The Wonderful Week of Toys: Day Six

Remember that monkey-wrench I mentioned a couple days back?

Some of you may know him best as Niddler the monkey-bird from Hanna-Barbera's fantasy-based animated series, The Pirates of Dark Water. Originally airing as a five-part mini-series, and referred to only as Dark Water, the program gained an immediate cult-following. A year later, sixteen additional episodes were produced, and they would air as part of ABC's Saturday morning line-up. Hasbro Toys picked up the license that same year and created several action-figures based on the series.

I have fond memories of the cartoon, but never owned any of the toys when the show was first broadcast back in 1991. When I spotted Niddler, along with a handful of other figures from the line, sitting in a random plastic bin at the flea market this past Sunday, well, I wasn't going to leave him behind.

And yeah, he's a little rough; the paint worn from his beak, and various scuff-marks littering his feathered frame. I still love him though, despite the flaws and imperfections. Maybe even because of them. It's almost like I enjoy the idea that his previous owner actually played with him quite a bit, loved him more than the Batman or Power Ranger figures they had, too. I imagine story-lines where a sidekick like Niddler was able to be the hero, to save the day when no one else could.

Trash Collecting on Friday the 13th

Earlier today, after a very early morning at work and with it being payday, your third-favorite Trash Man set out on the grandest of quests. His mission was to seek out any and all Friday the 13th flicks on VHS that he could find, return to base-camp, and spend the rest of this wicked "holiday" celebrating the life and un-deaths of the one and only Jason Voorhees. Was he successful? Is he moments away from a marathon viewing of the entire franchise from the original to Jason X? Surely, it's a task that would drive anyone as batty as Tommy Jarvis! But he would endure it for you, loyal readers..!

Nope, sorry. Didn't happen. Isn't going to happen.

Instead, I'm here to show you the treasures I discovered while I was out in search of Jason's analog adventures. We'll all just have to take solace in the handful of vintage [and not so vintage] goodies that I managed to score for a few bucks each. Live vicariously through my random purchases, children, and be glad. At least now none of us have to suffer through Jason Goes to Hell.

El Kabong..!

This was the first item I ran across today that I knew I couldn't leave behind. It's a plastic Baba Looey piggy bank circa I don't quite know. Apparently, there were a couple variations of this particular piece, but I'm not educated enough on 'em to know for sure if mine is an original '60s or a later [mid-'70s] release. Either way, he's cool, and totally reminds me of the early days of Cartoon Network, when they used to show all the old Hanna-Barbera shorts, like Quick Draw McGraw and Wally Gator.

Sitting on the same shelf as Baby Looey was this promotional vinyl-figure of Sprout, who you may recognize as The Jolly Green Giant's nephew or cousin or something like that. I only remember seeing a few television spots with this little guy when I was a kid, but for a measly four-dollars, I really couldn't pass on him. I am always some kind of sucker for advertisement mascots, whether they promote a product I care for or not.

Here's a really awful looking Return of the Jedi collectible cup, which was originally available back in 1983 from Burger King. It clearly takes some liberties with the plot of the film, since the "art" on the glass shows Luke lightsaber-dueling with the Sarlacc and Han totally blowing up Jabba's barge with his trusty blaster.

Looking at pictures of the three other cups that were available, I'm now realizing that I scored the absolute worst of the bunch. Even at two bucks I feel gypped, especially knowing that instead I could have had a glass where the Ewoks worship C3P0 as their god or, even better, Salacious Crumb.

Salacious Crumb!

Goddamn.

I guess that I'll just have to be comforted in the soft glow of translucent green plastic courtesy of this here beauty, the Mantis Alien. I've briefly gushed about the Kenner Aliens line before, so no need to retread that territory. I found him surrounded by newer, and far lamer, toys on a shelf near the register. I couldn't leave him there, keeping company with Ben 10 and Attitude-Era Undertaker, so I scooped him up for another couple bucks. At that price, it was all like, "Game over, Mantis", for me. I never stood a chance.

This McDonalds plate isn't something I would have normally grabbed, but with the holiday fast approaching, everything Halloween is gold to me. Released in 2001, it features Ronald and friends dressed up in costumes and rocking out to, what I can only hope is, their own personal rendition of Monster Mash. I love the Hamburglar's dedication to wearing his stupid bandit mask on the outside of his ghost costume. I adore the inclusion of the The McNugget Buddies. I'm insanely jealous about Grimace's mustache.

But I'm not entirely sold on the way-too-happy jack o'lantern checking out Ronald's ass.

The DC Super Heroes Postcard Book is equal parts awesome and kinda' stupid. I was glad to pick it up and find that all 28 of the included postcards were still intact. Remind me to show off the best of the bunch someday, because while some of them are generic and not-at-all interesting, boy, there are a few that are inspired. I've actually got some big plans for the best cards, but that's something for another day, I think.

Hah! Mission sorta' accomplished..!

This was a true Friday the 13th miracle, because while my usual VHS hunting ground bore no fruit, I found this baby lurking in a corner of an antique co-op that I very rarely visit. I stopped in on a complete whim, found the rest of the items I've shared so far, and not too long before leaving, stumbled upon a CED-copy of the original Friday the 13th. It was tucked behind some old magazines, but I happened to notice the RCA SelectaVision logo peeking out. I nearly yelled in excitement when I saw what movie it was. Total zeitgeist!

