Happy New Year!

 

I don't know if G.I. Jigsaw intended to start a trend, or if he just inspired me to start putting up my figures.

Though I won't profess to know what Jigs is going through from last year, I'm kind of right there with him. I just need to get past 2024, and start 2025 out on the right foot. There have been a lot of changes for me in the past few months, and they've kind of taken their toll.

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Hey Vern It's Ernest (Kenner)

 

Hey Vern It's Ernest
Kenner
1989

It's always fun to see the inception of pop culture creations which have such humble beginnings. Such is the case of the character Ernest P. Worrell. Jim Varney created the character with advertising company, Carden & Cherry for the purposes of him being used in various local Nashville television ads.

The commercials always followed the same structure, with Ernest showing up at the home of his off camera, and never seen neighbor, Vern. The comedic sketches would involve the lead character plugging the product of choice, with the audience seemingly, and unknowingly, taking on the role of Vern. Each ad would end with Ernest's catch phrase, "KnowhutImean?"

Several national ad campaign offers were sent, but due to contractual obligations to varying local companies, the Ernest character wasn't able to be used. This prompted the advertising company to instead transition the character to film and television, and the rest was soon history, knowhutImean?

Ernest's first outing in the world of feature films was as a cameo character in Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam. However, by 1987, Jim Varney was starring as the character in his own film, Ernest Goes to Camp. Four theatrical releases would follow, Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest Goes To Jail (1990), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), and Ernest Rides Again (1993). However, by the latter, the popularity of the character began waning. While future films would follow, these were delegated straight to video.

Amidst the height of his 80's popularity, Varney brought the character to the short lived, Hey Vern It's Ernest television series. The show aired from September to December of 1988, and featured thirteen episodes across a single season. Each episode showcased a variety of characters, and while there was a main plot featured in each one, this was broken up by skit segments. Varney would ultimately take home a daytime Emmy Award for his role.

It was during this period that Kenner would release the talking Hey Vern It's Ernest doll. The sixteen inch toy featured a pull string, which when tugged would activate numerous phrases from the character. Of course you'd hear, knowhutImean among them.

Having two Ernest dedicated films under his belt certainly helped sales, and Kenner knew it would. That's why the back of the box makes sure to reference Ernest's 1987 and 1988 outings.

As popularity in the character dropped, so too did demand for the doll, and it was inevitably discontinued. Even these days, they're not too highly sought after, and a mint in the package toy can sell for as little as $40.00. With that said, many second hand dealers try to price the doll out at one hundred dollars or more. However, these typically will not sell for that much.

Sadly, Jim Varney was a long time chain smoker, and this caught up with him in 1998 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Though he quit smoking and began chemotherapy, the treatments didn't work, and he passed away in February 2000 at his home.

While tragic, Varney will always be remembered by kids of the 80's as the lovable Ernest P. Worrell. What better way to keep those memories than by adding a Hey Vern It's Ernest to your toy shelf?

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Kenner Star Wars R2-D2

 

Welcome to my thirteenth year hear at The Toy Box. This year, things are going to be a bit different. While posts will continue to come at you every Monday, they won't always be ones focused on cataloging toy lines. In fact, for the most part, they won't be. Rather, I'll be looking at the items in my personal collection, focusing on one particular item at a time.

The format will stray from that of a straight up review, instead focusing on my own personal perspective on item. If it was something I had as a child, I'll share some personal fond memories. Or if it's something I acquired as an adult, I speak to what drew me to it.

I'd like to incorporate some of my own personal artwork, such as the piece you see to the left of this paragraph. The purpose is for nothing more than the fun of it, and the designs of each piece will be in a way that's a homage of sorts to the actual toy.

Everything launches today with a look at R2-D2 from the vintage Star Wars Kenner line.

I was four years old when I got my first Star Wars figures, and R2-D2 was not among them. Sadly, I don't know when I got my original R2 unit, but I know I had one. In fact, looking back on the entire vintage collection, I actually had all but three figures from the entire 1979 - 1985 line. The only ones I was missing were Luke Skywalker (in Stromtrooper Disguise), R2-D2 with Pop-Up Lightsaber and Yak Face. The latter of which I would have never even known about, since it was never released in the USA. Whenever it came to be in my assortyment of toys, I know that from that point on I played with it a lot.

