My irrational love for Count Duckula - A Raging Nerdgasm Moment

(a brand you can trust)

I have, what I will describe as, an irrational love for "things". I get hung up on stupid things, it's one of my admitted shortcomings. I make lists of these things; toys, cartoons, video games, restaurants, hamburgers, ways to prepare macaroni and cheese, costumed Disney characters, etc. These lists go on and on forever, I probably have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder if you analyze it hard enough. If I was to compile a list of cartoons I love irrationally, Count Duckula is probably near the top for sure. Granted, the cartoon doesn't exactly hold up well against re-watching it now that I'm an adult but honestly which cartoons do? He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is hard to watch (even harder to watch without making a few "gay" jokes to pass the time), Thundercats is pretty much a snore-fest (I swear the lady voicing Cheatara was smoking blunts in between takes) and C.O.P.S, (for as great a concept as it was) seems exceedingly childish when watching it as an adult. Believe me I know these cartoons are made for kids but they seemed so amazing when I was younger. So their mission was accomplished at least, they were entertaining. Not every cartoon can have the staying power of Batman: The Animated series, Pinky and the Brain, Gargoyles, Animaniacs or even Darkwing Duck/DuckTales (I count them as one continuity, but I'll explain that in another blog). Without further lamenting over ancient cartoons, I give you my irrational love for Count Duckula.

(That is one epic intro)

Count Duckula was a British cartoon that made it's way into American homes care of the fine folks at Nickelodeon. This was far before NickToons was established and the channel got a lot of it's programming from secondary sources outside the USA (You Can't Do That On Television was Canadian). The first time I saw it was when it debut on the channel back in the late 80s and I couldn't have been more than 7 at the time. I was already a strange little kid, trading playtime outside with other kids on Saturday morning and afternoon for watching network TV cartoon programming blocks and Dr Paul Bearer's Saturday afternoon Creature Feature or trading birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese for getting massive hauls of video games and toys instead (a $200 birthday party equals a lot of loot, especially when you get to do the shopping). A cartoon about an animated vampire duck was totally up my alley in a big way.

(that's a hell of a family)

The cartoon starts off dark and eerie with a gloomy castle, a lightning storm, a pentagram and a deep voiced narrator. Oh yeah, it's getting really good now. The explanation of the character thickens as they go on to saying that he's been killed several times in the past and can only be resurrected once every 100 years while the moon is in the eighth house of Aquarius. This is awesome for me because even as a little kid I knew the references they were making to the Hammer Horror films. Ketchup accidentally gets substituted for the blood needed for the incantation to go correct and out springs Count Duckula the 17th......the world's first and only vegetarian vampire duck? Needless to say I was confused but still engaged and interested enough to keep watching.

(Duckula as seen on Danger Mouse)

The good count made his first appearance in the Danger Mouse cartoon as a reoccurring bad guy. They make a correlation between the appearances in the Count Duckula cartoon by having him wear Danger Mouse pajamas. It's said that every time the count is resurrected he has no memory of his previous lives and no preset disposition (besides the blood sucking thing but CD the 17th breaks that mold). They compliment the character by giving him a stereotypical gothic butler who is rather disappointed in him not being a vampire and an oafish hulk of a nanny who's certainly stronger than she is smarter. Even the antagonists give more throwbacks to classic horror such as Dr Von Goosewing, a send off to the classic vampire hunter Van Helsing. The Count also doesn't suffer from the Dracula cliches like being deathly allergic to sunlight. I never count the whole steak to the heart thing because I haven't met a person on this planet that can withstand that wound. The show is entertaining and does a decent job of spoofing classic Dracula lore and hit me at an influential time where that love for classic horror needed to be fed in a particular way.

(not the signed copy, it's in storage at the moment)

As for feeding my irrational love for the cartoon, I have done well if I say so myself. I have a t-shirt with the cartoon logo on it and the entire series on DVD and digital download. I have the entire comic book run with 2 copies of the Geraldo Rivera issue, one signed by Geraldo himself about 4 years ago when I sent him two copies and graciously asked him to sign one in return. I'm fairly certain I can  recite the theme song from beginning to end (I'm less proud of that now that I'm reading it typed out). Recently, while trying to feed my need for another piece of Count Duckula memorabilia, I lost an auction for a bootleg articulated figure from Argentina made exclusively for the South American market. That was a sad day but there's never just one of anything in the world. I set my sights on eBay but little did I know where my next fix for Count Duckula was coming from.

