Out of the Toybox (64): A Golden Age?

 

Space Ghost: Coast-to-Coast began on Cartoon Network in 1994 and ran (on one channel or another) until 2008. It spawned several spin-offs. In 1999 Toycom released four figures from the show: Space Ghost, Moltar, Zorak, and Brak.

I had to settle for getting only the acerbic Zorak, a gigantic space mantis who acted as the show’s bandleader. But he was my favorite.

In 2000 (…in the year two THOU- sa-a-nd!), N2 Toys began bringing out a series of action figures based on the film Mad Max: The Road Warrior, although I did not start buying any until about 2008, mostly from Z’s Toys. I never did manage to get Mad Max with Dog, Warrior Woman, or Lord Humongous. Poor Wez is a little worse for wear.

We started getting Shrek action figures in 2001 from the original Shrek movie (McFarlane), then from the sequel Shrek 2 in 2005 (Hasbro). I’ve spoken elsewhere of my regrets for missing the McFarlane Dragon. The Hasbro iterations are full of unfortunate ‘action features’.

The company Toycom Sota brought us King of the Hill action figures in 2003. This is another series I was never able to get the main character from; Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer proved beyond my reach.

Also in 2003 Toynami made Thundarr the Barbarian figures [see above]. “The Thundarr the Barbarian show originally aired 1980-82 and took place in a post-apocalyptic world where mutants, sorcery, and super-science made life interesting and hazardous for Thundarr (a self-freed slave out to fight injustice and evil) and his friends Ariel and Ookla.” – from Power of Babel Jan. 2008, when I got the figures, once more thanks to Tom Villareal at Z’s Toys and More. What a year 2008 was!

Palisades brought out the set of Brak’s Mom and Dad, from the Space Ghost spin-off, The Brak Show [see above]. There were other Cartoon Network sets at the time like Sealab 2021 or Aqua Teen Hunger Force. This was in 2005. That was the same year they were putting out Invader Zim toys! Talk about a missed opportunity.

Finally, in 2006, McFarlane brought out many sets of Hanna-Barbera ‘action figures’ that were more like inaction models than playable toys.  The two I managed to get [see above] were Jonny Quest, with Bandit and a sort of cut-rate Turu (very nice), and Penelope Pitstop, whose spin-off show I enjoyed as a little kid but whom I probably would never have bought if she didn’t include Muttley.

And that concludes the contents of this bin. Coming up: Christmas Time is Here … a little early.