Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Monsters + Mutants (Playmates Toys)



Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Monsters + Mutants
Playmates Toys
2017

These days things seem to have shifted drastically for the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. What was once an abundance of merchandise hitting store shelves on regular intervals has turned into a re-occurrence of peg warmers, scarce new figures, or worse, empty shelves all together. With the announcement the animated series would be coming to an end in 2017, this is honestly not shocking to see happening at all. It seems the line may have run its course, and these days Playmates Toys is more so keen on offloading old stock (or repainting it) as opposed to packing enough supply of new figures to meet demand.

A perfect example of this is Muckman. For over a year he was one of the most highly anticipated figures in the line. Upon his release, many collectors didn't even know he was out until it was too late. As one of only three new figures packed in with wave 19, and at only one per case, he was gone before most people even knew to look for him. The end result is the only figure in the new TMNT series to garner a stable secondary value of over one hundred dollars.


With scarce product to be found, I was actually quite surprised to see Walmart (of all places) had stocked the all new Monsters + Mutants series. Granted there was only one set to be found in the entire store, and this too was among a bunch of peg warmers.

Most of these are definitely among some of my personal favorites from the series as a whole. They're unique, colorful, and most importantly, they're fun. They have unique accessories (though admittedly I have no clue why a vampire Raphael would come with a stake), and the look and feel takes you back to those classic monster movie pics from the black and white era of film. What's not to love here?



 
Okay, fine...The actual monster hunters aren't all that inspiring. Leonardo and Raphael in trench coats? Yawn. On any given day these could easily be passed off as the classic cartoon turtles in disguise. Simply add a mock human face mask.

Furthermore, why another (half) set of the turtles? Couldn't these two have been better served as other characters? Perhaps Casey Jones or April O'Neil? This would have at least fleshed the (sub)line out a little more.

Sigh...Fanboys...We're never happy.



Though they're difficult to find in stores right now, eBay shows they are a little more readily available than the aforementioned Muckman. Perhaps as the holiday season ramps up we'll not only see more of these on store shelves, but perhaps, or should I say hopefully, more Muckman's for everyone to get their hands on.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series (Mego / Krege / Lion Rock)



World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series
Mego / Krege / Lion Rock
1973 - 1980

Happy Halloween (one day early), everyone!

This post has taken us years to compile. It's been so long in the making that we were beginning to think it would never come to light. Mego's World's Greatest Super Heroes: The Mad Monster Series is so incredibly difficult to track down. Boxed and blister carded versions of the figures are so rare, and yet there are so many different variations. You would think at some point it would be easy to get your hands on at least one of the versions. Apparently not so much.

What is it with monster related series that make them so hard to track down? Looking at you, Remco Universal Studios Monsters.

The Mad Monster Series began in 1973 with the release of what has become known as "Solid Box". The four characters released were; The Dreadful Dracula, The Monster Frankenstein, The Horrible Mummy and The Human Werewolf. These would be the only four figures produced, and they would be re-released in multiple packaging styles up until 1980.

The Dreadful Dracula
Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

During its first run, Mego made a change to the production of both Frankenstein and Dracula. Frankenstein was retooled with blue hair, and Dracula received bright red hair. Though it is unknown for certain why this change was made, many collectors speculate it was due to the original sculpts to closely resembling the characters from Universal Studios. Fearing some form of repercussions the changes were made, and the production continued until resculpted versions were completed. Again, this is all just speculation among the collecting community.

 The Dreadful Dracula
Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

Mego produced the figures at some point between 1974 and 1975 for the first blister carded versions - AKA Krege cards. SS Krege was one of the largest retail organizations which later formed into a little known company that you may have heard of - Kmart Corporation which then evolved into Sears Holding Corporation.

Though many sources profess that the Krege carded versions are one of the more difficult versions to find, we can assure, they are all difficult to find.

The Monster Frankenstein
Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

Mego briefly re-released the Mad Monsters in window boxes, and like the aforementioned Krege cards, many collectors profess that these are difficult versions to obtain. We regress back to our prior statement on the matter - They're all difficult to find.

The Monster Frankenstein
Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card



 The Horrible Mummy
Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

In 1980, Lion Rock released a second version of the blister cards as Toys R' Us exclusives. Though the figures weren't all that popular during their initial release, they have since become highly sought after by collectors who claim...Yes, you guessed it...These are incredibly hard to find.