While I don't have any memories directly about this figure, I will say that one of the things that meant a lot to me then, and still means a lot to me know, is how my mother knew all of the figure's names. 

Even now, I sometimes get into conversations with her, and sit back with smile as she starts prattling off the various names of what she calls, "The Star Wars People." I don't know what it is that makes me so happy about this. I guess it just really means a lot to me that my mom cared enough about what I was interest in as a kid to make sure she knew what I was talking about.

Even my sister, who is seven years older than I am, loves to remind me of what I would do as a kid. I would sit across from her with my Star Wars Darth Vader carrying case, pull out a figure and hold it up, waiting for her to tell me who it was. Though I don't think she necessarily remember who any of them are at this point. Maybe I should load up a case and go over to her place and test her.

As time went by, my original R2-D2 eventually got up sized to the sensor scope version released in The Empire Strikes Back waves. However, by the time I got one, it was well past the time to have a replacement. The dome on my original was chipping, and the sticker all but gone from around its body. Overall, it was in pretty bad shape.

I kept all of my original toys until around 1990 / 1991, when we moved from Oregon to Virginia. It was at this point that I was starting high school, and decided it was time for me to be done with them. Yes, it was one of the stupidest decisions I have ever made in life. But, I suppose many of us did.

It wouldn't be until September of 2016 that I would start collecting toys again. At first, I only wanted to collect a couple of the main characters from various toy lines to display on a shelf above my computer. This started with the vintage Masters of the Universe line, which quickly spiraled out of control. One figure turned into two, turned into six turned into all of them.

However, it wouldn't be until December of 2017 that I would turn my attention back to the original toy line I played with as a kid. R2-D2, as seen in these photos, would become this sixth figure in the original wave of Kenner's Star Wars toys that I would add to my collection. I spent hours pouring over ebay listings, looking for just the right one. Star Wars figures were expensive, and if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. 100% complete, 100% no repro, and while note necessarily mint, in an affordable condition meeting the first two requirements that I could be happy with. Overall, I did alright for myself.

Despite being the sixth figure in the series that I bought, R2-D2 is displayed as the first Star Wars figure on my shelf, leading off into the entire vintage line in all its displayed glory. I can, and have, lost a lot of time just sitting or standing in front of the various shelves of figures, drifting off into memories, smiling at great times from the past, while yearning for the hear and now to just slow down a bit so that I can enjoy being a kid for one more moment.

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New Addition!

 

It took me a long time to get around to these two "figures" because I kept going back and forth on whether or not I really wanted to add them to my collection. I don't know what finally caused me to take the plunge, but it all started with me randomly searching ebay, and proceeding with a buy it now for the Dianoga.

I think what initially kept me hesitant about this one was that for the price, there really was nothing special about it. I mean, look at it. It's a single rubbery piece of molded...well...rubber. Sure, it has a lot of detail, but didn't really provide anything all that spectacular that I "needed" it in my collection right away.

Then there was the issue that it didn't stand on its own. Unless you're going to just flop this thing over, the only real display option is to buy the playset, which I definitely didn't want, or the expensive stands designed specifically for it. Coupled with an average price of sixty dollars for the Dianoga itself, and the fourteen dollar stand, you can see the hesitation. Even now, like I said, I don't know why I suddenly needed this in my collection. But, it's here, and I dig it to an extent. It's certainly much larger than I thought it would be.

Then there was this figure, the R2-D2 "build a droid" which came with the original Droid Factory playset.

Much like the Dianoga, this wasn't something I was chomping at the bit to get into my collection. However, what I did notice was that non-repro sticker versions were getting fewer and further between, and as a result, more and more expensive. While I didn't pay top asking price for this one, I certainly paid more than I wanted to.

With these two added to the collection, I suppose the only figure I'm missing is the vinyl cape Jawa, and that one is absolutely out of the question. I am not spending $3,000.00 on a two inch piece of vinyl. That is just stupid in my book. The figure itself is a dime a dozen, so to ask that much for a cape is just idiotic. Then again, I suppose most "normal" people wouldn't spend $200.00 on the two figures I posted about here. So, to each their own, I guess.

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Milky The Marvelous Milking Cow (Kenner)

Milky The Marvelous Milking Cow
Kenner
1977

Kenner made some really weird toys in the 1970's. We looked at the nightmarish Hugo last week, and this week I fear things only get stranger.

