But before those two lines even thought about popping up, one company's line of action figures had me hooked as a kid: Toy Biz.
Yes, back then multiple points of articulation and pose-ability weren't at the forefront, or at the very least, as advanced as today's action figures. Just check out old pictures, or if you were lucky enough to get your hands on some back then, you know what I mean. I was so fortunate that my parents indulged me so much in buying sooo many figures, even if they were probably sick of them. But I was in love with the toy biz figures, specifically the X-Men line. I remember when they 1st started out with the first wave of figures. They weren't the best looking, but they were at least a decent starting-off point.
Remember these? I had everyone but Juggernaut, Storm, and Apocalypse. I guess in part due to an availability problem with Jugger and Apoc, but mostly because I didn't care for they way they were made, and probably because Storm was girl. Yeah I know how sexist of me, but that's how I rolled back then.
As the years went on, the line got better, the figures got better and included more variety. Then the X-Men cartoon started on FOX, and that really got the ball rolling, both for the toy line and for my rapid buying of these figures. God I miss the old X-men and Spider-Man cartoon on FOX. Batman too. How awesome was that show huh? Maybe later I'll devote an entire post about my love of that show. Even my fiancee' loved that show, and she isn't a major comic fan, but she did like Batman.
*On as an aside, I think FOX was fucking stupid for cancelling their cartoon line-up. Yes in later years it sucked, with shows about animated Pinatas, Fairies, and numerous Sonic and TMNT reboots, but they could have dumped all that for more quality shows. It's a shame that the then WB network picked up where FOX left off, showcasing Batman, a new X-men series, and even a LOSH cartoon series. Off course you'd also be stuck with duds like Yu-ge-oh! and Pokemon. I'm sorry, but I just could never get into those shows, and the fads they inspired at the time. I maybe considered a nerd or geek for apologetically loving comic books, but I draw the line at card games and D&D. Yeah, some may say "Hey what's wrong with those?". I say if you like 'em fine, but it's not my cup of tea son.
Anyways, back to the main topic, I loved the X-Men toy line. They made a crap load of Wolverine figures of course, but they did put out figures you wouldn't normally see, and still don't in the ML equivalent. Figures like Cyclops's dad Corsair, Strong Guy, Havok in his X-Factor duds, Forge, Kylun from Alan Davis' Excalibur, Trevor Fitzroy, the X-cutioner, and more. Hell even one of the Reavers, Bone-Breaker, had his own figure!
I also collected some of the figures from the animated-inspired Spider-Man line, collecting Kraven, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Carnage, Dr.Octopus(he was my favorite from that line), and a few others.
Here's a picture gallery of all or most of the toy biz figures I used to own. Enjoy:
Yeah that's enough! You get the idea, I had alot of these fuckers around the house.
Okay, have a good 4th of July weekend and drive safe!
4 comments:
I still keep a Toy Biz Nightcrawler figure--the one with the suction cups--in the front window of my apartment.
That's cool Goo. I used to have one myself, but quickly got tired of the suction cups, and in a moment of youthful stupidity, cut them off. Yeah, it looked as bad as it sounds.
Feel free to comment more often on any other posts you like; I strongly welcome any debates or simple little words here or there.
that first wave of X-men figures was dreadful. Wolverine's mask was removable and it looked like something out of Merdi Gras when it was on. plus they weren't very articulated either. they just all around sucked.
They were. I had the Wolverine figure as well, and as ridiculous as it was, it was the best toy biz could do at the tie. They got much better at making figures as the years went on. But yes, that first wave weren't as good as maybe they could have been. I still liked Cyclops' light-up gimmick, and the actual magnets hidden inside the Magneto figure were also cool for the time period.
Thanks for the comment.
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