Game Watch (Nelsonic)

Game Watch
1981 - 1999
Nelsonic

Nelsonic began producing wrist watch games as early as 1981, and during its existence dominated the market with pop-culture themed wrist watches marketed towards children and young adults. Though their first watches only incorporated features such as LCD screens, calculators and alarms, the company quickly saw the value of video games. This led to the idea of incorporating simply games into their wrist watches. The combination proved lucrative, and Nelsonic became the first company in the United States to produce video game based watches.

With success in their pockets, and a product with high demand, Nelsonic was able to get the attention of video game developers as well as big name toy franchises. This led to the licensing and development of game watches based on Pac-Man (1982), Frogger (1983), Q*Bert (1983), G.I. Joe (1990) , Barbie and more - Some of which were not based on any brand, but more so just generic themes such as baseball, black jack and racecar.

Kids of all ages loved the idea of not only having a wrist watch, but one that also played video games on it. We can only imagine many watches made their way to school, and in a lot of cases quickly got confiscated by teachers for causing a disruption to class.

In 1989, Nelsonic made a deal with Nintendo to produce game watches based on two of their most popular franchises for the Nintendo Entertainment System - Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

Knowing that boys and girls of all ages were big into gaming, Nelsonic had the forsite to market these all new game watches to everyone via multiple colors. Each plastic game watch was available in black, white, pink or red. This ensured there was a watch for just about anyone.

 In 1990 Nelsonic was purchased by watch-making giant M.Z. Berger. Under their tutelage, Nelsonic continued to produce game watches based on Nintendo products - Their most popular being the versions of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Tetris. Much like the prior watches, these too were produced in multiple colors.

 The company followed up by producing watches based on properties such as Donkey Kong and Star Fox - Which were both major successes for the Super Nintendo console. This time however, Nelsonic did away with the multi color theme, and simply produced black plastic watches.

Handheld gaming became more and more popular with gamers as industry giants such as Nintendo and Sega introduced their own handheld "consoles". This led to a rapid advancement in technology for the devices. Unfortunately for Nelsonics, they were not able to compete with their simplistic designs. The end result was a wain in popularity for the "primitive" game watch. This ultimately led to the company being closed in 1999.

Per the nature of all things pop-culture, when children of the 80's grew up they longed for the things of the past. This brought about the resurgence of popularity in Nelsonics game watches - Not that the company started producing new ones, but rather that these children now adults started seeking out the older ones. This in turn spiked a major price boom on secondary markets. Some of the watches can set collectors back as much as $500.00 for a loose one in working condition. Needless-to-say, if you're looking for any of these you're going to need to come to the party with a bag of cash.

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Toys, Toys, Toys....And CD's....Mostly CD's

Typically Dave Hart doesn't hold a toy show in Timonium, Maryland during March. Rather, the norm is one in July and another in December. So, when I heard about this oddball March event I naturally had to plan to be there.

As usual I started my visit at Mr. CD Guy - Obviously not his real name, and nabbed up several CD's. This time I was even smart enough to bring my own box to pack them in. I'll admit it. I'm not proud of everything I grabbed today...

Ahem...

In fact, in hind site, I can honestly say a good 50% - 60% of what I actually brought home with me could have stayed at the show and I would have had zero remorse of leaving it behind. But, when dollar CD's come calling I grab, grab, grab...And again, end up with things like the above.

Well okay, that may be the least desirable (to me) in what I came home with. However, the other items ranged from great to decent to listenable.

Of course you know I went for all things 80's. Unfortunately, I have so many 80's CD's that at this point I'm scraping the bottom of barrels in what I'm finding. Don't get me wrong, it's good (or decent) stuff. However, it's not the classics - Because I already own all of that stuff.

I know none of the songs on the ABC, Cure, Bonham or Yaz albums. I picked up the majority of them because they are bands from the era I know of. The only exception was Bonham which I had never heard of.

Fine Young Cannibals is actually an album I owned already, but it was so scratched up it doesn't play very well - That's what you get for a quarter at the thrift shop. I was happy to replace it for just a buck with all the great songs on it.

Bad English is the album with When I See You Smile and the Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam album actually has a couple good songs on it - Head to Toe and Lost in Emotion.