Meet Milky, the Marvelous Milking Cow.

By pumping her tail, feed Milky real water, and when she's done, she'll raise her head and moo. That's the signal that she''s ready to produce fake milk, which you can extract from her rubber utters. The milk substance, which may or may not have been safe to drink, was produced by putting special tablets insider her utter prior to "feeding" the toy water. The toy was rounded out with a plastic farm mat, a cowbell for her neck, a trough to fill with the water and a booklet on how cows produce milk.

As you can imagine, long term play value definitely doesn't exist with this toy, and interest waned fairly quickly from the public. Despite this, toy aficionados have been known to spend as much as one hundred fifty dollars on a complete in box Milky these days.

Kudos to Kenner for yet another bizarre toy from the past.

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Hugo (Kenner)

Hugo (AKA Presenting Hugo Man Of A Thousand Faces)
Kenner
1975

What a horrific puppet, in a Dr. Evil sort of way. I can't believe children of the 70's actually wanted a Hugo puppet.

Hugo's claim to fame was that he was a "Man of a thousand faces." However, unlike toys such as, Mr. Potato Head, Hugo didn't sport peg holes to accommodate his many facets of head and facial hair, noses, glasses, moles, etc. Instead, children of the era would need to utilize stick glue, or some other form of adhesive, to add the pieces to his face. "Hugo can be anything...make him into villains, heroes, comics and spies."

Look, call him what you will, I think Hugo is terrifying...and somewhat racist with his Asian looking disguise. Hugo is a man of many faces. In particular, the number of printed Benjamin's faces it will cost you to procure one. Mint in the box ones have sold for as much as five hundred fifty dollars. Personally, I won't be adding one of these freaky things to my collection - Regardless of how much it costs.

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Star Wars Coloring Books (Kenner)

Star Wars Coloring Books
Kenner
1977 - 1984

As a kid, there were many days I spent sprawled out across the carpet with a box of Crayola Crayons, most of which were well used or broken, and a coloring book in front of me. I think this is an experience many children of the digital age simply don't get to have, which is kind of a shame. Coloring is a wonderful and fun creative outlet.

Back in those days, my mind was just as much ablaze with an adventure as I filled in each page with multiple colors. The story unfolding in my head as I made sound effects of Luke's lightsaber igniting while a blue crayon filled in the blade. My imagination ran wild with my own adventures and everything was an opportunity for it.

For me, Kenner's coloring books were just as large a part of my playtime as were my figures. I had a slew of these things. In fact, in looking through these great books today, I may very well have had them all.

It all began in 1977, when Kenner released the first four books. Each one featured a fantastic still from the film on the cover, only serving to draw kids in more. Inside, the pages were filled with fantastic hand drawn coloring pages, some of which were based on concept art from the film, while others even included the artists own conceptions.

In 1980, Kenner released four more books. This time, based on The Empire Strikes Back. Once again, fabulous images from the film adorned each cover.

In 1982, Kenner released two new books based on the film.

With the final film in the Trilogy released, Kenner produced two new books in 1983 to coincide with it. 

The "set" of books was wrapped up in 1984 with one final volume.

Even today I enjoy a good coloring page. However, these days, I am far more detail oriented with them. Some would say I tend to go a bit overboard. I'll break out a full set of colored pencils, and fill in every bit of detail on the page. Hey, it's good, clean, harmless fun. So why not?

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Terminator 2 (AKA Terminator 2 Judgement Day) (Kenner)

Terminator 2
Kenner
1991 - 1992

I knew it was only a matter of time before I eventually swung back around to this line. Yet at the same time, I'm surprised it took this long for me to do so. I'd touched pretty close to this one in prior posts about the follow up line to the series, Future War, and the spin off, Terminator 2 3D - Battle Across Time. Ideally, while this wasn't necessarily the correct order, it's still appropriate that I would "finish" cataloging this "series" in full with the original 1991 - 1992 releases.

What you may notice, if comparing the aforementioned follow up and spin off series is that several are actually repaints of the toys featured original in this line. In hindsight, that's actually pretty disappointing for those latter figures. Cash grab? Sure. Lazy? Definitely. Still, if you're in to carded variations, I suppose you can't go wrong in that aspect.

