Weirdo Toys

DC Comics Antique Cake Toppers

November 25th, 2009

Alright, let’s see what we’ve got this time.

Oh yes – freaky, little chubby men dressed as some of DC Comics’ most iconic superheroes.

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Superman

Superman

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Batman

Batman…

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Robin

Robin…

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Captain Marvel

… 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.)

Superchimp photo courtesy of BigStockPhoto.com.

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.

Superman Cake Topper photo courtesy of CelebrateExpress.com.

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).

Superhero Pencil Toppers

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.

Any ideas?

• Buy DC mini figures on eBay!

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Posted in Cartoons, Comics, Funny, Human?, Superhero | 9 Comments »

Man Surrounded by Toys He Can’t Afford at Antique Toy Show

November 22nd, 2009

As you may or may not know, the Allentown Antique Toy Show was a couple weeks ago (November, 7 2009 to be exact). If you follow me on Twitter, you probably read all about my experiences there, but now it’s time for a quick recap of what actually went down that weekend.

Well, one thing I did differently this year, is I paid for the “early bird,” which allowed me access to the show a day early to shop with the toy dealers. It also allowed me to get in early the next morning for the public show. I’d like to say it was worth it, but I only bought three things.

These robots.

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They’re called Ding-a-Lings, but let’s save the details for another blog entry

Okay. I didn’t buy much at the show, but another good benefit of going, was my discovery of various toys that I may be able to pick up cheaper on eBay or something. In fact, I’ve already picked up a Halloween skeleton push puppet I wanted for $3 which was going for $48 at the show. Ridiculous huh?

(Oh, and I also got to catch up with a Weirdo Toys reader and fellow toy enthusiast, Ben, so that was really cool.)

I took a bunch of photos of the show. Instead of posting them all here, I’ve actually uploaded them to my Flickr Account. You can check ‘em out in this slideshow.

As I did the last time I went to Allentown, I think I’ll just break it all down into “lessons learned.”

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1. It is truly awe-inspiring to be surrounded by so much toy history.
I said it two years ago, and I’ll say it again – the toy show is awesome. There is just so much toy history everywhere. I wasn’t able to adequately take it all in. It’d be great to document every piece and hear its story… but that’s impossible. So, I’ve tried to do the quicky, day trip version. Ha! As you you’ll see in the slideshow, the toys ranged from old, handmade mammy dolls to more modern batman hairbrushes. The show was a weird mish-mash of stuff, but that’s what made it so interesting.

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2. Antique toys cost way too much.
Of course it’s pricey. Who the hell goes to an antique show looking for cheap, garage-sale-priced toys (me)? That’s not my complaint. My complaint is the apparent markup of so much stuff. A quick Google or eBay search of the same items on location resulted in my finding the pieces for twice or 10 times less than the dealers were asking. That’s the main reason I didn’t buy much. I know a lot of it is antique, so it’s bound to be pricey, but I’m talking about pieces that I know the value of – stuff from 70s/80s that have a triple or quadruple mark up. Maybe it’s because I’m a young, poor whipper-snapper, they don’t wanna haggle with me. They know they can get “Grampa Joe” to pay the hefty prices ‘cuz he has the money.

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3. Antique toys aren’t collected by anyone under 40.
I’m 32 (going on 33). I’m not super-young, but in this place, I felt like Baby New Year. I’m not even trying to be cruel. It was really great seeing such passion and interest in the toy hobby at an older age. I hope to be just as passionate about weirdo toys when I’m in my 70s. And hopefully I’ll have a bigger budget as well.

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4. Toy vendors don’t like their toys photographed.
I took several photos at the show, and toy vendors were pissed. I first tried to be cordial, and ask permission from every vendor whose table I shot. There was so much apprehension and awkwardness. The majority of them truly were bothered and upset with the mere thought of my photographing their collections. Eventually, instead of dealing with the grief of those interactions, I decided to just snap a shot and keep on moving.

I didn’t use a flash. I’m not posting these photos on eBay to act like I’m selling them. Sheesh. Let a man invade your privacy for just a millisecond

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Well, that’s about it. See ya around Allentown. Can’t say it was a nice visit, but the toy show was kinda cool. Not sure when I’ll see you again. Maybe in five years time or something.

• Buy antique toys on eBay!

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Posted in Antique, Recap, Toy Shows | 10 Comments »

Magic Monster by Heartland

October 30th, 2009

Well, it’s hard to believe, but I actually have a bunch of new info about that mysterious windup, musical demon lumberjack I was so excited about (and desperate for) weeks ago.

