Blue SWAT figure by Bandai 1994

I have recently gotten into a kick of buying older Japanese toys. Lots of vinyl and diecast toys, stuff from the late 70s to fairly current releases. It came when I had a certain desire to branch out into something different than what everyone else is talking about and reviewing. It also comes from a lack of being wowed by most modern release toys. Most of the best stuff hitting shelves right now is coming from companies like Marvel Select, Mezco, NECA, DC Direct, and other "specialty retailer" companies who are putting forth a lot more effort in their releases than Hasbro, Mattel, and Playmates. I've come across some really awesome pieces over the last 6 months, and some of them I found at the flea market.

I found this still boxed Blue SWAT figure on E row at the Oldsmar flea market only a month ago. You never know what you'll find stashed in old flea market booths and this particular booth was full of all kinds of treasures, shame most of them I owned already. Tucked behind Marvel Famous Covers figures on a rear shelf was this boxed figure. Originally it had an outrageous price tag of near $60 on it, after talking with the owner and seeing that the figure was missing a gun and shoulder pad he dropped the price significantly. I'm not usually much for an incomplete figure that I may never find the pieces for but at the final price he was willing to give me the figure for, I'll deal with it.

The premise of the show is a Space Mafia invades Earth while the human race is busy tearing itself apart with war and crime (some elements of pollution too because it's the 90s!). The Japanese government establishes the Blue SWAT, a military-like world police to combat the evil Space Mafia. Things go awry when an alien infects the chief of Blue SWAT, causing him to blow up headquarters and all but three Blue SWAT members perish in the explosion . Members Show, Sig, and Sara are left alone to defend Earth from the Space Mafia with their assortment of equipment and weapons.

 

 

 

Blue Swat was the 13th installment of the Metal Hero Series from Japan. Those not familiar with it, some of the Henshin Hero footage from the Space Sheriff series was used to make VR Troopers and Juukuo B-Fighter was used to make Beetleborgs. Watching these series in their original entirety is nothing short of amazing and sure makes what we grew up with seem very juvenile. In Japan, Blue SWAT was not well recieved by their children's demographic due to it's very sinister undertones but the adults loved it. Airing for 51 episodes and a full length movie, Blue SWAT still remains one of my favorite hidden gems of the Henshin genre.

The Blue SWAT figure I got at the market was Show. He comes packaged wearing a blue lame' sleeveless jump suit and snap on armor pieces. I wasn't really too impressed until I noticed the chestplate was heavy die-cast metal and hinged instead of being made into two pieces that snap together. He doesn't look like much in the package but fully suited up he's got a great Daft Punk look to him. All of the larger weapons have firing mechanisms and great details like flip down shoulder rests, red "laser" lights or sights. Every crate opens up to store equipment and the smaller cases have alcoves to fit the specific weapons inside. Unfortunately, one of the cases is missing a pistol but it doesn't really take away from the overall displaying of the figure. One of the best things about the figure nearly being complete is the instructions were tucked away inside. A great bonus for a 20 year old toy from the other side of the world.

TMNT Classics Bebop and Rocksteady Toys R Us exclusives

I was very lucky to fall into the brand new TMNT classics Bebop and Rocksteady just a few days before Thanksgiving. I will never understand the mentality of releasing toys the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas, it's infuriating when you collect modern toys and one of the many reasons I don't chase down toys at retail anymore. This was one of those exceptions for sure. While I didn't pick up the turtles I had made plans to get Bebop and Rocksteady from the moment they showed the production samples. I had my pre-order in with one of the major online retailers but when my order was cancelled (due to it being announced as a TRU exclusive) I knew I'd find myself wandering the aisles of Toys R Us with other forsaken man-children like myself. One good thing about the local TRU near me is it's rarely busy with other collectors so if there's something I want I can get it with little to no struggle which is good, after the 2nd strike out at retail I either give up looking for the figure or contemplate making an eBay purchase.

Rocksteady

Rocksteady comes in 6 inch scale with ample amounts of articulation, detail and decent paint applications. He also comes with updated reproductions of the original weapons he was packaged with in the late 80s; a military knife that would make Crocodile Dunee proud and some kind of automatic assault rifle that you'd expect to see Terry Crews carry in the Expendables movies. In fact, after mentioning that I would love to see Crews play Rocksteady, someone in Hollywood make this happen for me. Anyways, he comes with the standard display base with Rocksteady printed on it. the figure is a great mixture of 3 sources of media; the TMNT comic book, cartoon and original Playmates figure. The package is even embossed with the statement "inspired by the 1988 release". The face sculpt really stands out on this figure, it's probably my favorite part of the whole toy. The only fault I really found with him was the goggles weren't painted on his helmet like they were in the production samples but the helmet is removable with for me kind of balances out that flaw.