This first series was jam packed with twelve different figures, all released over three waves. The tell of which figures are associated with which wave is the subtle changes to the cards. The first wave featured a center cut peg hole which could be punched out. The second went with the more popular "J" peg, which meant cards could be removed from pegs without having to pull each individual figure down. The final wave kept this designed, but stamped each figure with a "NEW" logo.

 Battle Damage Terminator*Blaster T-1000

 Power Ram Terminator*Exploding T-1000

As you can see, there were a plethora of Terminator and T-1000 variations. It's a marketing decision which I feel has contributed to killing off many a toy line. Too many of the same figure with a different feature or paint job.

 John Connor*Secret Weapon Terminator

 Techno-Punch Terminator*Damage Repair Terminator

Though it's disappointing the line never really fleshed out much beyond Terminator and T-1000 variations, it was good to see John Connor was at least included. Additionally, Kenner introduced it's own character, Cyber-Grip. In general, Kenner took very liberal license with the line.

Unfortunately, Kenner never bothered with a Sarah Connor figure. Whether this was by choice or if one was planned but never approved by the actress is unknown.

 Cyber-Grip*Endoglow Terminator

Meltdown Terminator*White-Hot T-1000

Though obviously not attributed to the film in any way, Kenner produced two vehicles to coincide with the line. The Heavy Metal Cycle could at least be construed as an attempt to incorporate a motorcycle from the infamous scene in the film where John is being chased down by a mission obsessed T-1000. However, the Mobile Assault Vehicle is so far out in left field, in terms of fitting in with the film.

For those who wanted to make their own Terminators, the Bio-Flesh Regenerator was a pretty cool concept. It fit in nicely among the make it yourself toys of the day, such as Creepy Crawlers and Doctor Dreadful.

On a side note, if you want the film ruined for you completely, just look at the argument of how the T-1000 could have never even traveled through time, based on the rules established in the first film.

Rounding off the series was a large scale The Ultimate Terminator figure which featured light up eyes and battle sounds. Honestly, I've never really understood why toy companies make these oversized figures. They never seem to sell well. It doesn't help that they're never fleshed out to have any counterparts to even play with each other.

Seriously, what am I supposed to do with a large scale Terminator figure that doesn't have a large scale T-1000 to battle against? Toy companies never seem to think these kinds of things through. It's as if they sit around thinking, "Kids like big toys. Let's make big toys." Okay, while this is true, kids also like big toys that make sense. An individual figure, compatible with nothing else in the line makes no sense at all.

Grumble...

And on that note, this wraps up the Terminator 2 line from Kenner, and the entire series in general. Sorry for the long hiatus between the lines. Hopefully those of you who were interested are still hanging around to read this post.

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Wicket The Ewok (Kenner Preschool)

Wicket The Ewok
Kenner Preschool
1984

One of the relatively unknown Star Wars toys produced by Kenner was their short lived 1984 preschool series based on the Ewoks cartoon series. I can't believe my parents bought the Ewok Family Hut for me as a kid in 1984. I was seven years old, and this is clearly a babies toy! Not that I knew that at the time. Nor did it hinder me from getting hours of play out of it.

To compliment the playset, Kenner released two additional smaller sets. The first was the Ewok Woodland Wagon, and these second the Ewok Fire Cart. Like the playset, each one included a handful of minifigures to round out the series.

From there, Kenner branched out into a realm of real world themed products in the form of a toothbrush, alarm clock, telephone and radio. Don't get too excited. With exception of the toothbrush, these were all just toys that didn't function beyond a handful of sound effects.

In terms of Star Wars toys, these are certainly some of the more unique ones. I've said it before, it's amazing that it took Kenner until 1984 to start releasing Star Wars toys geared towards younger kids. Toddlers, if you will. In hindsight, it seems like a really large missed opportunity.

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Butch And Sundance, The Early Days (Kenner)

Butch And Sundance The Early Days
Kenner
1979

This post is special to me. Not because I have a love for Butch and Sundance, The Early Days. Quite the opposite. Until I finally put this post together, I honestly didn't know anything about it. No, instead, what makes it important is that it has taken me years to put this one together. I've started and stopped so many times because these toys have proven to be so elusive. It was an incredibly rewarding feeling to finally cross this one off my list.

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