For those unfamiliar, this is a CED [or Capacitance Electronic Disc] released by RCA in the early '80s. It's a extremely short-lived video format, where movies were printed onto vinyl discs and stored in plastic caddies. A sort-of precursor to laser discs and DVDs, the players actually used a stylus to physically read them. I don't own a player, so there's no way whatsoever I can see how good [or bad] the quality is, but on this most holy of holidays, there was no way I wasn't going to grab it.

Happy Friday the 13th, all.

The League: Shopping Spree at Hake's Americana and Collectibles

I took a few weeks off from The League of Extraordinary Bloggers to sorta' focus on other posts and projects, but I'm back to partake in one of the group's more popular topics--

Go on a fictional shopping spree at Hake’s current auction #209 to make your collection a little more amazing.

This blog didn't exist the first time the League took a crack at this topic, so I'm glad it's back, allowing me the opportunity to peruse the site's current auction and pick out some favorites. It was a little disheartening at first glance, because while there is an absolutely overwhelming amount of incredible items, there wasn't much that appealed to me as a collector. Most of the items up for bid are from before I was born, and where I'm not against collecting stuff that's older than I am [especially comic books], my main areas of interest didn't seem to be covered.

So, I was originally content to sit out another week with the League, checking out all the other member's blogs and admiring their picks. And then I saw this--

Vincent, over at The Robot's Pajamas, picked out this particular item and I had to do the same. It's original art for the Gobots: War of the Gobots Golden Book done by Steve Ditko. This immediately jumped out at me for a number of reasons.

There's my love and admiration for the works of Ditko, easily one of my favorite talents in the entire history of the comic industry. I've mentioned his character, The Creeper, before, but never fully expressed how important the man's work has been in my life. My very first comic [Eclipse Comics Monthly #1] featured one of his stories, a quick tale starring a bizarre hero by the name of Static. Without even realizing it at a young age, I was constantly finding myself drawn to his numerous contributions to both Marvel and DC, as well as titles and characters from smaller companies.

And this particular Golden Book Super Adventure.

Yeah, that's right, I actually owned a copy of the book this art is featured in when I was a kid. It was lost sometime over the years, its fate unknown, which is unfortunate, because I wasn't aware that Steve Ditko was responsible for the art until seeing this auction. Even to this day, I'm still kinda' partial to all things Gobots, and combining them with a true legend of the comic industry like Ditko is too damn sweet to pass up.

Another piece of my childhood that I would love to own. Here's a framed, original poster for the "classic", 1961-release, Gorgo. This is one of the movies that I used to rent constantly on VHS when I was a kid [along with Godzilla 1985 and Dinosaurus!] from our local, mom 'n pop video store. It's a British made knock-off of Toho's Godzilla and a pretty fucking fun one at that.

Plus, there's an interesting connection to my previous pick. Steve Ditko illustrated 23-issues of a Gorgo comic book for Charlton Comics from 1961 to 1965.

This is another find that I saw on a few other members' posts which I likewise couldn't resist. It really shouldn't be too surprising that it would jump out at so many of us, right? My very first topic with the League briefly touched upon my shaky relationship with all things Star Wars, but nothing has ever diminished the flame within me that burns for Burger King. I am practically charbroiled infatuated with the fast-food franchise.

Oh, and Peter Cushing.

I was first exposed to the man's career thanks to his portrayal of Grand Moff Tarkin, so it would be nice to commemorate that with a poorly rendered image of his face on a Coca-Cola collectible glass. I only want to pay 59-cents for it, though.

Hello there, Funky Phantom watch, you beautiful thing. While the short-lived cartoon featuring a Revolutionary War-era ghost and a gang of teens aired a decade before I was born, I was able to discover it thanks to the early days of Cartoon Network. A time when the station was showing dozens of fantastic Hanna-Barbera programs like this, Jabberjaw, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, and Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics. I was smitten with so many of those cartoons, but finding any sort of related memorabilia was difficult. Sure, I could find Scooby-related merch easily enough, but this is the kind of thing I would have loved owning when I was younger.

Does it also come in Grape Ape?

Speaking of apes.

I have no idea what "Mech-Gorilla" is, except for something that I need to own right now, please. According to the auction, it is a 5.25" tall die-cast gorilla Arkron Space Robot by Ark Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. It also apparently shoots knives from its chest and is interchangeable to form my own space robots. You might be asking what it is interchangeable with and god, the answer is incredible and such a goddamn tease.

The back of the box shows several other robotic creatures, all with pieces that you can remove and add to any of the others. The limbs and weapons can be intermixed between each of the six monsters shown. And these aren't just any generic, robotic beasts. Even with my limited knowledge of tokusatsu programs, I recognize a few of the featured robots as enemies of the heroic Ultraman.

Which is where the tease comes in. As cool as it would be to own "Mech-Gorilla" and pretend that he's Mechani-Kong from the brilliant, Toho-released King Kong Escapes, nothing is going to top owning a robot-version of Baltan or Red King.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the League--

A big thanks to The Robot's Pajamas for inspiring me to post by featuring so many great finds.

Shezcrafti found a lot of great '80s goodness, from Pee-Wee to Betty White.

AEIOU and Sometimes Why... wants to score with Space Invaders, which sounds a little risque to me.

Over at Branded in the 80s, we discover there's a "chicken-walker"-shaped hole in Shawn's heart.

And welcome to G.I.Jigsaw, who tackles their first League-topic and features some amazing, vintage finds.