When Ridley Scott’s ground-breaking sci-fi horror movie Alien first opened way back in 1979, toy maker Kenner – fresh from the unprecedented success of its Star Wars action figures – was perhaps the obvious choice to create a line of tie-in merchandising. Not surprisingly, however, given the adult film certificate on the original movie, Kenner’s initial attempt at creating an Alien toy in the shape of a not-so-cuddly and fearsomely huge 18-inch Alien “doll” didn’t go down too well with parents and was quickly withdrawn from sale.
Decades: 1990s
Han Solo in Carbonite with Carbonite Block!
While my love affair with vintage Kenner Star Wars action figures burns ever strong, I confess to the odd flirtation with newer figures from the Neo-classic era (1990–2000) when they are particularly good. I’m not a huge fan of Hasbro’s 1990s Star Wars revamp (rather unimaginatively named Power of the Force 2 to distinguish it from the earlier 1980s Power of the Force series, famous for its cardbacks with special collector’s coins), but one simply can’t have too many Han Solo action figures! I was thrilled to dig out this 1996 figure from a bargain bin the other day.
Time for some Prehistoric Pizza with Cave-Turtle Don!
It’s been slow start to 2014 on the vintage action figure collecting front – I’ve come away disappointed and empty handed from several recent forays to markets stalls and my usual haunts. Choice figures from decades past seem to be getting harder and harder to find…But then, unexpectedly, I found a couple of gems at a new flea market this week. I never pass up the chance to add a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figure to my collection, however silly the guise, so this Donatello draped in furs caught my eye right away!
Universal Studios Monster Turtles starring Leo as the Wolfman!
During the late 1980s and early 1990s Playmates Toys invented some wonderfully imaginative scenarios for their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures with endlessly creative variations. These weird and wonderful figures seem to divide collectors straight down the middle, but love ’em or hate ’em, there’s absolutely no denying the sheer quality of the designs. As a Universal Monsters movie fan, the 1993 first wave of Official Universal Studios Monster Turtles, which saw our reptilian heroes disguised as Frankenstein (Mike), Dracula (Don), The Mummy (Ralph), and Leo as “The Wolfman” (rather than “Wolf Man”), has always been high on my list of must-haves. I was thrilled by this recent flea market find, therefore. Leo may have seen some heavy play and suffered more than a little paint loss, but these 4 ½ inch figures were solidly built-to-last, and he’s a great starter figure in this series.
Green Frankie aka Frankenstein’s Monster
With Halloween nearly upon us I thought it would be a great time to share another vintage figure from my Universal Monsters collection. I’m a huge fan of these classic horror movies produced by Universal Studios during the 1930s, movies which turned actors such as Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Lon Chaney, Jr. (The Wolf Man) and Boris Karloff (The Mummy and Frankenstein), into legendary Hollywood figures. Whilst the Remco Mini Monsters are the focus of my movie collection, I can never resist buying just about any action figure with a Universal Monsters theme, even if I don’t necessarily recognise the toy line.
Remembering Bruce Lee
On this day back in 1973 Bruce Lee, the greatest martial arts icon of them all, died at the shockingly young age of 32. Tragically, after a string of Hong Kong movies – Lo Wei’s The Big Boss in 1971, my personal favourite, Fist of Fury the following year, and his self-written and directed Way of the Dragon (also 1972) – at the time of his death he was on the edge of finally enjoying global super-stardom with the Warner Brothers’ produced Enter the Dragon, the last movie he would complete in his lifetime.
I picked up this 6 inch Bruce Lee action figure in a bargain bucket many years ago.
Nabrun Leids – Cantina Alien
Whilst the focus of my Star Wars action figure collection is that of Vintage era figures (1977–1989) made by the mighty Kenner, I couldn’t resist buying this Neo-classic era (1990–2000) figure when I found him lurking in the bottom of a bargain bin just yesterday! My curiosity was piqued because whilst this is one of the recognisable aliens glimpsed during the classic cantina scene in the original Star Wars movie – when Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are looking for a pilot, and meet Han Solo – he was never honoured with an action figure the first time around.
Uncanny X-Men: Forge with Quick Draw Action from Strike Team Set
The Internet has been a-buzz this month with X-Men news as work started on X-Men: Days of Future Past with some of the movie’s stars spotted in Montreal for filming. Excitement has also been fuelled by director Bryan Singer tweeting some great behind-the-scenes photos (@BryanSinger), and a brilliant April Fool’s Day Tweet that Lady Gaga would be joining the cast! Erstwhile Twilight actor Booboo Stewart has been enlisted – probably as Warpath – although early speculation had cast him as a young version of another Native American X-Men character, Forge. Which all gives me an excellent excuse to dig out another Toy Biz Uncanny X-Men figure from the 1990s!