Toy Biz Green Lantern

Okay, okay we all know these figures look awkward, chunky, and full of suck. Less we forget the feeling when we found them on the shelves, okay same as above, but when I found these I thought it was great to get other heroes besides my beloved Batman and Superman. So it's with that thought I spotlight the 1989 - 1990 Toy Biz Green Lantern!

First up lets talk about action! Since these figures have about as much possibility as a brick the Biz had to throw in an action feature on many of these. I think this is the saving feature of the line, that they actually tried to give them some play value. Green Lantern here came with a short length of hose and a squeeze bulb that you could fill with water. Plug the open end of the hose to the back of his arm and you had a power ring that squirted. Okay maybe something more suitable for the Joker, fact is the Joker had a similar feature with a flower on his lapel, you could at least imagine it was the energy from the power ring. Hell with a little green food coloring it could be the energy from his power ring!




The fun didn't stop there, once you got tired of soaking your parents furniture with water and food coloring, you could be sent outside with your own power ring. Note that these things didn't fit chubby adult fingers. The ring has a spiffy glow in the dark feature. Hold the ring up to your power lantern (standard lamp or light source) and you were ready for action. The other accessory that came with this figure was a miniature lantern for Green Lantern to work the caboose of the train, oh yeah power his ring.



I've said it time an time again, I really appreciate the feel and look of these first attempts by Toy Biz, having missed out on Superpowers, I really appreciated the mix of heroes and the speed they were released. It never seemed like I missed out buying another great hero for my son when he was younger, and I never missed out on getting some of my favs as well.

That's no moon, it's a coin!

I used to stare at this card for hours as a kid. I understood it was a miniature model from the Empire Strikes Back (I think it's the one used in shot of the Falcon on the back of the Star Destroyer)I just wanted that Falcon, or one like it. I wanted a tiny Millennium Falcon so bad, I would make them out of paper. Mine never looked like this.

It wouldn't be till the 90's that Galoob would make the Star Wars Micro Machines version and I was too old to appreciate it then... though I bought it anyway!

I think every time I see this card from Topps 1980 Empire Strikes Back set, how I wanted to be a model maker when I was young, what the hell happened...

Denim, the final frontier!

What better way to say "beat the crap out of me and steal my lunch money" than to sew a patch on you tough skins of your favorite sci-fi show?

The crazy thing is, I kept this from my child hood. I even remember picking it out when I was young! It never got used (thank the maker!) Must have been during the time they stopped making tough skins and I had to start wearing regular jeans. That's one beat down I escaped!

2001: Classic Superman Style Guide

Here's a pretty cool find. It's a style guide for a Classic Superman program. Those that don't know, Style Guides are just that guides with graphics for use on products that support the licensed program. So in this case it's the classic imagery of Superman and his pal Krypto.

Today I'm just showing a scan of the cover with this short description. The guide measures 6 1/2 inches x 11 inches, 16 pages including the cover, contains logos, graphic treatments, and character artwork for "The Man of Steel! As seen in the 1950's & 1960's". The size and shape is very comic like, yet the cover is of a much sturdier and glossier stock. The interior pages are also a nicer stock about 80 lb. with a gloss finish. The inside back cover includes a clear pocket for the included CD of artwork.

I plan on featuring some more from this and other guides I have in my collection (note: all from the past, as newer guides for newer properties are kept confidential) as I think these are pretty neat finds and it's fun to see kind of the inside of product development.

Bounty Hunter: 30th Anniversary Boba Fett

So last year Hasbro released this line of figures to help celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, man do I feel old. Anyway this version of the Fett was to be another mold, actually the one pictured on the back of the card. That one pictured has an action feature, where you press down the rocket on his pack and he raises his arm into a firing position. Kinda cheezy, but they did a really good job at hiding the mechanics. Plus it had a really cool stand that looked like flames. Well back to this one. Seems the fans spoke and they wanted this version, which is a repack of the VOTC figure (Vintage Original Trilogy Collection).



Don't get me wrong, but this is kind of what is turning me off of Star Wars collecting, at least the action figures anyway. The VOTC figure was about 10 bucks when it came out, it was marked up more because it has more articulationn than the basic figures, packed in vintage style packaging, and was supposed to have more detail. Cool and cool, until they release it a year or two later in their basic line. To me this defeats the purpose of getting these types of figures, though for the purpose of making money it's a home run. This isn't the first time I was bit by this snake, the first time I purchased the second version though. I have no one but myself to blame though.

To tell you the truth, if they were going to repaint Boba Fett over and over, I wish they would use this mold and paint him in his Empire Strikes Back colors. There's a difference? you ask. Hell yeah! Empire Boba is a little bit duller in the paint scheme, his gauntlets are green, and the jet pack doesn't have all the bright colors. Doesn't everyone know that? As I kid I didn't have a clue, nor did I care. It wasn't till I had to draw him over and over again for Star Wars Kids Magazine that I learned all the little differences.



This Boba Fett, even sporting his Jedi colors, is still a really great figure. So if you had to have one besides the original and the 300th version, it would be this one. He's sort of like the super articulated Stormtrooper, can be posed pretty believably and is probably the best (not including the original) version of the character out right now. Oh I mentioned the 300th version, that's not the 300th version of Boba Fett, but the 300th Star Wars figure that has been released, that happens to be Boba Fett. More on this one later.





This one comes from the aisles of the Magical Grocery Store. I knew he was out and wasn't sure I would get him since I had the VOTC version, but being a fan of the Fett, and having had a JLU dry spell, I picked him up. Just for the purposes of reviewing him here, and I can't pass up a Fett figure! I mean to compare him to the VOTC version in the future and see if there are any differences. I'm betting that they would be minor if any, maybe since they were manufactured a few years apart. Still would be neat to compare. Till then, enjoy some more macro shots. Who knows maybe I'll try my hand at a custom paint scheme and paint me up an Empire Strikes Back Fett!