We're not making this up. According to Mego Museum, the profess that each one of these sets are difficult to find / complete. Why don't they just say that every single one of them is an almost futile attempt?

 The Horrible Mummy
Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

The Human Werewolf
Mego Solid Box*Mego / Krege Blister Card

If The Mad Monster Series is the challenge you've been looking for, be ready to drop a lot of cash. You're going to spend about $200.00 a piece for the solid box versions, and anywhere from $600.00 to $1,000.00 for each other version. Let's do some quick math here...That's about $8,000.00 on the low end, and about $12,800.00 on the high end.

The Human Werewolf
Mego Window Box*Mego / Toys R' Us Exclusive Lion Rock Blister Card

Now, mind you, that price noted above is just for the figures. If you really want to complete the set, you're going to have to also track down the incredibly rare Mad Monster Castle. That's going to cost you another $600.00 to $700.00.

Mad Monster Castle

For those looking to scratch that nostalgic itch at a fraction of the cost, you may want to consider the 2012 Classic TV Toys versions. These reproduced figures (and the playset) are far more common, and will only set you back around $25.00 to $35.00 for each of them, and about $70.00 for the playset. Yes, we know, it's not the same thing, but it may be your only option if you don't want to take a second mortgage out on your home.

Mego's Mad Monster Series is definitely an amazing set of figures from a time of classic toys. It's just not very obtainable by the majority of people interested in it.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Gomez (Mezco)



Gomez
Mezco
(2008)

Any of you recognize Gomez? There's a hint right in the photo.

Give up, or guessed it?

Gomez was (or may very well still be) the official mascot for Mezco around 2008. This particular action figure was released only at San Diego Comic Con in 2008, and was limited to just 500 pieces. If that wasn't limited enough for you, out of those 500 pieces, the figure also came in four different variations. Gomez could be found with either a black or tan head, and either a turtleneck / leather coat or black suit and tie.

Mezco came up with a fairly unique (and somewhat corny) concept for the figure which is detailed on the back of the package. We'll help spare your eyes squinting at the small text. It reads;

"The mysterious syndicate known only as The Void operates within a level of secrecy so obscure the world at large is unaware of its existence.

The Voids operations sway the balance of the world as we know it. The Voids vast range of intelligence is felt from the fall of governments to why socks are missing from the laundry.

The Void utilizes the skills of a sole agent, Gomez.

His instructions are received by a combination of subliminal messages broadcast on his boombox combined with black martinis known as the "Cocktail Exchange". The Cocktail Exchange is only receivable by the antennas of Gomez.

Gomez, doer of missions, mover of information and eliminator of obstacles.
"

The figure itself features multiple points of articulation from the antenna at the top all the way down to its feet. Mezco certainly didn't skimp when it came to this aspect. Pretty much every piece of his body moves in some form or fashion. The overall quality is certainly there.

As for the sculpt, it's rather unique and fun. Fans of roaches / bugs and James Bond will definitely see the appeal here.

Of course any good figure has good accessories, and Gomez has quite a few. The best aspect (for us) is the 1950's style alien blaster, which is made all the more a top choice by its weathered paint job. The figure also comes with a boombox (also weathered in the same vain as the blaster) and sword. The last, and really fun accessory is his martini glass filled with Cocktail Exchange. All the accessories fit nicely in the figure's hands, and as an added bonus, Mezco even threw in two additional sculpts for hands so that you can change them out.

The clothing is so far above standards that other companies producing nine inch figures should take notice. From the pleather jacket to the tailored suit, sweater and pant, everything works and looks great. The details are so fine that even the belt has a working metal buckle. The only complaint we have is that the shoes themselves are sculpted to the body. If you're going to go to such detail to get the clothing just right, down to a working metal buckle, then sculpt a pair of shoes too.

As for the packaging, we love it. Not only does it stand out from your typical white box that SDCC exclusives normally come in, but it's completely collector friendly. It opens at the top, and the figure / accessories all slide out neatly in place on their plastic tray. This not only makes for salvageable packing, but fantastic presentation.

