You see, I never really knew about the New Adventures of He-Man cartoon as a kid. I never watched the show or knew the characters or anything like that. I was already out of my Masters of the Universe toy phase, but that didn’t mean I still didn’t like looking around the toy store. My first (and last) exposure to “New Adventures” was on the shelves in a toy store. I still have a vague memory of strolling through the toy aisles of said store and seeing, hanging from the pegs in bold, gold type,”He-Man.” But once I saw what the He-Man figures were, I was a bit surprised, confused and disappointed. The characters were all new, they were a smaller scale, and they were not as freakishly muscular as I’d come to expect. It made no sense. It was traumatic I tell you.
Seriously. This new bastardized He-Man sucked. It seems that there was so much of a distaste for scrawny He-Man, that Mattel eventually released a couple more versions of him which you may notice grew more and more muscular.
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He-Man figure photos courtesy of He-Man.org.
Ha! He still looks pretty crappy but at least he’s transforming to the steroid-ridden He-Man. That’s the way we like him.
Well, I’m well beyond the whole purpose of this post. I’ll just say the new He-Man sucked. but it’s been a long time since those days, and looking at the line now with my weirdo-collector eyes, I can actually see the value in some of the “He-Man” toy designs – mainly the villains and especially this villain, Optikk (clever name huh?).
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You are looking at one of the freakiest He-Man villains ever created. His head is a giant, pulsing eyeball for cryin’ out loud, and it’s staring through your soul!
Optikk’s been getting a lot of attention lately, because he’s being re-made and released by Mattel in the Masters of the Universe Classics(MOTUC) line.
This is a testament to the fan-following this guy has garnered over the years. He looks pretty cool, but I figured I’d show you the original.
We’re going back to 1990.
Let’s start with the packaging.
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Ah. Good, old fashioned paintings of characters. I’ll always, always enjoy that. Thanks Mattel, for supporting some illustrators. (but I have noticed you’re re-using the same vintage art for the MOTUC lines. Just hire a guy to do new stuff, so it can be consistent.)
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Well, to start things off, I’ll just say, “Ugh.” Look at that freaky eyeball just staring at you. Creepy, huh?
According to his bio Optikk’s a “Bad-tempered goon squad cyborg from the foggy polar region of evil planet Denebria. Has a spyball eyeball that lets him see through almost anything.”
Ok. So he has the huge eyeball to see through the fog. I get it. His “people” have evolved to this point I guess. Giant eyeball heads.
Secondly, as you may have noticed on the package, Optikk has “Masters Action,” and his action happens to be a “quick-draw” move.
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It’s cool and all that he draws a gun on you, but it’s really, really lame that his arm is in a permanent, “I’m gonna bust a cap in yo ass” position. To “activate” his quick-draw action, you simply hold his arm down and let go when it’s time for him to shoot. You’re screwed if you ever lose the gun. You’ll be stuck with a guy who just kind of holds his arm out there.
But he has another action that makes up for the lame, rigor mortis arm.
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Just spin the dial on his back…
and his eyeball moves!!
In case you can’t figure it out, Mattel has provided some step-by-step instructions.
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Optikk’s fairly poseable too. He has various ball joints and hinges and such. Pretty fancy compared to the old MOTU figures.
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When all is said and done though, the guy is pretty neat. He looks like a steam-punk astronaut or robot or something… with an eyeball for a head. It really seems like a poor armor design to keep your most vulnerable body part completely open to attacks. Maybe Mattel should’ve made a dorky helmet for his eye or a battle-armor contact lens.
Well, Optikk, thanks for justifying the existence of the He-Man toyline. Best of luck with your MOTUC release.
You see these generic-looking super heroes? (The ones that look a lot like Playmobil?) They may look like true knock-offs or bootlegs of your favorite comic characters, but they are in fact a legit toyline from a legit Spanish toy company, Airgam.
“What the hell is Airgam” you may be asking? well, Airgam is a toy company that was established in 1976 and is best known for its miniature figures called Airgam Boys.
The Airgam Boys had various series which included themes such as Space, Romans, Cowboys, Sports, etc. One such category called “Airgam Comics: Super Stars” was released in 1985… which leads us to these guys – The Super Fantastics and Super Diabolics.
