27 thoughts on “Amusing Articulations: In the 90’s…”
I was so unnaturally excited that the DCUC Superman could fit into the MOS Battle Suit that I had to showcase it somewhere on the site. The part that really got me was when I closed the canopy and his head fit perfectly!
Anyway, if I was going to show off a cool 90s toy from the cellar, it was only fair to find a couple horrors to go along with it…
The thing about the 90’s I will never understand is how those hundreds of multi-colored Batmen and Spideys managed to sell so well. Were kids really the only ones buying action figures around that time?
Nope, their parents were buying the toys for them, and those parents grew up knowing Bats and Spidey from their respective media franchises.
I hold that it wasn’t the mutated, horrible, off-model figures that sold (CARMEL COLORED LAVA FIGHTER BATMAN), it was the gimmick that was the pack-in. Things that shot things. Kids LOVE things that shoot, even in our watered down nanny state times.
My own example from the ’60s. I got a Captain Action figure and started begging for the different Super Hero costumes. Ideal, struggling against Hasbro’s GI Joe juggernaut, decided to ‘refresh’ the figure by including a parachute. Well, I didn’t need another Captain Action (you didn’t ‘build an army’ of CA, he was a loner with lots of magical costumes. Army building was a Joe thing) but I sure needed that damn parachute!
So, yes, I’m sure many of those horrible figures were ‘Grandma bought’ (“Timmy like that Batty man guy, right? Oh, here’s one”) but I’m just as sure that little Timmy had plans that as soon as he got home that pink and neon green Batman went right to the bottom of the toybox and the REAL Batman, the one that looks just like the awesome cartoon, he gets a new weapon for his war against crime.
I have in-between feelings about the role of all those old variants (And poor Caramel Batman, always the go-to for excess! 😀 ).
DCUC has Blue Oval, All-Black, Black Oval, Muddy, Black Noval Panel Belt, & Black Noval Pouch Belt. There’s two more if you count PE – so even this line has managed 8 Batmen, but since they’re all accurate in one form or another they get a pass now. Well, they’re simply less creative I say!
Not really, I suppose. But I wasn’t upset with the Bat-variants so much back in the 90s – granted I was a pre-teens into teens at the time – and I still want some of them. There’s one I’ve been wanting to snag on eBay lately as a matter of fact. But in this “collector transition” those have largely fallen by the wayside. I guess the question is if the 5″ Dark Knight line had any success, as far as Mattel is concerned, with their Bat-variants?
And I think the worst Bat-variant still has to be the green hover jet Batman with a gold head. 😀
Well, to be fair, there is a difference between the lines that are specifically tied to a show and targeted (supposedly) at children, and the more collector focused lines.
Then again, I’m not sure I can tell the difference anymore. Oh, wait, if it DOESN’T come with an accessory that shoots, it’s an adult collectible, right? 🙂
I pick on caramel dipped Batman because he stuck (haw!), what with the lava fighter (Lava? wouldn’t battling Lava be more in Superman’s line?) nonsense and all. It’s the ‘Flash’s Motorcycle’ of Batman in my mind.
What you list seem to be more color variants, and simple ones at that, not the complete resculpt that the B:TAS Batman went thru.
Aw, I still love that Venom, with his angry sock-puppet hand! But that battlesuit does look cool there.
Well… it was in my cellar. Though his Symbiote Stingray was nowhere to be found. 😛
Man! I haven’t tried that with my battlesuit. That’s awesome!
I was so happy, it was ridiculous. His legs have to be folded up a bit to fit in, but if you get him at the right height his head will perfectly nestle in the cockpit’s main peak!
Looks like I’m pulling the battlesuit out of storage.
I totally just ran to eBay and bought myself that Battle Suit for $15. Woot!
And to be fair, that Spider-Man was Toybiz’s clever way of releasing a totally obscure villain. A guy named Joe Wade was a villainous Scarlet Spider who tried to destroy the real one’s reputation. That figure has a helmet that completes the image (hence the figure looks so pin-headed.
Thanks, hyena! As a bigger DC fan, I had no idea that suit had a comic origin! LOL I think the bio on the box described it as a remotely controlled robot if I can remember back that far.
And $15 for the suit sounds like a steal! It does have limited articulation, but it looks sharp and has a couple action features. To fit, I crossed Supes legs like he was sitting on the floor and then pointed them downward. The best part is the closed canopy though. I should take a picture…
I love it when companies sneak characters into a line.
Thanks for the info Hyena.
Man, I wish they’d put out that Steel again as a re-release since I missed out on DCSH.
Not to rub it in, but I love that figure. Hopefully, he’ll get reissued by Mattel at some point.
They’re from this guy. And I just happen to have been in contact with him recently and he says he will start making the clear ones again if there is demand for at least ten of them. I can account for two of them but I’m looking for at least eight other people that want them. They’re $5 a pop I believe.
In fact, I was gonna ask if you guys could maybe spotlight him again so more people know about it.
With the figure’s re-release I’m sure demand for them will go up again.
You can count me in for one! I’m sure there are plenty of people who would go for one of those now.
Dude, I’ll totally take one. That looks so much better than the shite that came with the figure. Hell I’d take two I actually have a duplicate Eradicator that came with no goggles.
I hate you so much for owning that suit. :[
N”’…THANKS MATTY MAN-E-THANKS!
BIEVENIUE!
damn anyone kow where i can get a cover for the suit? i got mine at a garage sale but no cover
I was so unnaturally excited that the DCUC Superman could fit into the MOS Battle Suit that I had to showcase it somewhere on the site. The part that really got me was when I closed the canopy and his head fit perfectly!