When it was released, the figure was priced at $40.00 each. Sadly, unlike most SDCC exclusives which explode in price, Gomez didn't fair so well on secondary markets. These days you can find any of the four variations priced between $20.00 and $50.00 each. However, even at these prices the figures remains unsold.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Animax (Schaper)



Animax
Schaper
1986

We can't take credit for the majority of this post. That credit belongs to Mel Brinkrant who we have talked about in the past. We've borrowed the photos from Mr. Brinkrant's site, and cleaned them up for presentation here. Truth be told, he tells a much better story on the line than we probably can, and his site deserves a visit for that. In the interim, we'll give it a go here.

The line featured two sides - The RoadTrainers (good guys), and the Motor Mutants (bad guys). The premise behind each of the RoadTrainers figures was that they each had an animal mask that when worn would telepathically link them to their animal / vehicle - Yes, half car, half animal. Or, as the back of the package puts it;

"Part living animal / part vehicle created by mankind. They are the sole surviving animal species."

Hmm...That's actually quite sick and twisted now that we type it out. Anyway...

Unlike the RoadTrainers who love their animals, the Motor Mutants control their beasts through brute force.

Each of the six figures were carded individually, and featured very bland paint colors, and overall a very "cheap" sculpt. No details or paint applications were present in the faces of the RoadTrainers - Which all look the same, save for a different color hair.


Back of Carded Figure

For the very few people who were interested in the series, the animal / figure two pack seemed the more viable option. Not only did it contain the same figures as noted above on the cards, but also their respective vehicles. Kind of a no brainer to go this route instead, huh?

Much like the carded figures, there were six individual packages available. However, with that said, there were initially eight combo packs planned. When the series limped onto toy shelves, X-Tinctor / Obliterator and Max Action / Jungle Max were cancelled.




For the fans of the series, Marvel / Star Comics also produced a very short lived comic book series. These books, when found, typically are in dime or quarter boxes - So they're relatively easy to come by. They're also far more common than the actual toys.

As for the toys, as noted above, they're rather scarce on secondary markets. Additionally, they're priced way too high with each carded figure listed at $100.00+, and the vehicle / figure combos priced even higher. As a result, this line is often times passed on by most collectors.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Red Faction: Armageddon (Gamestars Collectibles)



Red Faction Armageddon
Gamestars Collectibles
2012

We haven't covered many Gamestars Collectibles (GC) toys around here at The Toy Box. However, in our defense, there aren't many of them. The company seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye in 2012, and has only produced three lines of figures based on the video games; Crysis 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and the one we're about to go into here - Red Faction Armageddon. Since then, nothing has been heard of from GC, nor can much information be found on the internet.

Red Faction began as a video game series in 2001 with the title of the same name. It was followed up in 2002 with the lackluster Red Faction II, and the series reinvigorating title, Red Faction: Guerrilla in 2009. With such high anticipation, it was disappointing to see Red Faction: Armageddon (2011) fall into the same criticism of RFII. Critics claimed the game was behind the times in graphics, and failed to offer a cohesive story that drew gamers in. Granted, the game did offer a large geographic location to explore (and destroy), all while challenging players with increasingly difficult enemies. Sadly, it wasn't enough though.

Fast forward to 2012.

In an attempt to enter the market of action figures, Gamestars Collecitbles releases six figures based on the game. Each one is highly detailed in sculpt, articulation and paint. However, much like the game itself, this wasn't enough to draw collectors in. Coupled with the figures being limited in availability - Typically only at local game stores (if they bothered to order any), and a very niche audience concept, you can see the vast uphill climb that GC created for themselves.


 Winters

Out of the six figures, the Ravager and Creeper ones seem to be the more sought after. Secondary markets see the pair selling for around $25.00 (for a set of them), and mind you that's in loose condition. The remaining figures don't fair so well, and often times remain unsold.

 Ravager

 Creeper

Despite limited lines of figures, Gamestars Collectibles was always on par with their packaging. With artwork straight from the developers of the game, it was easy to denote (for fans of the series) that these were Red Faction figures just from the top banner.

