Weirdo Toys

Posts Tagged ‘Vintage’

The Greater York Toy Extravaganza 2011

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

A few years back, I discovered the Greater York Toy Extravaganza – a huge toy show which takes place Thanksgiving weekend in York, PA. Each year the show is packed with everything – 800 tables of modern stuff, vintage stuff and even historical stuff. Plastic crap or diecast metal crap. All types of toys for all types of people. Of course, I’m looking for the “weirdo” stuff.

I said it in my 2008 and 2009 York Toy Show articles and I’ll say it again – the trip is soooo long and challenging for me. I’m in South Carolina where there are no real toy shows, and if there ever were, they would involve NASCAR most likely. This trek to York is definitely not worth it financially, and yet, I’m compelled to go. Is it the intrigue of the mystery toys yet to be discovered? The miraculous great deal I may find? Or more realistically – the annual invitation I get from my father-in-law to join him at the toy show (thanks Monty).

I think Monty and I have learned our lesson over the years not to drive up to Pennsylvania as early and waste so much or our precious holiday weekend. Being the two toy-obsessed family men we are, we devised a plan to minimize the pain of the long-ass drive and wasteful stay in Pennsylvania. The plan of attack this year was get up super-early Saturday morning, drive up to PA and arrive in time for the dealer’s early buyer’s admission that evening. The next morning, we’d do early buyers again and then hit the road just before the show opens to the public. (These “early buyers” admissions will cost ya $20, so only consider if you’re serious… or if you write your own toy blog. Ha.)

(The plan worked perfectly. The only thing is, with such a rushed timeline, I was more interested in scoring some weirdo toys and less concerned about taking photos. You’ll notice my actual documentation of the toy show floor is pretty sparse this year. Sorry about that.)

On Saturday night we got in at the same time as the dealers. This is good and bad. It’s good, because we get first dibs on toys as dealers set up. It’s bad because not everyone actually sets up Saturday night, and definitely not everyone wants us hanging around, pestering them, as they unload their boxes.

Here’s a peak at what I picked up the first night.

Some funky-looking crow puppet and an alligator soap dish…

A recognizable-but-off-putting He-Man and Skeletor vintage soap holders…

…and a Huckleberry Hound hollow, plastic coin bank.

This small haul worried me a bit for the potential of the show. I knew some of the vendors hadn’t set up, so I was hoping they’d surprise me on Sunday.

At one point in that evening, as I stumbled through the show Saturday night, I literally did a double-take when I saw this super-cool, black skeleton warrior-type guy standing at one of the dealer’s tables.

I know I’ve seen him before. Was this some random bootleg?

Crossbones and Ribs

Oh yeah! He’s a direct copy of the skeletons from the Pirates of the Galaxseas toyline.

At least this bootleg has some cool, new accessories.

As it turns out, this figure is an in-progress prototype of a toyline the guys at ZoloWorld are putting together. It’s called Warlords and Warriors.

The line is more-or-less a throwback to the countless Masters of the Universe knockoffs of the 80s we all know and love. It’s so much of a throwback in fact, I think this is a direct recasting of the original molds by “Emco-Ray” (using pig latin to hide a keyword here). I guess he is a bootleg – a bootleg of a knockoff?

The characters may look familiar but they’ll be given a new storyline with all new accessories and paint variations and stuff. Looks like a lot of fun. If they don’t cost $30 each, I may pick some up!

Alright. Back to the rest of the show….

The next morning, Monty and I got in a couple hours before the show opened to the public. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but trust me, walking the floor with a bit more ease and ability go back and forth and just take it all in without the rush of the crowd makes the shopping so much easier.

Not only that, but you get first dibs. So many times I see dealers buying from one another. So as the general public, you will never see some of the toys or even have a shot at getting them for a fair price. I’ve seen dealers buy something cheap then double the price and sell it at their own table. It’s just nice to have that “insider’s” edge when doing your toy hunting.

I won’t give you a play by play of Saturday. But here’s a quick look at what I picked up that day. Sure it’s nothing mind blowing, but i like it.

First up, we have these clunky, vintage wind-up robots. They don’t really work, but I just got them to look at anyway. Heh.

