Imperial Universal Monsters

October 10, 2008 | Poe

If you were a young boy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, chances are you were quite familiar with the crown logo of Imperial Toys.

From the admittedly limited perspective as a six-year-old boy, Imperial was known for one thing: rubber dinosaurs.

Imperial specialized in those solid rubber dinosaurs you’d find in convenience stores, pharmacies, and the metal floor bins of toy stores like Child World. They usually sold for about a buck. Those dinosaurs were tough bastards; you could throw them against the wall all day long and they wouldn’t get a scratch.

The sculpts and paint applications were crude even by contemporary standards and there was nary a point of articulation to be found on them, but when I was a kid that hardly mattered. The rubbery feel of the dinosaurs skin, coupled with their Godzilla-like indestructibility, made them the preeminent dinosaur toys of my youth.

A lot of the Imperial dinosaurs were of questionable paleontological validity. Tyrannosaurs with stegosaur-like plates and apatosaurs (which we called brontosaurs in my day) with pointy teeth were common. My particular favorites were a small yellow tyrannosaur (now residing in my Toy Shrine), a duck-billed dinosaur thing, and a black creature that was sort of a cross between a frog and an allosaur that I called “Bumpy.”

(more…)

Paxton and Henriksen: The Terminator, Alien, and Predator Death Trifecta

October 9, 2008 | Poe

If you were a kid in the 1980s with a love of science fiction and action films, you had it made. The combined awesomeness of the Alien, Predator, Terminator and, to a lesser extent, Robocop franchises constituted the best run of bad-ass sf action to date, and all four are still bringing in money in some way or another.

With the exception of Robocop, director John Cameron had at least a minor contribution to each franchise (he suggested Stan Winston add mandibles to the Predator creature design), and directed the first two Terminator films and Aliens. Since Cameron pretty much made the careers of Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen, it’s no surprise they had roles in several of these movies. But both actors also share a very special distinction–they’ve both been killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator. (more…)

Things I Want Toys of > The Monster Squad

October 8, 2008 | Poe

I can’t recall whether I saw The Monster Squad (1987) in the theater, but something makes me think I did. Even as a kid I thought of it then as a sort of store-brand Goonies, albeit a very fun, entertaining, and surprisingly violent one. Except for the infamous “Wolf Man’s got nards” line, I more or less forgot about the film until I saw it in 2004 while visiting a friend (thanks, Rustin—always the classy host!).

The Monster Squad is a kids’ horror film featuring what are traditionally thought of as the Universal Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman (a.k.a. the Creature from the Black Lagoon). However, unlike other monster mashes like the recent Van Helsing, The Monster Squad wasn’t a Universal film; Universal only owns the trademarks to the character names (meaning you can’t call your movie just “Dracula”). In the case of Dracula and the Monster, the novels are long out of copyright; while the Mummy, the Wolfman and the Gillman are just generic monsters (though I do think they’re on shaky ground with the Gillman, given how much he resembles the Black Lagoon creature).
(more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Jason Goes to Hell

October 7, 2008 | Poe

ODD: We’re swinging into high here at PGPoA with the Halloween fun. I realize the whole zombie motif may be a bit 2006, but it was the first idea I thought of. The good thing is we get it out of the way now and I’ll have to come up with something else next year. (more…)

Attack of the Living Dead

October 6, 2008 | Poe

Note: A slightly different version of this article was originally published on Biggerboat in October 2006.

A couple years ago, during the huge zombie fad of the mid-’00s, Mezco Toyz produced a short-lived figure line called Attack of the Living Dead. The figures are a combination of today’s advanced action figure design and those old gross-out toys of the 1980s (times ten).

Attack of the Living Dead isn’t based on any particular film, despite the “Living Dead” moniker (a quick check at the U.S. trademark office shows that Mezco was able to trademark the title, so it looks like George Romero and John Russo lose yet again, courtesy of the Walter Reade Organization). The line was originally going to be titled “After Life” (and Mezco had trademarked that as well), but at some point they must have figured out that the “Living Dead” phrase wasn’t trademarked and changed to the new title to capitalize on the name recognition.