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They’re a bunch of guys wearing capes, boots, gloves and what looks to be diapers on the outside of their pants. Not only that, but most of them are carrying guns. Even the good guys. I guess there’s a higher price to pay for crime in Spain – a bullet to the gut.
Looks like the series more or less uses all the same body parts and accessories. They just get different coloration, paint apps and stickers.
Let’s take a closer look at the figures shall we. We’ll start out with the Super Fantastics.
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First of all, what’s up with that name? Ha! Sounds a lot like a bad English translation doesn’t it? It makes them that much more charming I guess. And this type treatment is so funky. Looks like some kind of street graffiti.
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This is a rough bunch of super heroes. You’d think they were over sized, floating heads, arms and torsos hanging out with miniature, heavily-armed little people. It’s a pretty nasty-looking illustration – a weird mishmash up of all the characters piled on top of each other. The characters’ scale is all off, and the characters which appear to be in the background are overlapping characters in the foreground. It loses all sense of this thing being a “montage.”
Super Fantastics
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The Fantastics characters I have to show you today are Stars Man, Bird Man, Red Masker and Captain Laser.
Stars Man
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Stars Man, is pretty much a Captain America ripoff if you ask me. Although, since he’s just a “stars” man, I guess his allegiance is the stars themselves and not necessarily to the United States. He could represent any country that really likes stars… or Astronomy.
Bird Man
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Bird Man seems to be the Batman ripoff. He’s got the big, bat ears… only thing is, he’s bird man. Birds don’t Have big ears like that. Not sure why they did that. They should’ve given him a beak or something.
Red Masker
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Ha! Now we have Red-Masker… which is probably the funniest name in the bunch. If you can’t come up with a good ripoff name for a Spider Man character then you shouldn’t be naming toys. Ha. Why “Red-Masker?” Couldn’t they have done something like “Arachna-Kid” or “Webbed-Wonder?” How’d they come up with the “Red Masker?” I can picture it now:
“Hey Berto… we need a name for this Spider Man-looking guy.”
“Is he wearing a mask?”
“Yeah.”
“What color is it?”
“Red.”
“Why don’t we just call him ‘Red-Mask?’”
“I dunno. Seems too lifeless. It’s not action-oriented enough. No real ‘kick’ to it.”
“Well, how about ‘Red Masker?’ You know, he masks people and stuff.”
“Man. Why didn’t I think of that? The kids are gonna love it!”
(Damn. I went off on a tangent there. Sorry.)
Captain Laser
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Here’s Captain Laser. This guy was obviously inspired by Cyclops from X-Men, but his sci-fi logo style and the word “captain” in his name makes me feel like he’s more of a Buck Rogers, sci-fi, leader kind of guy. Plus, I love how happy he looks. He’s probably the wise-cracking smart ass of the group.
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Oh yeah, and look at this. He may be cracking a smile now, but if you cross him, he’ll laser-blast your ass. What did the innocent people in that sky rise do to deserve the laser-beamed wrath of Captain Laser? Maybe some Super Diabolics were hiding in there.
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Next, we have the Super Diabolics. I’m actually a bit intrigued that these toylines have separate names… unless “Airgam Comics: Super Stars” is considered the toyline’s name. I dunno. Anyway, the same weird English translation thing goes for this toy title too. Love it. The style here is more reminiscent of skateboard graphics or tattoo art or something. So pointy and flamey.
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And look at these guys. They seem a bit more unique/diverse and not so ripped-off (at first glance anyway). This montage suffers from the same weird perception of space between the characters. I like their dark and mysterious setting – surrounded by creepy castles, sharp mountain ranges and monster bats.
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The Diabolics I have to show you today are Dr. Diabolic, Python, Piranha and Spector.
Dr. Diabolic
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First we Have Dr. Diabolic… which basically means this guy is the leader. If you’re team is called the “Super Diabolics,” and you are doctor of Diabolics, then you are definitely the bad-ass leading the bunch. His mask only covers a part of his face for some reason, and it looks like he’s even lost an eye in battle. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Sinister from the X-men.