Since I'm running out of 80's music to buy, I've been looking a little into 90's stuff. I know a fair amount of it having been in high school during the early 90's. However, while I tolerate it, I really don't care for much of it.

Still, I thought maybe there are some gems out there I don't know about from the bands I'd heard of and listed to here and there. With this thought in mind I grabbed a few things to see if they pique my interest.

That moment you get when you realize you have a handful of Counting Crows CD's in your hand, but really wanted Black Crowes. Oops. Because I knew the guy would cut me a deal (as he always does) when I was done I didn't bother correcting this mistake. Instead, I just grabbed the Black Crowes CD's and threw them into the pile too. Besides, Counting Crows has a couple good songs I know. Around Here and Mr. Jones come to mind.

I ended up with a fair mix of bands; Black Crowes (obviously), Bush, Coldplay (honestly don't know who these guys are...Probably some whiny emos), Counting Crows (unfortunately), Marilyn Manson (actually one of my favorites), No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jon Secada (I want to say I know who this is for a specific song, but I can't remember), Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots and for some odd reason, Wilson Phillips.

I also ended up with a fair amount of albums from singers / bands I kept up with in the 80's but who fell off my radar in the 90's and beyond. Much like my last trip to Timonium, I've been making it a point to check out some of these folks later stuff to see if it's any good. I also nabbed a couple classics missing from my collection.

Janet Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, They Might Be Giants, Phil Collins and The B-52's were a part of this selection (just to name a few).

I didn't even know Paula Abdul had more than two albums. I'm going to take a giant leap here and guess her 1995 entry, Head Over Heels is just as awful as her prior stuff. Don't get me wrong. She had hits back in the day. They just haven't aged well.

Then of course there were some finds of the true icons such as Aerosmith, The Doors, Eagles, Pink Floyd and a few others.

I don't often dabble in the 60's and 70's stuff, but I can appreciate a classic hit or two here and there. Heck, I'll even go as far back as the 40's and 50's - Such as the Buddy Holly album seen in the photo. If I'm in the right mood I can listen to that kind of stuff all day.

Of course you know I'm not grabbing a bunch of CD's and leaving the soundtracks untouched. I honestly wish I could have done better in this department, but I'm not sad with what I walked away with. My hope was to at the least find several more Disney soundtracks for the animated classics, but unfortunately I only found one - Brother Bear.

I love how the Chariots of Fire soundtrack has an explicit lyrics sticker on it. Clearly it's not the original case, but it's too funny. I'm definitely keeping the sticker on there. For those of you who aren't aware, Chariots of Fire's soundtrack is all instrumental. There are no words in it - Let alone explicit ones.

I'm not big on rap music, and yes I know many of you who are will crucifying me for even considering these CD's I'm about to show you as such, but I do like a few hippity hop style stuff from the 90's. You know - White boy stuff like MC Hammer, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, C & C Music Factory and Technotronic.

Please don't throw rocks at me.

I don't know what a Blackstreet (the CD in the back left of the above photo) is and I suppose it wouldn't help my case if I said honestly that I thought it said Back Street when first grabbing it. As in Back Street Boys (see my shame all the way at the top of this post).

Okay, seriously, I don't even know any Back Street Boys or Brittany Spears songs. I do know that they were all the rage a while ago and that's why I picked them up. I figured there had to be something to them.

Speaking of throwing rocks at me...

Look, I won't condone or condemn the accusations against Bill Cosby right now, but I will say this. The Bill Cosby I know growing up was hysterical. So yeah, I picked up the two CD's of his I found.

Guess what? They're still funny.

Going back to my comments above about high school and 90's music, one of the things that was beaten into my eardrums by my mother during this time was Garth Brooks. Every weekend, Garth Brooks, Garth Brooks, Garth Brooks.

The end result of this brutal punishment was that I actually know and some what like some of his music. When I saw a handful of his CD's sitting there I went ahead and picked them up. I'm actually surprised to find I am missing five additional studio CD's from him. I didn't realize he made that many albums.

The last bit of CD's I nabbed up were more so geared towards my sister who continues to pilfer music from me. She is big into Broadway tunes so I figured, why not. I'll grab all the ones I find and see if they suit her fancy.

I can't honestly say that I know all of these shows.

That wraps up my CD haul from Timonium, but it certainly wasn't the end of my day. Remember, that was the first table I went to.

