Toy Lines of the 80s – ThunderCats

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Nov 252015
 

Whew! I almost forgot to post this week’s mash-up! How calamitous would THAT have been? Oh well, crisis averted.

ThunderCats was a toy line from LJN based on the popular animated series. Kind of. The toys were produced based on the show that was created in 1983 but that did not air until 1985 (according to Wikipedia). The toys started coming out in 1984 before the show was released so the producers had no way of knowing it would be successful. Lucky for them it was (or so I’m told. I didn’t like it at all). I forewent the main action figure line because the figures were larger and therefore more expensive than the other lines at the time. Kidworks USA released a miniatures toy line that I did get into one Christmas. I had a lot of fun with those, particularly the Mumm-Ra’s Tomb playset. For some reason, I really liked that toy.

Here’s Red Rich as Lion-O. Now full disclosure, the original drawing was not of Red Rich. Somehow when I broke down the list of toy lines I wanted to feature, I assigned Todrick twice (first to Sectaurs then to ThunderCats) and completely forgot about Red Rich. I think I was about to draw the last mash-up for this theme when I realized my mistake. Now, fortunately, Red Rich and Todrick have similar body types and heads so I only had to redraw the tail and face and recolour the arms and legs for the piece to work for Red Rich. The only hint that’s left that this was originally a picture of Todrick is that the ears are a little pointier (Red Rich’s are rounder). Colour-wise I’m much happier with this being Red Rich because I didn’t really like Lion-O’s red mane on Todrick’s red head.

Thundercats

That’s all for this week. Next week’s piece will be more than just a vision. Find out how much more next Wednesday.

Toy Lines of the 80s – Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones

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Nov 182015
 

Hello and good Wednesday to you all. It is time for the Wednesday Mash-up. Let us get right to it.

Golden Girl (not to be confused with the pluralized sitcom) was a toy line from Galoob aimed at girls, similar in theme to She-Ra. I believe the figures were even in the same scale. It was a sword and sorcery style story. Most of the characters were female warriors (there were token males on either side of the conflict) and as was common in these toy lines, each of the characters had punny names based on the theme of their faction. The good girls were named after gemstones (Rubee, Onyx, Jade), while the bad girls had animal/monster names (Vultura, Moth Lady,  Dragon Queen). To be honest, I don’t remember ever having heard of these toys before. I only found out about them when I was doing some research for this mash-up theme. The line was surprisingly robust with a dozen or so figures, a LOT of different costumes for the characters to wear, mounts for them to ride and even a castle. There were even ancillary products like board games, colouring books and lunch boxes so it was a pretty big deal. It just had the misfortune of coming out at the same time as She-Ra which I’m guessing just overshadowed it. The figures look good for the most part (some of the heads are kinda scary-looking and not in the intended way).

Here’s Chae as the titular Golden Girl. I find that I really like colouring shiny metallic pieces. While the protection her armor gives is questionable, it’s nicely detailed. Click on the picture for a closer look.

Golden-Girl

That’s all for this week. Next week, it’s time to bring the thunder. See you next Wednesday for the reveal.

Toy Lines of the 80s – Crystar

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Nov 112015
 

It’s Remembrance Day so I’d like to say a small thank you to the men and women who have given and who are still giving their lives making the world a safer place. Now on to the mash-up.

Crystar started out as a Marvel comic, which surprised me as I thought the comic was a tie-in to the toy line rather than the other way around. It does explain how Marvel can use the characters to this day when one of their toy-related comics, ROM, remains pretty much off-limits. Most of the characters had some kind of crystal/rock related names like Crystar, Ogeode and Moltar. Some of the figures and toys were cast in see-through plastic to make them look crystalline and I loved the look of them. While I really liked the toy line and I never had a single figure (I don’t think any of my friends did either). This is the toy line that taught me about sales tax as the one time I tried to buy one, I was turned away from the cash register (at K-Mart when that was a thing in Canada) because I hadn’t taken the sales tax into account and couldn’t afford it. Oh what a sad day that was.

Here’s Skitter as Crystar. Colouring him to look like he was made of crystal was tough and it didn’t quite turn out right. I think I was more successful with the sword and shield. I like the colour combinations though.

Crystar

That’s all for this week. Next week’s feature will be golden! See you next Wednesday!

 

Toy Lines of the 80s – Strawberry Shortcake

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Nov 042015
 

The Wednesday Work Day is over, but there’s still more Wednesday to enjoy, starting with today’s mash-up.

Like Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake started out as a greeting card character that expanded to a whole line of toys and other assorted merchandise. The dolls had scented hair to match their namesakes. The villains included the Peculiar Purple Pie Man of Porcupine Peak (love the alliterative name) and Sour Grapes. The Goldbergs, a sitcom that celebrates the 80s has featured Strawberry Shortcake twice this season, including the Halloween episode where Pops got the name wrong and referred to her as Strawberry Flapjacks.

Deema got picked for this plum role (pardon the pun) because of her cheery disposition. I think she looks adorable.

Strawberry-Shortcake

That’s all for this week. Who’ll be featured next week. It’ll all become crystal clear next Wednesday.

Toy Lines of the 80’s – Teddy Ruxpin

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Oct 282015
 

I woke up yesterday thinking it was Wednesday but alas it was only Tuesday. I woke up this morning aware that it was Wednesday, but kinda wishing it was Thursday. At least there’s a mash-up to soften the blow. Let’s get to it.

“Hi! My name is Teddy Ruxpin. Can you and I be friends? I really enjoy talking to people.” That line is engraved in my brain even after all these years, I saw that commercial so many times. Teddy Ruxpin was a talking teddy bear that told stories. There was an audio cassette player inside (making him not so easy to cuddle) and using impressive technology for the time, the eyes and mouth moved to the words being spoken on the tape. Supposedly he “spoke” with any tape he played, not just the Teddy Ruxpin storybook tapes. More merchandise was released to support the line.

Teddy Ruxpin is a bear so of course I chose Barnaby to play him. I guess that’s stereotyping, but what can I say? When it fits, it fits. Teddy had a really simple outfit so this one was pretty easy to draw. I think Barnaby looks cute in it.

Teddy-Ruxpin

That’s all for this week. Next week will finally be all about the berries. I promise. See you all next Wednesday!

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