Up on display is quite the oddity and when I use that term I do so cautiously. I might almost be inclined to say that it is one of the most odd items I own. It is probably easiest at this point if I just show you what it is.

It’s Harrison Ford obviously. But what else?

It is not Han Solo or Indiana Jones… Jack Ryan? Nope. And it isn’t his character from Witness, Presumed Innocent or even Quinn Harris from Six Days Seven Nights (uurgghh!).

Without a doubt this is Harrison in one of his best roles ever as Rick Deckard from the 1982 sci-fi mega-classic film, Blade Runner.

Based loosely on the Philip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric sheep? this is definately one of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time. Very Noir in its presentation, it presents a great vision of the near future… love it. Also the twists and turns in the story are fabulous and these alone give merit to the fact that this is one of the greatest movies of all time (from any genre).

Given that the movie was rated R you can understand why very little was produced in the way of merchandise to be sold alongside the film. This piece is actually a 1:1 garage kit of Deckard, basically an unlicensed piece typically produced by a fan or hardcore modeller.

As you can see the detail is stunning, this sculptor is no amateur that’s for sure, this is a testament to their expertise, skill and attention to detail.

Oh, and when I said it was a 1:1 garage kit the 1:1, standing for one to one, refers to the scale of the piece. In simple terms one inch on the model represents one inch on the real thing… yes folks, this is a life size bust. It is 14″ tall and 9″ at its widest point.

The piece is made from a hard resin material that is very popular with modellers as it is able to hold an extreme level of detail. You can literally see every crease and line that the sculptor made.

Etched into the sides are the names of the company, Shapeshifters, that produced this. Also the names of the sculptors that worked on this piece (??), M. Hill and C. Pearson. It is dated 1997. It is always hard to know how many of these types of garage kits ever get produced. Given that they are not licensed they tend to be very underground pieces that are sold at conventions or from fan to fan. What I can say is that for a garage kit it is really well made. I have often seen these types of kits being sold that are of very poor quality indeed. They have small bubbles in them that obscure details, or exra ridges of material at the point where the seam of the mould would have been. These are all signs of sloppy work when casting or just poor quality moulds in general. It can even be because the manufacturer used the mould too much, these things are very fragile and can only make a certain number of top quality pulls, if used beyond that the resulting model’s quality is significantly reduced.

Despite its massive size the piece is not that heavy, weighing in at just 4.5lb, and as you can see it is because the bust is hollow.

Some of you may be puzzled by the fact that I keep referring to this as a model, “don’t models usually have parts you glue together?” The answer is yes, this is actually a two piece kit. Piece one was the main head, the second piece is the one you see above. It is about 3″ long and it is… well it’s… this…

… the button flap on the collar of his replicant hunter jacket.

As you can imagine, this piece is rare. I have only ever seen one other, therefore given this level of rarity it would be tough for me to accurately gauge a value on a piece like this. My guess would be in the $400-500 range. There is always the chance that a garage kit like this itself gets ‘garaged’. I see all the time on eBay these shops out in Thailand that take rare models and recast them, build them and then paint them. They do a nice job and pieces of this type sell for a fraction of the full price. I haven’t seen one of this piece yet, but who’s to say that there won’t be one in time. The irony of a bootleg of a bootleg is not lost on me.

I have been asked many times why I haven’t had this piece finished, and by that they usually mean painted. The simple answer is because I like it just as is. In its current creamy-off white shade it almost looks like one of those old marble busts that were created in the age of the Romans or ancient Greeks, very epic and it is that very epicness that enjoy about the original film. So that is the main reason why I leave it.

The other reason is that this would be an exceedingly difficult paint job to pull off. Humans have brains that have been programmed over the course of tens of thousands of generations to scrutinize faces to the minutest of details. It wouldn’t really matter how well it was done it would still look fake which would be ok on a kit of a different scale but because this a life size bust the paint job should also be life like. The result is that the kit shall remain unfinished.

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Today, despite having a huge love for toys and particularly action figures, I have pretty much circumvented the whole soldier/fighting toys thing. It is not for any moral reason but more of a sense that that time has passed for me. Also to be fair it is such a huge area of collecting unto itself and it is just too intimidating to even contemplate venturing in to. That being said I can appreciate a well executed toy in any genre and that is particularly true when it comes to the one I have for you today.

This story started a couple of days ago when a regular customer of mine came in to one of my stores with some toys to sell. I guess he needed to clear out some space in his basement and the selection he brought in didn’t quite make the cut. Included were some Star Wars items, some superheroes, and even Green Hornet’s car the Black Beauty. All very nice stuff indeed.

I looked through the lot and it wasn’t until the very end that I decided to take a closer look at this.

The classic G.I. Joe footlocker, something we have had in the store one hundred times before. Upon opening it though I had a pleasant surprise.

