This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[wormboy]

Another purchase for my 1970s Marvel collection. I had never seen this one before so I’m 

The red ‘A’ on Caps’ forehead looks cool!

 

[followtheleader]

1 hour ago, wormboy said:

Another purchase for my 1970s Marvel collection. I had never seen this one before so I’m 

The red ‘A’ on Caps’ forehead looks cool!

 

Really cool piece. 

Cap really pops.  Almost like Cap and Hawkeye had a kid. 

Patrick

[comicwiz]

Back in mid August I posted about acquiring my white whale. I thought I had taken my research as far as I could, but there were still a number of questions which I wanted answered. Namely, why would Irwin Toys have produced a toy robot with a white Voltron III logo that didn't match the yellow logo used for it's other two produced toys. On Sept 4th, I posted a WTB in one of the largest vintage toy FB groups, hoping to potentially draw out more examples of the Irwin Toys Mini-Lion to further my research, and within an hour, something unbelievable happened. A member of the group posted this photo:

After picking my jaw up off the ground, I would spend the better part of a month trying to convince the owner to sell the yellow logo Voltron III Mini Lion to me, and about a month after he first posted the photo, a deal was done.

The find at the very least confirms that Irwin Toys had intended to produce this toy, but cancelled it for a variety of reasons. The white logo was used to distinguish it as a mock-up of the intended final version, and they had taken it through two generations of mocking-up. The first is distinguished by it's mismatched fists/feet, and the four numbered images above the matrix are the known specimen which I have tracked:

The second generation is mainly distinguishable by the colour matching of the fists and feet to the arms and legs. The packaging remains the same for this second generation mock-up:

The yellow logo Voltron III is the final version which Irwin Toys had intended to produce, and we know this not only because they finally matched both the figural toy robot and packaging with the correct colour to remain consistent with it's Miniature and Deluxe versions, but because the final version also shows for the first time in muliple iterations of mocking-up the copyright/license information and date, which is lacking in the first two generations of mock-ups:

Not only is this a cool discovery of an almost forgotten part of Canadian toy making history, and a great way to round out both my research and collection, but it's also a great example of how preproduction bucks the system and find it's way on to retail shelves. We have some indication of how this might have occurred from this archived forum post from 2008, 8th post from the top, where the OP talks about speaking to his Dad who once worked at Irwin Toys about them, and he states "he said they used to receive in small batches of samples to show around (he was a salesman) to drum up interest in a particular item, and sometimes those productions never went ahead." To date, the Gen 1 has been found with a Zellers and Toys R Us, but the Gen 2 have only been found with Zellers price stickers.

Based on my research, and to my knowledge, this is the only known example of the unproduced Irwin Toys Voltron III Mini Lion (no. 700000) with yellow VOLTRON III logo, pictured alongside the Irwin Toys Deluxe (no. 700200) and Miniature (no. 700001) GoLions. It's existence confirms all iterations of the Irwin Toys carded Mini-Lion, including the white logo versions, to be mock-up prototypes.

I want to take a moment to give mad props to @Flaming_Telepath for being so helpful initially as the deal to acquire this piece got complicated very quickly at the beginning, and Nick was more than willing to help make it happen. Eventually things worked out a lot smoother and with it's arrival yesterday, I just had to share this discovery with you guys. Thank-you!

Edited October 17, 2018 by comicwiz

[Flaming_Telepath]

So glad it all worked out in the end, Joseph. Cool piece that I knew you simply had to have!

[fantastic_four]

I'm still re-emerging into the world of action figures via my son, and this week I bought him the new Marvel Legends Wolverine figure.  I'm mostly loving it, but I hadn't thought before about how challenging the claws are.  Can you even make a Wolverine figure with excellent claws that a kid won't break off or hurt themselves with?  This figure deals with that by making the claws easy to remove, but along with that I can't give them to my kid until he turns 7 or so since he'll lose them within days given how easy they are to fall off during rough play.  But luckily this figure comes with a spare set of hands with no claws, and that's what my son got until he's not playing with toys like my dog plays with bones.

Really nice figure.  I don't think it's as good as the RevolTech Wolverine, but it's still a wonderful figure that looks great.  

 

[Mickey7]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 7:49 AM, Buzzetta said:

Speaking of the art on the box, here is a question for @STORMSHADOW_80, @comicwiz, @followtheleader, and any other Joe Collectors...

