The community at October Toysare always up to something, and this time, it’s an awesome little set of mini figures – a throwback to the old M.U.S.C.L.E. figures from the 80s.
This first series includes Multiskull, Crawdad Kid, Phantom Outhouse, King Castor and Stroll.
These new figures perfectly capture the quirkiness and fun of that old line, and I really can’t wait to get my hands on these. If you’d like to learn more and help make these figures become a reality (which you really should), you can help fund the project at Kickstarter.com. I’m actually a backer on this project. I’m not only happy to contribute, but I’m psyched to get my hands on these little guys.
Share the toy love, and give these guys a shot! And be sure to drop by October Toys and say “hi.”
In mid-April, I made a little trip out to Chicago to meet up with some friends/colleagues of mine for the Wax Trax! Restrospectacle. For those out of the loop Wax Trax! Records is a long-gone, legendary industrial rock record label which originated in Chicago. A bunch of the original artists on the label came together for a limited 3-day show at the Metro, I was lucky enough to attend (Thanks Brent and Patrick).
(Here’s a “popular” Revolting Cocks cover from back in the day – “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.”)
Sure, the weekend involved great music, camaraderie and deep-dish pizza, but as we all know, that’s not why you’re reading this blog entry.
All you guys want is toys. I can hear you asking now – “What about the toys?” “Any cool toys?” “What the hell does this have to do with toys?”
Well, as luck would have it, (and thanks to some of my Twitter followers), I was tipped off to some pretty cool toy places to visit while in Chicago. The two stores which piqued my interest most were Quake Collectibles and Rotofugi. As you’ll soon see, they may both be in the toy world, but they truly seem worlds apart.
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First stop was Quake Collectibles. My buddies and I actually arrived just before store opening. That was the perfect way for me to announce “I’m a toy dork who cannot wait for this store to open.” Hey, I’m not ashamed. As we waited outside, I was already getting antsy. I tried peaking through the front windows, but they were so crammed full of random crap, I couldn’t see in. Window toy clutter – this was gonna be my kind of place.
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After several minutes (which seemed a lot longer on a cold, rainy Chicago day) we finally stepped in, and let me just say. I was floored. Sooo much crap everywhere. Every inch of that place is covered by a poster, a sticker, a toy or a lunchbox. If your mom threw it away when you were a kid, it probably ended up here.
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I love places like this. There’s just so much stuff, you have to just stand in awe and inspect every millimeter. Some may find it overwhelming or annoying, because you may miss something, but I find it charming. It kind of reminds me of an episode of Hoarders… featuring the homes of some toy collectors.
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Oh yeah. So among all the clutter, I didn’t actually find much that I was looking for, but I did manage to pick up some “bargain bin” figures – a wrestler manager figure James bond Jr.’s “Oddjob.” that “Dinosaur Neil” guy from The Tick, “Bob the Goon” from the Batman movie toyline and the haunted Mailman from The Real Ghostbusters.
I actually left Quake saddened and confused. The store was so great and I was thrilled to be in there, yet I found so little. I think it’s all due to my tastes in toys. They’ve become too discriminatory or something. Well, that feeling left quickly as we continued on to Rotofugi, (on foot) through a pretty chilly, windy day. I don’t know if we were being dumb for not calling a cab, or just cheap… but at least we got some exercise.
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Next stop on the toy express was Rotofugi. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew this place was pretty much the complete opposite of Quake (well, aeshetically anyway).
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For example, their walls were glass with a handful of HUGE figures on display. Statues basically.
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And once you walk in, it’s pretty clear that this is so much more spacious, clean, crisp and bright retail environment.
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Not only that, but it has a small art gallery attached displaying various paintings and custom toys. The market for these toys weren’t random comic geeks looking to find a vintage Jawa w/ plastic robe… This is the place where some artist will rip off a Jawa, paint it neon pink and ask $75 for it. Ha! Seriously though, this seems to be Chicago’s home for designer toys. They present toys as art. Which is cool… just don’t expect to find any bargain bins.
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The store is spacious and organized and feels very much like a gallery. This presentation really does sell “toy as art” really well. but there are tons of little toys to check out from some of your favorite designer toy companies and artists. I didn’t get much here either, because all the figures I liked were $60+. I really loved so much of the creatures/characters on the shelves. (If only Weirdo Toys had a financial backer.) They are just so quirky and fun.
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Aren’t they beautiful.
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I, of course, passed on the higher-end stuff and decided to pick up a few blind-boxed figures. I got a Dunny from the Azteca 2 series and some Blow-Up Dolls Series 3 figures. I even managed to get a Crappy Cat BUD. Pretty cool huh?
So that’s that. Just a brief glimpse at the cheapy-quirky world of toys vs. the pricey-quirky world of toys. I know it’s a matter of someone doing low-run figures manually vs. mass-producing them and selling them at Toys R Us, but I also think it’s all in presentation and marketing. If I put an OBEY logo on Bob the Goon and called it “OBEY GOON,” it’d sell for $100 instead of $2. Maybe I should try that
As you might’ve expected, my last blog entry was one big joke.
Most of you immediately realized Quakor was a gag, and the few of you that did fall for it, I’m thrilled. Thrilled not only that you’d trust me, but also by the fact that my Photoshop skills fooled you into thinking you were looking at an actual toy.
Quakor isn’t a custom (in the traditional sense). He’s just a Photoshop job.
My original intention for the gag was to reveal Quaker Oats had sold an Oatmeal Monster toy at one time. That probably would’ve been believable. But as I searched for vintage Quaker Oats graphics and packaging, I stumbled upon an old Quaker mug. This when it dawned on me that I should be doing a figure along the lines of Wonderbread He-Man.
After collecting a few Quaker mug pics, I was able to take photos of a Prince Adam figure and just fake the new mug-head onto the real MOTU body. It kind of forced me to use odd angles and lighting and took some effort retouching, but I think it worked.
As far as the order forms and inserts go, that was just my trying to emulate old 8os mail-away forms and comic book ads.
I felt the need to include those just to “sell” the validity of Quakor and Mush Man that much more. I even put a false watermark on the Mush Man ad to throw you off. Heh.
I recently attended a toy show where I dug up what could be some of the most obscure 80s toys in existence. (Sounds pretty dramatic, huh? Well, maybe the most obscure toys I own.)
Seriously though. Look at these guys. It’s a freakin’ oatmeal monster and the Quaker Oats guy as a He-Man figure.
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I’m not a huge collector of the Masters of the Universe(MOTU) toyline, but I had the toys as a child. I am pretty familiar with the original MOTU toyline and all of its characters, variations, etc., but I have never seen or heard of this guy. Ever. There are tons of other blogs and toy sites that are dedicated strictly to the MOTU toyline, and according to them this figure doesn’t exist. It actually reminds me of the infamous “Wonderbread He-Man.”
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Alright. I’d like to buy that this figure doesn’t exist and that this is just someone’s really lame idea for a MOTU custom… thing is, I can’t. The paint job is just too good, the head too well-sculpted and then there’s this – along with the figure came this little sheet of paper.
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It’s a small bio thing explaining that this is Quakor and he helps He-man and the gang stay healthy. It reads:
Quakor: Heroic Purveyor of Health
Quakor with the help of his Instant Quaker Oatmeal assists He-Man and his Heroic Warriors in keeping their strength everyday to do battle with Skeletor and his Evil Warriors.
Quakor?! HA! That’s so bad, it’s good.
And man, that’s some lame, blatant marketing going on there. Heroic Purveyor of Health? Ha!
I also found this little order form. I’m guessing it was packed in the Instant Quaker Oatmeal boxes.
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Apparently Quakor is a mail-away figure from the Quaker Oats company which was produced in partnership with Mattel. I’m all about exclusive or mail-away toys, but the fact that this thing even exists seems absurd. Sure, it’s just a simple repaint of the Prince Adam toy with a new head, but a super-buff Quaker character seems soooo poorly planned. Just a bad, bad idea.
But it doesn’t stop there.
As I showed you earlier, there’s this guy – the Oatmeal Monster. It’s actually another toy offer Quaker did for a character called Mush Man.
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He’s actually pretty cool looking. Seems to be the evil embodiment of mushy oatmeal.
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Thing is, why the hell would you promote your own oatmeal product as a monster? Ha!
I do admit, it makes for a cool looking toy which cashes in on the 80s “gross” phase. It just seems a bit out-of character, that’s all.
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As soon as I laid eyes on Mush Man, I knew I recognized him. He seems to just be a simple re-deco of a figure called Muck Man from an obscure 80s toyline called “Monster Man” by Woolworth.
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The original Muck Man has a gray/purple color scheme while Mush man is just beige.
(Yep. That’s oatmeal alright. Beige.)
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I’m not sure if this guy was released before or after Quakor, but they kind of make a fun set. The Quaker man vs. the walking pile of oatmeal. Who’d a thunk it?
So there ya go. Did I over-dramatize the obscurity of these things? I guess I just got excited.
If any of you Masters of the Universe collectors out there can help me validate Quakor, that’d be great. Thanks!
