The Toy Box

Just Doodling: Scud The Disposible Assassin

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(They're) Sexy + Seventeen - Peg People Wave 17!

Remember that awesome Marvel line from Hasbro where they did every Spider-Man character ever? OF COURSE YOU DON'T! Because Hasbro sucks!

G.I. Jigsaw on the other hand, he knows how to produce a toy line, and see it through to completion! His fantastic series of Peg People keep coming, and each one add a whole new layer of depth to the line.

The Inhumans join the fray with their team leader, Black Bolt! He showed up from time to time in Marvel-Team Up, which is really the extent of what I know about the character.

Another Marvel Team-Up alum was Falcon. Though he typically didn't stray far from the pages of Captain America, he would periodically show up to fight side by side with Spider-Man.

Though he was usually reserved as a nemesis to the Fantastic Four, Kang did appear hear and there to harass Spider-Man.

The pages of Spider-Man would always get weird when Ghost Rider was around. His tactics are very much the polar opposite of how Peter Parker would handle a bad guy, and ultimately this left our hero deep in thought as he came to terms with what had happened at the end.

It was a given that Deadpool was going to show up in the pile of pegs. Though, ironically, he initially wasn't on the checklist.

If you've noticed a trend here, the majority of this wave consists of Marvel Team-Up related characters. Brother Voodoo is yet another. I don't believe this character ever got his own series. Instead, he was relegated to the pages of the fitting title, Strange Tales.

Based on the Greek God, Hercules, Marvel's version was a mainstay in the pages of the Avengers, being a member of the team for quite some time. If I told you he appeared in Marvel Team-Up with Spider-man, would you be shocked?

One of, if not the last Avengers members on the checklist is Hawkeye. He kind of got relegate to page four, with the rest of them (except Hercules) being on page three.

Blah, blah, blah, Marvel Team-Up, the Cat, AKA Hellcat. She's one of the oldest Marvel characters, having appeared back in the companies hay days as Timely Comics.

The second Inhumans team member to join the bunch is Medussa. When she appeared in...Marvel Team-Up, she typically started things off on a bad foot with Spider-Man. Either fighting him, or fleeing somewhere, which ended up in a fight.

Crystal, our next Inhumans team member, would typically only appear with Spider-Man when the team as a whole were around. I don't recall any times she had any solo adventures with the web swinger.

The Inhumans kept coming with Triton, and...

...Gorgon. Much like Crystal, these two typically only showed up in Marvel Team-Up when the rest of the squad was appearing.

Damion, aka Son of Satan, not only had his own book series, but would occasionally show up to make things in the Spider-Verse supernatural. These usually weren't among my favorites to read. I'm not a big fan of the occult.

The we jump back to the Inhumans for Karnac (the Shatterer)...

...and, Maximus the Mad.

The wave rounds out (sort of) with Nighthawk. Depending on what era of Marvel you're reading dictates which version of the character you get. Not only in identity, but whether he's a villain or hero. This version happens to be Kyle Richmond, member of the Defenders.

I said "sort of" above because the mystery figure package returned this round. This time with two new figures inside!

I wanted to say who this was when I saw the character holding up the card, but the exposed brain at the top of his head kept throwing me off. As did the costume. Turns out, that's not an exposed brain, and I should have gone with my gut. What we have here is Johnny Carson's alter ego, Carnac the Magnificent.

George also threw in a version of Wade Wilson from X-Men Origins: Wolverine...Terrible movie. For now, Wade's on the Mystery Figure checklist, but I may change that when (if...when) I have an expanded checklist.

Speaking of which, let's roll that beautiful bean footage that is the checklist so far. Can you believe George has finished three full pages, and a third of the way through a fourth? Amazing! Man is he going to hate me when he sees the new list with the additional 700.

I'm moving next weekend, so I don't know if George will be dropping off anymore surprise packages before then. Gosh, now that I think of it, it's not going to be so easy for us to coordinate these moving forward. Man, that's kind of a bummer to realize.

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Retro Spins: Doctor And The Medics - Laughing At The Pieces

My introduction to the band, Doctor And The Medics, began when I got turned on to the British series, "Bring Back", starring Justin Lee Collins. The shows were one-off broadcasts, in which Collins would trek out across the globe to bring back stars of his favorite television shows, movies and musicians. The series as a whole is fantastic, and shows our host tracking down the stars of The A-Team, Dallas, Star Wars, Fame, Star Trek, and a handful more. Sadly, the show didn't last beyond eight episodes, with the last, "Bring Back The Goonies" being cancelled before production could begin.

In June of 2006, during the shows original run, there was one episode entitled, Bring Back The One Hit Wonders. It was here where Doctor And The Medics would hit my radar. They were a motley group of mates led by Clive Jackson, who served to, in his own words, "Entertain the great unwashed."

Forming in 1981, Doc and his Medics played mostly to the underground scene, mixing a style of neo-psychedelia, glam rock, new wave and pop rock. The band was signed to IRS records in 1985, and released their first EP, Happy But Twisted. The album was led by a cover of Hawkwind's Silver Machine, which reached number two on the indie charts.