(the spoils of the hunt)

 And my most recent addition to feed my addiction was licensed Count Duckula figurines from a defunct company called Star Toys of Spain. Star Toys made licensed toys for the European market like figurines for the likes of the WWF, they also made highly desirable 14 inch WWF figures with tons of accessories and rooted hair like a doll. I had seen the gamut of Count Duckula related merchandise and never been impressed enough to buy any of it. T-shirts I can make at home with iron on transfers, mousepads are silly keepsakes and I can't bring myself to buy a Count Duckula costume; I'm way too fat to even attempt it as a joke. I knew that one day I'd come across something worth buying. And hopefully that day would come before I was forced by my irrational admiration for the series to buy something silly, forcing my hand in the name of fandom to spend money against my better judgement.

                                     

I'm glad my wife found these while hunting at the local flea market. Buying things online is tough when you aren't familiar with the product. For all I know these could be complete garbage and not worth the time or money to import ( older European toys rarely show up at conventions or shops and worldwide shipping is the bane of my existence). My wife saw them in a flea market booth weeks ago hiding in a rotating jewelry case full of other figurines. 2 of the Count and 1 of Dr Von Goosewing, I normally don't buy variants of main characters but with a great collection comes great responsibility to buy everything you see. Luckily the booth owner was someone we have bought things from in the past so she took pity on me and gave me a decent enough price break considering the rarity of the items in question.

The standing Count Duckula is probably my number one favorite out of the three I purchased. As for likeness he gets a strong A+. The paint job is a little chalky looking and at first I thought it was an eraser but it really does match the cell shaded, unremastered glory that is the original source material. It's like both the figure and the cartoon gracefully aged together. I'd even consider using this as a birthday cake topper for myself in the near future I like it so much. Don't question my logic here.......

The guitar playing Count Duckula is probably my least favorite of the three I purchased. He was the one where I reasoned with myself about already buying two figurines and even though it
was a variant of the main character, when would I see this again in my hand. Once again irrational love wins over logic and it cost me another $8.

Dr Von Goosewing was an excellent addition to the score. Totally my second favorite of all three, usually you see Igor the butler or Nanny online but I haven't seen Goosewing while I've been hunting. The sculpt is great, they nailed everything from his spats to the crosshairs on his gun ( a blunderbuss!) . An exciting find and a total win for my collection. My wife has a very keen eye and without it I'd still have a need to add these to my collection.

1978 Bendy Godzilla from GLJ

If I was asked which character in history has had the most impact on my life, I would have to say Godzilla would more than likely outrank Benjamin Franklin but would be just about equal with Nikola Tesla. Godzilla has been a very big part of my life, it was the first monster movie I was introduced to as a child. Throughout my earlier childhood and up to her death, my grandmother bought me Godzilla toys for my birthday on a yearly basis. Several Imperial brand Godzillas, the Shogun Warriors one from Mattel, numerous model kits and even a couple of Horizons large vinyl figures. She had a connection with someone in her doll club who's daughter was a professional wrestler in Japan and every so often I got 3-6 inch Bandai vinyls too. This, of course, led me to buying Godzilla and other Kaiju toys into my adult life. But there has been one particular Godzilla I've wanted for a very long time.

(I just like this photo.)

(carded photo care of www.plaidstallions.com)

Well, there's several I want to add to my collection but one in particular that's been slightly out of my price range and pretty much unbeknownst to me until recently. Back in the mid-late 70s, AHI made many monster related toys. Granted, for an officially licensed product of Universal Studios and by today's standards the designs are comical and childish looking but they hold a particularly fond place in my heart. I mentioned in an earlier blog I had acquired an AHI Dracula and I consider him a prized possession, but it fueled the fire to acquire more of the collection. These are a pricey venture, even loose and beat up AHI bendies fetch $30+ and I just can't consciously spend that much on something I know I'll find in a 4/$1 bin at a flea market. I'm good at biding my time till a deal comes my way. Even Creature from the Black Lagoon and King Kong got in on the AHI bendy action but, sadly, no Godzilla. He wasn't part of the Universal Monsters, Godzilla belongs to Toho and Toho rarely ever licenses their brands outside Japan. But one day while searching Plaid Stallions website I found the perfect Godzilla to compliment the AHI collection I was amassing.

