Funko Pop Mystery Series 3 - Hot Topic Rubbing Salt In The Wound
For those of you that may recall, we wrote a piece pertaining to the Funko Pop Mystery Series 3 that Hot Topic was selling. To summarize that article, we bought twenty Pops, and didn't come up with one complete set of four. Needless to say, we were not thrilled, and called Hot Topic out on the matter.
Fast forward to the weekend of August 27th. While doing our weekly outing for new Pops, and toys in general, we stumble into the local Hot Topic. What greets us is nothing short of a slap in the face.
Hot Topic has apparently made the decision in several of their locations to open all of the Mystery Pops, and sell them directly. The reason per the store clerk - "People weren't buying them as blind boxes." Well, except for those suckers that came a few weeks back and bought twenty of them anyway...
Talk about salt in the wound.
Not only did we spend way more than we had to at the physical store, but we also ended up spending an additional forty bucks on ebay to get the chase Pop - Which they had about four of.
Some choice words come to mind - Some of which we won't write here. Others include; annoyed, angry and swindled.
The question we now have is this - For those of us who bought them blindly and kept our receipt, can we get a refund for returning them? We're certainly going to try and find out. If we get push back on the matter, we're prepared to present the argument that Hot Topic made their promotion null and void when they took the liberty of opening all the blind boxes. As such, they should honor that we're wanting to return a product with a receipt that matches identical to what they have on the shelf.
Stay tuned for that update.
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Walk the Line / Cash (State of the Art Toys)
Walk the Line / Cash
2005
State of the Art Toys
Admittedly we know very little about Johnny Cash beyond the handful of song we heard playing on our parent's 78's, and of course the 2005 movie Walk the Line staring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon...Oh, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story staring John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer. The man in black has songs we know, but we're not necessarily his biggest fans by any stretch.
Because our post on his history would be based on the above, we'll go ahead and spare the Cash fans out their of our impromptu history lesson, and jump right into the figure.State of the Art Toys produced a Walk the Line / Johnny Cash figure in 2005 for Fox to distribute as a promotional item for the upcoming film. For what it's worth, this figure isn't bad. It certainly captures the look of Cash from the head sculpt to the black head to toe clothing.
If you look closely, you'll notice that the backdrop for the package is actually the poster for the 2005 film. Not a bad touch at all.
Mind you, this wouldn't be the only version of the figure. State of the Art Toys also followed up with a retail version - Or rather, specialty shops version.
The retail version, known as Cash, featured a wanted poster backdrop, but the same figure inside.
In general neither version is any more desirable than the other. Both the Fox promo and Cash versions can be found for as little as $9.00 here and there. High end sellers have been known to get as much as $30.00 for them, but more so the sales benchmark at about $16.00.
Personally, we'd rather have a Dewey Cox figure, but that's just us.
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The Archies (Mattel)
The Archies
Mattel
1977
We touched on Archie, and The Archies in our post based on Marx Toys The Archies back in December 2015. As such, we're not going to dive deep into the overall premise of the band, nor the characters in general as we've already covered that.Instead, we'll jump right into Mattel's 1977 line of the same name. Admittedly these don't look as good as the 1975 Marx line - Both in quality and overall design. If we had to nitpick, the yellow card back is rather horrendous to look at too. Overall, it's just not the best we've seen nor come to expect from such an established company such as Mattel.
Its interesting that the artwork depicts the characters as their standard design teenager / high school appearance. The figures look more so like what the characters would have looked like when they were in elementary or middle school - I.E. very young.
The series featured four figures, and oddly enough Betty was not one of them. Rather, it was Archie, Jughead, Veronica and Sabrina. This in and of itself is a unique twist to draw in Archie fans as Sabrina wasn't typically a forefront character in the Archie comics - Unless she was headlining her own stories. So to include her in the line was actually a nice treat for fans.