 Darius Mason

 Hale

Marauder's Officer

As noted above, the majority of the figures don't fare well on secondary markets. Average sales are around $7.50, mint on card, sometimes reaching $10.00, but not often. Even with prices this low, most of the times the figures go unsold.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Boy George (LJN)



Boy George
LJN
1984

Culture Club blasted onto the synth pop scene in 1982 with their debut album Kissing to Be Clever. The record (or cassette) featured two notable hits; Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, and I'll Tumble 4 Ya which put the band on track for success and fame. Later pressings of the album would also include a third hit, Time (Clock of the Heart).

What came next was a rocket straight into the stratosphere for the band - 1983's Colour By Numbers. It's leading track, Karma Chameleon became the band's most popular song, and made Boy George a household name among teens across the globe. Other tracks followed Karma straight up the charts; It's A Miracle, Church of the Poison Mind and Miss Me Blind. Since its release, the album has sold sixteen million copies.

Unfortunately lightning typically doesn't strike twice, and the highly anticipated third album from the band, Waking Up with the House on Fire (1984) didn't reach the level of success expected. It's real only hit was The War Song. That's not to say it was a bad album. It just didn't seem to have many more radio worthy tracks to help push it up the charts.

Things only got worse from there. George became increasingly dependent on drugs, with heroin being one of his most often abused / used. This lead to delayed recordings of the band's fourth album, From Luxury to Heartache in 1986. Though it too had a couple hits, the album did the worst out of all the band's releases to this point.

The band broke up shortly afterwards, and George proceeded with a solo career which found him mild success as compared to his early days of Culture Club. The band would later reunite for the 1999 album Don't Mind If I Do, but the record was unfortunately a commercial failure.

Let's rewind a bit here back to 1984. Despite the lackluster reception of their third album, Boy George was still a hot commodity in the world of 80's pop. As such, LJN jumped at the opportunity to produce a doll based on him.

Colour By Numbers was hot, hot, hot, and so was the iconic outfit that the singer wore to promote the album. This is what LJN based the look of the doll on. If you think you've seen the microphone accessory from the doll before, you probably have. It's the same (though painted a different color) use in the LJN Michael Jackson line produced and released that same year.

Much like the Jackson doll, the George doll is fairly spot on in terms of likeness. Especially considering that this comes from the 80's where exact likeness sculpting wasn't necessarily a common practice.

LJN followed up the twelve inch doll with a more cuddly, and may we also say, frightening version of Boy George. Just saying - We would not cuddle with this thing.

Boy George; The Huggable Cute Cuddly Doll! (Brown Hair Version)

This particular version was released with both brown and red hair - The latter being the more rarer of the two these days.

Both boxes were decked out in yellow, and showcased a nice close up photo of Boy George on the back, as well as four smaller ones somewhat in each of the corners of the larger one. The front of the box isn't shy of photos either, but they are the same ones as displayed on the back.

The use of bright neon borders screams 80's club scene, and only helps to scream out to you from toy shelves in conjunction with the massive amounts of yellow that make up the majority of the package. This is definitely a toy of the 80's.

Though we're honestly not big fans of the "cuddly" Boy George dolls, the twelve inch version definitely belongs in the collection of any 80's music fan. With how great LJN's line of music related dolls were, we would have loved to have seen tons more from the era. Just think of how awesome it would have been to have a lineup of other dolls like; Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran - Heck, even Weird Al!

To get the twelve inch Boy George these days you're going to spend anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 for it - Depending on condition (with the box). The cuddly George will set you back even more - About $120.00 for the brown hair version, and $150.00 for the red hair one.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Monster Mez-Itz (Mezco)



Monster Mez-Itz
Mezco
2002

Mezco has produced a whole bunch of Mez-Itz in their time. While the concept of the line hasn't necessarily blasted off into orbit such as Funko's Pop line did, it certainly has its niche following of collectors. Of course with that said, much like Funko's Pop line, Mez-Itz aren't something you need to collect every single one of. Rather, you can focus on the ones that appeal to you. Mezco has produced the likes of DC Universe characters, movie characters, and in some cases even vehicles.

Today we're taking a look at Monster Mez-Itz, which was a small series released in 2002. No, these aren't based on the Universal Monster designs. Instead, they appear to be Mezco's own iterations on the characters.

(Photo shows series one)

There were two standard packs released in the first wave, and a second wave released shortly after. In total, there were eight characters produced; Vampire, Mummy, Frankenstein and Werewolf (for the first series), and Boris Creepola, Claude Clearwater, Dr. Mezitstein and Grim Grimly (the second series).

