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Archive for the ‘Robots’ Category

Disney Overtakes Earth. Next? Cybertron.

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

“WOW!”

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That’s what immediately came to mind when I first saw this Mickey Mouse Transformer (and I also thought if Minnie Mouse and Optimus Prime had a child, it would look something like this).

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This toy is such a cool combo of cute, fun, iconic Mickey Mouse and the cool, high-tech, mechanical-giants Transformers.

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And it’s Japanese. Yep. It seems like the Japanese have come up with another cool thing that we folks in the U.S. can’t enjoy without importing it (a costly import I might add). I could easily see this thing for sale at Disney shops or whatever (do those stores still exist?). I wonder what they’d call him. Optimus Mouse? Mickey Prime? There’s no name on the package (at least not written in English), so I think we should call him “Mechy Mouse” (thanks for the great pun, Mike).

Here’s a look at Mechy Mouse in his robot form. You can see the robot has elements from Mickey Mouse’s design – the shorts with the big buttons, the white gloves, and the plump cartoony shoes.

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Takara has managed to stay true to the original Mickey design elements while still giving it a robotic twist. The only real addition are the wings, which really make this robot that much cooler.

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He’s pretty detailed, but his transformation isn’t really that complex (that’s not a bad thing).

Now let’s see his truck form.

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The truck form actually seems a little more cartoony in style than the robot. I’m not complaining. It actually looks like a cartoony truck you’d see in an animated Mickey Mouse short (you know, if he were just hired to drive a big rig cross-country).

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One of the coolest and most charming parts of this toy is the miniature Mickey Mouse that directs the robot and drives the truck. I love how he’s just riding on the head commanding the impending doom of Donald or Goofy or someone (probably Minnie).

What’s great is Mickey’s change in costume. When he’s riding the robot, he’s in a full space gear, helmet and everything, but when he’s driving the truck, he’s actually wearing a trucker’s hat. Ha! So great. (I don’t know why that amuses me so much.)

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Also, note that he’s driving on the right side of the truck. That ain’t no American truck.

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The toy is pretty detailed and has a great paint job. It’s not super-articulated or super-poseable, but he still looks nice, is well-built and has tiny surprises like the miniature Mickeys and other details like the poseable robo-visor.

I was even surprised by the inclusion of the mouse-themed Autobots logo.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention some stuff. This toy was released by Takara Tomy in collaboration with Disney in March 2009. It was actually the second of its kind. The toy you’ve just seen is the Monochrome Edition. (I think the toys were related to the 25th Anniversary of Transformers. There’s a little “25 Years” icon on the box.)

Mickey Mouse Transformer

The original version of the Mechy Mouse toy which was released a few months prior to the monochrome one. Instead of the gray, black and gold color scheme, it actually has a full-color paint job reminiscent of Optimus Prime’s red, blue and gray color scheme. I think it looks pretty nice, but I still favor the monochrome version. It just seems a bit more “classic,” “darker” or “badass” or something.

Mickey Vs. Mickey

I wonder if the two versions are supposed to reflect vintage Mickey vs. modern Mickey. Makes sense.

I know this toy can be seen as a “sell-out” kind of thing for Disney or Takara. I think there’s a big divide by fans out there that don’t want their chocolate Disney to get mixed with their peanut butter Transformers.

Some fans are even knit-picking the fact that if this was a “true” Transformer, it wouldn’t have to be controlled by Mickey. Therefore it’s just a lifeless machine, so it’s not supposed to be Optimus Prime. Gimme a freakin’ break. It’s a damned toy (and a fun one at that). You might as well say something like, “I sure as hell hope his truck doesn’t have a manual transmission, because Optimus is an automatic.” Who cares??

I honestly think it was this unexpected pairing that made me pick the toy in the first place. I don’t give two craps about Mickey by himself (or do I?), but when he’s a 30-foot-tall robot that transforms into a semi-truck, you have to admit, it’s cool and fun.

The toy may seem a bit costly (retail price is $50 or so) for a casual fan of Transformers or Disney stuff. I’m a very casual fan, but this Mickey/Transformers combo toy really just pulled at my weirdo heartstrings.

• Buy the Mickey Mouse Transformer on eBay!

Posted in Cartoons, Robots, TV and Movies, Toy Packaging | 14 Comments »

Socket Poppers by Ertl

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

I found some freakin’ great toys recently, and I have no idea what they are. They look like B-List wrestling stars. I’m not much into wrestling toys (or wrestling in general), but these guys make me wanna give them a chance.

The characters are so absurd, I’d love to see them in the WWE ring. Actually, if there are any wrestlers reading this, take some inspiration from these costumes. Every good wrestler needs a good gimmick.

So, what do you get when you cross a barbarian, a robot and the biker from the Village People?

You get this guy.

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Well, howabout Batman, Conan and a surfer-dude at the prom?

I bet he’d look something like this.

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What do you get when you cross a dragon and a witch doctor (who’s worried about his elbows)?

Voila!

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What about a Flavor Flav wannabe who’s fallen victim to bad burns and a spill in toxic waste?

Okay that was a bit of a stretch.

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I don’t even know what to say about this guy.

Robo-alien vampire?

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Now this guy is one of my favorites. He’s wearing the classic, iconic wrestling tights… but with those wings and the mummy-wrapped head, he just looks like a freak! Perfect.

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The figures are about the size of the small G.I. Joe or Star Wars figures. 3 3⁄4″ or so.