Anyway, if I was going to show off a cool 90s toy from the cellar, it was only fair to find a couple horrors to go along with it…
The thing about the 90’s I will never understand is how those hundreds of multi-colored Batmen and Spideys managed to sell so well. Were kids really the only ones buying action figures around that time?
Nope, their parents were buying the toys for them, and those parents grew up knowing Bats and Spidey from their respective media franchises.
I hold that it wasn’t the mutated, horrible, off-model figures that sold (CARMEL COLORED LAVA FIGHTER BATMAN), it was the gimmick that was the pack-in. Things that shot things. Kids LOVE things that shoot, even in our watered down nanny state times.
My own example from the ’60s. I got a Captain Action figure and started begging for the different Super Hero costumes. Ideal, struggling against Hasbro’s GI Joe juggernaut, decided to ‘refresh’ the figure by including a parachute. Well, I didn’t need another Captain Action (you didn’t ‘build an army’ of CA, he was a loner with lots of magical costumes. Army building was a Joe thing) but I sure needed that damn parachute!
So, yes, I’m sure many of those horrible figures were ‘Grandma bought’ (“Timmy like that Batty man guy, right? Oh, here’s one”) but I’m just as sure that little Timmy had plans that as soon as he got home that pink and neon green Batman went right to the bottom of the toybox and the REAL Batman, the one that looks just like the awesome cartoon, he gets a new weapon for his war against crime.
I have in-between feelings about the role of all those old variants (And poor Caramel Batman, always the go-to for excess! 😀 ).
DCUC has Blue Oval, All-Black, Black Oval, Muddy, Black Noval Panel Belt, & Black Noval Pouch Belt. There’s two more if you count PE – so even this line has managed 8 Batmen, but since they’re all accurate in one form or another they get a pass now. Well, they’re simply less creative I say!
Not really, I suppose. But I wasn’t upset with the Bat-variants so much back in the 90s – granted I was a pre-teens into teens at the time – and I still want some of them. There’s one I’ve been wanting to snag on eBay lately as a matter of fact. But in this “collector transition” those have largely fallen by the wayside. I guess the question is if the 5″ Dark Knight line had any success, as far as Mattel is concerned, with their Bat-variants?
And I think the worst Bat-variant still has to be the green hover jet Batman with a gold head. 😀
Well, to be fair, there is a difference between the lines that are specifically tied to a show and targeted (supposedly) at children, and the more collector focused lines.
Then again, I’m not sure I can tell the difference anymore. Oh, wait, if it DOESN’T come with an accessory that shoots, it’s an adult collectible, right? 🙂
I pick on caramel dipped Batman because he stuck (haw!), what with the lava fighter (Lava? wouldn’t battling Lava be more in Superman’s line?) nonsense and all. It’s the ‘Flash’s Motorcycle’ of Batman in my mind.
What you list seem to be more color variants, and simple ones at that, not the complete resculpt that the B:TAS Batman went thru.
Aw, I still love that Venom, with his angry sock-puppet hand! But that battlesuit does look cool there.
Well… it was in my cellar. Though his Symbiote Stingray was nowhere to be found. 😛
Man! I haven’t tried that with my battlesuit. That’s awesome!
I was so happy, it was ridiculous. His legs have to be folded up a bit to fit in, but if you get him at the right height his head will perfectly nestle in the cockpit’s main peak!
Looks like I’m pulling the battlesuit out of storage.
LOL Awesome!
I totally just ran to eBay and bought myself that Battle Suit for $15. Woot!
And to be fair, that Spider-Man was Toybiz’s clever way of releasing a totally obscure villain. A guy named Joe Wade was a villainous Scarlet Spider who tried to destroy the real one’s reputation. That figure has a helmet that completes the image (hence the figure looks so pin-headed.
http://www.comicvine.com/joe-wade/29-6287/all-images/108-212321/wade8/105-1005996/
The toy is pretty much straight from the comic.
That Venom on the other hand…yeesh.
Thanks, hyena! As a bigger DC fan, I had no idea that suit had a comic origin! LOL I think the bio on the box described it as a remotely controlled robot if I can remember back that far.
And $15 for the suit sounds like a steal! It does have limited articulation, but it looks sharp and has a couple action features. To fit, I crossed Supes legs like he was sitting on the floor and then pointed them downward. The best part is the closed canopy though. I should take a picture…
I love it when companies sneak characters into a line.
Thanks for the info Hyena.
Man, I wish they’d put out that Steel again as a re-release since I missed out on DCSH.
Not to rub it in, but I love that figure. Hopefully, he’ll get reissued by Mattel at some point.
Backing up even farther…
Your Eradicator has clear goggles?
Noisy’s just showing off. 🙁
Funny you should mention that.
http://www.poeghostal.com/2009/03/want-a-clear-visor-for-dcuc-eradicator.html
They’re from this guy. And I just happen to have been in contact with him recently and he says he will start making the clear ones again if there is demand for at least ten of them. I can account for two of them but I’m looking for at least eight other people that want them. They’re $5 a pop I believe.
In fact, I was gonna ask if you guys could maybe spotlight him again so more people know about it.
With the figure’s re-release I’m sure demand for them will go up again.
You can count me in for one! I’m sure there are plenty of people who would go for one of those now.
Dude, I’ll totally take one. That looks so much better than the shite that came with the figure. Hell I’d take two I actually have a duplicate Eradicator that came with no goggles.
I hate you so much for owning that suit. :[
N”’…THANKS MATTY MAN-E-THANKS!
BIEVENIUE!
damn anyone kow where i can get a cover for the suit? i got mine at a garage sale but no cover