The Toy Box: November 2024

Happy Thanksgiving

As we sit down for our Thanksgiving meal, we take a moment to acknowledge and remember the O.G. of squatters, Christopher Columbus.

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Retro Spins: Autograph - Sign In Please

Van Halen is credited for creating hair metal, and since 1976, many more bands have come and gone. Poison, Mötley Crüe, Warrant, White Lion, Bon Jovi, Winger, Ratt, this list goes on and on, and includes today's Retro Spin, Autograph!

Autograph is typically labeled a one hit wonder for their tune, Turn Up The Radio, which was featured as the lead single from their 1984 debut album, Sign In Please. Though they continued to release albums throughout the 80's, and through the new millennium, they've never been able to recapture that moment in time that was their biggest hit. It's because of this, while many would probably say they know Turn Up The Radio, they probably don't remember who the band was behind it.

As the album cranked up, I found myself intrigued with that classic 80's hair band sound. Hard rock, but not what I'd call metal. Picture heavy guitar licks, backed by gravely vocals, and a keyboard. AKA typical hair metal sound. It's familiar, comfortable, and agreeable for an 80's guy like myself.

While it was enjoyable to sit through the album, it was also somewhat forgettable. While Turn Up The Radio stood out among the ten tracks, nothing else really stood out as noteworthy. This in and of itself if the most disappointing aspect of the whole thing. Autograph have a good sound. They're just not able to use this to craft "hits". Again, it's not a bad album. It's just okay. Nothing to get excited about, but also not something that was painful to listen to.

I imagine this album would have made a great soundtrack to an 80's skiing or skateboarding movie. Something to go well with the young teens and their shenanigans, but also suitable to correlate with each scene, and / or respective character.

I don't know. I guess I really don't have much more of an opinion on this one. It certainly didn't leave me wanting to hear more from Autograph, but I also didn't want to turn it off. Especially after I started picturing a generic movie in my head for it to correlate to. It's an average album, and was worth the few bucks I paid for it.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Fallout Nuka Cola Quantum and Victory (Jones Soda Co.)

Nuka Cola Quantum
Jones Soda Co.
2015

When Fallout 4 was on the horizon of being released, Jones Soda Co. teamed up with Bethesda to released a limited batch of Nuka Cola Quantum. If being limited edition wasn't bad enough, Jones doubled down by making it a Target exclusive. This, of course, meant that few bottles made it to shelves, typically bought by employees who put them straight on ebay. The ones that did make it ot shelves were often bought by scalpers, who, as you probably guessed, also put them straight on ebay.

As prices of the drink immediately skyrocketed to $100.00 per bottle, most fans of the game simply gave up on getting an opportunity to try it. It was like Pepsi Perfect all over again!

For the few fans who did manage to get one of the bottles from retail, and crack it open, the general consensus was that the flavor was lacking. Many noted the berry lemonade drink tasting watered down, and chemically, and overall being overpriced, and underwhelming.

Despite this consensus this didn't stop collectors for wanting them.

Nuka Cola Victory
Jones Soda Co.
2024

Following the launch of the Amazon Prime television series, Jones returned to the world of Fallout, and released an all new limited drink, Nuka Cola Victory.

Unlike their prior entry, and despite being limited, Victory seemed a bit easier to come by. This was most likely aided by it not being exclusive to a specific store, as well as being sold directly on the brewer's website, in addition to retail stores.

This time, the soda boasted a peach mango flavor. However, and despite this, the reviews seemed to echo Quantum. Chemically was a word thrown around in various reviews, as well as artificial, underwhelming, and overpriced. On top of this, you also have the secondary market boom making a return as the scalpers gobble these up.

Once again, Jones seemed to fail in the flavor department, while also creating something that the fans would still buy anyway. While I personally own these two drinks, not being a soda drinker, I haven't tried them. As such, I can't say anything about the flavors themselves.

What I will say is that while they're unique pieces to add to one's Fallout collection, they're certainly generic in every sense of the word. I mean, let's be honest. These bottles don't replicate the look of a Nuka Cola from the game. It's just a standard bottle with a printed label on it. You could essentially make these at home, and have something just as impressive, if not better, and people have.