Toy wise, I was looking for quite a few things. Blaster and Soundwave from Hasbro's Transformer's line, am original Rambo from Coleco, Kitt and Michael Knight from Kenner, a couple Buck Roger's Mego figures (the 3 3/4 line), 30 / 30 from Bravestarr, McDonald's Changeables, any Karate Kid figures from the final waves, Batman and Superman from Kenner's Super Powers (thanks to Bill) and of course another batch of G.I. Joe figures...Well, Cobra figures from the G.I. Joe line.

There were three specific Cobra figures I was looking for. Crimson Guard, Zartan and Firefly. I lucked out on two of the three.

 Crimson Guard

 Firefly

Since I couldn't find Zartan I went ahead and grabbed a few more that were in the back of my mind.

 Major Bludd

 Tele-Viper

 Cobra Commander (Silver Suit)

Snow Serpent

Not a bad haul of Cobras, huh? For now, I've definitely decided on focusing on Cobras and skipping on the good guys. Sure, there are a fair amount of Joes I'm interested in, but the Cobra characters are just so much cooler.

While I was able to find a Soundwave, it was missing the missile launcher. Because of this I passed on it. Fortunately the table across from where I found this had Blaster - 100% complete.

I wanted to get some of the cassette Transformers to put inside the tape deck and pose around him, but I wasn't going to pay $20.00 a piece for them. Not when Blaster was only $40.00.

While I was looking through all the CD's, my better half wandered around looking for McDonald's Happy Meal toys in hopes of finding me some Changeables. She was able to find about eight of them, but at $3.00 a piece with no wiggle room from the seller I wasn't about to buy the ones that weren't sealed in bags / unplayed with. As such I was only able to nab three of them.

Side note - She also ran into Brian from Cool and Collected, but sadly he and I never seemed to cross paths during the show.

Still, with these three on top of the ones I found at the DC Big Flea I'm two shy of completing the Dinosaur set. 

The set is coming along nicely, huh?

I have to say I like these far better in their McDonald's products form and really appreciate them for what they are. They represent a great nostalgic era when McDonalds actually had specific packages for each of its items vs. the very generic paper and cardboard boxes they now use.

I walked away with a ton of great stuff today, but sadly didn't get to put that big of a dent in my actual list. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ecstatic with what I got. Okay, sure, there are some CD's noted above which could have been left behind, but hey, they have a good home now and will be taken care of.

Rambo almost made his way home with me, but I simply wasn't willing to pay $40.00 for a carded figure I was going to rip open when I got home. It didn't help that when I made mention of this to the dealer that his response was, "Well that's not really my problem, now is it?" Jerk.

I do think I'm going to skip the next Dave Hart show though. I saw a lot of the same stuff the vendors were trying to sell off in December and I think they need some time to disperse and replenish in order to really make the show pack a punch.

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A Perfect Example Of Why I Won't Go Digital

You want to see a perfect reason why I won't go digital?
 
This photo here is why I won't.

"But this is just four random CD's," you say.

Correction. This is four random CD's I paid twenty-five cents each for at a local thrift shop. Why buy digital when you can own the physical media for such a cheap price (and then transfer to digital media yourself)?

Let's break this down even further. Okay, sure I get it. There are probably only one in 100,000 people (if even) who would actually want the soundtrack from the television series Dinosaurs. But, guess what? You can't get it on iTunes. So right there my quarter was well spent.

Chris Isaak and the two soundtracks probably have a broader audience who would want them. Again though - Twenty five cents for Chris Isaak's Heart Shaped World on CD or $9.99 on iTunes. Tarzan on iTunes? $7.99. Charlie's Angel soundtrack on iTunes? Another $9.99.

Sorry, but if I am going to pay those kinds of prices for digital media, then I'll take the real deal all the time. $1.06 (tax of six cents) for four CD's vs. $27.97 for digital versions - And again, coudn't even get one of the four albums via digital distribution. Seems like a no brainer to me. Physical media for the win.

Let's not forget the obvious caveat to all of this as well - I actually own these albums now and am not just renting them.

"But storage," you argue.

My CD rack is two feet long by two feet wide and five and a half feet high and holds about 1,500 CD's. Trust me, that two feet area it sits isn't taking up that much space - and it looks a whole lot more appealing than a list of digital files on a screen.