The figures were mostly made out of fabric, to and include their arms and feet. The only plastic that was utilized was for their heads. For the male characters, their hair was sculpted into the plastic. For the girls, they included the traditional doll hair of the era.These days you can find the dolls here and there, (mind you, they're not in abundance) and fortunately for not all that much money. We've seen lots of the entire set sell for as little as $36.00. However, full sets being sold are a little less common than individual dolls. When buying individually, most sellers list them for around $20.00 to $25.00 a piece - Almost makes you want to just wait for a full set to become available, even if you don't need or want all the characters. You'd almost be better off buying a full set, then offloading the extras yourself.
Now, you can't have an Archie line without his famous Jalopy. Mattel delivered probably the best piece in the line with this one and only vehicle produced for the series. It could easily hold all four dolls between the front and back seats.
Unfortunately, the Jalopy is going to be the hardest piece to track down in the series.Though it's harder to come by, it's not going to hit your wallet too hard if you do find one. Mint in the box ones have sold for as little as $41.00.
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The Venture Bros. (Bif Bang Pow)
The Venture Bros.
Bif Bang Pow
2010
Go team Venture!
As of 2016, The Venture Bros. is the longest running animated show aired on Adult Swim, and there's good reasons for that. For starters, it can be pretty funny at times. It has villains such as The Monarch that you can't help but feel sorry for, and wish he would just catch a break and win. Then of course there's the over the top violence of Brock Samson as he goes on a rampant rage of destruction in any way possible. Now that we start listing this out, really every character has a unique life of their own which comes with funny quirks. We could honestly list something about everyone.
As we've seen with prior Adult Swim related action figures, it can sometimes be a challenge to find a strong foothold in the market even when you have such a popular source material as your canvas. Bif Bang Pow started off with a hug bang (no pun intended), hitting the market with seven unique figures, and a handful of variants.
Bif Bang Pow produced both a 3 3/4 inch line as well as an 8 inch line. Today we're going to take a look at the 3 3/4 inch line.
Brock Samson* Brock Samson (Bloody / Naked Entertainment Earth Exclusive)*Brock Samson (Bloody SDCC / Entertainment Earth Exclusive)
The series launched with pretty much everyone in the main cast being present - Brock Samson, Hank and Dean Venture, Doctor Venture, Phantom Limb and of course Mr. and Mrs. The Monarch. The series also included numerous exclusives variant - Most of which were based on Brock Samson.
Dean Venture*Hank Venture*Dr. Venture
The Monarch*Dr. Mrs. Monarch*Phantom Limb
In this day and age, toy developers love giving fans something to chase after. Bif Bang Pows answer to this was the yellow unpainted test version of The Monarch. The figure was limited to just 500 pieces, and released in retail cases as a chase variant.
The Monarche Unpainted Test
The final items released to date in the 3 3/4 inch line were the G.I. Joe / retro style cards of Brock Samson variants. The black shirt version was released as a convention exclusive for Entertainment Earth, while the white shirt version was released in retail.
Brock Samson (Bloody Black Shirt Entertainment Earth)*Brock Samson (White Shirt)
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R2-D2 Toy Toter (ATF)
R2-D2 Toy Toter
ATF
1983
We knew that this day would come eventually, and we can honestly say that despite the inevitability of it, it doesn't make it any easier. As most of you have probably heard by now, Kenny Baker, the man behind one of the most famous robots in movie history has passed away at the age of 81. Sources report that for several years he had been struggling with poor health.
As a tribute to the man behind R2-D2, we offer for you a look at a toy related item that put the droid front and center - The R2-D2 Toy Toter from ATF (American Toy and Furniture). Standing at 28 inches high, this was the perfect toy box for all your favorite Kenner Star Wars toys. It featured wheels on the bottom for easily rolling it around your room, and a hoop handle to pull it by.Not only did it make the perfect toy tote, but with a little imagination and your Star Wars blaster, it made a great R2-D2 to incorporate into your playtime as you acted out your own Star Wars adventures. We know we did just that as kids, and we're sure many others did as well.