The technical term for what was inside is, “really frikkin’ cool stuff”. What you see here is a nice variety of accessories for a 1/6th scale figure, more commonly referred to as a 12″ figure. Helmets, clothing, various rifles, but it wasn’t until I started picking them up that I realized that this grouping was special. It was when I got a hold of the flight helmet that you can see in the very front compartment on the right hand side (it is the one that is turned upside down) that I got really excited.

One of the things that you learn after doing this hobby for as many years as I have is that you begin to know what certain toy lines feel like, yes I did mean feel in the tactile/touch sense. This skill is invaluable, for instance, when trying to assess the authenticity of accessories for vintage Star Wars toys. Anyway when I grabbed the helmet in question I could tell immediately that it was not a part from a Joe at all. It was too heavy and the plastic just wasn’t smooth enough to be a Hasbro piece. Then I looked a little more closely and I saw immediately that there was far too much detail to be a run of the mill real American hero.

Once I lifted out the accessory tray I found this figure. Now remember I told you already I don’t know too much about this type of toy, but it was easy to tell that this was a top quality piece. As you will see later the detail on this figure is off the charts. Plus the body could be posed naturally in almost any pose and it moved easily in a way that is usually only found in a very high end doll.

Fortunately figures of this type are well marked, I had a hunch already, but discovery was but a moment away… and then there it was… BINGO. A total score, it turns out that this a piece made by Blue Box, a company who in my humble opinion are at the very top of the pile in a very crowded market place when it comes to toys of this type. They are famous for making ultra-realistic, hyper-detailed figures that are very accurate to their real life counterparts.

As a disclaimer here I thought I would take a moment to frame the next part of my discussion. From this point on my interest is just to geek out on how amazingly detailed this piece is and what a marvel it is that a manufacturer can make the necessary accessories so tiny. I was told by a friend who served in the military for a long time that this figure is from the 82nd Airborne, I can only assume he was right. It doesn’t really matter in the context of this discussion though. Also, I realize that there is a mixture of parts here and some are definately from other manufacturers. Ultimately I am certain this doll is carrying some items that he may not have done in the real world… well get over it. I am showing you the figure as I found it and he serves the purpose of this story perfectly as is.

One of the first things that is typical of the better 1/6th scale figures is that they come with additional hands. No this is not a macabre joke where soldiers are given body parts to throw around to create ambience, no, in fact the idea is that you interchange the hands on the figure to allow them to be posed doing whatever it is interests you the most; pointing, waving, giving hand signals or simply holding the weapon of your choice.

Next I want to show you a small selection of some of the many accessories. These really serve to show you what masterpieces of engineering these pieces really are. Just so you get a sense of their size I have included a regular penny in some of the shots, I promise you that I have not used any trickery to interfere with the scale you see in the photographs.

These miniature hand grenades even have metal arming pins.

Part of the soldier’s rations is this package of drink mix. I have enlarged it to show you that the printing on the piece, though unreadable by the naked eye, when enlarged is quite easily legible.

The same is true on the walkie talkie. I am not sure if the gibberish on the radio’s battery is deliberate or not but either way you can read it very clearly once magnified sufficiently.

Staying with the walkie talkie a little longer we discover that the battery pack is actually removable. I was also blown away by the detail on the earpiece, seriously guys!

Even his rifle has a removable magazine and you can see in the picture that when I held it side on you can see the bullet inside. This literally blows my mind that they can do this type of thing.

A closer look at the soldier’s uniform you will see that all of the straps are actually adjustable, and all the pouches can be opened and filled with the necessary gear.

As you can see, even the clips can be opened and reclosed. Amazing stuff.

On a lower quality figure you would expect to see very little going on in back, but you can clealy see that there is as much detail back here as in the front. The soldier’s harness (?) is laced to fit correctly and it even incorporates actual D-rings so that things can be hooked on.

Everywhere you turn there is just more and more to see. It makes me tempted to pick up a few more of these for myself… nah, just kidding I think one is enough. That is one slippery slope I think I will steer clear of altogether.

To conclude this post I wanted to give you the details about this week’s contest. I was inspired by the detail of this toy and decided to step up the challenge a bit. Fear not though, with the additional level complexity there is a corresponding jump in how cool the prize is.

What I would like you to do is think back to when you were a child and the toys you had. I was just reminiscing about my old Action Man figures, but it can be any kind of toy you like. What I want you to do is track down an old photograph of yourself with a toy, then scan it in and send it to me. If you are local and need help with the scanning just let me know. You can even use your cell phone to snap a pic of your old photo if that is easiest, I don’t need anything very high quality just enough so we can see you in it.

To get the ball rolling here is one of me that some of you may remember from this old post. You can see my bear, Daniel, by my side. I will do my part and work on finding some other photos to share.

