Tag Archives: vintage toys

Universal Monsters – Action Figures

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Back in the late 1990’s, a series of action figures based on the classic Universal monsters was released by Burger King.  That is, they were give aways with the kids’ meals.  As I love both action figures and classic monsters, I collected the set.

The figures are all 3.75 inches – Star Wars figure size – and each was packaged with a free glow in the dark sticker.  All of the stickers are now on my fridge door.  I’ve dragged the figures out in to the light as Halloween decorations, and they’re pretty cool. P_20141030_135609

Dracula

Based on the Bela Lugosi Dracula from the 1931 film, this vampire comes complete with his own bright red coffin.  Twist the lever at the bottom, and the Count rises to terrorise the night.  It’s a very neat and authentic feature.  Although the likeness to Lugosi isn’t brilliant, it’s still a very impressive toy.

Frankenstein’s Monster

As you can tell from the photo, this monster’s head is translucent.  It’s designed to glow while placed on the accompanying operating table, which emits a light when a button is pressed.  Unfortunately the battery in mine stopped working a long time ago.  The likeness is based on the classic Boris Karloff look.  The translucent effect, whilst a cool play feature, means that the head sculpt can’t be seen that well.  This is a shame, as it’s possibly the best face of the set.

Wolfman

The Wolfman appears with a twist of the lever (like Dracula) from what appears to be a wooden freight box.  Also as with Drac, you can detach the figure from the accessory.  I’ve always been a big fan of the Wolfman, and I love this action figure.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Despite appearing a little chubby, the Creature from the Black Lagoon is very detailed.  He’s also designed to have a light up feature, by pressing his stomach the Creature’s torso glows.  Again, the batteries have long since drained away, and it looks extremely fiddly to replace.

A search on eBay will locate these figures if you’re interested, though you’ll pay a few quid to own the set mint.  Mine aren’t for sale.  I was 25 years old when these toys were released, and I was as excited as a tiny kid when I saw them.  They are monstrously cool!

Horror Top Trumps

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Dracula vs Fu Manchu!  The Creature from the Black Lagoon vs Godzilla!  The Wolfman vs Man Eating Plant!  Just a few of the fun confrontations that can occur with this classic Horror Top Trumps game!

Top Trumps is a card game, where the statistics of one card are pitted against another.  Surely you’ve played it?  The most usual sets were cars, aeroplanes or football teams.  There were occasionally sets that were a little more unusual, such as these Horror themed cards.

There were two Horror packs to collect.  Each card featured a different monster and broke down their stats to Physical Strength, Fear Factor, Killing Power and Horror Rating.  All the legendary monsters were present, plus a few others that were more obscure.  So in addition to the characters mentioned above, there were also the Mummy, Frankenstein’s monster, King Kong, the Thing and more. P_20140505_185808

As a monster obsessed kid, it was a great way to feed my obsessive thirst for knowledge.  I didn’t just play these cards repeatedly, I also studied each one.  For the majority of monsters, I had no idea what film there were from.  Over the years, and thanks to some old horror books I’ve collected, I’ve recognised the characters from published film stills.

Interestingly, though, the character names are quite random.  For example, the card named “Phantom of the Opera” is actually a picture of Dr Phibes.  Similarly, “The Freak” is actually the Reptile from the Hammer movie of the same name.

The artwork on the cards was often quite gruesome also.  There was a rumour I heard for many years that the Horror cards were banned in the early 80’s due to the graphic images.  I doubt that was the case, though illustrations for cards such as The Fiend and Venusian Death Cell were quite bloody.

I’m lucky enough to have collected both Horror Top Trump packs when I was a kid, and I’ve still got them.  They’re not mint condition, and I only have the title card for the second pack.  Never the less, they’re still played with, and bring a gory thrill…

Memorabilia Birmingham NEC

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22/23 March 2014

Twice a year, the Memorabilia event at Birmingham NEC is a massive gathering of everything sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.  Whether it’s old or new; or from the worlds of film, television, comic books or whatever – there’ll be something representing all facets of geekdom.

