I don’t want to go too much into the history of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(TMNT) action figures by Playmates, but just know they were released regularly for about 10 years and with each new series, the character variations got more and more varied (and absurd). The thing is, the toys and characters were always really quirky, fun and well-designed no matter how lame the variant themes were.
Case in point – Robotic Bebop and Rocksteady.
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Truly awesome.
Anyone familiar with TMNT knows that Bebop and Rocksteady are the mutant henchman who are always up to no good and always trying to put a damper on the Turtles’ day. Here’s a list of all the original toy variations of Bebop and Rocksteady:
Head Spinnin’ Bebop
Giant Bebop
Mutatin’ Bebop
Ninja Knockin’ Bebop
Private Porknose Bebop
Mighty Bebop
Night Ninja Bebop
Cave Beast Bebop
Cyber Samurai Bebop
Supermutant Bebop
Warrior Bebop
Machine Gunnin’ Rocksteady
Dimwit Doughboy Rocksteady
Giant Rocksteady
Mutatin’ Rocksteady
Power Punchin’ Rocksteady
Night Ninja Rocksteady
Rhinoman
Gatekeeper Rocksteady
Kung Fu Rocksteady
Supermutant Rocksteady
Warrior Rocksteady
Yeesh! So after all that, at least they threw some awesome robots in the mix.
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Let’s take a closer look at these guys.
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Well, one of the first things you may notice is the “chrome,” vacuum-metalized finish on these figures. That’s the main reason I noticed them to begin with.
“Ooh. Shiny!”
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How cool is it to have super-shiny, clunky, bad guy robots? They’re just so quirky and fun. I wish they’d made a whole robot series of all the main TMNT characters.
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These robots even come equipped with super-bright, neon-colored weapons and accessories.
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Giant claws, guns, and knives.
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You wouldn’t think these guys need weapons to get the job done, but they’re cool looking nonetheless.
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(Another random detail worth mentioning is the Robotic Rocksteady I have comes with neon purple-colored weapons instead of neon orange. Not sure if it means much, but I thought I’d mention the color variation.)
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As I mentioned before, I love these blocky robot designs. The metallic finish is an awesome way to reinforce the idea that these guys truly are robots. But the most surprising and effective robo-detail is the translucent colored plastic in their heads which catches light, giving them the glowing-eye evil robot look. Priceless. It’s a classic toy gimmick which makes these figures absolutely perfect.
So, we’ve established how great these figures are, but there’s yet another detail that makes them a bit more interesting for you Turtle cartoon fans. It turns out these aren’t just another wacky TMNT toy variation, these robo-mutants appeared in the original Ninja Turtles cartoon .
They appeared in an episode called Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady although in the episode, they are actually referred to as “Super Rocksteady” and “Mighty Bebop” (And to confuse things a bit more, there was actually a Turtles toy called “Mighty Bebop,” which depicts Bebop as a superhero. Sheesh).
Here’s a clip from that episode.
The toy designs are a fairly accurate depiction of their cartoon counterparts. The only real difference is their color scheme.
While researching these characters and the episode, I stumbled upon a pretty cool site called ZMFTS(Zobovor’s Multi-Faceted Talent Showcase). This guy, Zobovor, repainted the Robotic Bebop and Rocksteady to create these cartoon-accurate customs. Nice job!
But now, thanks to Schleich, I can now picture this:
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Ya know, I never thought I’d see the day when I’d put Smurf PVC figures on my site, but when I discovered these guys a few years ago, I knew their presence here was inevitable.
These aren’t just any smurfs, they’re the outcasts of Smurf Village. When you cross those cute, little, blue guys with classic horror icons, you get an awesome amalgamation of cute and creepy.
Here we have seven Halloween-inspired smurfs depicted as a vampire, mummy, werewolf, jack-o-lantern, grim reaper, Frankenstein’s monster and a ghost. (There’s actually a Smurfette Witch in the collection as well. I don’t like her, so I didn’t get her… so sue me.)
These figures are usually referred to by their serial numbers, so I’ve taken on the task of naming them.
Count Smurfula
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“Bleh! I vant to smurf your blood.”
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First up is Count Smurfula. He’s an awesome interpretation of the formal, vampire look. The cape, bow, belt and cuffs are all a great way to accessorize a topless smurf’s outfit… and those fangs look pretty fierce too.
Mummy Smurf
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“Wrap it up. I’ll smurf it.”
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Next is Mummy Smurf. He doesn’t look to old or dried out, but I love his creepy, blood-red eye. I also like how the bandages are unraveling to emulate to the topless smurf design. Looks like they’ve even wrapped his hat.
Weresmurf
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“Holy smurf! It’s a full moon tonight.”
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Here we have Weresmurf. What’s cool about this guy is the fact that he’s a furry smurf. That’s pretty rare. He has claws. I didn’t even know smurfs had fingernails. Oh yeah, and he has a belt. That’s bizarre in Smurf world.
Smurf-O-Lantern
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Next is Smurf-O-Lantern. This guy looks to be a regular ol’ smurf with a jack-o-lantern plopped on his head. His hat and body are generic. It’s his monstrous pumpkin head that makes him so great. Wonder if that’s Jokey Smurf under there.