Truth be told, they're not the best we've seen in terms of monster character toys, but for what it's worth, they get the job done - Especially if you appreciate the Mez-Itz style.


The above photo is the repainted versions which were released as Chiller Theatre exclusives. For some, these actually stands out as the better iterations due to the use of more color. Unfortunately because they are exclusive, they are also a lot more difficult to track down.

Series two (below photo) brought with it Mezco's own characters (as noted in the names above). It also marked the last of the figures to be released in the "line".


In general the series failed to capture much of an audience, which is why it was only around for one year. Today the figures are slightly difficult to find, but this seems to be more so attributed to the fact that nobody really owns them to sell them. When found, prices typically hover around $15.00 for one pack of series one or two. As for the exclusive ones, we've yet to find them on secondary markets, so a price cannot be determined at this time (by us).

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Marsupilami (Jus Toys)



Marsupilami
Jus Toys
1992

Though we're sure there are a few of them out there, Marsupilami is officially the only character we know that has its own asteroid named after it - Asteroid 98494 to be exact.

Last week we looked at Imperial's Classic Movie Monster line. Today we're going to be taking a look at another company that knows how to do bendable toys right - JusToys. While you won't hear much from the company these days, JusToys was a major contributor to the bendable toys market from 1990 to 1995. They produced some really great lines such as; Mickey's Stuff for Kids (as in Mickey Mouse), Marvel Superheroes, Star Wars, Battletoads, and more. They're definitely a company worth checking out if you're in to bendable figures.

Many of you probably have never heard of Marsupilami, but that's okay. Being a Belgian comic / cartoon character, he's not that well known in most parts of the world. The character did have a brief stint as a Disney character in 1993 in an animated series which ran for thirteen episodes. This factor contributes to why the character was chosen as a Bend Ems line by JusToys (the company produced several Disney property bendable figures during its five year stint).

You can find the figure here and there for around eight to ten dollars, but it's not really in abundance. If you're in to unique characters, and bendable toys, this would certainly be a great one to consider adding to your collection.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Classic Movie Monster (Imperial)



Classic Movie Monster
Imperial
1986

Since their inception, Universal has willingly been the gigolo for their trademarked monsters. These classic characters have been on everything from posters to coloring books to toy to <insert genre of collectible here, and keep going>. Rest assured, if you're a fan, there's something out there for you to collect.

While Imperial's venture into the realm of Classic Movie Monsters isn't the best iteration of toys to be found, they are certainly some of the more budget friendly ones to this day. Unlike the Remco line which will set you back not only a ton of money, but a lot of time and patience to obtain, Imperial's are relatively in abundance, and sell for as little as $10.00 a piece. Granted that's more than double of their original price of $3.99, but fairly on par with the cost of figures these days.

Imperial produced only four characters; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and Wolfman. The first thing you might notice with these is their unnaturally large hands. Yikes! Is that where the majority of the plastic went into these products? HUGE!


Still, there's something about these that we really love; The cardbacks work so well with the figures inside to give them a real appeal to the eye. They pop, if you know what we mean. It would be difficult to walk past these hanging on a store peg, and at least not glance at them. Their vibrant colors draw you in for at good look (at the very least).

The downer to these is that the back of the cards don't share in the amazing design of the fronts. Rather than make the backs leap out at you like the fronts, Imperial went with a bland black and white "drawn" look. They get points for the classic Meco type artwork for the available figures in the line, but at the end of the day it's rather bland, and leaves you wanting to quickly flip it back over to the figure side.

Beyond that there's not much more to say about this line. It has its appeal for being a Universal Monsters property, and of course you can't go wrong with a a well put together bendable figure - Which Imperial certainly does. This certainly wasn't their first outing in the realm of bendable toys, and it shows that they know what they're doing when it comes to producing a line of toys. In other words, there's quality (and care) there.


This is not one of the more well known toy lines to be produced based on Universal's monsters. This factor may contribute to its (relatively speaking) low prices on secondary markets. They're certainly a conversation piece, and fans of these iconic characters should definitely consider adding them to their collection.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Alf (Coleco)



Alf
Coleco
1986 - 1987

Freakin' sweet! It's Alf!