Nuka Cola
Getränkefeinkost
2010

An honorable mention goes to German brewer, Getränkefeinkost, who in 2010 released three different Nuka Cola flavors as a promotional counterpart to Fallout New Vegas. As word began spread, many people chalked these up to being unauthorized. With such a "weird" look to the Vault Boy, this was an easy assumption to make, but an incorrect one.

Being from Germany, this wasn't something on my radar back in 2010. Of course, nor was Fallout, if I'm being honest. As such, this wasn't a soft drink that I picked up when first released. Being that the bottles expired in 2013, and again, not being a soda drinker, these also aren't something I've tried to this day, so I also don't know what these taste like. I also cannot find any reviews of anyone who did.

Being an import in minimum quantities, these bottles don't typically sell for cheap. Further, the ones available are usually empty. I've seen empty ones sell for as much as $100.00, and full ones for much, much, much, more.

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Retro Spins: Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July

Motown entered the 80's with the February release of Smokey Robinson's Warm Thoughts, but before the year would warp up, Michael Jackson, Rick James, Diana Ross, Teena Marie, DeBarge, Black Russian, and today's Retro Spin, Stevie Wonder. Now admittedly, I don't have all that much knowledge of this particular singer, nor his discography as a whole. In fact, I know so little about him, that I didn't even know about this album before stumbling upon his Top Forty hit, Master Blaster (Jammin'), while rummaging through said charts for tracks I had forgotten.

When I came across this one, I added the respective album, Hotter Than July, to my want list. However, something happened over the course of the next few days. It kept nagging on me that I needed this one sooner than later, and ended up purchasing much faster than I typically do most "new" albums added to my list.

The seller delivered it with little to no haste, and with it in hand, I jumped immediately into it. Also something I rarely do.

Well, if you've put two and two together, today I'm listening to Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder.

While I wouldn't by any means call myself a fan of his music, something interesting happened when I fired up the disc. I found myself immediately invested, digging the title track, Did I Hear You Say You Love Me. This took off on a voyage of a lot of highs, and very little lows. I found myself enjoying, and adding quite a few tracks to my shuffle list.

If I had one complaint about the album, it was how several tracks just seemed to stop, and jump immediately into the next. Though intentional, it felt sloppy. Almost as if the CD was broken. It was jarringly abrupt.

Overall, this didn't impede my enjoyment, and like I said, I added quite a few new tracks to my shuffle. This lead me to one of my favorite things about Retro Spins, too look into other albums from the era from said artist. Doing so lead to another surprise. With this one now in my collection, I actually own Stevie Wonder's complete 80's discography. Neat!

And on that happy note, that wraps up this Retro Spins.

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Just Doodling: Iron Man

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Rad Peg People Wave 16!

It's been a tough two weeks. The abridged version is that we bought a house, and are in process of moving. The deep details involved with it all have been nothing short of stressful, annoying, frightening, and overwhelming all at once. Despite this, it was also a time for my girl and I to return to the Lord, and rededicate ourselves to following Jesus. Though this, we've seen him shower us in peace, abundance, and kindness from people who have dedicated their time and resources to us to help get us through.

One such person is George of G.I. Jigsaw, who has spent many nights just letting me vent via text to him, while also providing suggestions and words of encouragement. All the while, he's also been continuing to show up periodically with one of his patented brown bags of joy.

The one he dropped off tonight was nothing short of rad. The X-Men assembled, and joined the fray of Peg People.

As soon as I unwrapped the first one and saw Nightcrawler, I knew this was going to be a great set.

Then came the massive Colossus, which George purposely created on a larger size peg.

By the time I reached Storm, it was obvious that this wave was going to hit hard and deliver.

Turning this one over in my hands I smiled when I saw the missing right arm of Dr. Curt Connors. He was instantly recognizable with this attribute, and one of the reasons I really like this series that George has been creating. He has a way of dialing in to the details of what makes characters identifiable. It's subtle, but key.

This was followed by his son, Billy Connors. Fun fact, Billy was actually killed by Curt Connor's villainous alter ego, Lizard in the very brutal Shed story arc. Well...I don't know why that's a fun fact in hindsight.

Rounding out the family was Mrs. Martha Connors, Curt's wife. There's not much to her. She's a background character in every sense of the word, but a necessary counterpart to the batch.

Then the X-Men continued with Wolverine. I was actually wondering what version George would go with. Would he pick the original blue and black, or the 80's brown and yellow version? Looks like he went with the classic original. Good choice...but, I do like variants, hint, hint.