An enormous event hall within the NEC houses stalls selling paraphernalia of every conceivable description.  Obviously I’m there for the Star Wars and Hammer stuff; but you’ll find Marvel and DC items, Doctor Who, the Terminator – you name it, it’s to be found there.  Toys, books, clothes, comics, props – memorabilia of all types.

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There are also displays, from costumes to vehicles (check out my post about the Evel Knievel exhibition).  I’ve seen American wrestlers grappling in the ring, robot wars and cars from the A-Team and Back to the Future.

You’ll also get the chance to meet actors from your favourite franchise and get their autograph.

Also, there are many people dressed up for the day as their favourite characters.  Some belong to fan groups; some are just there for a day out and choose to show off their geeky side.  Keen readers will remember photos from November 2013 posted previously.

I last went to the NEC for this event in March, earlier this year.  It’s been a while, but I thought visitors to the Virtual Hot Tub would be interested to see some photos from the event.

Alien Marines
Royal Guard
I do love a Catwoman pic
Awesome Loki
“How long have you had these droids?”
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Classic slave Leia
Hawkeye

The next Memorabilia at the NEC is 22nd and 23rd November 2014.  Take a look at the website here.

More Memorabilia photos can be found here: comics television film 

Slave Leia and Gamorrean
Trekkie Girl
My favourite costume of the day
Meeting Cheetara!
Hit Girl and the other guy…
Kick Ass, Spidey and Scarecrow
Judges
Leia and Mara Jade
Belle and Gaston
Claws out
Oola, Leia and Darth Talon
Super spies

Who is this Random Space Toy?

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Here’s a random image from the toy collection here at the Virtual Hot Tub.  I’ve had this guy since the early 1980’s, I think I picked him up from a jumble sale.  No idea who he is.  At the moment, he’s been rescued from my parent’s loft to end up in my daughter’s toy box.

Standing approximately five inches tall, he is only articulated at the arms and waist.  He looks kind of Japanese, but he’s too old to be Power Ranger.

Is he from some cool proto-anime cartoon or television show?  Or is he just some odd cheapo rip off designed to appeal to kids who love space toys?

If you know who this guy is, please get in touch and let me know.

I might offer a prize…

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Godzilla

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What’s that?  Godzilla was last week?  Well never mind – I want to jump on that bandwagon anyway.

Here’s another item from my toy collection – an original Godzilla toy.  This an official Godzilla that I picked up years ago in Toys’R’Us.  I was about 24 at the time.

Godzilla stands about six inches tall, and is ready to stomp a mini Tokyo at any given moment.

I’ve not seen the new film yet, but the original is a classic – make sure you watch it.

Godzilla

Evel Knievel: Evel Genius

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Evel Knievel Touring Exhibition

Although I don’t remember that much from the 1970’s, I remember the important stuff.  Like the Six Million Dollar Man.  And Starsky and Hutch.  And Kojak, the Dukes of Hazzard, Raleigh Choppers, and Spangles.  Oh, and some obscure film called Star Wars.  I don’t remember Bowie, T.Rex, Zeppelin, Sabbath or the Pistols.  Or skateboards – that would all come later.

One thing I do remember from those days was Evel Knievel.  Mostly because my friend Justin had ALL of the Evel toys.  He had the wind up stunt cycle, a rocket bike, even the very cool and fully equipped Scramble Van.  The van had loads of tools inside to fix up Evel’s Harley Davidson stunt bike.  I loved those toys (though I couldn’t be envious, I had plenty of Action Man and Star Wars stuff of my own).

Evel Knievel was an icon of my childhood, right through into the 80’s.  I don’t even know if I saw any footage of him performing any of his stunts.  I didn’t need to.  The name Evel Knievel became another word for daring, for bravery, for facing fear.  And despite the numerous crashes that the real Evel suffered, his name became a synonym for mastery of the most dangerous stunts – or obstacle – that anyone could face.

Evel Knievel was the ultimate in motorcycle stunt riders.  More than that, he became a real life superhero – able to take on the most lethal challenge and survive.

A couple of years ago, whilst attending one of the Memorabilia events at Birmingham NEC, I was able to view some actual artifacts from Evel Knievel’s career.  The Evel Knievel Exhibition was in town, so I was able to view the items first hand.  Here are a few photos of the event.

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Selfie with Evel shirt

The Evel Knievel website is here.