Monster video

I’m not sure if you recall, but in that video, we saw a freaky, distorting, rubber face placed on an animatronic, musical lumberjack-type of character (I’m calling him a lumberjack because he’s wielding an axe and he’s wearing boots and overalls).

The thing was so bizarre, I could’ve sworn it was “homemade.” I kind of recognized the look of the rubbery-face and figured it was a finger puppet placed on some weird holiday toy or something.

That lead to my search and discovery of this generic set of rubber-faced finger puppets.

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Jackpot! Not only did I get some weird-looking little finger puppets, but it appears that the demon-looking character from the video is in the bunch.

Okay, now that I’ve acquired the rubber faces, all I needed is the strange lumberjack toy.

Well, thanks to the help of some of you readers and a little bit of detective work, I discovered that this toy is called “Magic Monster.” Once I’d acquired that information, it would only be a matter of time before the toy gods sent this Magic Monster my way.

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Luckily for me, when the monster reared its ugly face, it came fully-functioning and complete with its original box. (Thanks toy gods!)

It’s not a lumberjack toy at all. It is, in fact, simply a nonsensical, axe-wielding monster that sways back-and-forth to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Who’d have thunk it?

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Not only that, but I also discovered the face on the original toy isn’t the one in the video, so I was correct in assuming the video was a “custom” job. I never expected this face to be on the toy.

Wow? That’s one ugly son of a bitch.

And just as I thought – the “head” of the toy actually has a few protruding pegs which stretch the removable, rubbery face stretch, bringing it to life.

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Here’s a full figure view for ya. I kinda feel that they cheaped it with the head sculpt. I know there were probably some technical limitations, but the round helmet dome thing just isn’t cutting it.

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And as you may have guessed, the animatronic head perfectly accommodates the “finger holes” of the various face puppets.

This is too perfect.

Do you know what this means? I can bring each face to life, giving the freaky axe maniac multiple personalities.

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We’ve got the demon-looking guy.

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The angry, mustached man, who actually looks like an axe murder (or angry lumberjack).

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The crazy old man (or is that Michael Berryman)

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And here we have the creepy child molester. (This guy’s probably scarier than the original monster.)

You think they look cool as stills? Wait ’til you see ‘em in action.

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I’ve gotta warn ya though. The music in these videos will get on your nerves. “When the Saints Go Marching In” plays loudly from a speaker in his feet. Not only that, but you have the obnoxious internal mechanism of the toy continuously grinding while the song is playing . It’s basically every parents’ nightmare.

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Also notice the axe has a light in it and glows red. Scaaary.

I noticed my monster toy’s axe is facing forward and not sideways as featured on the box and even in that other video. Hm.

So, which one is your favorite? I think I like the mustached guy best. He just looks right in those clothes… plus his mouth full of teeth really makes his head movements more pronounced and lifelike. Now all I need is some more cool rubbery finger puppets. Any thoughts on where to find them?

After seeing this toy and these puppets. it begs the question: Which came first? Were the faces/puppets made for automated toys like Magic Monster, or was the toy made to accommodate the finger puppets that were already being produced?

The finger puppets don’t have much as far as markings go. All I can see is “® 986012 Made in China.”

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Here’s all the info taken from the Magic Monster box:

Magic Monster
Face with a thousand changes
An axe that lights up
Moves from side to side
Even plays music (the saints go marching in)
1/#21828C
©1985 Justen
“transformable face”

(Check out that front panel. They’ve totally masked out the big dome head behind the monster’s face. Bull. The toy looks so much better with just the floating face. And did you notice the “©1985 Justen?” Weird, huh?)

Actually, there is one other question this toy makes me ask: What the hell?

• Buy rare monster toys on eBay!

• Buy rubber finger puppets on eBay!

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Posted in Animatronic, Bizarre, Monsters, Musical, Ugly, Weird | 17 Comments »

And the sleazy winner is…

September 21st, 2009

Mr. Sleaze

Mick!!

You win an official Mr. Sleaze and FooFoo Dog (complete with torn-open packaging) along with the Apple Devil T-shirt! Congratulations!

(Oddly enough you were the first person to comment. I swear it was a random drawing.)

And to all of you who entered, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I wish I had toys for all of you, but I’m just a lowly weirdo toy lover. I have no sponsors or anything like that.

As always, thanks for the continued support of the Weirdo Toys blogs. I love hearing from fellow toy lovers.

Here are some of the prominent thoughts from your comments:

You want more updates with the possibility of guest bloggers. - It’s a good idea for sure. I need to start my search for suckers
You like the idea of discussion boards (most of you anyway). – I’ll look into that. Last thing I wanna do is create a board and have no community using it.
You like the photos (and commentary) and would like to see them as downloadable desktop wallpapers. – That’s been a request for a long time. Now that I have a better camera, this may be a possibility.