Has anyone ever seen any of the vintage card art floating around in any auctions?  Hakes maybe?  I assume that the majority of it at this point is in black hole collections if it was ever even made available.  

 

I haven't seen any for sale, but there are some images of GI Joe card art & box art posted on comicartfans.com.  I'm sure many of you have seen these already, but for those that haven't check out michael Avila's gallery or search under "GI Joe Toy Art".  The pictures came from Hasbro's offices. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by Mickey7

[Gatchaman]

My third one.

[F For Fake]

8 hours ago, Gatchaman said:

My third one.

Still haven't seen Gorn, Spock, Frankenstein or Paul Stanley around here, and I've hit all of the stores multiple times. It's a shame, because this week the figures are 25% off, so the 14" figs are only $15 and the regular figs less than $10. Tremendous deals, if any of you are looking to get on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, I go to store after store, staring at the rows full of Tooties and Peggy Bundies.  

[Gatchaman]

7 hours ago, F For Fake said:

Still haven't seen Gorn, Spock, Frankenstein or Paul Stanley around here, and I've hit all of the stores multiple times. It's a shame, because this week the figures are 25% off, so the 14" figs are only $15 and the regular figs less than $10. Tremendous deals, if any of you are looking to get on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, I go to store after store, staring at the rows full of Tooties and Peggy Bundies.  

I'm part of a couple Mego FB groups and there are quite a few people who can't get certain wave two figs.  I am still looking for a Spock.

[oldmilwaukee6er]

The start of a new collection! Dr. Aphra action figures to supplement my comic run

(via Amazon, so I had to get two; keeping the best one on the card)

[Yorick]

17 minutes ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

The start of a new collection! Dr. Aphra action figures to supplement my comic run

(via Amazon, so I had to get two; keeping the best one on the card)

I saw a Rey the other day and really liked the new (old) card designs.  The problem with Rey was that the newly articulated elbow joint made her forearm look VERY long (and I declined to purchase her).  It does not look like Aphra suffers that issue.  Looks like I'll need to go search out an Aphra.... thanks a lot.

[Senormac]

On ‎10‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 5:03 AM, comicwiz said:

Back in mid August I posted about acquiring my white whale. I thought I had taken my research as far as I could, but there were still a number of questions which I wanted answered. Namely, why would Irwin Toys have produced a toy robot with a white Voltron III logo that didn't match the yellow logo used for it's other two produced toys. On Sept 4th, I posted a WTB in one of the largest vintage toy FB groups, hoping to potentially draw out more examples of the Irwin Toys Mini-Lion to further my research, and within an hour, something unbelievable happened. A member of the group posted this photo:

After picking my jaw up off the ground, I would spend the better part of a month trying to convince the owner to sell the yellow logo Voltron III Mini Lion to me, and about a month after he first posted the photo, a deal was done.

The find at the very least confirms that Irwin Toys had intended to produce this toy, but cancelled it for a variety of reasons. The white logo was used to distinguish it as a mock-up of the intended final version, and they had taken it through two generations of mocking-up. The first is distinguished by it's mismatched fists/feet, and the four numbered images above the matrix are the known specimen which I have tracked:

The second generation is mainly distinguishable by the colour matching of the fists and feet to the arms and legs. The packaging remains the same for this second generation mock-up:

The yellow logo Voltron III is the final version which Irwin Toys had intended to produce, and we know this not only because they finally matched both the figural toy robot and packaging with the correct colour to remain consistent with it's Miniature and Deluxe versions, but because the final version also shows for the first time in muliple iterations of mocking-up the copyright/license information and date, which is lacking in the first two generations of mock-ups:

Not only is this a cool discovery of an almost forgotten part of Canadian toy making history, and a great way to round out both my research and collection, but it's also a great example of how preproduction bucks the system and find it's way on to retail shelves. We have some indication of how this might have occurred from this archived forum post from 2008, 8th post from the top, where the OP talks about speaking to his Dad who once worked at Irwin Toys about them, and he states "he said they used to receive in small batches of samples to show around (he was a salesman) to drum up interest in a particular item, and sometimes those productions never went ahead." To date, the Gen 1 has been found with a Zellers and Toys R Us, but the Gen 2 have only been found with Zellers price stickers.