Quite honestly though, we don't want to talk about Star Wars toys right now. Instead, we want to remember the man that brought R2-D2 to life.
Kenny was born in August 24, 1934 in Brimingham, England to parents of average height. In his young years, he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, and become an engraver. However, a lack of sufficient educational credits brought that dream to an end - Thankfully for many of us out there.In 1951, Baker was approached by a woman on the street that was looking for little people to join a theatrical troupe of dwarfs and midgets. This step into show business took him next to the circus, and later to ice skating. After a brief stint in movies starting in 1960, Baker formed a comedy act called the Minitones with Jack Pruvis where the duo caught the eye of one Mr. George Lucas.
Both actors were brought in to join the cast of Star Wars, Kenny of course landing the roll of R2-D2, while Purvis joined as the Chief Jawa. From there, as they say, the rest is history. The duo acted together in numerous Lucasfilm and Jim Henson productions from that point on.
Additionally, he was a regular member of the Star Wars family to return to conventions over the years to meet with fans and "give" autographs. Whenever meeting with fans, or giving interviews, he always seemed appreciative for the opportunities that being in Star Wars allowed him, and in general genuinely happy to meet with fans of the Saga. He always had a smile on his face, a glint of joy in his eyes, and kind words for everyone he spoke to.
Despite his vast list of credits in films from 1960 to 2015, Baker will forever be known to millions as the one, the only, R2-D2. It's sad that we have lost such a brilliant actor, and such a caring human being. We will miss you Kenny Baker, but you will forever live on in the hearts of millions of Star Wars fans around the world. You may have been small in stature, but your legacy is larger than life.
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Funko Pop Mystery Series 3 - A Huge Rip Off!
Funko Pop's Hot Topic Exclusive Mystery series 3 is a great example of why we here at The Toy Box LOATH mystery boxes of anything. What you see before you in this photo is twenty (20) opened Pop Mystery figures. At a cost of $12.50 each, for a subtotal of $250.00 plus tax (6%) of $15.00 this stack cost a whopping $265.00, and we're none to happy about the results.
For a set that contains only four figures, and granted we understand that one is a chase, for that price and quantity we couldn't even obtain ONE full set. That is absolutely ridiculous when for a third of that price, we could have just gone to ebay and bought a set, and called it a day.
Something is definitely not right here. There are six Pops to a case, and one chase packed per case. Our odds should have been one in six to get at least one.
So basically, we're calling Shenanigans on Hot Topic. Or at least the location near us. We're of the opinion that someone at that store bought a case (or in general obtained one), opened them, found where the chase figure was packed, and pulled them all. This certainly wouldn't be the first time this has happened, and sadly won't be the last.
What it will be the last of is us supporting any form of mystery line. At the end of the day, regardless of what happened, this was simply way too much cash to drop (or more bluntly, waste) on such a disappointing end result.
Funko and Hot Topic are laughing all the way to the bank as we line up in droves to buy boxes that we as consumers have no clue as to what is even inside. At what point do we say, "Wait a minute...This is stupid." For us, that point is here and now.
Don't get us wrong. We love the thrill of the hunt that comes from tracking down figures. However, this is not a hunt. This is gambling, and much like when at a casino, you're probably not going to win.
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The Flintstones (Empire)
The Flintstones
Empire
1974
Choo choo!
We don't cover many trains here at The Toy Box. In fact, this could very well be our first one. It's certainly a great one to start with. Empire's Flintstones Train Set & Village. The set features a giant three foot track that snapped together with EZ grooves, and over fifteen pieces which included; Bedrock Station, building and dinosaur pieces and each of the main characters in their own unique train car. Best of all, the heads revolved as the train moved around the track.This is truly a classic item for any Flintstones fan!
In 1978, Empire re-released the the set in a green box, calling it simply The Flintstones Train Set. It included all the same pieces and features as the 1974 release, but oddly enough this latter version is much more difficult to track down.
