Congrats, Shawn. You are the lucky winner of this delightfully horrid Hoove figure. I’ll send it your way soon.
Thanks for dropping by the blog and saying “hi.” And thanks to the rest of my readers for taking the time to visit the blog… and even more thanks to you all who decided to share your thoughts. I really do appreciate it. I wish I could give toys to everybody… but this stuff is too hard to come by… and I’m just too greedy
Have a great weekend. I’ll hopefully have another great weirdo to share with you soon.
Justin
P.S.
Sorry it’s taken me this long to announce a winner. I’ve actually been on vacation, and the place where I stayed had no good internet access, so I really did “escape.”
P.P.S.
If for some reason Shawn doesn’t want the toy, I’ll just redraw a name.
Well, whadaya know? Today is the one year anniversary of Weirdo Toys (or first Birthday or whatever).
I started Weirdo Toys, because there were no good sites were I could easily find weird toy collections or information. Before starting the blog, I knew I didn’t want it to become another corpse in the ever-growing blog graveyard (you know the blogs that have a life span of one or two months). To avoid this, I set a rule for myself: one blog entry per week. I’ve more or less stuck to that schedule, so I’m pleased.
Some funny things started happening when I started the blog. The first thing was the initial panic that I wouldn’t find enough fun stuff to post weekly. I did have weird toys lying around, but I soon discovered that I didn’t have enough to sustain this site. This lead to my second dilemma. I became obsessed with searching for and buying toys. I used to be pretty casual about buying toys, but having a blog that’s supposed to be updated weekly definitely increased my trips to flea markets, toy shows, eBay, etc. Now I’m always on the lookout. My wallet’s crying, but over the year, I’ve found tons of cool junk and have actually expanded my dorky toy knowledge (which is nothing to be proud of). It’s not my fault. I did it for you all.
One of the best things that’s happened over the year is my hearing from and corresponding with you all – my fellow toy lovers. It is always a joy to receive questions, comments, photos and other stuff from you guys. It reminds me that I’m not just writing this stuff for my own entertainment. Thanks so much for taking the time to share.
I’m curious to know who else is out there and what do you actually think of my weekly toy rants. I’ve never directly asked you all what you think of the blog, its content, etc., so now’s your chance to speak up. Is there anything you like or don’t like about the site? You know stuff like hearing the origins of a toy or the reader mail… you know, crap like that. Let it all out. I’d love to hear it – good or bad.
To encourage your feedback, I’ve decided to do an Annual Weirdo Toy giveaway. That’s right. Of all the folks who leave a comment on this entry (just to say “hi” or to leave some constructive criticism), your names will be pulled at random (be sure to leave an e-mail address when leaving your comments), and one lucky winner will be the new proud owner of the toy I featured yesterday(that He-Man figure, Hoove). Next week sometime, I will announce the winner, and I will send along everything you see on yesterday’s post (basically an open toy package, a figure and its accessories).
Just know that this toy is from my collection, and I’m actually sacrificing it. It pains me greatly to lose such a goofy/cool figure, but if I sacrificed anything less, it wouldn’t illustrate my gratitude for your loyal readership.
Thanks again guys. I hope to hear from you soon.
Justin
When I say “He-Man toys” you guys know what I’m talking about, right? I’m referring to “Masters of the Universe toys.”
Well, you may not have known this, but there’s actually a line of toys out there called “He-Man.” It’s a toyline from Mattel that was introduced in 1989.
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What kid ever said, “Hey, I just got some cool, new Masters of the Universe Figures.”
I have a memory of seeing this new series in a store when I was a kid, and I recall thinking, “What the hell is up with these He-Man toys? They’re so small and puny.” (I think by the time these toys came around, I was done with the original series anyway.)
I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but apparently this new toy series (unsurprisingly) had a new cartoon series as well. It was called “The New Adventures of He-Man.” (this ain’t yer father’s He-Man). The animation in this clip isn’t so bad. It’s probably better than the rotoscoped, repetitive Filmation animation from the old days.
Looks like the folks at Mattel tried to spin He-Man in another direction. The new style of the series seems to have a focus on sci-fi with a hint of fantasy, instead of the fantasy with a hint of sci-fi we’d seen in the previous MOTU toyline.
The classic characters He-Man and Skeletor look pretty dumb (maybe it’s just because they don’t look like themselves), but the new bad guys are kinda quirky and unique. Unfortunately, the good guys are lame and generic as hell – just a bunch of humans in bad costumes.
Most of the characters have really bad names too. They are typoed pun versions of what their action is. Vizar? Lizorr? Karattii? Optikk? C’mon!
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The key differences between these guys and the original MOTU figures is their visual style/design. The figures are smaller, slimmer and have different knees joints and other actions referred to on the packaging as “Masters Action” (an obvious hint to the original series).
Well, as you’ve probably guessed by the packaging photos above, the toy I’m featuring today is Hoove – Skeletor’s designated puppy punter.