The only rule is that the picture needs to include you as a kid. There is not a set age limit but let’s say that you shouldn’t look old enough to be in high school.

Because accomplishing this might take a call or two to your parents I am giving you a couple of weeks to get your entry in to me. The deadline is the end of the day on September 17th. So when you head home for the Labor Day holiday get digging. Email your submissions to me at scifinds@yahoo.com, and be sure to include the word ToyNerd in the subject line so that I know it isn’t spam.

Anyway that’s it for today, have a happy and safe holiday. I will see you again next week starting up again on TUESDAY.

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I know absolutely jack squat about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, zero, zip, nada.

Wow, I feel so much better getting that off my chest. Secrets can be such heavy burden.

…

What do you mean, you were joking? … Yes I know this is a webpage… EVERYONE can see this! I’m so dead now. Pooh sticks.

Fine, the cat is finally out of the bag, yes it is true, barring the very basics I know pretty much nothing about TMNT. The huge pop culture phenom that started in the late eighties and kept going strong for decade with one of the biggest toylines ever, a total mystery to me. How weak is that?

The only thing I can think of is that they came out at just the wrong time for me to have ever even noticed them. In 1989, when they would have hit the shores of the UK as the Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles, I was concentrating on my final year of university and not checking out this new cartoon thingy.

Despite lacking the first hand knowledge of the show that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the success of the franchise, and that being said I do own a turtle toy or two of my own. Here is one I picked up last week.

This is a Batsu figure made by NECA. The name apparently, if we are to believe Wikipedia, means BAD or WRONG. Well I think this toy is awesome and therefore represents neither of the aformentioned terms. At just 4.5″ tall and 6″ wide this vinyl figure wins in every department if you ask me. The design is great, the basic shape is new and interesting, and this is all combined in one slickly constructed toy. All other Batsu toys have this same gunfighter pose and all of them look primed and ready for action.

This particular turtle is Leonardo and he came packaged with a pair of katanas. Of course all four of our reptilian heroes were produced, each came with a different expression as well as their weapon of choice.

These little guys have a total of three, yes you read it correctly, points of articulation. The arms can rotate as well as the head, the legs are fixed in place (probably because if they moved the figure would no longer be balanced and therefore wouldn’t stand).

The street price on these was $12-15 each but I waited until I could get one on sale for $8. I also opted to buy just the one given that with the exception of the weapons they are so very similar to each other.

To date, the only other Batsus that have been released are these three characters from the uber-popular Gears of War video game. Other than that I have seen a bunch of custom produced figures.

Ranging anywhere from Clint Eastwood…

… to this prototype of everyone’s favorite Predator.

Feeling creative? Well run along then to your local TRU where you can currently pick up the Gears of War guys on clearance for about $6 each. A little primer and some acryllic paint later you too could have a cool custom of the character of your choice. If you can’t think of one then let me know as I have a list and you can make one for moi.

Before I go, I know you’ve all been dying to kow who won last week’s free give away contest. Well this time the honor (?) falls to Erin, congrats. I should add the caveat that this is a dubious honor at best and given that her submission talks about a terrible toy that she got as part of a give away in the past, well this give away may be just as bad. A case of deja vu perhaps? Believe me you will see why in just a moment. You prize is this.

Yep, none other than your very own copy of the O.J. Simpson story in comic form. Sweet right? Oh, but wait, there’s more. Check this out. Wow! It turns out the book has a double feature so if you flip it over you also get the all important Nicole Simpson story as well. Amazing! He Said/She Said Comics brings us another gem of quality and good taste. Hopefully we can all count on you Erin to report back to us once you have read through the book and let us know how it was.

See you all tomorrow when I announce the next awesome give away.

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I figured I would start with a few cool vintage items and then round out the write up with some more contemporary pieces.

The graphics on this old lunchbox are awesome though I must confess that I have never been a fan of the vinyl covered cardboard boxes. Nothing ever really beats a top notch metal lunchbox if you ask me. Oh well, you gets what you gets.

Sharing the exact same graphic is the Banana Splits game from Hasbro.

And if that weren’t enough, here is a ring that also shares the image.

This Fleegle figure stands about 5″ tall and is made out of rubber. I have only seen this piece one time and I have never seen any of the rest of the crew (I can only assume they were made). Pretty sweet though, even if he is all pink.

I finish out the vintage items with the old Drooper plush, he is missing his glasses, but you gotta love that sweet fire fighter’s hat. His face reminds me a lot of Bear in the Big Blue House.

This is a show for young kids that was produced by the Jim Henson Company in the late 90s and ran for about ten years when it was then sold to Disney. I’m wondering if this Drooper had been some of the inspiration? I guess we will never know.

I stark contrast, check out this modern set of plush figures from the UK, each stands about a foot tall. They are fairly inexpensive to get hold of (until you factor in the shipping that is) as they were made to be used in UFO catcher machines and as prizes at carnivals.