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A Farewell To Toys R' Us

The final blow has been struck against Toys R' Us and every location will soon be closing across the globe. As the corporate office scrambled to restructure the company, the damage was already done and the final nails already hammered into the coffin.

It's true the heydays of Toys R' Us have long since been lost in the past. Toy isles today simply aren't what they used to be. The magic of going to the store has long since been gone - At least for this Blogger.

I remember going to Toys R' Us in the 1980's and finding a treasure trove of toys - Star Wars, Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Silver Hawks, Go-Bots, M.A.S.K., Cops n' Crooks, Nintendo cartridges, Bravestarr, Madballs, M.U.S.C.L.E.S., WWF, Barnyard Commandos, Food Fighters, Police Academy, Cowboys of Moo-Mesa, Inhuminoids, Sectaurs, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (just to name a few) and more! It was magical, it was fun and it was exciting all at the same time. Back in those days it was awful to hear those dreaded words from your parents, "Pick one." How could they think this was even possible when every toy isle was filled to the brim with figures, vehicles and playsets?

However, these days I can easily walk in and out of a Toys R' Us in under ten minutes confident there was nothing at all worth buying. In fact, I dare say it's more so a chore to go and certainly not fun. What was once an experience of excited squeals of, "What will I find today?" became a bored, "Is there anything worth buying?" The isles were never stocked, the stores generally a mess and peg warmers a plenty strewn about with all the desirable stuff long gone by local scalpers.

The further downward spiral of this is what will happen to companies such as Hasbro, Mattel and to a lesser extent Funko, NECA and McFarlane Toys (as well as all the rest)? Who will sell their toys now? With the loss of Toys R' Us, these companies lose their biggest customer in the industry. Target and Walmart have very limited space for toys and make it a point to only stock popular items guaranteed to sell.

So what's the option? Amazon? No way. As a collector I can tell you I will absolutely not buy any collectible via mail order unless it's through ebay with thorough photos of every side of the box - Even if I intend on opening it. The last thing I want is a figure that looks like someone curb stomped it before sending it off.

Personally, I see this as a great opportunity for the return of the mom and pop store. All of these toy producers are in a bad spot which leaves a perfect opportunity for negotiated prices to potential dealers. If companies like Hasbro and Mattel were smart, they would start embracing this option sooner rather than later.

In a way there is also another good side to this. It forces said toy producers to focus on good quality toys which are all but guaranteed to sell. They can't produce three hundred thousand random peg warmers and only one hundred thousand of the popular character everyone wants. Those who would be willing to stock their toys would shut that nonsense down quickly when faced with a ton of merchandise they can't sell. Like I said, all the negotiation power is in the hands of the few retailers who can dictate the future of toys and will hopefully do so for the positive.

Is it sad to see Toys R' Us go? Honestly, not really. For me the store has been dead and gone for quite a few years at this point. I can't tell you the last thing I bought from them or even when. For me I've already been visiting a grave site for years. Now I'm to the point where it's time to stop going by and simply move on to bigger better things.

If you're someone who has a Toys R' Us gift card, use it now. The store is only accepting them through mid April 2018.

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Smile!

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The Last Jedi Digital Release Is Here!

Fans of Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be pleased to hear the digital version is available as of today. "Download" it from your favorite online streaming service for about $19.99 to $24.99.

Though it is far from my favorite Star Wars film in the franchise, I have to admit it is growing on me. I also have to admit I have already watched it three times today.

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Peter Pan (Sears)

Peter Pan
Sears
1988

LOL! Dig that fro on Peter Pan! Can you see him busting into Wendy's bedroom window in the 70's? First, he kicks in the window with his massive six inch platform shoes and bell bottoms. As Wendy springs up in her bed to a sitting position, he quickly snaps to a John Travolta / Saturday Night Fever pose - Finger pointing straight up in the air. He then says, "Hey groovy mama, I'm the Pan, can ya dig?" Followed by a snort of coke off his excessively long pinky finger nail, and the line, "I'm off to Neverland, baby."

Okay, maybe that's far out in left field, but this is certainly the image that pops into our heads when looking at this 1988 line of Peter Pan dolls released exclusively through Sears. Really the only stand out here in terms of not being laughable is Captain Hook. As for Tinkerbell, when did she grow into a four foot tall emo? Wendy could easily be mistaken as generic / random girl doll number 6,429...And again, that hair on Peter! Yikes!