Grim Smurfer
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(Don’t Smurf) The Reaper
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This next guy is a bit weird. He’s the Grim Smurfer – complete with scythe. He actually looks like a smurf wearing a Halloween costume. It’s due to the fact that his body is simply a suit with bones painted on it. A skeleton body smurf would’ve be amazing though. He would’ve looked like an Underworld Warrior.
Frankensmurf
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He’s one scarred-up mother-smurfer.
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This guys’ great. It’s Frankensmurf. He’s really unique in that he’s got a big block head, bolts, colored pants and a vest (A VEST! his upper torso is actually covered. Wild!) Oh yeah, and check out those platform shoes.
Poltersmurf
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“I ain’t afraid of no smurf!” (poltersmurf that is)
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This last guy is kind of scary. I’ll call him Poltersmurf. Sure, he’s a simple smurf with a sheet over him, but look how pissed he is. The rest of these guys look mischevious but fun. This guy looks like he really wants to hurt you. Luckily, he’s being held back by a ball and chain. (Strange. Seems like a ghost wouldn’t be held back by that kind of thing.)
What I love about these guys is how outwardly monstrous and unique their designs are while straying true to the Smurf design. They aren’t just mild variations of the generic smurf (Ya know… a smurf holding a jack-o-lantern or some crap like that). These are nice, uniquely sculpted monstrous incarnations of everyone’s favorite little blue guys. Now you have no reason to not have Smurf toys on your desk.
(Unfortunately, these Halloween Smurf designs were retired in December of 2008, but I think you can still find them fairly easily online if you want them.)
So what do you get when you combine the world’s three most popular comic superheroes into one figure?
You get a mess.
If you can’t afford a figure of each, might as well combine ‘em. right?
Let me introduce you to a bootleg figure I like to call Super-Spider-Man.
He’s the best of all your favorite superheroes!
The body of Spider-Man painted as the costume of Superman…
… topped off with the cape of Batman. (It’s red, but I’d recognize that jagged, zig-zag cape pattern anywhere.)
Yikes!
I think he’s actually a bootleg of a bootleg. He’s not a “real” Superman bootleg. He’s a 10″ tall bootleg movie Spider-Man figure that’s been repainted as Superman. I don’t think I’ve ever owned a bootleg of a bootleg. Ha!
So, yeah. He’s freaky enough as it is, but look at this!!
His eyes are crawling up his head. Is this Superman’s new approach to hiding his identity?
Out of curiosity, I decided to put his eyes in their proper place.
I “Photoshopped” ‘em, and I’m not quite sure he looks any better.
So, we’ve established this guy’s a horribly-produced bootleg – complete with the weird hollowed-out arms, scraggly paint job, but he does have one more small surprise.
Did you notice that weird, little button on this guy’s back? It actually activates a little, red LED in his chest.
Awesome! I think this is his bootleg heat-vision! (His eyes relocated, so maybe his heat-vision did too.)
I’m scared to look into the light.
Whew! If the crappiness of this toy doesn’t blind you, at least the LED will. Maybe if you stare at it long enough, you’ll go blind and will never have to see this monstrosity again.
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!
Oh yes – freaky, little chubby men dressed as some of DC Comics’ most iconic superheroes.
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Superman
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Batman…
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Robin…
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… and Captain Marvel (who some folks call “Shazam”).
No matter how horrible they may be, you have to admit, these characters are immediately recognizable. Is that because they have classic, well-designed costumes?
Nah.
The characters have just been around for so long, their colors and patterns are burned into our brains. You could put a chimpanzee in blue and red pajamas, and I’m sure everyone would say he’s Superchimp. (Even without the logo.)
Anyway, back to my point. These are some ugly-ass toys, but they’re great. It’s their superbly poor production values that make these things so unique and interesting.
I actually picked ‘em up at a toy show several months back. These lil’ guys have no markings at all, but the dealer I bought ‘em from says they’re cake-toppers from the 60s.
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Cake toppers, huh?
I dunno. Seems like a possibility I guess. They do have holes on the bottom for you to conveniently cram a candle up their butts.
How would you feel if you saw these things on your birthday cake? I’d be excited
Superman
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Batman
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Robin
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Captain Marvel
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I have no clue who made these things or even if they’re even official merchandise released by DC Comics.
As I stated early, they are just bizarre, “not-quite-right” 2.25″ versions of some of our favorite superheroes. So what if they are just cheap (actually, they were a tad costly), little pieces of crap. They are fun.
I’m pretty sure any kind of licensed DC Comics cake topper (or any toy for that matter) produced today would be generic and more strictly follow a model sheet or standards guide. It would probably look something like this.
Where’s the fun in that? That guy actually looks kinda like Superman. Lame
On a side note – while researching these cake toppers, I came across some more mini statues that were very, very similar to what I’ve shown you (if not the original versions these pieces were based on).
These Capt. Marvel and Robin toys were actually listed as rubber pencil toppers on Gasoline Alley Antiques website and were made in Hong Kong in 1970. I actually found the Batman figurine in Reis O’Brien’s (of Geek Orthodox fame)About.com’s “Batman collection” article. His is supposedly made in China, and it has a completely different look as well.
My mini superhero cake toppers are hard plastic (maybe even very hard sugar?). They have no markings at all, and they’re painted a lot more haphazardly.