Python
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Up next we have Python. Which looks like a weird 70s Dracula. I love the little ’stache and stained vampire fangs. If he’s not a weird reptilian vampire, I’d say he’s a retro version of G.I. Joe’s Serpentor.
Piranha
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Here we have Piranha. I think he’s the misunderstood weirdo of the bunch. I’m sure he speaks or acts in some way that any passerby would think he’s “special needs.” He looks pretty cool. Looks like a cross between an alien and a fish man. Good to see he has a trident instead of the guns everyone else seems to love so much.
Spector
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Oh. And my favorite of the bunch – Spector. He’s definitely the scary, mysterious loner who answers to no one. Question: What’s more bad ass than a guy with a skull for a head? How about a guy with a skull head wearing a futuristic leather space suit. What’s cooler than a skull-headed guy wearing a futuristic leather jumpsuit? How about a skull-headed guy wearing a leather jumpsuit toting around a big blaster. This guy has to be an undead space biker. He could’ve been inspired by Ghost Rider.
That’s all the characters for now, but we’re not done yet.
Not only were these little guys cool, but they had huge freaking playsets.
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Here are a couple of playsets that were featured on the back of the packaging. Looks like a city playset with a giant spider web, and a big glowing bad guy along with the castle playset. The castle is kind of wonky and more fantasy-inspired than these comic characters. Just look at these things. Sure they’re just cardboard cutouts, but they seem like they could’ve been pretty fun.
Playsets not cool enough for you? Well, in these pics you can see a lot of these guys had alternative figure versions which came with their own personally-branded vehicles. Looks like they had various airplanes, motorcycles and hovercrafts.
Red Maskermobile
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I happened to get my hands on this Red Masker-mobile. And boy is it a thing of beauty. Looks like a weird jetski-speedboat-hovercraft or something. Not sure if he flies this thing or sails it.
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Also, notice the Red Masker that came with this vehicle is different than the regular one. This time his eyes are exposed, his costume’s original web patterning has devolved to a generic criss-cross design, and now, he has his name written across his chest (so you won’t confuse him with Spider-Man).
Panther Man and Bad Tiger
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You may’ve noticed a couple of characters from the toy packaging that didn’t get their time in the limelight. I don’t have these figures, but I figured they needed a little mention.
Here we have the Super Fantastics’ Panther Man. He’s basically a Wolverine ripoff. They tried to throw us off a bit w/ that bow, but we know Wolverine when we see him.
And then we have the Super Diabolics’ Bad Tiger. He actually looks pretty nice. Reminds me of a character you’d see in an old Nintendo Pro Wrestling game or something.
Note that they both have an animal theme and the same color scheme. Oddly coincidental.
If you happen to have these figures or know where I can find ‘em, please get in touch with me
And lastly, I wanted to share this vintage Spanish toy commercial for the Airgam Comics: Super Stars. You know they had to be legit if they had their own toy commercial. Enjoy.
Oh man. All I can say is I love these little guys. I’m so glad I discovered them. I never knew anything about them growing up (being the little American kid I was in the 80s). Thank goodness for the internet and my buddy, John, who hooked me up with a lot of these figures. Thanks John!
Waitaminit. It’s Snatch Attack Spidertron. My mistake.
I found this guy at the York Toy Show too. Funny thing is, I’d never seen this toy before in my life, but for some reason, at this show, I saw at least 4 or 5 of him at various vendors’ tables. I guess old Power Rangers toys are more common up north or something. (I was just guessing it was a Power Rangers toy. It sure looks and acts like one.)
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As I’ve mentioned every time I’ve posted one of these MMPR monsters, I’m not a fan of the show at all, but I’m willing to admit, the villain toys are pretty cool/freaky/goofy.
This guy really grabbed my attention, because he’s a cool-looking, semi-realistic depiction of a spider in action figure form. It’s as if whoever made this figure heard the term “Spider-man” and took it literally. Look at him. He’s a a bulbous, furry, humanoid spider man, with eight hinged, red-spike-tipped arms/legs and a creepy, fangy, spidery face.