Sci-Fi Action Figures

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Science fiction action figures are the basis for any good toy collection.  My collection of Star Wars toys goes right back to the late 1970’s, and I’ll get round to posting some pictures of those in the future.  Oh yes, it shall happen.  Any requests, let me know.

In the meantime, I thought I’d showcase some alternative items that have been lurking around for over thirty years.  These figures aren’t always mint condition, and rarely have all the accessories they came boxed with.  And there are certainly no boxes (or cards) now, as they were all actually played with…

Battlestar Galatica figures

These 3 3/4″ action figures were produced by Mattel in the late 1970’s, to coincide with the release of the television show.  They were obviously aiming to emulate the phenomenal success of Kenner’s Star Wars figures.

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Battlestar Galactica figures

On the left of the photo is the Imperious Leader figure, all in good condition – but then other than the cloak, he didn’t have any accessories.  In the middle is Commander Adama, who bears a slight resemblance to Lorne Greene.  Unfortunately Adama’s cloak and gun are long gone.  The Cylon Centurion is the coolest figure here, though mine has lost a lot of his silver finish.  The laser gun is around however, though I didn’t use it for the picture.  The Cylon was my first Battlestar Galactica toy, a present from my Dad.

There were some other cool figures produced in this line, in particular the Ovion and Daggit were great.  Unfortunately I never owned either.  I would’ve also loved a Lt. Starbuck, but I never saw one.  Ever.

Great show, Battlestar Galactica – I love the original and the rebooted, recent version.

The Black Hole figures

Disney’s The Black Hole, however, was not that great a movie.  At least not when I saw it on TV as a kid.  Maybe I should try it again, to see if I was just too young to dig it.

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The Black Hole figures

The action figures for this film, again 3 3/4″ like Star Wars figures – were multi jointed.  As a result, the human figures were rather frail.  I had a few of them, now reduced to limbless torsos.

No matter – the stars of the show were the robots, and here we have two of the best.  The Sentry Robot (left) was particularly cool, with a holster to hold his pistol.  I have the gun safe, so this one’s probably worth a load on ebay.  Note the joints which are clearly visible.

Also, we have V.I.N.CENT – a cool design for a robot.  Laser guns and big, cute eyes.

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Blake’s 7 Liberator

Blake’s 7 

Not an action figure – this is a Corgi toy of the Liberator spaceship from BBC sci-fi serial, Blake’s 7.  You can see the Corgi stamp on the photo.  Quite a cool design for a TV spaceship.  I quite liked Blake’s 7 when I was a kid, and remember being surprised at the end…

I have lots of fond memories of finding and playing with these toys when I was young.  They’re  great souvenirs of old films, and fun times – and imagination.

Bat Mobile and Captain Americar

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As promised, I am introducing some new topics tot the Virtual Hot Tub for 2014.  To begin, an excursion into the world of toys is presented here for you.

For this very first Toy based post, here are some pictures of the Bat Mobile and Captain Americar.  These were produced by Mego in the 1970’s.  Both are from my collection and have been in my possession since the early 80’s.

Mego were one of the leading toy companies of the 1970’s.  Amongst their most popular lines were the World’s Greatest Super Heroes: 8 inch action figures of popular comic book heroes with cloth costumes.  They produced lines of both DC and Marvel characters, meaning you could create epic adventures spanning the properties – such as Thor versus Green Arrow.  Or Hulk versus Batman.  Or anything else you could imagine.

Alas, my Mego super heroes are lost to the mists of time, scattered into broken fragments.  All I have left are these two vehicles, and some great memories.

Bat Mobile

Modelled after the Bat Mobile in the classic Adam West sixties television show, this vehicle can carry both Batman and Robin into action. IMG_2497

Front view of Bat Mobile
Rear view

Captain Americar

Captain America’s car.  See what they did there?  The cool feature on this vehicle is that Cap’s shield on the front of the car is thrust forward with the flick of the switch, to knock bad guys off their feet.  Or your sister’s Barbie dolls, whatever. IMG_2066

As I no longer have the heroes to go with these vehicles, they may well find their way onto Ebay in the future.  We shall see.

Check out the Mego Museum here.