"Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end...."

I was just thinking the other day about my early years of collecting comics, and the types of comics that interested me at the time.
An early favorite that comes to mind is the Fantastic Four. I don't why this group of adventurers captured my attention, but they did. Maybe it was the simple, but cool costumes they wore. Maybe it was their super-powers. And maybe it was the family element that helped make me like them so much. I don't know, but something about the FF made me like them.

Long before I learned that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created these characters, and the history of the creators themselves(I only had a basic knowledge at the time that Stan Lee created a lot of the early Marvel characters, but knew even less about Jack Kirby. I know, I know, but I was just a kid at the time. I had to figure all the backstory out so don't blame me; I was a kid you know) I learned of the recent(at that time)adventures of the FF. Sure I knew about the old 60's cartoon, I even saw it once or twice, but the line-up I bought and read was totally different than than the roster I thought I knew.

Here's what happened:
My mom and I had gone to a yard-sale on base housing( I lived in West Germany back then) and I of course back then, was looking for mostly comics. I'm sure if I found some cool figures, or GI Joes or Transformers I'd have been just as happy. But my main  mission was to score some comic books. Well, at this particular yard-sale I hit paydirt. I found Fantastic Four#'s 313, 318-319, and I think 321. Not bad right?
Bear in mind I knew completely nothing about the current storylines that ran throughout those issues. Again, as in most cases back then, I fell for the cover and the art. If the story was well-written, then that was a bonus, but mostly I cared more for the art.

Anyway, I read #313, and even though I didn't know why the Thing looked different, or why there was a Ms.Thing, and even why this wasn't the classic FF line-up, I just knew I had just read a pretty cool issue...and the art was nice too!
Even though it was old hat to old or regular readers, the 19th million battle with the Mole Man was fun for me. I think I even felt sympathy for him since all he wanted to do was for him and his moloids to just be left alone. Hey, the Hulk wanted to be left alone too, so why didn't the Hulk just move in with the Mole Man?
And of course I though Crystal helping both Things stay cool was, well cool idea which suited her powers. And who couldn't feel the pathos of Johnny Storm fighting his old feelings of love for Crystal, despite being married to Alicia? Even at 7 or 8, I could still comprehend what a sticky situation that must have been for ol' match-head.

Then I read #'s 318-319, and damn did I really get into the FF then! I didn't know who Steve Englehart was, or anything about his previous work, all I knew was that this guy could really tell a story.

 #318 was exciting to me, because(at least for me) this was the 1st time Dr.Doom teamed up with the FF. I loved how this pissed the Thing off that he had to team up w/Doom since Reed wasn't there to provide his usually technical genius, thus why the need to team with Doom. I also liked how bad-ass Doom was portrayed in that issue, as Englehart makes a tough, bad-ass like Blaastar job to Doom; and by strangulation no less! I mean he seriously chokes him out as if they do in professional wrestling or Ultimate fighting.

Simply violent and awesome for a young kid.

But that's only the 1st part of why I loved this story. The 2nd, was the really and truly brutal attack by Dr.Doom on Owen Reese, the Molecule Man. At the time, that was the most violent attack I had ever seen!

Seriously, look at how bad Doom pwns MM here!

Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's one of many reasons why Doom is so fucking bad ass! Just look at the blood coming out of poor Owen's face people!

Of course Owen gets better since his powers saved him, but Doom didn't know that at the time.

The 3rd part, was the next issue, #319. I see the Beyonder the 1st time, and he's basically God, or a god. What's really weird is how the whole thing ends. The Shaper of worlds and Kubik shows up to tell the Beyonder that he's part of a whole, the whole being a Cosmic Cube. The Beyonder doesn't take this well, and just wants to live, just like the rest of us. Again, these issues had so much pathos that even as young as I was, I kind of got the deeper meanings attached to the story.

By issues' end, both the Beyonder and the Molecule Man fused together to form a new Cosmic Cube.

Oh, and Doom got his memories back.

All-in-all, I was hooked to this line-up and this creative team. They wouldn't stay very long after this "Secret Wars 3" thing, and the next issue I'd pick up was during the whole "FF and their evil dream clones" thing.

Yeah I was confused too.

"Hey, I remember those...."