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And nothing complements nappy, brown fur and red spikes like that big, green and yellow protective shell.
Not only that, but he comes equipped with “spider-hug action!” There’s a trigger on his back that, when pulled, controls the top six arms to flex and grab at whatever unlucky teen in a vibrant-colored jumpsuit gets in his way.
Looks like the toy originally came with a big web shield doohickey.
According to sharetv.org, in his introductory episode, “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” (Aired Oct. 12, 1993) – “Rita switches out a Forrest Spirit Statue from Angel Grove park and replaces it with her own- one which holds her latest Spidertron monster inside. He puts a sleeping spell on the entire town of Angel Grove, putting everyone but Zack under a deep sleep, leaving him to face Spidertron alone.”
A sleeping spell? Lame. He should’ve just covered the town in spider webs. Better yet, he should’ve wrapped up the Power Rangers and sucked their blood dry.
You might recognize this guy. I introduced him on the blog last year as an “Outer Terrestrial Creature,” but as you can see here, he was also released as a “Li’l Bendable Gremlin Creature.”
Looks like he’s still “ugly but loveable.”
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So what’s with the alternate name?
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I’m guessing that with a crappy toy name like “Outer Terrestrial Creatures,” sales were going poorly, and they renamed it. Now it appears they are less “space alien” and are now of the “odd creature” variety. Plus, what kid knows what the hell “outer terrestrial” even means?
Another theory I have is the new name was inspired by the “Gremlins”movie. Yeah, I know that may be too obvious. The original “Outer Terrestrial Creatures” toys were released in 1983, and Gremlins came out in ‘84. So, maybe they decided to update the name to relate to a cool, new, popular movie, put the toys on single cards and hope for the best.
It’s all just a random guess of course. You know I didn’t actually call Marty Toy and ask any of this (not even sure if they’re still around). I don’t care that much. Just wanted you to know about this variation.
So, here it is – Part 2 of my toy-finds at the Greater York Toy Extravaganza. Let’s keep it simple and just itemize what makes this toy so weird.
Ready?
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1. Freaky alien fish face
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2. Big, purple, 70s afro
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3. Flippers for hands
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4. Weird, split, flippery things for feet
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5. Weird, cracking neck thing
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6. And she’s completely nude (I’m calling her “she,” because she’s pink, dainty and just kind of girly looking.)
She actually looks like a crabby, old, alien grandma.
I saw this little gal at a guy’s booth. And I literally exclaimed to the guy, “What the hell is this thing, and how much is it?!” The guy kindly rejected my enthusiasm with a slight shrug of his shoulders, walked over to his buddy, mumbled with him a bit, came back over and simply told me, “It’s from Battlestar Galactica and it’s $5.”
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So what do you think? Worth the five bucks? I dunno. It’s a bit run down and scraped-up. I’d usually pay one or two bucks for something like this, but I guess I was eager to buy since I’d never seen it before. I have since tried to convince myself that the wear-and-tear of the toy gives it more “character.” Who am I kidding? I could’ve gotten this toy MOC (that’s mint-on-card for all you non-dorky types) for $10 probably.
Well, it didn’t take long, but I did find more info about the toy. It’s Imperious Leader from the Battlestar Galactica toyline released by Mattel in 1978.
Looks like I’m missing the cape/shroud thingy.
Wow! With the blanket accessory, the alien grandma look is complete. You know how cold grandma is all the time. Maybe we need to get her a Snuggie, so she can drink tea and stay warm at the same time.
Ya know… now that I think about it, maybe the nude alien is best. That way we get to see all the hidden freakiness.
I never really watched Battlestar Galactica(classic or modern era) or cared about any of the toys, so I’m not really familiar with this character or what her role is in the show. I guess she’s a bad guy. Probably the leader of the Cylons. The description on the package actually reads: “Sinister mastermind from the TV Space Saga!” But how imperious of a leader or sinister of a mastermind could you possibly be if you have no opposable thumbs or even sleeves to let your flippers out?
Oh, and one last thing.
Is it just me, or does that hairstyle look like it’s really inspired by Jheri Curl? Classic.
Just wanted you to know about this variation.