This Drooper is much more accurate to the character as seen on the show, but you have to admit the toy itself is not even close to as charming as its less accurate vintage counterpart above.

Here is Fleegle again…

Snorky… well I don’t love this rendition of him as he looks a little too cartoony for me. And how did he get a little rounded butt all of a sudden? Perhaps that is why he looks so surprised. Puh-leeze.

The set is completed with a pretty sad looking Bingo.

A much better set was made by Golden Bear and also released in the UK. At about 7″ tall these are much more like beanie babies that used to be so popular.

Here is Drooper again. Not very exciting that’s for sure. For my money this character seems to be the hardest of the bunch to successfully translate in to toy form.

Fleegle is awesome with a great choice for the fabric used to make him, the toy just looks so sweet.

This Snorky is much better than the larger version, and look he has his squarer butt again. Yay!

Even Bingo looks pretty good. Expect to pay $10-15 for each of these guys, and maybe even a bit more if you buy them as a set.

Maybe my favorite of the modern Splits items is from the US of A, and is perhaps the least expensive of all the items I have shown you. Made by Funko, always a fave of mine, this set of bobbleheads rules.

The sculpts are great and the bright solid colors work perfectly for this set.

For some reason this Fleegle reminds me a little of Hong Kong Phooey, do you see the resemblance? Click here to check for yourself.

Snorky has the problem butt-thing going on again but the figure is still cute.

This Drooper may be my favorite version of him out of the lot.

Anyway there you have it, and that concludes my two part review of all things Banana Splits. I know the show was weird but any toy collection would be incomplete without at least one of these great characters in it somewhere.

See you tomorrow when I will announce the winner of my latest contest.

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Not a chance, simple as that.

Sure, they are cool and all, and to be fair they did totally redefine the toy industry as we know it today. On the grand scale of things that are important in this hobby, those little guys launched what then became a commercial juggernaut leading to tens of billions of dollars in sales. The first three and three quarter inch figures (and the thousand other different ones that have been released up until now) are probably the most successful toys of all time… they still don’t get picked as the best toy from 1977.

Why not? Well even though the original Star Wars movie hit the big screens in ‘77, the toys… well they didn’t quite make it in time. So far behind the unexpected success of the film were the toys that the manufacters, in this case Kenner, had to really put their thinking caps on so as to not miss out on a sales bonanza. If you were kid in 1977 and wanted an action figure of say Darth Vader or C3PO for Christmas you were basically out of luck. The figures just had not finished being made, let alone reached the shores of the US from China where they were made. So what did Kenner do? They made something that is famously referred to as the Early Bird Certificate.

Basically it was a large cardboard envelope and on it were printed the images of the figures that the kids really wanted to get their paws on. What a complete tease. Hold on though, why would someone pay money for this piece of cardboard? In essense it was an IOU from Kenner. You would buy it and place it under the Christmas tree, or Hannukah bush if you like, and after the recipient opened it they would remove the coupon that was stashed away inside. This was then completed and mailed off to Kenner along with a couple of bucks and the waiting began.

After a few months passed a plain white box arrived containing the highly anticipated cargo. What arrived? Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and of course R2D2, an odd choice for the first four but hey like any kid cared. The only real problem was that by the time this all happened we were well into 1978.

These Early Bird Certificates and the mailer boxes with the figures now sell for some pretty big money, well into the hundreds of dollars if they are complete and contain all the right pieces. Too bad this isn’t my selection for best toy of 1977.

So what is it?

You may remember that back in June I announced some of the new features that I would start including on this blog, one of them I called B.O.T.B. which simply means Best Of The Best. The idea being that I identify a toy that was the best in its class, and today I bring you my first offering in this category.

How about this beauty?

As if it needs announcing, this is of course the 19″ Godzilla figure that was released by Mattel as part of its popular Shogun Warriors line. Click here to see a much larger image to get more of an idea of its size… you won’t be disappointed.

This toy is so awesome it isn’t even funny. Like I said before it is 19″ tall which for a monster figure is perfect, set up any of your other toys and then unleash this Godzilla on to the unsuspecting masses, crushing everything in its path. Kids loved this toy.

Made out of hard plastic, the figure is actually hollow and as a result it is quite light for its size weighing in at just 2lbs.

The figure has just a few points of articulation which allows the arms to rotate at the shoulders, the legs can move a little at the hips, finally the tail can be twisted in the middle. Pretty simple but in this case plenty enough indeed.

Now what Godzilla would be complete without if it couldn’t breathe fire? Just push down on the lever in the back and a plastic tab emerges to do the job. Sweeeeet!

As a bonus feature, Godzilla can shoot its hand out by pushing a button hidden half way up the arm in the elbow region (see the red arrow pointing it out). This is spring loaded and take it from me it will have your eye out if you are not careful… ahhhhh, remember when kids toys used to be dangerous, before the lawyers got involved? Those were the good old days.

 There were little wheels placed in the soles of the feet to allow you to roll him along.

Being included in the Shogun Warriors line of figures was an odd choice made by Mattel given that they were much larger robots at a whopping 24″ tall, and as far as I know they never appeared with Godzilla anywhere else. I think the decision was made to just lump them together as they were all Japanese and it made cross promoting them all the more simple.

So much more could be said about this toy, but I am going to hold off before I morph into a blubbering fanboy idiot. For my money this is the best Godzilla toy EVER, and well deserving of the B.O.T.B. designation. Of course there have been dozens of amazing Godzilla toys produced over the years, but the reason I love this one so much is the combination of its massive size and its simplicity. This was definately a toy for kids to play with and have fun and that really strikes a chord with me.

For a loose one of these expect to pay around $100-150, be sure to check that the fist still fires and that the flaming tongue still pops out. Also, because the body is made of hard plastic be sure to check for cracks or stress marks as these are very common indeed particularly around the joints. Finally make sure that the paint is all there, especially on the teeth, the claws on the hands and the eyes.

Even if you aren’t a Godzilla fan if you call yourself a lover of collectible toys then this piece is essential.

Check out this old commercial advertizing Godzilla from back in 1977, now you can really see how much fun it is.

Special thanks to my buddy Gary who found this beauty and picked it up for me (now do him a favor and go check out the cool stuff on his blog).

Finally, this is a last reminder that you have until the end of today to enter my latest contest. It is 100% free and very easy indeed. Participate now.

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Yeah, you know the words alright. Probably one of the trippiest kids shows ever to ever hit the airwaves. For most of you it won’t be a surprise to discover that the character designs were done by none other than the Krofft brothers (of H.R. Pufnstuf fame… a show that was actually introduced by the Banana Splits). Now like most other shows that appeared on TV in the late sixties and early seventies, this show started in 1968, when viewed with 2010 eyes it is pretty rough… and believe me I know as I have all the episodes. Its real saving grace was that the nonsensical wackiness was broken up by short segments of other things such as Danger Island, the Arabian Nights and the Three Musketeers. I remember as a kid loving this show, I guess I was very easily pleased back then, it was always a toss up between this and Tomfoolery for my favorite (click here for a reminder on that show) but given that we only had three channels at that time I am certain they weren’t on at the same time so I watched both.

Given how popular this show was, it is surprising to me how little there is in the way of toy-type merchandise. Today I will highlight a few choice pieces.

First up, by way of a reminder, is a little something I showed you way back in December.

This is the super sweet Banana Buggy model kit made by Aurora. It is somewhat of a holy grail piece for many model collectors out there as it is the perfect storm of highly sought after and very scarce. This can lead to this piece fetching very high three digit prices… ouchie!! To see more of this awesome piece click here.

Next up is a plush item.

Released in about 1970 this Drooper (who is a lion) and he is about 7″ tall and made by Sutton. I have only seen this one before, but I have to imagine that all four of the main characters were made. The price tag on this little guy? About $100.

Of a similar vinatage are these two 7″ soft plastic figures made by Dakin, a particular favorite line of toys of mine. On the left we have Drooper again (this example is missing his glasses) and on the right is Fleegle (a beagle… go figure. He is missing his tie). All four were made, but they are really tough to find in any shape. The pair you see above had an asking price of $300.

Here is Fleegle again, this time he is much bigger at about 26″ tall. This plush was the kind of thing you could win at a carnival back in the late sixties. His ribbon is typically missing, but I guess there are so few of these around that it is hard to make any real generalizations about this item. It is rare for sure and this one is currently up on eBay with an asking price of $500. Yowchie!

Made by Ben Cooper we have a sweet looking halloween costume. This time the character we see is Bingo (a bear). I always loved how he had the most bucked-teeth I had ever seen. The set consists of a fragile, thin-plastic mask with a flimsy polyester (?) all in one suit. On the chest of the costume we see the name of the show along with the faces of all four of the characters. A nice one of these will run $50 plus just for the costume, a packaged one? Probably $150 plus.

Maybe my favorite set of Splits items from the 60s/70s is this set of simple printed plushes. Each one is about 11-12″ tall.

I just love the simplicity of the printed design. It is a shame though that Feegle is missing is fireman’s helmet.

Drooper is also missing his hat and I must say he is the most disturbing one in the set. Looking like a cross between a baboon and a naked old man, well… urrrggghh!

Bingo has his trademark vest and glasses on.

Finally we get to see the last member of this famous foursome, this is Snorky (the elephant). He was referred to as Snork in the theme, but that was just so it had few enough syllables to fit. For some reason this plush seems to have no ars in the design… oh well.