That said, these zombies look more Return of the Living Dead than Dawn of the Dead. Romero’s zombies tended to look like pale-skinned humans (though they got a bit gorier in the last two films), whereas the Return of the Living Dead series offered a variety of zombie shapes and sizes.

While the days of long action figure biography text and power ratings seem sadly long gone, Mezco makes a passing effort at providing some context for the line. (more…)

It begins…

October 2, 2008 | Poe

Obviously I stayed home today. It feels sort of surreal, sitting here writing a blog entry with all that’s going on…and wondering how long anyone will even be able to read this. How long will the electricity stay on? How long can people like me hide in their apartments and hope this thing blows over?

It kind of reminds me of The Stand. That novel scared the hell out of me. The idea of a superflu—it really wasn’t that far-fetched. Well, clearly. Not that this is a flu. The flu doesn’t make people…eat people.

The TV’s out except for WLVI 56, who are still broadcasting from their news station. I remember back when they used to have the Creature Double Feature in the ’80s. I wish they’d never canceled that…what the hell am I saying? I think I’m in shock.

Anyway, they had some fat bearded guy on, a scientist I guess, who said “every dead body that is not exterminated, becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills get up and kill!” Thanks for the tip, fatty. Most of us already figured that out.

I guess it started a couple days ago, somewhere in Russia I heard. But it’s spread like wildfire.

God, there’s a bunch of them walking up the street right now. What I wouldn’t give for one of those assholes who always rips up the street in a pick-up. Mow those things down.

I might post again, if the power’s still on. And if they haven’t…I’m in a basement floor apartment, strong windows, strong doors. I can probably hold out for a while…

Welcome to October at PGPoA!

October 1, 2008 | Poe

OK, I had planned on doing tomorrow’s posts today, but got sidetracked by the Mattel Q&A and other stuff.

As you can see, we’ve done some temporary remodeling around here to celebrate Halloween, my second most favorite holiday. And we’re not done yet–there’s more to come, but it won’t start quite yet.

Before I go any further, let me thank Red Kryptonite for her excellent artwork, and Webmaster OB1 for implementing the new design. PGPoA wouldn’t exist without the two of you.

For the rest of October, I’ll be putting up Halloween-themed posts related to horror toys, movies, comics, and other stuff. You’ll probably also get more than one mention of The Worst Witch…just humor me, please.

I’ll also be running PGPoA’s first-ever officially sponsored contest, complete with horror-themed prizes.

Keep an eye out…hanging on your cheek by a thread, preferably.

Ask Matty > October 1 Edition

October 1, 2008 | Poe

We’re back with another round of Ask Matty!

POE: Was the entirety of DCUC series 3 produced before the transition to the new vendor’s factory?

Matty: Yes. Wave 4 is the first Wave from the new vendor.

At this point, how many body types are there for DCUC figures, and would it be possible to list them?

Lets see, we have male medium (Captain Atom, Black Manta, Atom, others), male small (Sinestro by default though a production error), parts of male teen (Robin, Kid Flash), large brute (Lobo, Despero), part of standard female (Wonder Woman and Harley), Male suit (Riddler, Clark Kent), and there may be another. We are still working on female teen, super thin male, large female, small female and a few other surprises.

What process is used to paint intricate details such as the logo on the Sinestro Corps’ Sinestro’s chest on production figures?

It is called “tempo” which is the same process we use on CARS and Hot Wheels to apply decals. It is essentially a computer created “sticker” that is heat sensitive so it sticks to the plastic to look like a paint op in the end.

Would Mattel consider creating a new BAF Doomsday, or is that unlikely since he’s already had a figure?

Definitely on our short list. (although we would likely use the same sculpt, just scale him up to size.

Now that Mattel has a working relationship with DC Comics, is there any possibility of new DC-produced Masters of the Universe comics?

Could be down the road but nothing is in the cards at the moment to announce quite yet.