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Pop! Ad Icons (Funko)
Pop! Ad Icons
Funko
2011 - 2012
Funko slowly crept onto the scene in the summer of 2010 when the relatively unheard of company made its Funko Force 2.0 debut at San Diego Comic Con. Focusing on DC related super heroes, the company soon found themselves at the wheel of what would become one of the fastest growing pop culture phenomenons of the new millennium - The Funko Pop vinyl figure.
Since those early days, Funko has gone on to obtain numerous licenses for various characters from not only comic books, but also television, movies, video games, and well, pretty much anything else you can think of. Will Funko leave any stone unturned seems the most popular question among collectors - Well, that and will the company go the way of the once popular Ty Beanie Baby, and crash into the ground in a heaping flame.
In 2011, Funko introduced another popular entry into their wide spanning sets - Ad Icons. Though the possibilities were relatively endless in terms of the available mascots / characters, Funko started and stopped with General Mills Halloween favorites, Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry. Sorry folks, no Fruit Brute or Yummy Mummy.Much like the Funko Force 2.0 series, Ad Icons got their start in the summer of 2011 at SDCC with the metallic and for Boo Berry, the glow in the dark pieces. The trio would later be released via retail avenues, but only in a standard version - I.E. no glow or metallic features.
As mentioned above, these were the only characters released (to date) in the ad icons series, which is strange considering the massive amount of available mascots just from cereal products alone. There was certainly room for growth, and a shame that so far there hasn't been further releases.
And just as we finish writing this, Funko announces Big Boy from Bob's Big Boy. Of course it's a SDCC exclusive.
Unlike a lot of the other SDCC exclusives this year, Big Boy has not been released yet (and perhaps won't be) as a "2016 Summer Convention Exclusive" via various retail outlets - Such as many others have. This in turn is contributing to its already high secondary market value which has been hitting upwards of $200.00 already.
UPDATE 2
It's as if Funko was waiting for us to publish this post, and then decided, "Okay, let's release more Ad Icons." We just got word from them that Bullseye, the Target mascot will also be joining the fray. It of course will be a Target exclusive.
What's interesting about Funko Pops in general is the incredible rate in which their secondary market values are expanding. Prices shoot up rapidly for newly released items as scalpers prey on the "Gotta Have It" collectors who aren't patient enough to wait. Sadly, a lot of these collectors are right to follow this route as we've come to find that if you don't buy them when you see them, the chances of you seeing them again are slim to none - Especially at retail prices. As we said above, Funko Pops have soared in popularity - So much to the point that it appears supply can't keep up with demand.
To make matters worse, Funko has taken to vaulting certain pieces as time passes. This is most likely the result of a license agreement coming to an end, and both parties (or possibly just one) opting not to renew. The end results are retired pieces that can reach as high as several thousands of dollars to obtain on secondary markets - Which many Funko Pop collectors seem ready and willing to pay. This in turn only feeds into the scalper mentality as many dealers are willing to buy now, and sell (much) later if it ensures up to a one hundred fold profit margin.
For as many fans that there are of Funko's vinyl figures, it seems a good portion of them are not happy with the scarce nature of certain figures, and in general the over saturation of the market as the company continues to produce character after character. As a collector it's incredibly difficult to keep up with the sheer volume of releases, and more so frustrating that if you don't you're met with after market prices - Contributing to your collection falling even further behind, and possibly leading to retired pieces you'll never be able to obtain on your budget.
This is compounded by Funko's unrelenting desire to make agreements with numerous outlets for exclusive pieces produced in incredibly low quantities. In many cases, pieces not only start out costly to buy directly from each outlet, but explode in value on secondary markets. Then take into consideration if you can even pre-order (or in general get one) before they sell out. In the event of it being a convention exclusive, you also have to attend said convention.
For as fun as it is to collect Funko Pops, it's equally frustrating in the above regard.