This is definitely one of those lines which stands out as the perfect example of how not to do it. We've seen plenty of lines prior to this one which has won this award, and it definitely wasn't the last. However, for 1988, it's definitely the winner!

Okay, it's not all bad. The packaging is actually pretty good for a Pan doll line. The use of artwork from the original Disney animated film is a nice touch on the green background...But it really only stands to accentuate what these figures should have looked like.

Sigh...We just can't say anything further about this line because we're trying so hard to not just blast it for being so comical.

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Where To Even Begin...

Moving Day!

 Let's roll out!

M*A*S*H* (Tristar International)

M*A*S*H*
Tristar International
1982

M*A*S*H* (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) began as a series of novels in 1968 by author Richard Hooker. The books which were published up until 1977 were loosely based on his experiences as a surgeon in the 8055th MASH in South Korea.

The success of the novels lead to the film M*A*S*H* in 1970 which in and of itself holds some interesting historical facts. First, Roger Ebert claims this is the first movie released which used the F*** word - A claim which has been disputed by many film buffs. Additionally, M*A*S*H* was one of the first three films released for sale on VHS in the United States in 1977. So with that said, it could be argued it's the first VHS tape released to have the F*** word.

The film featured numerous characters, however only four of them made the transition to the television series which ran from 1972 - 1983. Out of those four, only two retained the "job" of their characters from the movie - Gary Burghoff who played Radar O'Reilly and G. Wood who played Brigadier General Hammond. The other two actors, Tim Brown and John Fujioka played minor roles, and in the case of Fujioka, played multiple ones.

While several M*A*S*H* toys had been produced prior to Tristar International's 1982 line, these would be the first to feature 3 3/4 inch style figures. Each one featured multiple points of articulation, and rightly so considering they were designed in the style of the soon to be majorly popular G.I. Joe line.

The series included eight figures, one of which was a variant of Klinger, three vehicles and a playset. All and all, this wasn't a bad line. In fact, it could be argued had it been released a little earlier, say 1976 to 1980 it may have been even more popular as this was a peak time for the series in terms of viewers.

Unfortunately with the television series ending a year later, so to did the toy line. Before you knew it the toys were shuffled off to clearance isles, and pushed into obscurity to become one of those nostalgic items which a lot of people to this day didn't even know existed.

As we mentioned above, there were two versions of Klinger released. One in a pink dress, and another in his army fatigues. What's interesting to note is if you look at the back of the package, only the version in the pink clothing is advertised as being available. The irony of this is that when seller list a set of the action figures for sale, usually the Klinger in pink dress is not included, and to date proves to be the rarer of the two. It's odd the one advertised is the more difficult to find. Perhaps not too many boys were buying pink action figures back in the 80's.

Of course you can't have an 80's action figure line without having a multipack. Tristar produced a nice set which included the characters BJ, Col. Potter, Winchester and Klinger. This was a cheaper way to get a few of the less popular characters for a couple bucks less.

Rounding out the series were a set of vehicles - A jeep, ambulance and helicopter. An interesting aspect to these was the figure included. Not only was this just a random "army figure", but it was the same one packaged with each vehicle. If you look at the face, it could be mistaken for an alternate version of Hawkeye with blond hair.

The last item released for the series was a really nice Military Base playset. It featured a role out plastic mat, and several tents and accessories. This massive sixteen foot play area was large enough to not only set up all of the items included in the box, but also all of the figures and vehicles. In other words, it was built to scale to accommodate the entire line! That's not only impressive, but very rare in the world of action figures where items are actually built to scale to be incorporated with each other.

This may very well rank as the most impressive playset we've ever seen, and goes to show sometimes simple is better. Well...Okay, maybe that honor goes to the U.S.S. Flagg from G.I. Joe.

While the majority of the individually carded figures are readily available on secondary markets, the vehicles, playset and (to an extent) the multipack of figures) are fairly scarce. They can be found from time to time, but they're going to cost you quite a bit. The playset alone can sell for upwards of $600.00 in the box. Compared to the figures which can commonly be swooped up in a set of seven (because again, pink Klinger is fairly hard to find) for around $60.00 - $80.00, this is quite a massive jump in price.

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