2000s | Vintage Action Figures

Skatin’ Raphael

Before taking a bit of an August blogging break I wanted to leave you all with a summery action figure, so what better than Skatin’ Raphael dressed up with all his sporting gear?

When Playmates Toys relaunched their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line in 2003 to coincide with the all new animated series they produced some truly wonderful and highly inventive action figures – robust articulation, impressive attention to detail and masses of exciting accessories for children to lose down the back of the sofa!

Mutatin’ Donatello

When the animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was relaunched in 2003 by Mirage Studios, the new cartoon kept more closely to the original Eastman and Laird comic books and whilst being kid friendly, had a decidedly darker edge. A new series, of course, in the new marketing-savvy millennium meant a bodacious number of action figures, with Playmates Toys, who had held the license since the first animated series and created the first waves of figures in the late 1980s, picking up where they had left off.

Shrek the Third Talking Donkey Happy Meal toy

Shrek and McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys

With the final chapter in the Shrek movie series Shrek Forever After hitting cinemas worldwide tomorrow I thought it might be fun to take a look at one of the action figure gimmicks that was released in 2007 to coincide with the last Shrek film.

When Disney and the McDonald’s restaurant chain finally parted ways in 2007 the Disney gap was quickly filled by a major merchandise marketing deal with DreamWorks Animation tied to the launch of Shrek the Third. In a move that presumably addressed some of Disney’s (rumoured) concerns about the impact of McDonald’s fast food on childhood obesity, this time around the Shrek toys and action figures would be available with Happy Meals with a new healthier menu including …wait for it…fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and fruit juices! To add further weight (no pun intended) to DreamWorks’ commitment to the problem, the Shrek the Third characters also appeared in a US Dept. of Health & Human Services commercial regarding Childhood Obesity Prevention.

E.T. 20th Anniversary Interactive action figure

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 20th Anniversary Interactive Figure!

This was a recent market stall find – quite literally, at the bottom of a box of mostly broken toys. Amazingly, this 5 inch Interactive E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial action figure was still in working condition, with plenty of life left in what are probably the original batteries! I discovered there and then that pressing down on E.T.’s head would elicit one of the classic lines spoken by the alien creature in Spielberg’s movie – “Home” – but it wasn’t until much later that I discovered, quite by accident, that his heart light glows red and his index finger lights-up to the words “Be Good!” if you pull back his left arm!

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash!

I couldn’t let today go by without mentioning the Man in Black himself – Johnny Cash! Born on this day, 26 February, in 1932, he went on to become an iconic figure in the world of American Country and Western music recording in excess of a staggering 1500 songs, broadening both the musical scope of the genre and its impact. He died on 12 September, 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee.

This Sota Toys Johnny Cash action figure has been enormously popular with both collectors and music fans ever since its release in 2006. It proved so popular, in fact, that the figure was re-released only two years later.

Santa Jack from Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’

Christmas is almost upon us so here’s a seasonal look at a classic Christmas-themed action figure – Santa Jack from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, released in NECA’s second wave of 7 inch action figures for the film.

For those of you who haven’t seen the stop motion masterpiece, Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, a creature more skilled at spreading terror during Halloween than joy at Christmas time! This all changes when he accidentally discovers Christmas Town, however, and this figure shows him dressed as Santa in his efforts to embrace Christmas!

Toy Story: Disney and McDonald’s Happy Meals

As somebody who has been a vegetarian for the last 23 years I haven’t seen the inside of a McDonald’s for quite some time, or likewise, collected any Happy Meal toys directly in a McDonald’s restaurant; their action figures do seem to pop up regularly on market stalls, however, and that’s where I found this Woody the other day. Love them or hate them, the McDonald’s Happy Meal action figures have clearly cornered a slice of the collectors’ market – earlier this year UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported that an entrepreneurial 11-year-old had sold his entire collection of McDonald’s memorabilia for over £8,000 sterling!

From 1996 through to the end of 2006, Disney films were often promoted via the free gimmicks and toys given away with Happy Meals, until their relationship with McDonald’s finally ended in 2007. Whilst there’s nothing officially on the record by the Disney company about the real motivation for its distancing itself from McDonald’s it would be easy to imagine that growing criticism blaming the fast food giant for childhood obesity may have played a part.

Super poseable Hulk Movie 2003 figure

When the Incredible Hulk appeared on the big screen in 2003 in Ang Lee‘s hotly anticipated Hulk, critics and public alike just didn’t seem to get the movie and it met with a tepid reception. For me, it is one of those much maligned films that I’m certain (and I hope) will one day regain its rightful place as classic superhero movie. I LOVED it!

As with every major movie release, it was accompanied by all the usual hype and marketing gimmicks, including some wonderfully sculpted action figures by Toy Biz (as Marvel Toys, the toy division of Marvel Entertainment, was known in those days). This 6 1/2 inch ‘Super Poseable Hulk with Catapult Launching Action’ was released in September 2003 as part of Series Four, which also included a ‘Smash & Scream Hulk’ and a ‘Rampaging Hulk’. This Hulk has numerous points of articulation, including wrists, fingers, ankles and toes and stands solidly unassisted in any pose you care to put him in! Each Hulk came with an accessory such as a wall to smash or, in this case, a catapult, to send him flying. Luckily, although this Hulk has lost his original catapult, he is in great shape and clearly wasn’t hurled across too many children’s bedrooms!