Unfortunately our Ad Icon characters fall into all of these categories. The pieces that started as exclusives were produced in extremely low quantities, and the retail versions are long since retired. The retail ones will cost you upwards of a hundred dollars each. As for the SDCC metallic ones - You can expect to pay upwards of three hundred a piece for them. Then there's the SDCC glow in the dark Boo Berry which will set you back nine hundred dollars to a grand - Great news if you have one. Bad news if you want one. Now keep in mind that those prices are a benchmark as of this writing, and could potentially rise even further.With prices ranging so high for each retired Funko Pop's (in general), it's "funny" to hear collectors talk about how they wished that they had purchased the figures they wanted when they saw them on the shelf for ten bucks. Personally, we wish we had just invested in the company on the stock market. We could buy all the Pops we wanted if we had - Not to mention be retired, live in a mansion, etc. Oh well. If collectors had time machines, toys wouldn't be worth what they are these days.
Truth be told, many Funko fans wish that the company would go the route of Ty Beanie Babies because it would kill the desire of scalpers, and make it possible to obtain the pieces that many want, but can't currently afford. However, what fans don't seem to take into account when making this kind of statement is that it would essentially mean the end of future Pops. It's never fun to hear about your favorite lines ending, but at the same time it's never fun to not be able to complete the collection you want because you've been priced out of the hobby. To put it bluntly - It's a crappy catch 22.
We'd like to cover more Funko Pop lines here at The Toy Box, but unfortunately don't known the realistic possibility of that. Well, actually we do. It's not realistic or possible. With so many on the market already, and an endless amount on the horizon, this is definitely not a line that we could reasonably obtain all of them - Nor would we want to - Especially at the prices for some of them. We'll revisit when we can, but it most likely won't be any time soon.
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Batman - Dark Victory (DC Direct)
Batman - Dark Victory
DC Direct
2004
Batman: Dark Victory was a thirteen part series (14 if you include the Wizard exclusive #0) by famed comic duo Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. The story is actually a direct sequel to the duos mini series, The Long Halloween. Though not touted as the best story to be produced by Loeb and Sale, it still garners high respect from Batman fans for its re-imaging of Robin's origin into the Batman legend, as well as for bringing closure to many characters introduced in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One.In 2004, DC Direct produced a series of figures based on the story. Though it was only a handful of characters, they certainly chose some great ones to represent - Commissioner Gordon, The Scarecrow, and of course, Batman and Robin - The latter which also featured The Penguin packed in with him.
Great figures, and a story that too is great means that Dark Victory is simply awesome all around. Granted if you're going to read to books, you should probably check out The Long Halloween first so that you can get the whole story. Both series are definitely worth your while.
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Lost In Space - The Classic Series (Trendmasters)
Lost In Space - The Classic Series
1998 - 1999
Trendmasters
Whoops...Let that be a lesson to you. Never schedule a post that you haven't actually finished. As many of you may have noticed, we've done that with two posts recently. So, now we're doing a little backtracking to finish them.
We touched briefly on the history of Lost in Space in our post regarding the Toy Island release from 1997. So we'll skip the history lesson of the show, and jump right into the toys.
Right on the heals of the aforementioned Toy Island line was the 1998 - 1999 Trendmasters series. Unlike Toy Island which focused on a one and done remote control Robot B-9, Trendmasters covered much more ground. The line included dolls, various versions of Robot B-9, and even a vehicle. Unfortunately for fans, the items weren't necessarily designed and developed to be intermixed with each other. Rather, much like your typical LJN produced line, it was sort of all over the map.The most common pieces from the series to be found are the tube boxed dolls which featured Dr. Zachary Smith, Judy Robinson, Major Don West and Will Robinson.
Though not boxed in the same style as the tube dolls, the two dolls in window boxes, Cyclops and Tybo the Carrot Man are also fairly common on secondary markets. You'll notice that we haven't really mentioned any prices just yet. This is because while the dolls in general are fairly easy to find, there sadly aren't many transactions going on between buyers and sellers.
In fact, Robot B-9 seems to really be the only draw to the series for collectors. The standard and chrome versions of the robot have sold for between $35.00 and $45.00 new in the box. Granted this isn't much of an increase in price from their original retail prices.
However, the massive Radio Control B-9 Robot is another story all together. This 24 inch robot is not only incredibly difficult to find, but it's also going to set you back anywhere from $350.00 to $500.00 to get one.
Though the Jupiter II spaceship has been found numerous times priced at around $450.00 (or more), the reality of it is that most collectors aren't willing to pay that kind of price for it. Mint condition ones in the box typically sell for around $250.00, with the occasionally one selling for slightly more. Mind you, its by no means cheap, but it's definitely not the price a lot of sellers are asking.
Which in turn could be the biggest challenge that the series faces in drawing fans in. Secondary prices are marked far higher than what most people are willing to even consider paying. It's really a no win situation for either parties. Buyers can't get the items they want because they're not going to pay double what their value is deemed, and sellers can't sell their products because they're asking way to much.
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Flash Gordon (Bif Bang Pow)
Flash Gordon
Bif Bang Pow
2007 - 2010
This post is sadly more so a want list for us as we never have been able to track down a full set of the 2007 - 2010 Flash Gordon series from Bif Bang Pow.
The differences between the two Flash figures are subtle enough that they are easily missed by casual glances. The first version of Flash featured a black and red tank top with a sword accessory. The second featured a red tank top with a blaster. The difference between the Ming figures is rather obvious with one featuring a red robe, and the other a black.
These days the figures are incredibly difficult to come by. However, oddly enough when they are found, they aren't all that costly. An autographed Flash figure sold for as little as $26.00.
Though series 2 is far more commonly found than series one, it's still not in abundance. Oddly enough the SDCC versions seem to be the easiest to obtain.Series two featured four new characters, Klytus, Prince Barin, Dale Arden and another Flash Gordon - This time in his white shirt from the first 1/4 (or so) of the film.
As mentioned above, this particular series featured a few SDCC exclusives. Interestingly enough, while series two initially was released in 2008, it wasn't until 2010 that the convention exclusives were produced.
Each exclusive was a slight alteration of their series two counterpart. Klytus no featured popped out eyes from his death scene in the film. Prince Barin featured whip lashes on his wrists from the scene leading up to Klytus' death, and Dale now featured a white wedding dress.
While the movie was amazing for its time, and still lives up to fairly good standards these days, probably one of our most favorite things to come from the 1980 film is the soundtrack. No, it doesn't feature a lot of Queen's finer pieces of music, but it does work well with the film. Who doesn't love to sing along with, "Flash, ah ah!" Not only that, but we simply have to give it a shout out because Queen is definitely one of our all time favorite bands here at The Toy Box.The film had all the makings of a sequel, but unfortunately performed so poorly at box offices that it was soon destined for cult classic status as opposed to popular franchise. Making just 27 million in the USA based on its 20 million dollar budget, it was definitely considered a blockbuster bomb. While we are among the people that would have loved to see a sequel, we at least can live with the fact that as a result of performing so poorly that the franchise wasn't run into the ground with awful sequels made simply to cash in.
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The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley (Tyco)
The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley
Tyco
1988
Ed Grimley is the character created by comedian Martin Short. Short started playing the character in the early 80's with The Second City improv comedy troupe. When the actor joined SCTV in 1982, he brought with him the character for its television debut. Grimley became so popular that when Short moved on to Saturday Night Live that he continued to act as the character. 1988 would become the biggest breakthrough when Ed Grimley became the animated (and live action) star of his own television show, The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley.With the character came the actors / alum of Second City's SCTV. Characters such as Count Floyd, The Amazing Gustav Brothers, Ms. Malone and her son Wendell were mainstays in each episode. Despite the success of the character, The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley only lasted one season - A total of thirteen episodes.
However this short lived run didn't stop Tyco from procuring the rights to a Talking Ed Grimley Doll, as well as a Stick-On Ed Grimley.
The talking doll stood sixteen inches tall, and with the pull of a string said phrases such as;
"I'm as doomed as doomed can be, you know."
"Oh, give me a break!"
and
"This is like a joke I must say"
Mind you, those aren't the only phrases the doll says.
As is custom with pull string dolls, the discs inside are prone to warp over time if not kept in cool dry storage. As such, many dolls get that iconic squeaky chipmunk voice that toys such as this type are prone to get.
Depending on the condition, the dolls have been known to sell for as little as $10.00 in the box, and as much as $50.00. Just remember that the box condition shouldn't be your only factor in paying high end prices. Make sure you get one with a fairly good working voice feature.
The Stick-On Ed Grimley was a much smaller plush doll with plastic head that featured suction cups on its hands for sticking to various surfaces - Thus the name, Stick-On. Unlike the sixteen inch doll, there's not much to really say about this one as it's fairly simplistic in nature.Though it's not as common as the sixteen inch doll, the Stick-On Ed Grimley typically doesn't sell well on secondary markets. This is most likely a result of sellers pricing them too high (for what people seem willing to pay). Even at $15.00 they don't typically sell - Which is a shame because it's not a bad collectible if you're a fan of the character and / or show.
***BONUS***
Ed Grimley - A Flame Retardant Collegeville Costume
Collegeville Costumes
1988
If you're a child of the 70's or 80's, then chances are incredibly high that you wore a Collegeville Costume brand costume at some point in your life - Either for fun, but most likely for Halloween. The company has produced so many iconic pop culture characters over the years - Raggedy Anne, Popeye, Gollum - Seriously, this list could go on and on, and one could amass an impressive collection just of costumes alone.
With so many characters under its belt, it's no surprise that Ed Grimley joined the fray in 1988. Though we don't personally know too many kids that dressed up as the character - There were more Ninja Turtles that particular year - We're sure somewhere out there that there was at least one child that was determined to be Ed Grimely on October 31, 1988.These days you're bound to be able to find some form of vinyl costume based on your favorite character from the 70's and 80's from classic companies such as Collegeville Costumes, Ben Cooper, Inc. and / or Halco. However, they're sadly incredibly expensive, and rightly so. With how many kids wore them, tore them, or in general threw them out as they quickly grew out of them, there probably aren't honestly all that many to be found mint in the box.
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The Simpsons (Mattel)
The Simpsons
Mattel
1990
We have wanted to do a post on Mattel's 1990 The Simpsons line for the longest time, but the opportunity never presented itself until now.
The Simpsons began its iconic climb to fame in 1987 when it was produced by Matt Groening as short sketches for the Tracey Ullman Show. After airing for three seasons, the show was developed for a half hour series, and helped to launch the relatively new Fox network. Since its debut in December of 1989, the series as aired over five hundred episodes, and though new episodes of the show continue to air as of this writing, it is rumored that season 30 will be its last - Something many claim to be too long, and others as not long enough.Now rewind if you will all the way back to 1990 during the show's first season run. Simpsonmania was rising at a rapid pace. Many viewers tuned in to laugh at the absurd nature that Homer, Bart, Maggie, Lisa and Marge (as well as the several other soon to be hundreds of Springfield characters) acted out in outlandish ways that left some saying, "That sounds like my kids," and other protesting in appalled tones that a family could act in such a way.
Keep in mind that during this time of world history that television was still considered wholesome (for the most part) with shows such as The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Growing Pains and Right, so where were we? Oh, right - Rewind if you will all the way back to 1990. Mattel got the distinct honor of being the first company to produce toy related merchandise for The Simpsons. Today we're going to take a look at the highly coveted "action figures" of that era. Now we know that many Simpsons fans will profess that this is far from all the toys that Mattel produced, and they would be 100% correct. Not only did Mattel produce the majority of the figures encompassed in this post, but also several other items such as wind ups, 11 inch dolls and water squirters (to name a few). All of these items technically fall into this line of The Simpsons merchandise, but sorry, we're not looking at those today.