If they’re not wrestlers, I can easily see them in the background of a new Star Wars movie along with other random, crappy George Lucas aliens.

Alright.

I have to come clean.

I haven’t been totally honest with you all.

These figures don’t exist. (Well, they exist, but not necessarily in this form.)

You see, these mixed-up figures are actually from a toyline called Socket Poppers (if you hadn’t already figured it out by the title of this blog entry).

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They’re a cool collection of characters released in 1991 by Ertl (you know, the company that’s best know for making those little die cast cars). So, just as the name implies, these figures have interchangeable parts. You can “pop” their heads, arms and legs from their “sockets” and pop them into place somewhere else.

I love the tagline on the box – “All body parts move… even to other BODIES!”

Socket Poppers figures box by Ertl

Man, the possibilities are endless. In fact, check out the trivia on the packaging. It reads:

Fun Facts:

Fact A: If you built three characters a minute with no duplications and worked continuously for two years, you couldn’t complete all the possible combinations offered by just two Socket Popper characters!

Fact B: Assuming their were no duplications in their work, one trillion people each working continuously for one trillion years could complete less than one one-billionth of the possible combinations offered by all 16 Socket Poppers characters!

I’ve only been able to get my hands on 11 of the figures (there are 16 in all). Check ‘em out. They still look pretty good as standalone toys.

Dinosaur
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Rock Star
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Vampire
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Swamp Monster
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Indian (looks more like a Barbarian to me)
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Skateboarder
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Pterodactyl
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Robot
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Mummy
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Cyclops
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Wrestler
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I would love to see a resurgence of this toyline… especially if there were multiple series of characters. There would be so much room for potential combos.

As I was searching for info on Socket Poppers, I was actually surprised by a little something I found. Apparently, Socket Poppers are a re-release of toys originally released by Matchbox (a company also known for making little diecast cars) in 1990. The toy line was known as Connectors. Pretty generic huh?

Connectors by Matchbox
Connectors photo courtesy of TonsOfToys.com.

My immediate reaction to seeing these toys in their packages is “Matchbox missed the point.” The great interactive feature of the toys is completely lost. There are definitely a few things that Ertl did right when marketing the Socket Poppers.

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1. Name
“Socket Poppers” just sounds fun. It is engaging, and it kind of leaves you curious. “Connectors” may be a bit too vague. It’s definitely not fun. They could be anything from a tool set, to building blocks, to extension cords.

2. Visuals
The overall “look & feel” of the Socket Poppers graphics are bold, clear and eye-catching. The simplistic design and contrast in color helps everything stand out compared to the cluttered, overly-detailed and irrelevant graphics of Connectors. Also, the small repeating graphics of combos on the Socket Poppers package makes much more sense than the group of Connectors figures jumping from a castle.

3. Language
The socket poppers package is covered in fun, goofy language constantly reiterating the multiple combos and all. Even with the absurd stats that are probably untrue, it’s just fun and further illustrates the variety of the toys. Connectors uses none of that. Maybe there’s cool stuff on the back of the box though. Probably not.

4. Package Design
This is probably the smartest immediate difference in the packaging and the way the toys are displayed. The Socket Poppers are offered in multiples – not single carded figures. This allowed Ertl to clearly illustrate the intent of the toys. By simply displaying characters mixed with one another, they immediately communicated to kids what they’re supposed to do with the toys. You don’t have to read a thing. Connectors, on the other hand, have a single figure sitting there in generic box. Not nearly as fun, and it definitely isn’t clear that the characters can be mixed up.

I’m not sure why I’m over-analyzing the packaging like this. It must be the designer in me. I was just impressed by the thought that Ertl put into packaging the Socket Poppers versus what Matchbox ended up doing for Connectors.

Socket Poppers figures I'm missing

And lastly, I’d love for anyone out there that may have the Monster Fly, Football Player, Sheriff, Mutant or Soldier figures to contact me. I’d love to take them off your hands to finish my collection. Plus, I could feature them here along with some more messed up combos.

Thanks for reading.

Posted in Alien, Bizarre, Goofy, Human?, Monsters, Robots | 29 Comments »

The New Adventures of He-Man – Hoove

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

Hey.

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.

Posted in Cartoons, Monsters, Robots | 5 Comments »

Terminator and Dot Matrix Have Love Child

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

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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).

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I’m just assuming he’s a ripoff of the iconic Terminator toys. I know, I know, just because he’s a robotic endoskeleton doesn’t mean he’s trying to cash in on the success of the films. But Terminator 2: Judgement Day was released in 1991, and this toy was made in 1992 (well according to its markings anyway –”Chap Mei ©1992.”). Looks like they were a bit late with the bootlegging.

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.

Buy some robot toys on eBay!

Posted in Bootleg, Robots, TV and Movies | 15 Comments »

Transformers: Animated – Soundwave

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

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.

Transformers: Animated - Soundwave

Doesn’t it seem a bit redundant to call it “Transformers: Animated?” Haven’t all the transformers series been animated?

Transformers - Soundwave

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.

Transformers: Animated - Soundwave Action Figure

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.

Posted in Cartoons, Robots | 7 Comments »

Archive for the ‘Robots’ Category

Disney Overtakes Earth. Next? Cybertron.

Socket Poppers by Ertl

The New Adventures of He-Man – Hoove

Terminator and Dot Matrix Have Love Child

Transformers: Animated – Soundwave

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