That’s it for now. Have a great week (I think Mick will).

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Posted in Contests, Giveaways | 4 Comments »

Second Annual Weirdo Toy Giveaway

September 15th, 2009

Mr. Sleaze - Police Academy Action Figure by Kenner

Well, whadaya know? Another whole year of weirdo toy blogging has gone by.

There is something I’ve noticed that is drastically different this year; I’ve written a lot less – especially as of late. I’d like to apologize. I know how fun it can be to find a screwed-up weirdo toy waiting in your RSS blog reader every week. Trust me, It’s just as much fun for me to post one. I’ve just been super-busy, because I’ve been planning a wedding (it’s only a few weeks away). And on top of that, I recently lost my job (yep), so blogging and toy hunting haven’t been on the priority list

I don’t know what I expect you to do with that information. I usually try not to get too personal here on the blog. I just wanted you to know, there have been distractions lately, and I’m not neglecting you all or the blog intentionally.

You know what? What the hell. Maybe I’ll get even more personal.

Me and Nadine

Here’s a pic of me and my bride-to-be, Nadine. She’s no weirdo toy lover, but she is cool enough to let some toys sit atop the wedding cake.

Wedding Smurfs

Cute huh?

Alright, back to the giveaway.

FooFoo Dog

Not much has changed on the blog at a glance. I’ve continued finding cool weirdos here and there, photographing them and writing about them as usual. One major evolution for Weirdo Toys this year has been its steps into the social media realm.

Weirdo Toys Twitter

First is the Twitter account. I have to admit the Weirdo Toys twitter account has really grown on me. It’s been great fun and such a great opportunity to connect with fellow fans, bloggers, toy lovers, designers, musicans, etc. I’ve made some great connections and have made some good “virtual” friends all while writing in 140 characters or less. It’s also allowed me an opportunity to share other toy finds that never really make it to the blog, so if you’re not following Weirdo Toys on Twitter, you’re missing out. It’s not the end-all be-all that some make it out to be, but it is a fun little social circle if you’re not on there just spamming everyone.

Weirdo Toys Facebook

Secondly, I also started a Facebook fan page for Weirdo Toys. Unfortunately, no one is really using it (including myself), so it’s just kind of a weirdo ghost town right now. I do send alerts to the fans when I update the blog, so that could be useful I guess.

Weirdo Searches

Let’s see. Another thing I did a few times was the Weirdo Google Searches which people seemed to enjoy. It was kind of pathetic for me, because for a while there, I was posting those lists more than toys. I still find them pretty entertaining. I just pulled back on them for a bit, because there wasn’t enough toy activity to have me blogging every couple of weeks about weird keyword searches. I do have a visions for those searches though. Maybe some day I can put them on t-shirts or something.

Apple Devil T-shirt

Oh yeah, that reminds me. This year also marked the first item for sale on the blog – the Apple Devil T-shirt that everyone claimed to love until I produced them… then no one was to be found. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Apple Devil Graphic

Maybe with the next shirt design, I’ll post some designs and let folks pre-order before I commit to producing them. I still love the shirt, and I’m really glad I had it made (Buy one now!)

And now, the part you’ve been waiting for – the giveaway.

Apple Devil chasing Mr. Sleaze

As I did last year, I’m giving away the toy I posted yesterday, which is the Charles Bronson wannabe, Mr. Sleaze, and his dog, FooFoo. You get the toys, the package card and the separated bubble. Not only that, but I’m throwing in an Apple Devil T-shirt!

So, if you answer these 3 questions in the comments form, you’ll have a chance to be the proud owner of a new weirdo toy and t-shirt depicting one.

How’d you discover the Weirdo Toys blog?
What are your favorite (or least favorite) parts of the blog and why?
What would you like to see on the blog (like downloads, discussion boards, etc.)?

Next week, I’ll pull one of the commenter’s names at random and announce a winner. Be sure to include a valid e-mail address, because if I can’t get in touch with you, you’re S.O.L.

Thanks for your time, your readership and your continued support. (I don’t like reading my own blog entries, so I’m glad you’re here )

See you soon.

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Posted in Contests, Giveaways, Recap | 29 Comments »

Weirdo Toys

DC Comics Antique Cake Toppers

Man Surrounded by Toys He Can’t Afford at Antique Toy Show

Magic Monster by Heartland

And the sleazy winner is…

Second Annual Weirdo Toy Giveaway

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