My buddy Googum covered some forgotten toys a few weeks back, and it got me thinking about some other toys, namely from the 80's that haven't been brought back, but should. Yes, I know toy properties like the Thundercats, Silverhawks, and TNMT are back on the scene again big time with new toys, video games, and new shows on the way. So let me humbly submit 3 suggestions on toys from yesteryear that could be revamped and brought back.

1). Food Fighters

 

Yes, god love Mattel because they put these weird warriors out from 1988-89. Billed as "Combat At Its Kookiest!", the Food Fighters were an odd bunch that debuted during a time when war was popular with kids. Maybe this was due to the fallout from the last of the cold war, but it seems everyone from GI Joe to M.A.S.K. to the Transformers were always fighting. And much like the Transformers and GI Joes, there were good guys and bad guys; the good guys being the Kitchen Commandos and the bad guys being the  Refrigerator Rejects. I had a couple of these guys when I was a kid; namely Sargent Scoop and Major Munch. They were fun, weird, and totally different from anything else out there at the time or since. They never had a comic or TV show, or even a video game you could follow they with, so that's probably why they've been mostly forgotten or swept off to the side over the years. They did have some vehicles and a playset made, but nothing that would really make them standout. Still, I think the world is ready for their brand of zaniness again, especially if they were revamped for modern times.

2). Battle Beasts.

With the tagline  "They may be small but they can grow into an army”, battle beasts came into the toy scene around 1986. They originally came from Japan and were called "Beastformers". They had a cartoon series and comic book over there too. Hasbro began distributing them shortly after. The main gimmick with these guys, or animals, as it were, was that they had three main hologram symbols on their chests; Wood, Fire, and Water. Basically it was waring animals using the age-old principal of rock, paper, scissors; fire burns wood, water puts out fire, and wood floats on water. 

They were only 2 inches, but still cool as hell if you were a kid into new and unique toys. The BB's would later get a comic produced in  the states, as well as Halloween costumes, lunch boxes and carrying cases, but no games or cartoons. Starting around '09, Diamond Select Toys started to produce them again, but nothing new has come out recently. Feel free to Wiki these toys for more info.

3).Garbage Pail Kids

 

Oh, yes, these guys! Distributed by the Topps Trading Card Co. since 1985, these funny as hell characters were straight up parodies of the then popular Cabbage Patch Kids. I've loved them ever since, and had a small but sizable collection back in the day. Just as funny now as they were then, GPK went straight for the jugular in terms of making fun of people and everyday situations, and they came with bubble gum so what's not to love? They were as gross and depraved as it got, yet remaining kid-friendly. They're still being produced to this day, with a few variations. I think it's way past time for an animated show or web-show of these lovable tikes. There's no doubt in mind these guys heavily influenced the creators of Family Guy and South Park, just no doubt at all.

See you bitches later......

A Toy's Life

My fellow Blogger buddy, Googum's being doing a Retro Toy Week theme over at his blog Random Happenstance, where he's been showcasing old or retro, toys he has. You can go here http://random-happenstance.blogspot.com/ to see what he's been up to. I highly recommend checking out these little bits of nostalgia.

This made me think about all of the old action figures I used to have back in my younger days; toys I no longer have because I either sold them or lost them. I used to have alot man! For example, I used to have alot of figures from Toy Biz's X-Men line. Remember those? I had just about every Wolverine figure they made, starting with the original brown and orange one that came with a removable plastic mask. Then as the X-Men Fox cartoon took off, so did the number of characters Toy Biz put out. I'm talking about figures you didn't think they'd ever make like: Cosair(Cyclops' dad), Warstar of the Sha'ir Imperial Guard, Wolfsbane, Magik, Strong Guy, X-Cutioner, and so on. Not to mention all of the bases and vehicles I used to have. I had the Danger Room playset, The 70's-80's Batmobile, The Batcave, and even god help me, the TMNT's Flush-o-matic. Remember that contraption? It had three main pieces: The main stand with a giant toilet seat on top, a trap that held the a ninja turtle down, and the ooze that would go through the toilet seat and straight down onto the helpless turtle. Crazy shit man!

Enjoy some of these pics I took. These contain some of the vehicles I somehow managed to keep: