General Toy Nostalgia

Damien said:
Jaaaaaaaaaaaaames Bond... James Bond JUNior.....
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Damien said:
Jaaaaaaaaaaaaames Bond... James Bond JUNior.....
Click to expand...

No one can stop him
But Scum always tries
Young Bond cuts through
Each web of Spieeees

He learned the game from his Uncle James
Now he's up to the naaaame

I was only able to see it when sick because it aired after the bus came. That with Dino Saucers and Mega Man.

Have you ever had conversations about syndicated TV shows with people from those days? We truly were culturally separated by time and space.
 
Dick Tracy figures came out when I was . . . 12? Oh man I *loved* that movie (still do, it’s still one of the best comic book movies ever) and I wanted those toys something FIERCE although I was miffed they were in Playmates “TMNT” house style. I had/have Tracy, Flattop (of course, I am obsessed with Flattop), the Brow, maaaaaybe Prune Face? I passed on Big Boy like a dummy because he was too far from how the character looked in the comic strip (also at 12 I was in the prime “YOU ARE TOO OLD FOR TOYS NOW” slot and had to pick my battles), and I was always pissed that Tracy and others were in their shirt-sleeves instead of coats. Also I was mad that Tracy had a soft Warren Beatty likeness instead of looking like the comic strip character with the angled, hawklike features.
And boy oh boy oh boy was I PISSED about the Blank. Firstly, the Blank is my second-favorite Tracy villain after Flattop (“oh really, Ace? You love the Tracy villain who is the Question but an evil goth? What a fucking surprise!!”), and while I concede that “no-face” was used well in the film, the Blank is NOT Breathless Mahoney, she is a whole separate character, the Blank is Frank Redrum and he is AWESOME. I remember the movie novelization tried to work in some references to Redrum, which I appreciated. That said: I never got the Blank figure, of course, and I was bummed. VERY bummed. Stewed about it all summer.

And as of now: a line of 6”, highly articulated Dick Tracy figures based on the *comic strip* is one of my absolute dreams. Tracy is hella cool, and has a rogues gallery that is easily in the Top 5 all-time.

Also: FLATTOP.


(btw William Forsythe is incredible as Flattop in the film, giving soooo much more nuance and depth than was remotely necessary, it’s lowkey one of the greatest comic book movie performances of all time, and I consider myself lucky that a character I love so much was treated so well in live action, even if they killed him off)
 
I was about to say, Dick Tracy seems like the exact type of thing FMF/BBWS would make. I tried looking up his public domain status, but didn't come to any conclusion (I also didn't look very hard). Seems like 2027 is when he enters public domain, but he also might already be there due to non renewal?
 
I know Warren Beatty's film rights are set to expire in 27. The first published story was 1931,so the whole 95 year thing, but I guess there are certain trademarks and copyrights that don't exactly go out at the same time.
 
Alt said:
Have you ever had conversations about syndicated TV shows with people from those days? We truly were culturally separated by time and space.
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Dude. I almost exclusively preferred the syndicated shows over the network stuff.

The aforementioned King Arthur, Killer Tomatoes, Skeleton Warriors, Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, WMAC Masters, Ultraforce, Zorro, Flash Gordon, Phantom 2040, Pirates of Dark Water, Stunt Dawgs, Conan the Adventurer, Biker Mice, Mutant League, Double Dragon, Mighty Max, ExoSquad, Action Man, Skysurfer Strikeforce, GI Joe Extreme, Darkstalkers...

...sigh...we had it so good.
 
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All that stuff was great, I know stations in my area though could be kinda funny when it came to airing. I mean 5am on weekdays for some of these shows, fo real? Aint many kids up eating Cap N' Crunch at 5am on a tuesday before school.
 
Spongyblue said:
Somebody out there needs to start making a pulp line, whether licensed or some Fresh Monkey homages. I mean Dick Tracy, The Shadow, Doc Savage? We get onsie twosie one offs here and there, but I need a line dammit.
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I would buy the shit out of a Shadow figure that isn't Mezco-priced/style. I still kind of kick myself for not getting the Mezco one, but it was so expensive and the window to grab it was very small. Of course, now that I think about it Mezco pricing when Shadow came out will probably be regular figure pricing from Hasbro in a few more years.


RicksNerdLife said:
The aforementioned King Arthur, Killer Tomatoes, Skeleton Warriors, Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, WMAC Masters, Ultraforce, Horror, Flash Gordon, Phantom 2040, Pirates of Dark Water, Stunt Dawgs, Conan the Adventurer, Biker Mice, Mutant League, Double Dragon, Mighty Max, ExoSquad, Action Man, Skysurfer Strikeforce, GI Joe Extreme, Darkstalkers...
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I would literally step on all of your grandmothers' faces for 6" modern articulation remake lines of Skeleton Warriors, King Arthur ATKOJ, Pirates of Dark Water, Conan the Adventurer, Mighty Max, and Double Dragon*.

*I fucking LOVED the Double Dragon cartoon and toys, despite the fact that I'm just a passing fan of the games. I don't even really want game-based toys. I much prefer the characters from the cartoon.
 
I remember those Tracy toys. I had a handful of them. I loved that movie when it came out. Didn’t the Rocketeer come out around the same time maybe within a year or two of it. I remember being a big fan of both and wishing that there were Rocketeer toys.
 
superdoug55 said:
I remember those Tracy toys. I had a handful of them. I loved that movie when it came out. Didn’t the Rocketeer come out around the same time maybe within a year or two of it. I remember being a big fan of both and wishing that there were Rocketeer toys.
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Rocketeer, indeed, came out the following year. Tracy was 1990 and Rocketeer was 1991, as I recall.
 
AceofKnaves said:
I desperately wanted Rocketeer figures as well.
Damn, I did not know how good I was eating back then. The Burton Bat-films, Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, and The Crow: all top-tier comic book films, still head and shoulders over most “modern” comic book films.
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Not to get too far off topic, but The Crow is a favorite of mine and it's also one of my daughter's favorite movies ever. My daughter has an entire shelf of Eric Draven figures and I was looking at them yesterday and thinking about how that movie would have been ripped apart in pre-production by 'fans' if it were being made today.

People would have complained about the choice of leading actor, about the difference between the comic costume and the movie costume, about the casting of the gang members, about changes to the story... it never would have been faithful enough for anyone. But it is one of the finest comic adaptations ever made. And maybe there's a lesson there that I am not enough of a cinephile to parse.
 
Waaay out into the weeds, but:

I will never be able to replicate the feeling of being 16 and driving a car full of karate buddies and The Girl I Liked to a late-night showing of The Crow on opening night. Ahhhh.

I wish The Shadow had better toys as well, but I bought all of those. That movie was . . . not as good as the other ones I mentioned, but still pretty good actually. Alec Baldwin played The Shadow when he *should* have been playing Batman, but he was cool.
 
AceofKnaves said:
I desperately wanted Rocketeer figures as well.
Damn, I did not know how good I was eating back then. The Burton Bat-films, Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer, and The Crow: all top-tier comic book films, still head and shoulders over most “modern” comic book films.
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Those three or four years of summer blockbusters where nuts. It seemed every Friday an awesome movie coming out. We had a calender in our kitchen labeled with what movie was coming out that Friday. Had to get them all in.

I loved the Shadow, hated the toys, but I loved his car

images
 
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