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

A company I'm still researching about released a licensed Godzilla bendy very much in the same vein as the AHI monsters. In 1978, GLJ released a bendy Godzilla on a very goofy looking card depicting the figure itself engaged in battle within what looks like a model train table. Honestly, the creativity makes me want a carded example even harder now. During one of my recent trips to Planet Retro in downtown St Pete I saw a loose bendy Godzilla nestled between different sofubi in a glass cabinet. I was already there on another mission to buy something for my wife so I had to take a gamble and leave it behind till my next payday. The owner of the shop and I are cool and he would have held it for me, I just have a strange thing about being one of "those guys" who gets into a habit of having friends hold things for me till I got the money to buy it. I'm very particular how I handle business, I pay people what they want and if I can't afford it then let someone else buy it. It's a strange thing to some people but being a vendor at times myself, I've gotten to be a very "money talks" kind of guy. To make an already long story short, I came back and bought it.

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

Finally getting the GLJ Godzilla in hand makes me happy I didn't get him when I was a kid. I was never rough with my toys but he has a feel about him like he wouldn't survive long in the pocket of an rambunctious 7 year old. He's the right color green to be complimentary to the memory of the Godzilla he represents and the spines that run down his back and tail are painted white at the tips so the stand out against the green. The whole body is given a black paint wash to make what I assume is their idea of sculpted scales to pop out. The scales in question make Godzilla look more like your fingers after a long swim, all pruned and wrinkled. The look on Godzilla's face is somewhere on the scale of "I want to give you a hug" and "I want to give you a hug and poke you a little with my penis....and maybe eat your face". The big goofy grin is infectious though, I could just sit and stare at this toy and still get the same kind of joy out of it in a year from now that I'm getting at this moment. It is a bendy and while all of the wires in mine are intact, the thickness of Godzilla's body prohibits much of the movement. The tail bends freely but only looks good in it's original prone position. I still consider the toy a win for myself and my collection, I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't felt differently. There's a lot of crappy Godzilla merchandise but this is far from it.

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

(www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm)

Don Bluth Game Trilogy

About Don Bluth

Many of us in our late 20’s to early 40’s are very familiar with the name Don Bluth.  He started his career working for the Walt Disney Studios as an animator.  He didn’t start making a name for himself until shortly after Walt Disney died in 1966.  After such a sad event for the company, Bluth was granted the opportunity to directed several animated films such as “The Rescuers” and “Pete’s Dragon”.  During the 70’s ,the quality of Disney animation was dropping and there were fears that the Disney Studios might shut down.  As a result several artist including Bluth went on and created their own company called Don Bluth Productions.  As an animation house they went on and created many of the 1980’s and early 1990’s animated classics we all still recognize such as “Secret of NIMH”, “An American Tail”, “All Dogs Go to Heaven”, "We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story", lets not forget that never ending series “Land Before Time”, and his final major project in (2000) “Titan AE”.  

Bluth's Game Ventures

What a lot of people forget is that Bluth also pioneered into the world of video games for several platforms in the 1980’s.  The most memorable ones are “Dragon’s Lair” (1983), “Space Ace” (1983), “Dragon’s Lair II: Timewarp” (1991).

Through the years, these games have been release and re-release in several platforms.  In each released the gameplay was extremely frustrating as you play along a non linear storyline that had questionable reaction to the controllers.  However regardless of how frustrating this made players, these games hold a special place in our lives.  In fact its influence is so epic, that these games have come back in a modern gaming platform known as the Apple iOS systems for our iPhones and iPads.

You may ask yourself what company would be brave enough to tackle such an iconic a frustrating game? Well; none other than EA Games, who else.