Next we have the super-classic Mego figures. I know there are repro parts on ol’ Bats here, but I don’t care. I don’t have any Megos, and just having a few of the classic figures is good enough for me.

Next we have these cool, little minifigures. Seems like a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy creatures. I haven’t bothered to get the story on these guys yet.

Here we have some of the always-awesome Real Ghostbusters’ ghosts along with a Toxic Crusaders bad guy and a villain from Blackstarr.

Lastly we have a few carded Beetlejuice toys. I know no one gives a crap about Beetlejuice toys, but I liked these two “Neighborhood Nasties” figures. The street punk transforms into a rat and the hillbilly fat guy turns into a pig. I’d never seen them before, and I hear they are pretty uncommon. I also got the classic Beetlejuice figure with a spinning and shrunken head. So that’s good

I know my pics from the show are lacking, so just to give you a sense of what the show feels like, here are the videos I created for the last York show I attended. Not much has changed. In fact, a lot of the dealers are selling some of the same toys as they were 3 years ago. Sad really.

West Hall

East Hall

So there ya have it. The annual contradiction of the Greater York Toy Extravaganza – a show that excites me enough to drive 9.5 hours to see but also the show that forces me to take a 12-hour drive home in post-Thanksgiving traffic, staring at the unnecessary additions to my ever-growing, plastic, weirdo army giving me ample time to rethink the entire trip.

Would i do it again?

Of course.

Maybe next time I can meet up with some fellow bloggers who happened to visit the show this year as well. (Read about their adventures at CoolAndCollected.com and at TheSurfingPizza.com.)

Until next Thanksgiving… keep it weird.

Tags: 80s, beetlejuice, He-man, mego, MOTU, Toy Show, toys ghostbusters, Vintage
Posted in Antique, Holiday, Human?, Monsters, Prototypes, Robots, Superhero, Toy Shows | 20 Comments »

Wandering, Windy, Weirdo Weekend

Monday, May 30th, 2011

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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).

(Click to enlarge)

For example, their walls were glass with a handful of HUGE figures on display. Statues basically.

(Click to enlarge)

And once you walk in, it’s pretty clear that this is so much more spacious, clean, crisp and bright retail environment.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

Aren’t they beautiful.

(Click to enlarge)

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

Tags: chicago, designer, Toy Stores, Vintage, wax trax!
Posted in Designer Vinyl, Recap, Toy Stores, TV and Movies | 17 Comments »

Ugly Balls for a Hasty Bloodsucker

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

You know what? I’m not the all-knowing weirdo toy guy you think I am. Sometimes it’s you guys who introduce me to cool, weird toys.

… And I thank you.

(Click to enlarge)

Like this guy for example. I never knew he existed.

This little gem of a toy came to me from a new virtual buddy of mine, Michael Bukowski. He’s the author of an awesome toy blog, Blarghhh Spot, dedicated solely to balls. Not just any kind of balls… mainly Madballs and other related bootlegs and knockoffs. You should definitely check it out.

Mike actually contacted me months ago proposing a toy trade (I always like getting those kind of emails).

(Click to enlarge)

Among the photos, I was really drawn to these awesome monster head things (I have no clue what they are, but they may appear again in a future blog entry)…

(Click to enlarge)

… and this awesome, Japanese Dracula bank called Hasty Dracula.

I immediately fell in love with the vintage manga design style. Not only that, but with a peculiar name like “Hasty Dracula,” I had to have it. I decided to trade. Luckily for me, I had some rare balls on hand.

(Click to enlarge)

I had these horribly ugly mini-sadballs in my possession…

(Click to enlarge)

… and I just happened upon a rare, plastic, water-squirting Screamin’ Meemie Madball while I was in South Africa.

Hasty Dracula would be mine. I was already pretty excited to get the toy/bank, but I didn’t know how great it was ’til I saw it in action.

I’ll let you see it for yourself.

I love how the bank is like a characterized Rube Goldberg device. You don’t just drop the money in the coin slot. That’d be too simple and no fun at all.