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As you can easily infer by his name, his “masters action” is kicking. So, yeah… Hoove kicks… with his hooves… like a horse.
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You just have to hold his left leg in place, tilt his body, and he kicks his right leg either forward or backward.
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Hoove is a green, slimy, snaggle-toothed, triangle-pupil-having alien-robot guy. He looks pretty plain as a simple, bald alien…
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… but with his helmet in place, he becomes a real menacing goofball.
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Another funny thing worth mentioning is Hoove’s gun. With the shape of his hand and the little hand harness wrapped around his fingers, he will always be shooting diagonally. Make sure you stand right in front of him if you don’t want to get shot.
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So, there’s one final thing worth noting. It’s the the inclusion of more illustration on the toy packaging. The front of the package has a full-body painting of each character in action, and the paintings are really well done.
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The back of the package is actually printed on a low-grade uncoated paper, so everything turns out looking dingy. There are even more illustrations back there though. The one worth noting is the bust portrait illustration of the character.
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It doesn’t make the toys or character design any better, but it is really great seeing hand-drawn illustrations on toy packaging. Most packaging nowadays uses photos or bad Photoshop illustration or something.
Well, look at what we have here – if it ain’t another bootleg toy. This guy looks like the bastard offspring of the Terminator’s T-800 and Spaceballs’ Dot Matrix (I could’ve said C-3PO, but that’s a bit too creepy). I didn’t even know robots could have sex.
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The figure looks pretty goofy (Well, he’s not an “action figure” as much as he is a “statue.” He isn’t poseable at all.)… maybe something you’d find in the grocery store’s toy section . He was probably hanging alongside those mini police badge sets and other crummy Japanese imports (I’ve never understood why grocery stores have such shitty toy selection. Maybe I can do a future blog post about that).
But beyond the fact that he’s a robotic endoskeleton (with a goofy grin), look at his arm. No. the other one. The missing one.
He’s lost an arm! Just like the terminators did in the first couple of movies.
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Actually, when I first saw the toy, I just thought I’d found a broken, old bootleg. Turns out, the toy was actually produced with the missing arm. Isn’t that great? I guess they wanted it to be semi-accurate to the Terminator movies, and they just used the bronzy-copperish color scheme to throw-off the lawyers.
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And lastly, we have the big, honkin’ chest plate sticker. I don’t understand and have yet to find out what the lightning bolt, triangles and initials “S.P.” stand for. Is this guy the member of some bootleg superhero team? Is this their team logo?
S.P.
Super-powered?
Silent Partner?
Socialist Party?
South Park?
Any information would be greatly appreciated… or any other likely solutions for the S.P. problem.
I don’t know if any of you all have seen this new Soundwave toy, but it is freakin’ great. Yeah, I know some might be thinking it is a bit out of character to feature this toy on the blog, but when I saw this guy, something just called out to me, so I thought I’d share it with my readers.
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This Soundwave (with Laserbeak) is a figure from the new Transformers: Animated cartoon. I don’t know too much about it other than the fact that it is on Cartoon Network, and the cartoon and its toys are specifically designed to be have a simplistic “animated” look.
Doesn’t it seem a bit redundant to call it “Transformers: Animated?” Haven’t all the transformers series been animated?
Anyway… the toy counterparts to the new series are supposed to be a more true likeness of the cartoon versions I guess.
Here’s a little look at Soundwave in action in the new series. Is it just me, or is the animation in this video really pathetic?
The most immediate notable difference from the original, Generation 1 Soundwave is that he is no longer a transforming Walkman. He is now a cool, sleek, evil, music-thumping Scion lined with speakers and whatnot to blast some malicious musical melodies.
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Also, Laserbeak is no longer a cassette. Now he’s a guitar…
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… which as you can see, Soundwave uses to rock out at Decepticon parties.
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I’m not quite sure how Soundwave’s guitar plays into the cartoon (no pun intended), but I’ll assume he creates disruptive sounds or something… probably crumbling buildings, deafening humans and scrambling Autobot microchips. Ya know, stuff like that.
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One of the most pleasing things about this toy is the robot modes’ character design. Soundwave is much more poseable. he also has a broader, more imposing body style. His coloration is a darker/duller variation of his original color scheme, which is accentuated by the vibrant, almost neon, contrasting pinstriped highlights.
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And to tie it all into the original Soundwave design, they’ve included some graphic elements which allude to his original tape deck chest and walkman playback buttons.
I’d say the only real drawback of the toy is Soundwave’s hands. They hinge at the wrist, but his hands aren’t really open, making it virtually impossible for him to actually hold the guitar or a weapon or anything. Luckily, there are pegs on Laserbeak that allow him to attach to Soundwave’ arms and back (roof).
I just love how Hasbro and its team of character designers have evolved this character into a more relevant (should I dare say “hip”) and fun incarnation of the “music robot” by continuing the character’s focus on sound and its peripheral equipment.
Oh, and for all of you who’ve been wondering what Soundwave’s been up to all these years, I think I’ve found your answer.