 Dragon’s Lair

 

When you first see the game on the trailer (back then or now) it looks like a movie and you wonder what the game is like. The game play features a sequence of arrows you have to hit with your controller in order to make it through the dark castle to rescue the princess. I compare it to a torture version of the Simon game with gorgeous visuals. The sad part is that at times you know you have hit your controller at the right moment but you still die over and over again.  Most of us witness more epic deaths than epic progress but luckily the animation is good and funny.  After a while, people who are dedicated to play this game develop a list of favorites death scenes.  

As bad as the game play is you will be amazed that is has been released in Arcade form, Sega CD, CD-i, Game Boy Color, NES, PC, DVD, HD DVD, Blu Ray Disk, Playstation Network for PS3 and PSP, Nintendo Wii, DSWare, and iPhone and iPads.  You will also be amazed to know that there’s a second game to this series. So I guess the fans do love punishment.  

The Dragons Lair app is available at the Apple's App Store for only $0.99. Shortly after opening the app you will realized that nothing has changed. This includes the poor maneuvering, the confusing game play but with the awesome death scenes that taunt you in your tiny iPhone screen, you'll continue to play it over and over again.

Dragons Lair App
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragons-lair/id341833414?mt=8

Drgons Lair Comic Book App This is also available to download for free, however the app comes with one free comic, but you have to pay $1.99 for the other comics.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragons-lair-comics/id500760670?mt=8 

 Space Ace

So imagine you just picked up not just one but maybe two next generation games including this golden oldie called Space Ace.  Both  “Dragons Lair” and “Space Ace” were released in the same year trying to market on this new technology.  Sadly, because they were both developed around the same time, the technology did not get any better. They simply carried the same problems over to another game. So yes, this game is equally frustrating but it’s also a classic.

Just like it’s predecessor the game has been release multiple times as well. This game has been released in Arcade form, 3DO, Amiga, Apple IIGS, CD- i, Jaguar CD, PC, Atari ST, Sega CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Wii, DSiWare, iPhone,and  PS3.  This game makes it part of the Don Bluth Trilogy games.

Unlike Dragons Lair that only cost you $1,  Space Ace will cost you a few more bucks.  At the App Store you are looking at around $4.99 for the game, but you will have the same fun frustrating time you had the first time you played it with a joystick.

Space Ace
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/space-ace/id314133588?mt=8


If the App experience is not your cup of tea, keep in mind you can picked up all three of the games for the Wii so you can enjoy it with not just yourself but also taking turns with the family.  

Article by Ana Bruja-Khayos

Hare Krishna Zombie by NECA Toys

Recently, I went a little crazy. While on vacation in Orlando, FL I walked into an independently run toy store with an abundance of NECA figures I hadn't picked up and regretted it. Face it, toys sometimes become a luxury when figuring out the monthly bills. Bi-annual insurance payments suck up my toy related spending cash for a month among other related living expenses. Well, without further fiscal bellyaching, let's get on with the blog.

One of the many NECA figures I picked up was the zombie Hare Krishna from George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Zombie movies were a big part of my early years, I was an adolescent raised on late night cable TV and monster movie marathons. George A. Romero's films were among my favorite, the action was fun and you got to a point in the movie where you actually started cheering on the zombies and hoped that no one survived the movie. One of those awesome scenes was from Dawn of the Dead where one of the human's in the cast almost became a snack for this particular zombie, in the mall stockroom. I actually remember booing when the Hare Krishna zombie missed Francine.

The NECA Hare Krishna figure didn't disappoint in the least. The paint applications are what you've come to expect of NECA's products, very clean and true to the movie character's designs. The orange robe is made out of a softer, rubbery plastic that allows some movement but the figure looks better on it's base than any other pose I could give him. I do like the paper box accessories the zombie comes with as well as the removable eye glasses and tambourine (there's a definite lack of tambourine accessories in the action figure world) . All in all an excellent figure and one you should consider adding to your collection if you get a chance.