Mattel produced all five of the Simpsons family members which included Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. In addition they produced Nelson, and Bartman. Each figure came packed on its own individual blister card showcasing character specific art, and featured character unique accessories. Each figure also came packed with five mini word bubbles with pre-printed phrases from the show. These word bubbles could be placed over the heads of each character in a cheap way to mimic that it was talking.The oddly shaped cardbacks contribute greatly to the difficulty of finding the figures mint on the cards. Each card is cut along the right edge to frame the character artwork. It is because of these intricate cuts that many cards received various dings and bends. Sadly a lot of these imperfections weren't received while in the hands of collectors, but in the cases from the factories to the warehouses of the various retail chains. In short - The cardbacks are incredibly fragile.
Mattel rounded out the series of figures with The Simpsons Sofa & Boob Tube - The one and only accessory produced to coincide with the series. The piece was fairly basic in production, but worked well with the limited articulation of the figures.A button on the back of the couch operated an ejection feature, and the TV featured slide in cardboard cards depicting characters such as Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Bob, Itchy and Scratch, The Happy Little Elves. and a scene from the infamous Fight To Knock The Other Guy Out. When no card was in place, the television showcased a colorful background with static lines. The TV also feature wheels on the bottom for rolling it around, as well as antenna on the top that could be rotated around. Much like the figures, the set also came with pre-printed bubble cards that could be placed over the television to mimic sound coming from it. Overall it's not a bad accessory, in fact it's fairly iconic in and of itself to The Simpsons family.
The last item made available in the US is the incredibly rare mail away Bart Simpson with white "Save Blinky" shirt. This figure was produced in 1991, but due to rapidly dwindling sales was not very popular among fans. Though we aren't sure just how many of these figures were redeemed from Mattel, these days they're not easy to come by.For those of you that are a 100% completest when it comes to your action figure collections, then you definitely want to consider this one prior to diving in. If (and that's a very large IF) you can find one, be ready to drop upwards of a grand on this figure alone. This is absolutely one of the most rarest action figures in existence.
Also along the lines of scarce and rare, there were three additional figures produced and sold strictly in South Africa. All three were renditions of Bart, and feature him in a white ninja outfit, a Superman-type outfit and a black ninja outfit. Though still difficult to find, they are far from as scarce as Blinky Shirt Bart.Its important to note that while the packages share the similar style to that of the Mattel series, and the mold is definitely that of the Bart Simpson figure above, the packages themselves make no reference to Mattel - Or any toy company for that matter. Couple that with a 1992 release date (well after the Mattel line was distributed in the US), and the question could be argued that these are actually bootlegs. Unfortunately it's never really been confirmed. However, it's also key to note that toy manufacturers were notorious for selling their molds to foreign toy manufacturers in the 80's and 90's once popularity dwindled in the US. With that in mind, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that this is what happened in this particular case.
For the most part, the basic figures that encompass series one (or rather, the entire series) aren't difficult to come buy. However, finding a seller that is a little more knowledgeable about what the going rate should be is. A lot of sellers price these figures from $35.00 to $60.00 each when in reality most Simpsons fans are more so willing to pay between $5.00 and $15.00 - Depending on the characters. Marge, Lisa and Maggie seem to be the most desired figures, and as such are the high(er) dollar ones to obtain. Still, if you're patient, you can nab them all for a fairly reasonable price.
Then of course there are the mail away and South Africa ones. Those are a whole different story. Like we said above, if you're a completest, then you may want to steer far clear of this series. However, if you're up for the challenge, the thrill of the hunt, and have an exorbitant amount of expendable cash, then this could be the line for you. Just keep in mind that it's going to take more than cash to obtain this entire series. It's going to take patience, persistence, and possibly a collector abroad to help out.
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