Dennis Rodman (Street Players)

Dennis Rodman
Street Players
1996

Oh, Street Players....How you just didn't understand the toy / collector's market. You get a consistent "A" for effort, but you never quite hit the mark, did you?

From his strange fashion sense, his odd behavior, and his interesting choice of friends, Dennis Rodman certainly has a way of staying relevant in the world of celebrities. Couple that with a man who had an amazing NBA career (so we've heard), and you have what one could classify as an icon in the world of pop culture - Or at the very least a madman who seems to crop up here and there, do something insane, then disappear again for a bit.

However, with that said, we don't necessarily recall anyone in the world of collectors saying something to the tune of, "Gee, I wish someone would produce a doll of Dennis Rodman dressed in a wedding gown." You know, from the infamous time he announced that he was bisexual, and going to marry himself.

Well, regardless of this lack of desire, Street Players said, "We'll answer the call to the unasked question!"....And then they did. Yes, in 1996 you could own your very own Dennis Rodman Wedding Day twelve inch doll! Everyone rejoice!

Okay, so you're not into Rodman dressed in drag. We get it. Not many people would be. Street Players still has you covered with the more simplistic standard Dennis Rodman doll. This particular version featured white trunks and a white jersey, as well as basketball....Oh, right...And if you look close enough you'll see shorty short jeans, a silver shirt and knee high silver boots in there too....Because.....Why not.....It's Dennis Rodman...And it's a limited edition at that.

As shocking as this may be to all of you reading, the doll didn't fair too well on retail shelves, and to date doesn't hold much value on secondary markets. Mint in the box dolls sell between $6.00 and $15.00 - Which approximates to about 25% to 50% less than actual retail prices when the doll first came out.

Yes, Dennis Rodman is one quirky dude. For more on his antics, take a look at a list we found entitled, The 15 Most Outrageous Moments In Dennis Rodman History That Remind Us How Crazy He's Always Been.

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Jerry Springer (Street Players) and Trailer Park Trash (Arsenic & Apple Pie / Gibby Novelties, LLC)

Jerry Springer
Street Players
1998

Oh boy, folks. Buckle in. This one may be a bumpy ride.

Dubbed the worst show on television, and being noted by critics as having no redeeming qualities, Jerry Springer has been appealing to what some call the lowest denominator of human beings since September of 1991. His show often times features guests so far detached from basic human morals and concepts that it's laughable, yet sad at the same time. In short, the show is such a train wreck - You don't want to watch, but you can't look away.

Street Players was trying desperately to find a foothold in the market of 12 inch dolls in the 1990's. The problem however was that they were consistently producing items that nobody particularly wanted. Dolls based on The Nanny, Dennis Rodman and others just weren't hitting the mark with collectors. Sadly for Springer, nor did this particular doll - Though we're sure he made a great gag gift for many folks when someone was going through a rocky relationship.

This doll is honestly one of those so bad it's good things - You know, kind of like his show. It feels sleazy and slimy just to look at. You seriously would be hard pressed to find a doll that oozed with such sordid appeal. Unless of course you looked at.....

Trailer Park Trash
Arsenic & Apple Pie / Gibby Novelties, LLC
1999

What better dolls could you find to surround your Jerry Springer doll than those of the 1999 Arsenic & Apple Pie Trailer Park Trash? They seem so perfectly matched.

With the likes of Trash Talkin' Turlen, JerWayne Junior and Little Miss Guzzler, this line seems to be the ultimate parody of Barbie. Each doll features a talking feature with such notable quotations as, "My daddy says I'm the best kisser in the county." Yikes! Each package also contains a gold and black sticker which verifies that the doll is a first edition - Which honestly we'd be surprised if it were popular enough to deem a second edition.

So....Yeah.....That's where we are with this post.

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The Phantom (Street Players)

The Phantom
Street Players
1996

The 1996 film, The Phantom, doesn't get the love it deserves. People pan it as one of the worst comic book adaptation films around, and laugh at the casting of B-Movie star Billy Zane as the leading role. Hogwash, we say!

The Phantom is probably one of the most truest renditions of comic book to screen movies out there. The visuals are beautiful, the acting superb, and Billy Zane...Well, he's just cool. If there's one fault the film has, it's that too much of it was left on the cutting room floor. See, the reason that most people don't like the film is because the actual full story never made it into the end result. Much of the character building between The Phantom and Diana Palmer was left out of the film in favor of a faster paced action based movie - Which it wasn't written in the style to be.

Fortunately for fans who want the whole story, a novelization of the film was written by Rob MacGregor - The man behind a series of Indiana Jones novels. MacGregor not only included an origin story for The Phantom in his adaptation, but also the numerous arcs that were cut from the film.

The now defunct Street Players also released a very small line of action figures based on the film which quickly went from isle pegs to clearance bins. Featuring only one carded figure, and a horse/rider pack, the series seemed destined to fail from the get go. Street Players didn't seem interested in supporting the line, and showed this by not bothering to produce any villains for The Phantom to go toe to toe with. In combination with the film being labeled a flop, the toy line fizzle almost instantaneously.

 The Phantom

Phantom Rider

Time has been much kinder to the series of toys than the original movie going crowd of the 90's was. These days you're not going to get either of these items for less than $25.00 to $30.00 each - Not bad for a toy that was condemned to the clearance bin for no more than two bucks within its first year of being released.

Though a sequel was rumored to occur, that rumor was squashed in 2008 with the announcement of a reboot of the franchise - Which of course has not come to fruition either. Will we see more big screen adventures of The Phantom? We suppose time will tell.

Join us next time when we take a look at Thundercats Minimates!

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The Nanny (Street Players)

The Nanny
Street Players
1995

It's as if the entire month of April is our own personal April Fool's month, and every week it's just another joke.  It seems like every time we turn around we're finding something weirder and weirder to top the last one.

Today's find are dolls based on Fran Drescher's character in the CBS show, The Nanny.  We're not sure what execs at Street Players were thinking when they unleashed these things on the public, suffice to say that nobody clearly stood up and asked the question, "Is this really such a good idea?"

Three dolls were produced, all of the same design, but featured different tacky outfits and accessories.  If that was the worst offender from this series, it'd be tolerable.  Unfortunately it gets worse.  Each doll came with a push button talking action to make statements such as, Honey, I know what I am, but trust me, you're  a doll too."  Fortunately it didn't also come with the obnoxious Drescher laugh.

Sadly it doesn't give the impression that Street Players was necessarily trying to capitalize on Drescher herself, or even the show, The Nanny.  Rather they were trying to sell the doll based on how annoying the actress's voice was (is).  Personally Ms. Fran should be offended if that's the case.

We're not sure how many dolls sold, but there are a ton on eBay these days, so sadly someone was buying it.  We dare say, or rather, hope that most purchases were made as a gag gift.

Join us next time when we take a look at something hopefully better, but at the rate we're going, it's anyone's guess at this point.

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