Based on my research, and to my knowledge, this is the only known example of the unproduced Irwin Toys Voltron III Mini Lion (no. 700000) with yellow VOLTRON III logo, pictured alongside the Irwin Toys Deluxe (no. 700200) and Miniature (no. 700001) GoLions. It's existence confirms all iterations of the Irwin Toys carded Mini-Lion, including the white logo versions, to be mock-up prototypes.

I want to take a moment to give mad props to @Flaming_Telepath for being so helpful initially as the deal to acquire this piece got complicated very quickly at the beginning, and Nick was more than willing to help make it happen. Eventually things worked out a lot smoother and with it's arrival yesterday, I just had to share this discovery with you guys. Thank-you!

That's pretty cool comicwiz.  

[Gatchaman]

Today's haul.

[Max Carnage]

Any love for SMDM ?

I also have a few Venus Space Probes, but not MISB like these.

[Spidey 62]

5 hours ago, Max Carnage said:

Any love for SMDM ?

I also have a few Venus Space Probes, but not MISB like these.

Ha!  Bigfoot.

[Gatchaman]

[comicwiz]

On 10/17/2018 at 3:29 PM, fantastic_four said:

I'm still re-emerging into the world of action figures via my son, and this week I bought him the new Marvel Legends Wolverine figure.  I'm mostly loving it, but I hadn't thought before about how challenging the claws are.  Can you even make a Wolverine figure with excellent claws that a kid won't break off or hurt themselves with?  This figure deals with that by making the claws easy to remove, but along with that I can't give them to my kid until he turns 7 or so since he'll lose them within days given how easy they are to fall off during rough play.  But luckily this figure comes with a spare set of hands with no claws, and that's what my son got until he's not playing with toys like my dog plays with bones.

Really nice figure.  I don't think it's as good as the RevolTech Wolverine, but it's still a wonderful figure that looks great.  

 

James, my kids enjoyed the Hasbro 2008 release Wolverine on motorcycle. The claws were fixed on Wolverine, but there are retractable claws on the motorcycle, and a cool X button on the tank that lights up when pushed, and makes a metal on metal noise when the claws retract. My kids put a lot of hours of play on the one we have, and the claws stick now, and doesn't make noise (probably a battery replacement thing). Kids are the best for stress testing toys . It's still in decent shape despite the above noted condition issues, if you want it for your son, it's yours.

Edited October 23, 2018 by comicwiz

[Buzzetta]

GI Joe mail call... 

All figures are unbroken and complete (yes even Tunnel Rat with those pesky flashlights) with tight or new toy stiffness in the joints.  There are no cracks in the crotch or elbows and no rust on the screws. Paint aps look like they are taken straight off the card except for swivel arm Scarlett. (Beggars cannot be choosers.) Eventually I will upgrade her by swapping out the arms on a straight arm version. 

From left to right and from pic one to pic two

• Tunnel Rat
• Motor Viper
• Copperhead
• Spirit with a vibrant shirt (many seem to fade) and an unbroken eagle
• Swivel Arm Scarlett
• Tiger Force Stalker (2015) version
• Techno Viper
• Lowlight (Yes, even with the bipod)
• Freefall
• Stalker - Battle Corps - last year of production
• Duke 
• Gung Ho
• Alpine
• Targat
• Strato Viper
• Red Star
• Gung Ho - Marine Dress Blues
• Annihilator 

In order to restore my original collection: By the numbers: 48 down... 62 to go. 

I spent a little chunk of change to pick these up along with a couple of modern Joes I liked... wish the eBay coupon gods would have aligned but these were mostly bought through bidding on auctions from a few sellers that were offering up their collections. Coupon was offered tonight though so let's see what happens. 

 

[followtheleader]

The 87 Gung Ho is notoriously bad.  Kudos in finding a high grade version. 

Patrick

[Buzzetta]

And once again, this is why we don't buy MOC GI Joes... This is someone else's figure and not mine... 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-GI-JOE-1982-AFA-75-STALKER-ARAH-HASBRO-series-1-9-back-straight-arm-MOC/223149046122?epid=1800039540&hash=item33f4b8396a:g:Oy0AAOSwf8FbnwcL:rk:12:pf:0

Sure that's an AFA 75?