Bebop

Bebop was my favorite of Shredder's bungling henchmen. I was always drawn to the really rebellious punk look about him with his signature purple mohawk and matching sunglasses set him apart from Rocksteady. Bebop is reimagined in 6 inch scale by taking the best of what made him visually stunning in the TMNT comics, cartoon and Playmates figure. Bebop also has roughly the same range of articulation that Rocksteady has. He's looks a great deal bulkier than Rocksteady and comes with a reproduction of his signature drill gun. Sadly, Playmates omitted his other weapon from his debut figure; the trash can lid shield. While for most people it won't cause too much of a big deal to die hard fans it's kind of a glaring omission. I guess becuase he's a hair broader than Rocksteady they decided to do without the shield, for $20 I guess I expect too much. It's still a great figure either way.

 

 

I know I said I didn't get the turtles and I still don't plan on getting them any time soon unless they are on the cheap side. Roughly 2/3 of the ones I found at retail had off-centered eyes; they were either lazy eyed, cross eyed or wall eyed. The only "perfect" ones I found were at conventions and I wasn't willing to pay 30% over retail to get better painted ones. Even at that the turtles a friend of mine got suffered from Marvel Legenditis, where the knee or ankle joints (or both) got weak and couldn't support the weight of the figure. I have an intolerance to figures that collapse for no reason, especially when they "domino" other figures along with them. It's part of the reason I don't own Marvel Legends figures anymore (the other part was they were worth a ton of money and I was between jobs so they had to go). Anyway, even with the heafty price tag of $19.99 each at Toys R Us ($22.99 in some markets, check your local one for pricing) they are totally worth picking up and I don't get excited by modern figures much anymore unless they are imports or some kind of special release. Good for fans of the OG series and people just picking up on how cool TMNT is.

Police Academy Hand Cuffs by Kenner

(super high resolution pictures of this and more here)

I think here at Raging Nerdgasm we revel in older toys. There's a certain undeniable charm to them, they come from a day and time in the past where today's political correctness didn't exist and they represent the period in world history. Megatron represented a simpler time where kid's playing with toy guns wasn't demonized the way it is today, 2 foot tall jumbo Shogun Warriors shot missiles and fists hard and quick enough to put an eye out or otherwise seriously injure your siblings and LJN wrestlers were made out of enough petroleum that three to five of them could have filled your gas tank if they'd remained in their crude form. I'm drawn to these toys, not only as a child of the 80s and 90s but as a toy and pop culture historian. Today, while digging through all the treasures in my storage I found something I couldn't pass up talking about.

In 1988, banking on the success at the box office, Warner Brothers had Ruby-Spears productions create a Police Academy cartoon show. The show only lasted a year but they squeezed two seasons out of the thin premise (remember, they were still making Police Academy movies through the 90s) and even a short run comic book series (via Marvel/Star Imprint Comics). The show even had a theme song by then popular "The Fat Boys" and featured them in two episodes if I remember clearly. The real jewel of this cartoon was the toys. Let's face it, the 90s brought us toys based off of R rated properties like Alien, Predator, Robocop and Terminator but Kenner used the cartoon as an excellent segue to introduce kids to the characters made famous by their cinematic counterparts. The series was great, covering every member of Commandant Lasard's team and a good selection of their nefarious no-good-nics they locked up in each episode. The line also had it's share of tie-in accessories so kids could play out the cartoon action in their own living room. Wallet with badge, tear gas cans, policeman's hat with radio but the stand out piece for me was the handcuffs.

(more pictures here)

Growing up I never got the role play pieces of my favorite lines. Just like my explanation from past blogs when I discussed carrying cases, my money was spent acquiring figures and vehicles and playsets. That and also I was big for my age and holding a Sword of Omens looked dumb and carrying around a Proton Pack looked even more silly. It's almost even funnier being a grown man tracking down these pieces I never owned but I can't say I specifically hunted them down, I just pick up what comes my way. I found these Police Academy handcuffs in a dollar bin at a flea market months ago. These are great, giant comically over-sized hands that "lock" into place around whomever's wrists you choose. I can see these being a personal favorite if I had them as a child, I think the ridiculous factor is key in making these just that much cooler than a sword or even another piece of role play from the Police Academy line. Mine, most unfortunately, came without the keys but luckily they aren't a piece necessary to be able to enjoy the handcuffs.