This set has also been up on eBay for a little while with an asking price of $500. Why is Banana Splits merch so deleterious to one’s personal finances (read as, so gosh darn expensive). The simple answer is that it is rare, that’s it. You can look as hard as you like and you will only find these items pop up very rarely, if at all, consequently when they do show up they are gonna cost you a pretty penny that’s for sure.

Ok that’s it for now but I will see you tomorrow for part two of this piece where I show you that there are perhaps a few less expensive alternatives.

By the way, don’t forget you have until the end of tomorrow to submit your entry for this week’s contest so if you didn’t enter alreay then get crackin.

Click here to read part 2 of this post.

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There will always be that bigoted element in any society and for whatever misguided reasons they have they think it is ok to drop the N-bomb. Just for their enlightenment… it isn’t OK and it never was. Recently very prominent host on a major talk radio show used it, eleven times in fact. When I heard them talk about it on the news on NPR I was shocked, but I’m not sure why. The world seems to be filled with people constantly doing stupid stuff for no other reason than they are stupid themselves, this has to be dues to that… I hope.

The personality in question is one Dr. Laura Schlessinger, more commonly known simply as Dr. Laura. She has a rep for being outspoken and very direct. People must like that style because she has released oodles of books that all seemed to sell quite well, also her radio show had an audience of 10 million plus and was aired on 450 radio stations. At this point I should also mention that the Talking Presidents company made a Barbie sized doll of her. Check it out.

What the heck-a-doodles is that all about?

At 11″ tall it has basic articulation, a pastel yellow pant suit and its very own figure stand.

On closer inspection I would like to point out something that I like about this figure… the body. Now before you get the wrong idea I like the fact that it is prortioned fairly accurately to her slender body type. Usually manufacturers get lazy and will stick a head on the same generic female figure form and ship it out. Invariably these have wasp waists, giant boobs and hips like that of a young boy, this is not the case here.

Also, say what you will about this toy, but the face sculpt is pretty darn good and they seem to have nailed her mouth spot on. In addition they gave this figure the same perfectly straight bangs the real her has. I guess they were all about the attention to detail.

The last feature here is that they have armed Dr. Laura with a sound chip. As you can see in the first picture there is a hole cut in the window of the box, it is labelled, “I talk [crossed out] Nag”… having tried the figure out I would tend to agree.

On the side of the box it lists over twenty different things she says… can we just say ANNOYING? Well why not have a listen yourself.

The sounds are activated by pushing a small concealed button on her tummy which, I would like to add for the record, is quite difficult to operate.

You may remember I posed the question yesterday when I was discussing figures that had been made of the war criminal Adolf Hitler, who were these dolls intended for? Beats me that’s for sure. I guess that is somewhat of an untruth given that the one you see pictured above is mine and I picked it up online recently. To be fair you should know by now that I love terrible toys and I even have a whole section on this blog (click here to see it for yourself). Also I snapped this piece up for the princely sum of $7 plus a little shipping, I’m happy that’s for sure.

How many other people ever actually wanted this figure? And of those, how many still even have it? Specially after her recent radio show debacle. I am guessing that there can’t be too many more.

This leads me to the question for my giveaway for this week, I want to know what is the worst character toy you have ever seen. By worst I mean one where you are at a complete loss as to why the figure was ever made in the first place. I will say that this Dr. Laura one is up there for me.

You have until the end of Tuesday of next week to leave your choice in the comment section below.

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Anyway, I pulled a couple of items aside that I figured I would show you and then popped them in my car as I went about the rest of my chores for the day. It was as I was driving around that I hatched my mad cap idea for today’s post, and believe me by the time you get to the end of this post you will see exactly how mad cap it really was.

First I want to show you one of the things I uncovered.

Holy World War II, it’s a Winston Churchill doll!

Yes indeed, it is a 12″ poseable, G.I. Joe-style figure of Britain’s wartime prime minister. I will say right now, I would have never guessed they made a piece like this. For a start the manufacturer, one Timecapsule Toys, calls it an ‘action figure’… really? When the war began in 1939 the Right Honorable Sir Winston was in his mid sixties, isn’t that just a little old to think of him as up for any real action? Sure, he was a great politician but seriously.

The head sculpt is not bad and it can easily be recognised as Churchill. The same cannot really be said for the rest of him though.

The problem I have is with the body of the figure. If I had to give you a something to compare the real life Churchill, well it would have to be like a non-evil version of the Penguin from the Batman series. He was a squat and was almost the living embodiment of the archetypal British Bulldog. The figure they used here isn’t really skinny, but it is far too tall to accurately represent him. Not that I think it really matters, but I’m just saying.

He does come with his trademark hat and cigar. Also included is a stand and a pretty cool folding timeline with a bunch of historical information about his life on it. If you look in the lower left corner of the image above you can see a picture of it.

The coolest feature is the addition of a sound chip, yep, Winston’s gone all hi-tech on us. Just to the left (as we look at it) of the handkerchief in his breast pocket is a small button. Pushing on it causes the prime minister to start off on a sound bite from one of his famous speeches. There are 25 in all, noticeably absent are the, “never has so much been owed by so many to so few” as well as, “we’ll fight them on the beaches…” ones.

As you can hear in this clip I made, the sound quality is not great but certainly good enough. Overall there is about four minutes of audio in total which is pretty impressive.

These figures sold originally for about $30, but you can find one for less if you were so inclined. I always wonder who this ‘toy’ was actually made for. My guess, either the ultimate WWII history nerd who wants one to stand in their bookcase next to their war books or a hardcore G.I. Joe fan who builds dioramas and needed the British commander in chief for an installation they were doing. Hey, maybe even a school would use it, whatever it was I can’t imagine that many of these were ever sold.

This now brings me to the second part of my post, and continues on with the idea of who actually buys these things, bare with me here. Beleive it or not even Winston Churchill’s counterpart has not gone unnoticed in the action figure world, yes that would be none other that Adolf Hitler. I mean seriously WTF!! I know he is regarded the world over as an evil psycho nutcase which in today’s society is guaranteed to draw a crowd, I get that. So it is for that precise reason that museums install a life size mannequin of him, that is why wax museums include him… wherever it is he is certain to get a media spotlight, which brings people in the door, buying tickets and paying attention.

My confusion comes when I consider who actually would buy a doll of him for their home? I know I already said the same thing for Churchill but here I mean it for a whole different reason. Really, who is going to put that out on display in their house? Sure, there are idiot fascists out there who believe that Adolf was just misunderstood and really on to something there, but enough to warrant making the figure? I dunno. Actually that’s a lie, they sell like hotcakes. Each time one is realeased, and before you ask there have been a few different ones, there is always all kinds of hullabaloo which inevitably leads to the thing selling out everywhere. Very peverse indeed, but I guess a bunch of collectors see it as some kind of contraband just in the same way middle school boys do about an old crumpled up copy of Penthouse they found somewhere.

You can see the manufacturers are always careful to mark the box clearly with some language that shows they generally disapprove of him, this is surely for fear that someone somewhere will be offended enough to want to come and burn their offices down. This piece is branded War Criminals of the 20th Century… very dramatic for sure.

I will say this though, that in as much as there really is no seeing past the subject matter the manufacturers seem to handle the piece about as tastefully as is actually possible. The figures are generally straight ahead representations, the faces have fairly neutral expressions and the stock photography that is used is pretty generic. All of these are small manuevers on their part to reduce the chance of offending people.

 Each of the figures of Hitler shown here are amazingly detailed, just look at the last figure above. As a result they had a much higher starting price than Churchill did, ranging anywhere from $50-150 each. What is even more shocking is that given their taboo nature and the fact that they sold out so rapidly there is quite a limited yet enthusiastic demand for these dolls. The result of this has been that their price on the secondary market ranges anywhere from say an absurd $200 all the way up to an outrageous $500 depending on exactly which doll it is. I find this both baffling and disturbing, but I guess this kind of thing is all part and parcel of living in a society that protects free speech.

As I was researching this topic I did find one image that I will offer without any commentary at all. Look at it and I am sure you will experience the same rush of emotions and flood of questions that I did. Here we go…

Makes you think…

Anyway see you back here tomorrow for a post that I promise will be a little more lighthearted, it will also have the details for my next great give away. See you then.

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My post on Monday inspired me (click here for a quick reminder), and today I am going to continue on with another write up on a similar theme, for today I am once again dipping my toe in to the expansive Hanna Barbera universe and seeing what emerges.

It all sounds good in theory, but I selected today’s topic very carefully. Mainly because the items are not particularly mainstream so there is a good chance many of you out there won’t have seen these. The other reason is that whole love thing I mentioned in the first paragraph.

For a moment there I tried to talk myself out of usung that term as it has such a powerful meaning, but I decided in this case it was worth it.

Today my offering comes from the cartoon Wacky Races, and just as I eluded to in my previous post… this cartoon is TERRIBLE. I’d pick a stronger term but this is a kids show after all. Wacky Races is anything but that, perhaps it should have been called Same Episode Every Week Races then maybe I wouldn’t be so harsh on it. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are awesome and for one episode the show is fantastic. Problems only arise when you try to dive in and watch multiple episodes in one sitting… uuurrgghhh!

This 6.5″ vinyl figure of Penelope Pitstop was put out by Funko as part of their Fanatastik Plastik line and is limited to just 1500 pieces. As you can see the likeness is almost spot on.

What makes this line so sweet is that they went ahead and put together a whole bunch of characters from the show that had never been made before. Here for example is Peter Perfect.

I mean since when did we ever get a toy of Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth before?

Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear both rode on the Arkansas Chuga-bug.

While the Creepy Coupe was driven by the team of Big Gruesome and Lil’ Gruesome.

This character reminds me alot of the Count from Sesame Street, I guess it is the purple coloring and pointed ears.

The Red Max, pilot of the Crimson Haybailer completes out the eight piece set. Each of the figures comes with an information card that I showed you here and they come packaged in a soft plastic cannister (for want of a better word).

Believe it or not, each of these can typically be picked up for $15 or less… super bargain for sure.

When I first saw this set solicited I was both excited and surprised all at once. New characters - YAY! But… what the heck… where are Dastardly and Muttley, veritable stars of the show? Seriously, no villain and his henchman and you don’t have enough critical mass to form the Wacky Races, PERIOD!

Fear not, they came seperately in this ultra sweet two pack. As you can see it has been made to look like they are on TV. Awesome.

Also limited to 1500 pieces this set is an essential purchase. How could you not just die for Muttley who is permanently suspended midway through his trademark snigger. Such great sculpting, I can’t say enough about this set.

Great colors, excellent designs, well made, interesting choice of characters, and very affordable to boot… an unbeatable combo that’s for sure. Hey Funko, I love this set, if only other manufacturers would follow your lead then this hobby would be way better (as well as far less tough on my wallet). My only slight gripe… where iare the Anthill Mob, The Slag Brothers and Sergeant Blast? I loved them all so much.

As an idea I also think it would be super cool if they made the cars from the show, how great would that be? You can’t believe how tightly I have my fingers crossed on those.

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Though not all the toys shown today are space ships they certainly fall into the same general category of machine-like-things-that-should-never-be-thought-of-as-cute-but-by-some-miracle-are. For some of you it is probably annoying, when someone, and in this case it is the folks from Art Asylum, take something and completely turn things upside down on you. Here they challenge the notion that cars, robots and space ships are cold, hard, sleek objects and in doing so make you want to almost snuggle them. OK, maybe snuggle is a bit of a strong term, but whenever I see these pieces I almost feel like a kid who gets to hold a fluffy hamster for the first time (of course I mean the kind that don’t ever bite). I just want to place one in my cupped hand and pet it… weird huh? Well before you judge me, check these out.

Taken from the Minimates series of figures this is the Mark VII Viper from Battlestar Galactica. Described as a Miniflyer it is a super-deformed version of the colony’s standard issue star fighter. If you ask me it doesn’t look like it could hurt anybody. This toy came packaged with a mini Starbuck figure to pilot the ship… my guess is that this ship only good for making round trips from the local elementary school to the nearest petting zoo.

It came in two versions, the regular one (seen first) was a ToysRUs exclusive whereas the second is a battledamaged version available to retailers from Diamond Comics.

The companion piece to the Viper is of course the Raider, war horse of the evil Cylon Empire (booooo!). Despite belonging to the bad guys I find this the cutest one of the pair. Just like the Viper, it too came in regular and battle damaged versions, they were also paired with either a silver or gold cylon.

Hitting shelves now, we have the second wave of mini vehicles in this series.

Taken from the uber-popular, post apocalyptic fan favorite, we have the Hunter/Killer Tank from the nineties mega-pic Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Once again ToysRUs scooped themselves an exclusive with, I suspect, a Diamond version close on its heels. Even the Endoskeleton that was included looks cute.

Probably my favorite of the lot though is this one.

Back to the Future II and T2 were released just a couple of years apart, but these toys couldn’t look more different from each other. Marty McFly has been included in the set, naturally, to pilot this miniature version of his trademark time machine (an awesome customized version of the already cool Delorean car).

It is not until this 5″ cutie is loosed from its packaging do we really get to see this toy’s true colors.

The detail is awesome and the car even has its all important gull-wing doors. Love it.

The last member of the line up is a jet fighter-type aircraft, the M.A.X.-Tech Stealth Jet. It is not a licensed property and is an in house creation of the manufacturers.

The cherry on top for this story is that each of these pieces can be had for the extra reasonable price of $12-15 a pop… a total bargain.

Finishing up today’s post is the result of this week’s free give away contest. If you recall I had asked you to write in your favorite movie directed by Tim Burton. Unfortunately some of you didn’t pay attention and listed projects he worked on but didn’t actually direct. For the record, the correct answer was the 1996 classic Mars Attacks!, but for a complete list click here (be sure to scroll all the way down to get to the right section). This week’s winner, randomly selected of course (not kidding either), was Darcie Clemente and she will receive this awesome prize kindly donated by Mat, so I guess both thanks and congrats are due.

See you tomorrow for details on the next installment in my amazing freebie-fest.

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