(Click to enlarge)

You actually drop a coin in Dracula’s back (notice the giant, red syringe – weird)…

(Click to enlarge)

… wind him up, and wait as he climbs his ladder…

(Click to enlarge)

… to undoubtedly accost his next victim.

Luckily for the lady, when Drac reaches the top of the ladder, he loses his balance and falls into a tree –

(Click to enlarge)

Depositing the coin into a slot in the tree.

What an awesome way to save a quarter.

For the small size of this bank (approx. 7″ tall), the automation is surprisingly accurate… and painfully slow (that’s why I jazzed up the video).

(Click to enlarge)

And once the bank is full, there’s a removable cap on the bottom where you can release all 6 coins you’ve saved. Ha!

There are a couple of drawbacks to this toy I’d like to mention. The first is the fact that I can’t remove the Dracula figure from the ladder. He’d be a cool little standalone wind-up vampire toy, and he’s forever imprisoned on his ladder. Unfair. I’ve tried prying him off that ladder, but it feels like I’ll break his arms if I push it much more. Damn.

(Click to enlarge)

The second drawback is the fact that the diorama is basically a thin piece of cardboard. I like the drawing, and it totally sets up the story, but I’m still disappointed. It’s kind of like the feeling I had as a kid when I saw that Cobra’s base was a glorified piece of cardboard.

Hasty Dracula package photo courtesy of Tons-of-Toys.com.

Oh! Here’s a packaging pic I swiped from Tons-of-Toys.com. According to their site, the bank was released in the 80s by Toplay TPS Japan and distributed in Italy by ALES. (Dracula actually looks a bit like The Count from Sesame Street in that pic.)

In closing, I’m still left wondering why Dracula doesn’t just transform into a bat and fly to the window. It’d be a lot quicker, stealthier and a less painful landing. In fact, isn’t this approach the opposite of hasty? It takes time and effort to locate a ladder, set it up and climb up to the window. Not only that, but is he actually going to draw blood from her with that syringe instead of biting here? Maybe he’s not a vampire at all – just one of those goth, poseur wannabes! If that’s true, it makes this Dracula more of a knock-off Dracula. Perfect!

Tags: 80s toys, Dracula, toys, Vampire, Vintage, Wind-Up
Posted in Monsters, Wind-Ups | 10 Comments »

Optikk by Mattel

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Remember the New Adventures of He-Man? I discussed it briefly a couple years ago.

He-Man Title

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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?).

(Click to enlarge)

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.

Optikk
Optikk figure photo courtesy of YouBentMyWookie.com.

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.

(Click to enlarge)

Optikk

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.)

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

Just spin the dial on his back…

Optikk

and his eyeball moves!!

In case you can’t figure it out, Mattel has provided some step-by-step instructions.

(Click to enlarge)

Optikk’s fairly poseable too. He has various ball joints and hinges and such. Pretty fancy compared to the old MOTU figures.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

Tags: He-man, Masters of the Universe, Monster, MOTU, MOTUC, Toy, Vintage
Posted in Alien, Bizarre, Cartoons, Creepy, Toy Packaging | 21 Comments »

Super Fantastics vs. Super Diabolics

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

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.

Airgam Boys photo courtesy of AirgamBoys.net.

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

The Fantastics characters I have to show you today are Stars Man, Bird Man, Red Masker and Captain Laser.

Stars Man
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

The Diabolics I have to show you today are Dr. Diabolic, Python, Piranha and Spector.

Dr. Diabolic
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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.

(Click to enlarge)

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
(Click to enlarge)

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!

Tags: 80s toys, action figures, Airgam, Airgam Boys, Comics, imports, marvel comics, Packaging, playmobil, Superhero, supervillain, toys, Vintage
Posted in Alien, Comics, Human?, Import, Knock-Off, Monsters, Superhero, Toy Packaging | 37 Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘Vintage’

The Greater York Toy Extravaganza 2011

Wandering, Windy, Weirdo Weekend

Ugly Balls for a Hasty Bloodsucker

Optikk by Mattel

Super Fantastics vs. Super Diabolics

Pages

Connect with Weirdo Toys

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Toy Sites Worth Checking Out

Friends of Weirdo Toys

Meta