Another figure which George had options with was Beast. He was originally grey, until mutating to blue in Amazing Adventures 11, volume 2. George opted for the more familiar iteration known today.

He can walk! George said he didn't know how to make the wheelchair for Professor X. That's cool. It's very obvious who the character is, I initially told George that he could use his powers to walk, but after further fact checking this, I was not correct. Still, this iteration is spot on.

1981 - 1991 Cyclops is what we'll call this next one. The reason being, this character went through many costume evolutions since his introduction in 1966. This version is perfect for me because this is the most familiar costume to me.

Another 80's iteration, we have Jean Grey. This is how the character looked leading up to the fan favorite Dark Phoenix Saga.

George then jumped all the way to the end of the checklist, moving past the originally noted 324 characters to the yet shared 325 and beyond with Sentinel. This was a massive Peg People figure, which the picture here does little justice for. It's two or three times larger than the regular ones.

I'd been excited for this one ever since adding it to the checklist. Golden Oldie is Aunt May in one of the most unique Marvel Team-Up issues (137) of all time.

Yes, the series already contained a Scarlet Spider figure, but this iteration is Ben Riley. It's different!

Though the origin of Teresa Parker has yet to be confirmed in the Marvel Universe, she's presumed to be the daughter of Richard and Mary Parker, and the younger sister of Peter. After Peter went to live with his aunt and uncle, it's believed that Teresa was born, and adopted to protect her.

I had to search all over the checklist multiple times before it dawned on me that George was remaking Mrs. Marvel from the original version he made. Oops. To make matters worse, I tossed this version over Captain Marvel, but didn't correct the checklist before posting it. Double oops.

Wakanda strikes when the Black Panther is in town. Did you know he originally started out as a villain?

When I unwrapped Namor I got a little excited. I wondered, is this the original Timely version I had asked George to do? I had pitched to him a request to make the original four super heroes from "Marvels" original history, which included The Angel, Human Torch, and Masked Rider. This version, however, was the version more familiar from the 70's and 80's. No worries. Every time George turns around I'm asking him to expand beyond the list, which has included the likes of Frog Thor, and a red costumed Spider Woman, and so on. The fact that he's done so many already is fantastic enough, and I appreciate them all.

The cyborg Deathlok has been the alter ego of many, but this particular version is the original, who subsequently teamed up with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up 46.

Rounding out the waver were the classic version of Vision...

...and Scarlet Witch. With them, my Avenger's team is relatively wrapped up.

This wave packed one heck of a punch. George delivered another awesome set, just like the prior fifteen that came before them. Also, in this group photo you can see the height difference to the normal size versus that of the larger Colossus and Sentinel, along with the shorter Billy Connors. These subtle changes really make all the difference.

And, with that, the checklist got updated...Well, sort of. Like I said above, there's an error to fix with Mrs. Marvel, and Sentinel is not in this batch of "pages".

Getting this set of Peg People at this specific time was a really nice surprise, and one that I definitely needed. Like I said above, there have been a lot of rough days as of late. It was great to get the bag of figures, and have a moment where everything was just about having fun for a bit. It was a needed distraction from everything.

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Retro Spins: Oingo Boingo - Only A Lad

My introduction to Oingo Boingo technically came in 1985 with the movie and title track, Weird Science. However, I neither knew, nor cared at the time who the band was. Fast forward to around 1998 when I was working at a local Toys R' Us that a guy there was playing the band's 1996 double live Farewell album. While he professed how much he loved the band, I still didn't pay much attention.

A little later on, I got a larger introduction via a long time buddy of mine, who introduced me to the 1985 album, Dead Man's Party. From there, I took notice. This lead me to borrowing my sister's 1991 cassette of Best O' Boingo, which I proceeded to play to death.

When I switched jobs, and found myself traveling throughout the day quite a bit, Oingo Boingo became my go to source for entertainment. It was during this time that I started accumulating their complete discography, making frequent trips to Tower Records to do so. At the time, I had no intentions of collecting every Oingo Boingo album. It was just something that happened over a period of several years, and multiple trips.

Oingo Boingo would ultimately overshadow Queen as my most played band of that time, something I never thought would be possible, but which has balanced out over the years. But, in that moment, I lived, breathed, and slept their unique sounds and different approach to the 80's (and 90's).

Though I've heard it many times, today, I'm going back to their 1981 debut, Only A Lad.

It's been several years since I'd played this one from start to finish, and I must say, I'm glad that I did today. I know there are quite a few songs from this album that I loved, but every time I hear it, it feels like the first. I seem to always forget how much I like several songs, and in turn, needed to add them to my shuffle list; where they should have already have been.

For me, it was like sitting back and simply having a wonderful visit with an old friend. The memories associated with hearing these songs for the first time may be long gone, but it's easy to pick up where we left off, as if no time had passed at all. I suppose in a way, it took me back to a time of my life that was so different. A period where I was just starting to branch off into a career, taking my first true steps into adulthood and independence. There were good times, bad times, but always the music.

An interesting factor for me with the band is that if I was being one hundred percent honest, which I will, I actually prefer the 1990's re-recorded versions of many of their songs from their Alive and Best O' Boingo released compilations. This is because these were the first iterations of several of these songs that I was introduced to. As a result, it's weird to hear the original versions. They feel like demos when compared to the refined re-recordings.

With that said, I have grown to appreciate the originals more in retrospect, but I will probably always favor the updated versions.

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Batman Apelsin Kolsyrad Läskedryck (AB Pripps Bryggerier)

Batman Apelsin Kolsyrad Läskedryck
AB Pripps Bryggerier
1989

Why is it that foreign countries always get the cool and unique movie tie in promotions? Sure, the USA got Batman cereal, but where was our Batman soda?

In 1989, Sweden brewer, AB Pripps Bryggerier licensed the rights to produce a limited run of orange (Apelsin) carbonated (kolsyrad) soft drinks (läskedryck) based on the upcoming Tim Burton Batman film. The flavor was equivalent to popular brands of the day, most notably, Pepsi's Sunkist. The reason for this specific comparison is because Pripps was also licensed to produce and distribute Pepsi products in the Baltic States, Russia and Ukraine. As such, they would have had access to the drink.

The soft drink came and went quickly, and for many collectors of 1989 Batman related merchandise is highly sought after. Particularly in areas where it was never available. Though rare, empty cans don't typically sell for much, often under $10.00. While I'd love to tell you what a full can could fetch, I honestly have never seen one.

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Retro Spins: The Vapors - New Clear Days

Would a band be able to release a song called, Turning Japanese, in today's hyper sensitive culture?

The Vapors released two albums in the 80's, with their first being 1980's New Clear Days, and 1981's Magnets. They would then seemingly disappear into thin air. While many would forget about them entirely, the band would come back in 2020 for an all new album entitled, Together, which many critics call a brilliant pop album.

Their 1980's hit, the above noted, Turning Japanese, would be the only hit for the band. This unfortunately earned them the tried and true "One Hit Wonder" label. It's this song which lead me to the album several decades later, and I was not surprised to find out that it had never initially been released on CD during its 1980's heydays.

Though a compilation of tracks from New Clear Days and Magnets was released on CD in 1995 as, The Vapors: Anthology, it wouldn't be until 2000 that both albums would get a true CD release from Captain Mod Records, a sub-label of Captain Oi! Each album contained all the original tracks, as well as several B-sides. However, both albums are currently out of print, and rather pricey.

Had I not received this album as a birthday gift in 2021, I honestly would not own this one just yet. The price always deterred me from picking it up. I knew I'd get around to it eventually, but it was certainly not a priority.

When I sat down to listen to it, I immediately got a sense of "The Police". Somehow, they just seemed to have that certain sound about them. This is probably because both groups have a foothold in the pre-punk era of the late seventies / early eighties. This helped to make it a bit catchy, and enjoyable.

I need to state that it is my intentions to listen to this one again before ultimately making a definitive decision. While I did hear songs that I thought were decent, Turning Japanese was really the only keeper for me during my first play through. As such, I think I need to give this one another chance.

It's because of this that I can't really give a thumbs up or down on New Clear Days just yet. This may turn out to be my first "re-review" post. What I will say is that I didn't hate it. I may even be intrigued enough to track down Magnets.

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Just Doodling - The Uncanny X-Men

I'm not personally a fan of X-Men comics, but I won't deny their cultural impact and legacy in comics.

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