Is it just Toy Boy, or was the best part about a Slinky these darn commercials!?! Seriously, although admittedly the recipient of cheap, plastic knock-offs as a kid (and probably the reason behind them not working exactly as depicted in the true metal Slinky fashion) Toy Boy really never saw the fascination with this toy. Put it on the stairs, let it creep down one or two - feh. Then it woud fold in on itself and the “fun” would over. Nonetheless, this toy remains a popular choice of collectors the world over. Am I in the minority here or what? Drop me a line and let me know. In the meantime, take a gander at this classic toy commercial - Slinky! Thanks for visiting!
Here’’s a rather different collectible you rarely hear people talk about — drinking glasses. God knows Toy Boy has quite an assortment of these, too. I think it all started for me when Burger King had the Star Wars promotional tie-in back in 1977. I”ll never forget that during, no lie — the one real, week-long vacation we ever took as a family, not one but TWO different people failed to get me the fourth and final glass. I was devastated when I returned home from a great week of fishing and swimming (not to mention coloring in a felt Star Wars Millennium Falcon poster) at a Northern cottage, only to find that both either “forgot” and just didn”t even bother going.
Alas, even my partial collection would have to be replaced eventually anyway, given that — like so many other moms during the day — we actually used the glasses. And what happens when ya use glasses? That’’s right. They break. To their credit, it seemed that, by the time The Empire Strikes Back rolled around, Burger King made the glasses a tad thicker.
Along the way, collectors will often see these glasses going anywhere from $7-15 each at flea markets and such, and for my money, they are a cheap, authentic movie collectible. Toy Boy’’s heart was actually warmed when I heard that McDonald’’s actually put out a series of Shrek 3 glasses this past Spring. Nice to see the tradition continuing.
Back in the day, all it took was one showing of a commercial such as this to send a rotund Toy Boy waddling down to a fast food joint to pick up the latest glass. Remind me sometime to tell ya about the Revenge of the Sith madness I experienced in trying to collect all 30 toys. Oi vey. I must have gained 20 pounds that month — and no, I”m not kiddin”. Little did I realize you can just wait and get the whole darn collection off Ebay after the fact, and most times? For cheaper.
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Wow!Doc received the best news ever the other day when pics of the DC Direct Jack Kirby New Gods action figure line hit the net! Behold true believers!:
Similar in style to the Darwyn Cooke inspired New Frontiers figures, this line actually uses the art of The King himself for the designs of the figures, from the square jaws and squiggly accents to the chunky fingers! Kirby created the New Gods and the entire Fourth World Saga back in the 1970′’s when he abruptly and controversially left his Marvel Comics Group home of almost 20 years for more writing credit and creative control over his properties, and brought his new cosmic creations to DC Comics.
Though the original series had mostly brief runs due to low sales, many of the characters he created during that short stay at DC still make major contributions to the DC mythology today.
The first assortment is set to include New Genesis heroes Orion, Lightray and the master escape artist Mister Miracle, as well as the evil ruler of Apokolips, the ever popular Darkseid. Each figure features multiple points of articulation and a custom base and are expected to be in storesApril 30, 2008. Heres hoping this line is popular enough to spawn Kamandi, Omac and The Demon figures shortly down the road!
For more insight into Jack ”The King” Kirby’’s New Gods Saga have a look at this awesome interview from The Masters of Comic Book Art hosted by the one and only Harlan Ellison interviewing the man himself:
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By Toy Boy