Though lineup changes began early within the group, but ultimately landed on the classic lineup of The Doctor (vocals), Steve McGuire (guitar), Richard Searle (bass), Steve "Vom" Ritchie (drums), Wendi Anadin (vocals), and Colette Anadin (vocals). The end result of their efforts was their first full length album, 1986's Laughing At The Pieces.

In line with their previous EP, this new album was led by yet another cover, Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky. The single reached the number one spot on the UK charts, much to the outrage of the group's core fan base. The band followed this up with their 1987 album, I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday. Mildly successful, but not to the degree of their previous efforts. They would also release another EP this same year, Two Pieces of Cloth Carefully Stitched Together.

Though they would disappear for several years, Doctor And The Medics would return in 1992 for their third studio album, The Adventures of Boadacea and the Beetle, and then again in 1996 for Instant Heaven. However, shortly thereafter, the group would disband.

In 2003, the group would reunite to hit the tour scene. This would lead to a new EP in 2006, Timewarped. Many would stay on for the current iteration of the band which features, The Doctor (vocals), Adrian Hill (drums), Dan Angelow (guitar), Jon Randle (bass), Melissa Weekes (vocals), Matthew Angelow (guitar/performance artist), and Maria Verhelst-Hopkins (vocals/performance artist). No albums have been released since their 2006 entry.

Firing up their album, Laughing At The Pieces, I was greeted to a unique sound. Though it has an 80's vibe to it, there's also a hint of 60's psychedelic rock, and these two styles surprising work well together. Though the overall album is by no means a masterpiece, it is unique, and that in and of itself makes it rather enjoyable to hear.

Of the twelve tracks, I thoroughly enjoyed their renditions of Spirit In The Sky, and Waterloo (ABBA). The latter being a rather good cover. I also really enjoyed Moon Song, and think it may very well have been my favorite of the bunch.

I also know that three out of twelve isn't a very high percentage, and won't profess to say that this album is perfect by any means. Rather, as I said, it's unique, and there in lies its charm. Enough so that I actually tracked down their follow up album, I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday. As I've said many times before, that's always part of the goal in these Retro Spin posts. To find something that makes me want to hear more.

Whether or not that will pay off is yet to be seen, but stick around for that. I'm sure you'll see that post in the future from me. But it won't be any time soon.

In the interim, I highly recommend the television series noted at the start of this post. Fans of the 80's will definitely enjoy seeing their favorite casts and musicians reunited, as well as the interviews conducted individually with them. Though not official, you can find all the episodes on Youtube. Check them out!

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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.

Little Shop Of Horrors DVD (Warner Bros. Home Video)

Little Shop of Horrors
Warner Bros. Home Video
1998

On November 1, 1996, the DVD format hit store shelves for the first time in Japan, before spreading across the world in 1997. Much like its predecessor, the Laserdisc, this new disc based format came to the market with a hefty price tag which wasn't appealing to many average movie buyers. As such, in its infancy, it was labeled the video format for the film connoisseur.

Another format war started, this time between DVD and DIVX. Though the battle was short, the feud was fueled by studios leaning heavily into one format over the other, making it difficult for buyers to find the movies they wanted during these early years.

One of the bigger names to back DVD was Warner Bros. Home Video, who would release the 1986 musical, Little Shop of Horrors on February 23, 1998 as a Special Edition. This copy remained on shelves for just a few days before it was recalled, and later replaced with a revised version. This sudden removal didn't allow for many copies to be sold, making the film scarce.

Reissued DVD

This in turn made the original version skyrocket in price, making it the first DVD to also increase in value on secondary markets. Soon, people were paying upwards of $100.00 to own Little Shop of Horrors. But, why? What happened to suddenly make the cult classic film the most valuable DVD in the world?

"Special Features" as noted on the back of both
the original release and reissued DVD covers

Even in its infancy, one of the lures to DVD was the inclusion of special features, and this is what it all came down to on this particular release. On the back side of the disc, where these extras were housed, there was a black and white alternate ending, which showed the entire original ending to the film. This was something, which to date, had never been shared outside of the film's initial test screenings. However, the problem all came down to rights and approvals, which belonged to, and were the discretion of Producer, David Geffen.

Geffen said, "They put out a black-and-white, un-scored, un-dubbed video copy of the original ending that looked like s**t." The studio was forced to remove the DVD from store shelves, and replace it with an alternate version which didn't include the special feature. As word spread, prices rose, and thus the first collectible DVD was born. To this day, the original version remains difficult to find. This, again, is because so few copies were sold during its brief time on shelves.

Prices have since subsided, mainly because the original ending was restored in full color, and included on the October 9, 2012 released Director's Cut. However, for those looking for a true "special edition", the original 1998 release may very well be the one and only source for fans to see the unaltered black and white print, which featured no sound effects, music ques, or special effects.

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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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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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