MY CHILDHOOD FAVORITES
I’ve been wanting to do this post for sometime now but didn’t have all pieces to complete this set. What you are looking at is my childhood … in plastic form of course. Each one of these figures represents my favorite toys when I was a kid. All my favorite lines are represented. And as you can see, I was into pairing. For me, I was always into the bad guys (I don’t know what that says about me as a child). But a bad guy was never any fun without a good guy trying to stop him. One without the other is meaningless, so I always had to have a good guy to pair up with my favorite baddies. And these figures above, were my favorites. Ok, well not all of the figures above. Some of these are just newer incarnations of their classic counterparts that I loved as a kid. Oh, and be sure to click the headers for links to my photos of these figures on my flickr site.
Star Wars
Star Wars toys were my all-time favorites when I was a kid. No other toy line had the film or TV counterpart that was anywhere as awesome as Star Wars. Nor does any other toy line hold as many happy memories as Kenner’s classic line. And my favorite characters? Bespin Luke and Boba Fett. By the time Kenner got around to ESB, the goofy early-bird lightsabers were gone only to be replaced by the less goofy (but not by much) lightsaber sticks. And the newly sculpted Luke was my favorite. This took his goofy lightsaber to any all other toys who opposed him. And no other baddie, including Darth himself, got as much play time as Mr. Fett did. And yes, kids were making up lies about having the one that actually fired the rocket from his jet pack way back then. Mine didn’t nor did I care. And this guy wasn’t afraid of battling baddies good guys from outside his line either. Nothing takes me back like Star Wars christmas’ and themed birthday parties. Good times.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Like the cartoon series, seldom was a battle waged in my plastic Eternia that wasn’t led by He-Man. He was my go-to guy for stopping Skeletor in his tracks. And when it came to baddies causing trouble, it was always Mer-Man. He was and still is my favorite He-Man figure. I know he was silly and seemed to always get pissed when He-Man tossed him in lake (I don’t know why, isn’t that his home?). But in my backyard he was the evilest of evil, controlled reptiles and yes, he even spoke to my fishes.
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero
Even when picking good guys, I still like them bad. My all-time favorite JOE growing up was good-guy Storm Shadow. Now I loved Outback, Alpine and Tunnel Rat but that sense of never knowing when ol’ Stormy would flip his switch and run back to COBRA always made him my favorite. But when it came to COBRA, no baddy held a candle to Zartan. I mean come on, he had a bad ass swamp skier, swappable masks and he changed color in the sunlight. He had it all. I remember buying Zartan for my best friend on his birthday. After nom-nomin’ on pizza all afternoon, watching his older brother fight with his parents (resulting in his being kicked out of this house for the afternoon) and some crafty trading strategies on my part, I left the birthday party with Zartan in tow. I don’t even remember what I traded him for it, but whatever it was, it was worth it.
Super Powers
Batman and Robin were tops at my house. Superman was nothing. Batman and Robin handled just about any and all bank heists, break-ins and attacks that the DC universe baddies could throw their way. And when Mattel releases classic Robin next year, I’ll be one happy camper. Now don’t get me wrong, Battle Armor Lex Luthor and Darkseid were both pretty high on my list of favorite Super Powers baddies growing up but there was something about Steppenwolf that I just couldn’t put my finger on. I remember going to the store with my parents specifically to get a bad guy for heroes to battle and with no good choices on the rack, Steppenwolf was my only choice. I grabbed him reluctantly (I certainly wasn’t going to turn down a new figure) but when I got him home and started breaking him in, I realized he was pretty cool. First of all, he looks completely bad ass with all those spikes and straps, but that evil-as-hell mustache and huge ax sold me on him. I remember all my friends asking me who he was every time I’d bring him out to battle. I always answered the same way “I don’t know who he is either but I know he’s gonna win!”
Secret Wars
I didn’t get into the Secret Wars figures as much as I did Super Powers but they were Marvel and were better sculpted and I actually liked the fact that they didn’t have all the silly squeeze-action features the DC figures did. But looking back I guess I did have all of series one and few from series two, but no two figures were worn out more from battle than Captain America and Dr. Doom. Yeah Cap’s shield had the goofy lenticular card in it and didn’t look right and Dr. Doom was missing his trademarked cape but those facts didn’t keep these two figures from battling it out way past my bed time.
M.A.S.K. Mobile Armored Strike Kommand
I know that I didn’t pick two bad guys this time, but in all honesty, when it came to M.A.S.K., all my favs were on the good team. Matt Trakker and Brad Turner were my team. What’s not to love about a car turning into a jet and a motorcycle turning into a helicopter? M.A.S.K. also almost cost me my best friend (the same one that I trader for Zartan with). Long story but Bruce Sato is not welcome in my house … ever. M.A.S.K. is one series I’d love to see rebooted but then again, with a baby on the way, maybe not. I want to stay married.
Transformers G1
Ah, good old Transformers. This was the best line as a kid. You have best of both worlds; fast and powerful cars, jets and tanks and bad ass robots. Instant awesome. And like all the rest, the bad guys were on top for me. My favorite, hands down was Soundwave. I think it was because when he transformed he actually looked and was the right size of a real tape player. I loved that. And he tapes that turned into Ravage and Laserbeak! Come on that’s killer! But there was no better good guy, probably in all of kid toydom than Optimus Prime. A huge hulking semi that turned into a huge, hulking robot. Optimus will always hold a special place in my heart and only my dearest and closest friends know why. He will always have a place on my shelf.
