Out of the Toybox (63): The Follies of My Youth…

To pick up the Halloween theme again and take it in a different direction, here is a series of Scooby Doo action figures. I can’t quite put my figure on the company or the dates; I seem to see them referred to as being from Playmobil or Toywiz or Zoink.

The two-figure, 50^th Anniversary toy packs are definitely by Zoink, and have been available since 2019. They feature one member of the Gang and one memorable Monster or Ghost. My nephew Kameron has some of these villains, and if it were not for the better angels of my nature I would probably steal them from his room (especially the pumpkin-topped Headless Horseman). Scooby Doo, Where Are You? started in 1969 and thus fell into some of the most primal years of my childhood.

Not as old, though, as Popeye and Bugs Bunny, which dated from even earlier. They were both featured on our local old cartoon licensee, “The Captain Gus Show” on Channel 5, hosted of course by Captain Gus (Joe Alston, who by-the-by was also the announcer for our Friday night fright show, “Project Terror”). I think the only merchandising we had for either when we were kids was a yellow plastic ‘spinach’ can that you squeezed to release the pop-up head, arms, and torso of Popeye (we still have that part, like a finger puppet) and a Bugs Bunny hand puppet with posable ears filled with bendy wires and an enormously heavy voice-box with a pull-string concealed in its body. I was happy to get these Popeye figures from Mezco (2001); the missing figure that I really want is Poopdeck Pappy. 

The Looney Tunes figures are Elmer and ‘Brunhilde’ Bugs from the DC Direct 2002 Looney Tunes Golden Collection, and a Bugs and Daffy from the much less ‘collectible grade’ Looney Tunes Back in Action 2003 Mattel line.

And here is a spare Scooby, Jay and Silent Bob from Clerks Inaction Figures (2005) by Graphitti Designs, and a Muppet Ghost that came with Uncle Deadly from Palisades Toys (also 2005).

I round things off with some Adventure Time action figures from Jazwares in 2011. I would like to think that my younger self would have enjoyed the show; for sure my ‘inner child’ responded to it quite well. The first few seasons were certainly ‘Righteous!’ Then it got kind of preachy. Still good, though.