they seem to be good at doing: they've taken a small, weird, insignificant character, and they've made a really fun figure out of it.



The Jawa has ball-joints in his elbows, shoulders, and neck. He comes equipped with a complex layering of clothes, straps and belts; not to mention a giant gun, that with a little fiddling will eventually fit into his tiny Jawa hands.

I can only imagine how much fun I would have had with this thing as a kid.



But an articulated Jawa isn't exactly a new thing, as Hasbro has put out others over the last few years. What is new, is the awesome WED Treadwell Droid that he comes packed with. Ultimately it's the set as a whole that makes this a great toy, and has me appreciating modern action figures when they're done just right.