After starting Bungie’s swan song in the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach, I began loving these characters. Each one unique and essential to the team in their own ways. Also, I’d been away from McFarlane’s figures for quite a while too. It seems the toy gnomes over there have been quite busy in my absence. McFarlane’s figures have become quite articulated. These figures have some of the best articulation found on 6” scale figures. The ball-joint wrists have been improved on with actual swivel and rotation joints so they can more accurately hold weapons. Even adding ball-joint toes take the poses into a whole new realm for McFarlane figures. These guys did a great job on this line.
And speaking of the line up. I’m certainly glad that Jorge and Emile are my two favorites as they made it into series one along with Noble Six. I’ve read that Carter and Kat round out series two and Jun is nowhere to be seen. Isn’t that always the way with snipers.
To meet the members of Noble Team, check out Bungie’s video “A Spartan Will Rise” and, as always, check out my flickr set of these guys. Later.
The chances of me actually getting to go a San Diego Comic Con are slim to none. I’ve never even been to California. Hell, I’ve never even been on a plane. I know, right? I’m working on that. But not getting to go to SDCC wasn’t going to stop me from getting my hands on two of this year’s hottest exclusives, Mattel’s MOTU Classics Orko with Prince Adam and DCU Classics Plastic Man. Both were offered on Mattycollector.com and when they finally went live, sold out within minutes. As usual.
Having to fight for my figures each month has driven me to pick up a 2011 Club Eternia subscription which guarantees me each figure that is released monthly throughout the coming year, I just don’t know which figures will be released. It’s an ok trade off I guess, I just wish there was an easier way to get ahold of these figures each month. Maybe if they were shipped to stores where I could go in and buy them at my convenience … there’s a novel idea.
As always, you can check out the figures on my flickr site. Orko and Adam are here and Plastic will be here. Maybe next year I’ll just go to the SDCC and pick up the exclusives in person, it just might be easier than battling Matty’s site.
It’s rare that I find every figure that I’m looking for when we set out on a trip, but that’s exactly what happened on our recent trip to Atlanta. Our local TRU started receiving the new Star Wars figures a few weeks ago and while I could care less about the included Galactic Battle game, the new Clone Wars figures are more than welcome. But our area has only received the newest Grievous and that’s it. But on our trip I finally found Aurra Sing and the really cool, Pre Vizsla.
Also, new Marvel Universe figures have been few and far between as of late with Hasbro turning their focus to their Iron Man line, but with that line behind us, the new MU figures are slowly trickling out. Colossus is, hands-down, my favorite X-Men and who better to for Colossus to smash but the unstoppable Juggernaut himself right?
Last but not least is TRU’s exclusive Pursuit of Cobra Spirit Iron-Knife who was unmistakably designed after Billy, the native American from Predator, even the rifle is identical. Along with Spirit, Hasbro released Quick-Kick, but having such a fondness for the original design, I decided to let it hang on the peg.
Oh and I can’t forget, I had won a MOTU Classics Faker off eBay and it arrived while we were gone. Glad I finally got my hands on one of my favorite baddies from when I was a kid. I can’t explain why I love him so much, I just do.
No figure on Mattycollector.com has lasted 51 minutes. That’s how long it took me to get my order for Orko/Prince Adam and Plastic Man through. I almost think going to SDCC would have been easier … and a lot more fun. No complaints, I got what I wanted. :)
ADDING A LITTLE EVIL TO MY COLLECTION
Collecting Mattel’s new Masters of the Universe Classics line is not an easy hobby. Matty (their social media persona) releases one to two figures around the 15th of the month exclusively on MattyCollector.com. These could be figures you want, or not, and are only revealed about two the three months earlier. The figures are on a first-come-first-serve basis and always sellout within minutes … sometimes within seconds. You can purchase a subscription that relieves you of the monthly stress however you have to buy every figure that is release whether you want it or not. Each month you are at the mercer of straining servers and click-happy consumers and whether you get a figure or not is more like a roll of the dice than online shopping.
So back in April I fell victim to my first Matty cart theft. It was the release of Evil-Lyn, a highly anticipated figure. Luckily I have a job where I can log onto Matty at precisely 12 ET and battle the masses for the next five minutes. I had my one Evil-Lyn in my shopping cart, proceeded to the next screen, waited, clicked “check-out”, waited … waited … waited … confirm order “yes”, waited … waited … confirm payment method “yes”, waited … waited … waited … confirm shipping address “YES”, waited … waited … waited … We’re sorry, the item you are trying to purchase is no longer available. “ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!”
Well, three months later I was finally able to get an Evil-Lyn from a great guy named David on Matty’s facebook page in a straight trade for another MOTUC figure. And what a great figure she is too. I’ve taken a few pictures of her and posted them on my flickr page if you’re interested. Needless to say, I’ve purchased a 2011 subscription to the MOTUC figures so I don’t have to go through this again, then again, I’ll be selling a lot on eBay. Doesn’t really feel like a win.
