Toy Lines of the 80’s – Jem

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Oct 212015
 

Is this a mash-up? Must be Wednesday!

So last week I concluded with a clue that pointed to a Strawberry Shortcake mash-up. Why then is this week’s feature Jem? Well, that’s because over the weekend I saw a commercial for the new Jem and the Holograms motion picture that is scheduled for release this Friday. There was a little synergy (Jem fans will see what I did there) that was too good to pass up. What were the odds that I’d be doing a series of mash-ups about toys from the 80’s just as one of those toy lines was about to get a movie? It’s almost like I planned it that way (I did not). Anyway…Jem.

Jem was a line of dress-up dolls, similar to Barbie. The characters were members of a girl band named Jem and the Holograms. There was a cartoon which featured the band going around having adventures, led by Jerrica Benton, who uses high-tech holograms to transform in rocker Jem. They have to contend with rival band, the Misfits and others looking to take over Starlight Music. In looking through Wikipedia, I learned that the cartoon based on the toy line went on for three seasons, which was surprising to me as I thought it was just one long season’s worth of episodes. Back in the day, I used to tutor a girl after school who was a big Jem fan (though she much preferred the Misfits). Years later, when I went to my first Anime North convention, a group of Jem fans put on a show which consisted of them cosplaying as characters from the show and lip-synching through what seemed like the entire library of songs from the cartoon. Over ten years after the show ended, it still had some gung-ho fans.

So Sass is here to play Jem. I had a real problem with her arms and legs. I hope they look okay. Click on the picture to see a close-up.

Jem

So that’s all for this week. Outrageous right? (Again, Jem fans will see what I did there). Will next week be the berry good week I promised last time? If not, can we still be friends? See you next Wednesday for the reveal!

Toy Lines of the 80’s – Sectaurs

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Oct 142015
 

Hello and good Wednesday to you! It’s time for a new mash-up, are you ready? Then let’s go!

The Sectaurs toy line came from the good people at Coleco. The story was of a post-apocalyptic world where humans bonded with insects and dragged themselves back up to a hybrid world of medieval fantasy and science fiction. The heroic Prince Dargon led the warriors of good against General Spidrax and the forces of evil. Each figure came with either an insect sidekick with an action feature of some kind, or a giant insect mount hand puppet. I only ever bought the one figure, Commander Waspax with Wingid. I liked the toys but from what I remember the figures were expensive so I moved on to another toy line.

Here’s Todrick dressed up as Prince Dargon. I did some experimenting with the colours of his armor. I think this is some of my better coloring work in a while.

Sectaurs

That’s all for this week. Next week I promise we’ll have a berry good time. Come back next Wednesday to see what I mean.

Toy Lines of the 80’s – Rainbow Brite

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Oct 072015
 

Four years ago today, Age of Animus went live. It’s been a great four years and I hope to do at least as many more. The next step? Getting to today’s mash-up!

I’m trusting my good friend Wikipedia for the history of Rainbow Brite because I know next to nothing about the franchise and that’s being generous. Rainbow Brite started out as a Hallmark creation and grew to have a cartoon, a doll line and all kinds of other merchandise. The basic premise is, there’s a girl named Wisp who finds the Color Belt and fights against the King of Shadows to try to bring colour back to the world.

Why did I choose Nektara to play Rainbow Brite? She has blonde hair. Sometimes it’s as simple as that folks. This is one of those designs that you can look at and just know it came from the 80’s. The rainbow colours, the shoulder pads, the hair ribbons, the platform sneakers. It’s fun and bright. The hair was the most interesting part to draw here. As always, click on the picture if you want to see a close-up.

Rainbow-Brite

That’s all for this week. What toy line will I feature next week? I’m sure that’s a question that’s going to bug you until next Wednesday. Come back then to find out.

Toy Lines of the 80’s – Sky Commanders

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Sep 302015
 

Hello and welcome back to the Wednesday Mash-up! It’s a new theme! Yes it is! New Theme Rocks! New Theme Rocks! New Theme Rocks! (Wrestling fans will recognize the reference).

I was born in 1974 so I was right there for all the great toy lines of the 80’s. I’ve already featured my absolute favorites, G.I.Joe and Masters of the Universe, as full-fledged mash-up themes. Now I’m going back to look at some other toy lines that I thought would be fun to draw. To be picked, the characters in the line couldn’t have their faces fully covered (sorry M.A.S.K.) and there had to be good reference pictures of the figures that I could use (sorry Air Raiders and StarCom). It helped if I liked the line, but it wasn’t required.

The action figures in the Sky Commanders line were underwhelming. They were smaller than the industry standard, the colors were simple and the detail was only so-so. You weren’t buying the line for the figures though. It was all about the vehicles. Each one came with a nylon line (or in some cases a plastic roll) that you could hang across your room so that the vehicles could zip across. Each vehicle also had some kind of action feature that differentiated it from the others in the line.  Each figure also had an elastic spool on their arm that you could use to make them swing from. I thought the whole line was pretty nifty and I picked up three or four of them while they were available in stores. There was a cartoon (every toy line in the 80’s seemed to have one) but I never watched it.

The whole flying theme of this toy line made it an obvious pick for Zoë. Here she is, zipping along on the Ascender. Click on the picture for an enlarged view.

Sky-Commanders

That’s all for next week. Will you favorite toy line be featured in this theme? Come back each Wednesday to find out!

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