As promised in my last post, here's another vintage action figure found at a flea market on my recent trip back to the UK, and like the Doctor Who collectible featured last time, this is a piece of UK television memorabilia from another cult show – Captain Troy Tempest, James Garner lookalike and the dashing hero of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's marionette masterpiece Stingray. The voice actors may have all been American – a ploy to ease overseas sales of the show – but the rest of the production … [Read more...]
I know you are, but what am I?!… Pee-wee Herman!
Love him or hate him, if you were alive in the 1980s you can't have missed American comedian Paul Reubens in the guise of his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman. Star of Pee-wee's Playhouse, an enormously successful and groundbreaking Saturday morning television show for kids in the US, worldwide audiences were first introduced to him via Tim Burton's debut film Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which turned the road movie on its head and Pee-wee Herman into a cult favourite. The last couple of decades have … [Read more...]
The Real Ghostbusters Super Fright Features: Egon Spengler
It's been an another exciting week for Ghostbusters action figure collectors, and in particular, fans of the character Egon Spengler, with a new 6 inch Mattel figure closely resembling actor (and co-writer of the original movie) Harold Ramis hitting the company's online store and selling like the proverbial hot cakes. I thought it might be fun, therefore, to take a look back at a vintage Egon Spengler from Kenner's phenomenally popular line of spin-off action figures from the cartoon TV series … [Read more...]
The Real Ghostbusters Super Fright Features: Winston Zeddemore
Of all The Real Ghostbusters action figures in the Super Fright Features toy series, in which the heroes of the long-running TV animated show sport wacky space suits and looks of terror, Winston Zeddemore – played by Ernie Hudson in the movie and voiced by Arsenio Hall in the cartoon - is probably the most imaginative of the lot! There's a lever on the action figure's back which makes his head disappear - only to reappear when a flap then opens in his chest, to reveal a giant screaming … [Read more...]
Who you gonna call? Ray Stantz and The Real Ghostbusters!
Until the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles burst upon the action figure scene and won the hearts of flaky kids everywhere who instantly, en masse and seemingly across the entire planet, dropped what they were playing with and started nagging their parents for one of those four adolescent reptiles, Ghostbusters figures ruled the roost. The Real Ghostbusters action figures were produced by Kenner under license from Columbia Pictures and were based on the animated television series, which was in … [Read more...]
The 1990 Simpsons action figures by Mattel
When in the spring of 1987 Matt Groening created a series of short animated sketches for The Tracey Ullman Show - The Simpsons - who could have imagined that those early incarnations of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and Bart would eventually become cultural icons in what is now officially the world's longest running sitcom ever. Regulars on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, The Simpsons then premièred in their own half-hour series, on December 17, 1989. In 2000 they were even given their … [Read more...]
Star Trek Ultimate Quarter Scale Spock Figure
The latest release in the growing Star Trek Ultimate Quarter-Scale line from Diamond Select is the impeccably logical Mr. Spock dressed in the original television series costume and bearing an excellent likeness to actor Leonard Nimoy. Measuring 19 inches tall, this landmark Ultimate Quarter-Scale release features the Vulcan officer in a detailed Starfleet uniform complete with phaser and communicator accessories, additional Vulcan hands and even a sound chip providing authentic dialogue … [Read more...]