Even more pictures at
Raging Nerdgasm on Flickr

A Raging Nerdgasm moment on the Matty Collector/ MOTUC debacle

(Raging Nerdgasm: A logo you can trust)

So, the time has come to decide whether you want to support this year's Matty Collector's MOTUC line. We've all read the warnings and "threats" that if they don't reach the "magic" number for subscriptions this year. A good portion of die hard He-Man fans have taken these warning to heart and ordered multiple subscriptions to show their loyalty to the line, Scott "Toy Guru" Neitlich has gone online numerous times since SDCC explaining how serious this event is and the consequences of not reaching the "magic" number and they've even had the acting talents of Pons Maar and Anthony De Longis (Saurod and Blade respectfully from the late 80's sci-fi epic Masters of the Universe, I use epic loosely but I'm sure you got the idea) as well as the sculpting talent behind the MOTUC (the 4 Horsemen) pleaded for you to buy a subscription. I know all of He-Man.org, the Pop Culture Network, The Great Rebellion and talents such as the folks from BKBN and Pixel Dan have begged the fans to take a moment of their time and buy into the $505 membership (and that's before taxes and shipping charges). I have been asked my opinion over the last 20 days, give or take, about my stance on the MOTUC in Crisis. I've been supportive on a person to person basis, explaining the pros and cons of it all and encouraging those who could afford it to subscribe and those who couldn't to just be willing to pay the applicable finders fees to be a cherry picker when the website runs out of stock.

(extra points if you hummed the NBC bars)

I consider myself a fan's fan, I try to answer every email in my inbox and do the best that I can to promote the companies I buy from. I enter forum discussions and take any questions and give an honest answer. If you can afford to and you want to, buy a subscription. If the last year's subscription was too much for you to handle, weigh your options and check your finances before buying into this year's subscription. At least this year's initial offerings from the line are much better than last year's Star Sisters announcement. I'm excited about MOTUC in 2013 but I'm not without my complaints.

(thanks to Poe Ghostal's site for this graphic, I think it still conveys the same feeling of frustration that it always has)

I enjoy the fan interaction and try to give them something that the larger toy companies cannot, one on one interaction and encouragement instead of "scary talk" and "threats" that some personalities do. All selflessly might I add, I buy everything I review out of pocket and receive absolutely no concessions from any retailer or company. My gripe is not with Mattel at large, they've done everything they can to round out people's short wishlist but they ballooned far too fast.

(remember the good old days when you couldn't wait for this site to open?)

They started out strong with the He-Man characters those of us in our late 20s to early 30s grew up with, they branched out to 200X Masters figures which were nice additions to the shelf but that's when it all started to get off course. Next came the introduction of Princess of Power figures and don't get me wrong, this is more on the money and on target than 200X figures any day. We get a Hordak, Bo and She-Ra and the fans get their first taste of POP sprinkled into their collection. Then we started getting New Adventures of He-Man figures, which is where you start to lose the purists. I personally loved the original NA line, I was always a space alien nut as a little kid and the idea of magic and sorcery was just bullshit I never really grasped. As a kid, I went through two Optikks and three or more Slush Heads because they went with me just about everywhere. Lastly, Mattel started getting into prototype figures like Demo-Man and Vikor or the newly released Vykron. I mean it's the middle of 2012 and not until a few weeks ago we hadn't even had a mention of Ram Man or other core characters that have yet to be made.

(the screen that prompted me to begin a regiment of nerve pills and lots of trips to the therapist) 

The line grew into this monster of a toy line, 16 basic figures and 4 quarterly "large" scale figures or army builders! That's a lot of frickin' toys even for me and I buy something pretty much everyday. That's not including your Ghostbusters subscription, Voltron subscription, DC Universe subscription and all the convention exclusives and surprise must haves such as the BTTF hoverboard, JLU 3 and 6 packs and other things. That's a whole hell of a lot of monthly charges, I hope you don't collect anything else or have aspirations to go on vacation or buy video games because your ass is spoken for; for the next 12 months.