Fans of the fury Melmacian know the character has been around for quite some time now. He began on television screens in the self titles show which ran from 1986 to 1990, while also appearing in a Marvel Comics series (50 issues), and an animated series which ran for two seasons. Let's not forget the 2004  Alf''s Hit Talk Show which sadly only aired for seven episodes.

Fans of the alien were in luck in the late 80's. Not only was the show a hit among viewers, but merchandise was everywhere. Shirts, school supplies, stickers, and of course toys (and more) could be found pretty much everywhere.

Today we're having a look at the Coleco stuffed toys that were prevalent during the hay days of Melmac's infamous alien. Four different versions of the character could be found, each with its own specific feature / function.

For the Alf purist, there's the ever trusty plush version. It came in a saucer style cardboard box that featured very little artwork, or color for that mater. However, out of all the toys, it's definitely one of the better versions released. Especially if you just want an Alf to snuggle with while you watch your cartoons, and eat cereal.

 Alf - Alien Life Form

For those who wanted a little more bang for their buck, there were also two "talking" versions.

The first was developed in the style of Teddy Ruxpin. I.E. it had a tape deck on the back of the "doll" which you could insert cassettes into. Each cassette featured a story on each side.

 Talking Alf - The Storytelling Alien

Talking Alf - The Storytelling Alien (as it was known as) came packed with one cassette, and offered three additional cassettes - Each sold separately.

 Talking Alf - The Storytelling Alien Cassettes

Then there was Wisecracking Alf which would speak one of his favorite expressions when you pressed his stomach. Of course, much like any talking doll of the era, it's prone to get squeaky over time - Not to mention that ever infamous tinny sound.

 Wisecracking Alf - The Outspoken Talking Alien

For the Alf fan on the go, Stick Around Alf was a no brainer for your car window. He didn't do much beyond that, but you could always depend on him to hang around (ba-dum tshh).

Stick Around Alf

Though Alf has been dormant for some time, it is possible that the character will one day return. A feature film has been proposed and in the works since 2012 which would involve a CGI Alf alongside human characters ala Smurfs style. Movie posters exist for the film, and have for some time. You can find them "HERE".

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Hi*5 Sports Stars (Olmec Toys)



Hi*5 Sports Stars
Olmec Toys
1987

For those of you not familiar, Olmec Toys was a multi million dollar toy company that focused strictly on characters of African descent - Some fictional, others of actual people. The company is most noted for its lines; Bronze Bombers (a G.I. Joe sort of figure), Sun-Man (in the scale / design of your typical He-Man figure), Butterfly Woman (a counterpart to Sun-Man in the style of She-Ra figures), as well as many others.

The company began in 1985 by founder and chief executive Yla Eason, and is noted as the first company to produce toys to meet the demand of ethnically correct figures and dolls for African and Hispanic decedents. In fact, Eason is noted as entering the toy business in a rather unconventional way. It happened when her son made the comment that he could never be a superhero because all superheroes were white.

Side Note - Obviously Mrs. Eason didn't let her child(ren) read such influential comics which included characters such as Black Panther (first appearing in Fantastic Four number 52 in July of 1966), Black Lightning (who debuted in his own comic in 1977), Amazing Man (who has seen numerous iterations of an African decedent man in the role since 1983), not to mention the many others. Just saying.

Though it shut down in the late 90's, Eason and her company received numerous awards during its 10+ years of operation, and rightly so. The figures produced were top notch for their time in both design and quality.

Today we look at one of Olmec Toys not so know properties; Hi*5. The line supposedly consists of six figures, but we've only ever seen five of them (never seen Mr. Basketball). Each one is designed with a specific sports theme in mind.

Admittedly the artwork on the packages is rather cheesy. The cardbacks look like they were drawn by a high school art student during their first year of art class. However, in conjunction with the color scheme, it actually works well. Your eye isn't really drawn towards the character on the package, but more so to the bright blue and pink banner at the top.

 Baseball*Champ

 Mr. Football*Track & Field

Wrestler

These figures are pretty much non-existent on secondary markets, so value at this point is very difficult to gauge.

If anyone has a photo of the Mr. Basketball that they'd like to share, please drop us your e-mail address in the comment section so we can reach out to you. We won't post your comment with your e-mail address.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.