(and you are forced to buy this piece of shit too)

Mattel does have it's faults, namely not holding Digital River accountable for their flubs (how many of you got that less than heartfelt apology from them this week?) and not being more hands on during production (i.e.- sloppy paint applications, backwards shoulders, wrong legs on Swiftwind, etc.). The He-Man branch off series slowly infiltrated the line and fans were stuck having to purchase Hurricane Hordak, Star Sister 3 pack, Bubble Power She-Ra and Thunder Punch He-Man which most fans felt kind of screwed when they got their monthly packages. Granted, they kind of whittled out the 200X figures but replaced them with equally confusing Battleground "variants" of Teela and Evilynn. A blonde Teela is slightly interesting but I still don't have a Meckaneck, poor move on making this a fan driven line. Also the mind boggling notion of making core characters like Orko and Queen Marlena convention exclusives not included in your base subscription.

(and then there's this asshole)

My main gripe is with the man in charge, the self proclaimed "toy guru" Scott Neitlich. For a guy who claims to have the fan's best interest in mind when going over things in motion for MOTUC, he has dropped the ball on more occasions than I care to mention. He's not very personable when it comes to the fans directly, his videos have all the pizzazz of a late night infomercial and he's been less than encouraging within the last few weeks of this membership drive. You are the face of a fan driven toy line, act like it for fuck sake. Answer direct questions when they are posed to you instead of skirting the issues at hand. Stop blaming cherry pickers when your line has given the fans a less than stellar 2012, own up to the mistakes made and push on. Cherry pickers or not, those assholes are buying your product so be nice to them.

(I just like this photo)

In the end my solution is make the MOTUC line a little more conservative considering the tough times most of your fans are experiencing. 1 figure a month is more than enough, maybe make the deluxe packs 3 times a year instead of 4 times and maybe skip the monthly figure that month (or some combination of that) and keep non essential figures like "battleground variants" or "prototype concept" figures limited to the conventions or special "website only" exclusives that people who don't want it can opt out. Keep Digital River accountable for their actions, they are selling your product with your name plastered all over it. Their flubs look just as bad on you as they do on them. And lastly, get rid of Scott "toy guru" Neitlich. He serves no real purpose anymore except as a joke to the collecting world.

Storm Hawk Toys by Irwin Toys

About the Storm Hawks
In 2007 to 2009, the world was introduced to a set of six inexperienced young sky riders preparing to follow the footsteps of the original “Storm Hawks” in the world of Atmos. Their world is based on floating sections of land that are known as “Terras” wish are each protected by a leading Sky Night and Squadron against the cruelty of Master Cyclonis and the Cyclonians. They are a re-emerging evil trying to pull their entire world under a dark rule under the Cyclonian Empire.  Our heros are faced with many challenges due to their young age and new social experiences, all while learning their new abilities and capabilities through their experiences as team.  Their adventures leads them to a path of grave danger, and an introduction to a wide array of new and interesting characters that will battle them and aid them in the quest to defeat Cyclonis. 

Storm Hawks Team (Radar, Stork, Aerrow, Piper, Finn, and
Junko).

About the Characters:

Storm Hawks:

Aerrow :  Is the leader and Sky Night of the Storm Hawks group.  Always with a positive attitude in the worst situations and willing to take large risk in order to beat Master Cyclonis. His spirit maintains the group together through good and bad times.  (Race: Human)

Piper:  Second in Command.  She deals with Navigation, Battle Tactics and an self taught Crystal Master. She is the brains of the group. She maintains her girly traits yet she's tough and down to earth. ( Race: Human)

Junko:  He deals with  Flight Engineering and Heavy Ballistics (Muscle of the Team).  He is very proud of his race and culture.  Sub Conscious about his height and strength, he still manages to really put in some heavy muscles when the team needs it all while keeping a very sweet and caring personality.(Race:Wallop)

Stork: While he’s very paranoid he is an expert at navigating, and maintaining their main carrier ship the Condor.  He is their Carrier Pilot and an expert with Atmos mythology. His one weakness is to have his Love the Condor being dented, altered or destroyed. (Race: Merb)

Finn : He is the Wingman and Sharp Shooter for the team.  Having an incredibly cocky and ignorant personality he can be a charming part of the team. (Race:Human)

Radar : Is the Mission Specialist and Mechanic for the team.  The first time you see him he just look like your standard group pet, but shortly after you learn he is as efficient as the other members of the team except that he doesn't talk.  The show they never specifies his race, but for what ever reason chickens are always falling in love with him.  Strange!!! (Race Unknown).

Cyclonian Top Soldiers (Ravus, Dark Ace, and Snipe).

Cyclonians:

Master Cyclonis:  Grand Leader of Cyclonia and Crystal Master Sorcerers. She might look like your standard emo teen girl, but she has a very ruthless personality that is feared by even the strongest members of the Atmos.

Dark Ace:  Lead warrior for the Cyclonian empire, also known as the Master Cyclonis right hand man.  Has an incredibly over bloated ego like your standard bad guy.  Once thought to be unbeatable, now is facing a constant streak of failure that is making his world turned upside down.

Ravus & Snipe:  Both of the siblings are top warriors of Cyclonis, but each one has their own specialty.  Ravus uses her deadly violin music to accomplish neat but dirty task that Master Cyclonis may have in motion.  Snipe is not very bright but he does compensate in brutal strength.

The Raptors:  Is a team of mercenaries for hire that mainly work for the Cyclonian empire.  They mainly roam in groups of 4 to 5 members, and tend to like missions in warmer weather.

Cyclonians Soldiers (Talens): They are suppose to be elite Cyclonian soldiers but the Storm Hawks tend to kick their butts very easily.

Merck Raiders:  Is their version of notorious pirates but in the sky.  These guys are so bad, even the Cyclonian army fears them.




About the Show and Production:

The show itself has two full season totaling fifty-two episodes.  The first ten to fifteen episodes seem like your standard introduction episodes, but they really start putting things together to an amazing storyline in the later part of the season by linking the stories of the past with the present, and building allies along the way that will help the new Storm Hawks in an epic battle at the end of the series.  For a 3D animated television series, they truly have great camera work that gives a sense that they are in the sky flying.  They are also doing these shots while at times having air battles with a large amount of characters per shot which makes it more fun and exciting to watch than your standard “1 on 1” battle.  Now... a word of caution, this is a show you can’t simply skip to the end because it will make no sense if you do.  The show at the end tops with an amazing climax that can easily produce another season or two.  I hope someday hey decided to revive the series.  It was truly amazing.  Sadly here in the US, only about thirty out of the fifty-three episodes aired before they pulled it off the air on Cartoon Network, but it’s ok that’s what DVD, Streaming Services, and online resources are for. LOL

A lot of people might not know this, but the Storm Hawks show was very popular and  it won four awards and was nominated five times at the Canadian “Gemini Awards” and the “Leo Awards” (2008-2009) for titles such as Best animated Program or Series, Original Score, Screenwriting, Best Director and Storyboards.  

The show had several companies involved in its production. For Storm Hawks Productions, this was their only project.  Nerd Corp Entertainment Ca. worked on the production of the Storm Hawks show and also on the production of Hot Wheel “Battle Force 5”, Dragon Boosters, The League of Super Evil, Rated A for Awesome, and recently Monster High “Escape from Skull Shores”. Finally, YTV who has an ungodly long list of production expirience and video properties they have distributed world wide (http://www.imdb.com/company/co0058689/).























Books and Comics:

The series also produced one book called Storm Hawks “Best Friends Forever” through scholastic Readers that was mainly aimed at the tween and teen demographic.


As far as I know only one comic book issues was ever release for the Storm Hawks, and there isn’t a lot known about it.  It was a Special Edition comic book done by the Canadian publishing company called DMF Comics Inc.  It feature three stories including the origins of the Dark Ace which are partially shown in the intro of the show, and Pin Up Art section drawn by some of the great talents of animation and comics.  I seen a couple of pages out of the book on-line and I personally wasn’t impressed by the book or the pin ups. So this is something I probably would not recommend to anybody. 

About The Toys:

Storm Hawks 4 inch and 6 inch figures with vehicles. 

It’s been awhile since a toy company has tried to stay true to the spirit of a show  and I believe Spin Masters really did a great job on this one.  I will warn you the packaging on these are big. While the sculpts on the characters could use a little work, they still hold the charm of the show that any fan would love to have and to own.  Sadly just like many other toy series, you will not find any of the female characters since they were never produce.  So have fun making your own. :D

4 “ inch figures

The four inch figures are very fun to handle. They all come with different weapons, and they are very posable. Some of the weapons have secondary functions like items that go over swords, arrows that shoot, and some of them connect together to make a larger weapon.  A word of caution, these are toys that are meant to be lightly played with. These toys are being held together by small thin plastic peg.  So is easy to break off.

Aerrow:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figures of Aerrow, 2 small wing swords, 2 small transparent blue sleeves that fit over the sword, and 1 small two inch Radar figure.

Finn:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Finn, 1 bow, and 1arrow.

Junko:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Junko with knuckle busters attached to the body, and 2 small clear green orb sleeves that go over his fist.

Stork: (kind of rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Stork with a giant steampunk gun.  The gun in made of one gray gun, a small black net, and 3 small missiles that attach to the end of the gun.

Dark Ace: (kind of rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch Dark Ace, 1 long sword, and 1 long clear red sleeve that sheves over the word.

Snipe: (extremely rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces: 4 inch Snipe, comes with 2 red and silver axes.  


Vehicles:


Condor Battle Cruiser by Spin Master
Packaging Size: Roughly 18 inches by 12 inches and a 4.5 inches width.
Pieces: Main ship, and three launching light weight type skimmer planes of Aarrow with Radar, Junko and Finn. Instructor manual.
Color: Orange, Brown, and Blue.  
Accompany Figures: All 4 inch figures.
Toy Features: Regular playing options that allow you to place 4 inch figures in secret compartments and created fighting adventures on top of the Condors Deck.  Second feature of the condor is that it allows you to launch lightweight skimmer planes from the deck with quick reload options. The Condor comes with a back handle that allows the user to enjoy this feature.



Storm Hawk Sky Riders by Spin Master

Aerrow's Skimmer III Ultra
Packaging Size: Roughly one 11 inches by 11.5 inches with a width of almost 3 inches.
Pieces: 1 motorcycle, 6 wings, and a miniature figure of radar that sits on the side card of the bike.
Color: Light blue, mid blue, red, and silver.
Accompany Figure: 4 Inch Aerrow Figure.
Toy Features:  The skimmer gives the user a great chance to play with is as both a motorcycle and as a plane. Wings pop off with a snap of a button.  


Dark Ace's Talon Switchblade Elite
Packaging Size: Roughly one 11 inches by 11.5 inches with a width of almost 3 inches.
Pieces: 1 motorcycle, and 6 wings.
Color: Maroon Color with dimed golden details.
Accompany Figure: 4 Inch Dark Ace Figure.
Toy Features:  The skimmer gives the user a great chance to play with is as both a motorcycle and as a plane. Wings pop off with a snap of a button.  



6” Deluxe Figures

Aerrow
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Only Arrow. Swords are attached to his hands.
Color: Browns, blue, silver and blue.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figures with Twist and Whirl Sword Action.  Action figure has a button on its back that lights up both the swords at the base when it’s pushed.  The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown). Batteries are included in the figure.

Dark Ace
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces:  Only Dark Ace. Swords are attached to his hands.
Color: Brownish grey, black, and red.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figures with Swirling Battle Action from the sword.  Action figure has a button on its back that lights up on the base of the red sword. The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown). Batteries are included in the figure.

Junko
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Junko figures, with a small ball in the shape of a bird.  Variant 1 - has a neon green ball. Variant 2 has a the ball painted like a white and blue bird.
Color: Browns, blue, silver, blue with neon green glove.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figure with Knuckle-Busters Punch and Blast.  If you are facing the figure, its right arm is a light transparent neon green color that glows if you press on his hand.    Left hand allows you to launch the small bird ball from his hand.  The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown).

Finn
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Finn figures comes with his crossbow, and one light blue arrow.
Color: Browns, blue, and silver.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figure with Trigger Action.  That’s pretty much it. LOL The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown).

More pictures of the toys on our Flicker Account. Chekc them out :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157630577403322/
Custom Piper 6 inch toy pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157630577415134/

Article By: Ana Bruja-Khayos