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Read Posts by CantinaDan |
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March 26th, 2013
An action figure anthropologist’s work is never done. It was only two trips around the sun ago that we examined the evolutionary links between modern humans and our diminutive ancestor, the Ewok. We presented this theory through the example of one Ewok in particular: Wicket W. Warrick. But recently a more complete fossil record has been excavated.
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February 25th, 2013
I always regretted not buying the Toynami Herculoids sets when they were easily available. They are definitely one of the coolest cartoon families ever. Of course, I had only vague recollections of the cartoon so I watched a couple episodes the other day. Pretty much what you’d expect from a Alex Toth / Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the era. (Although, the Herculoids actually occupied two eras: the first 18 episodes aired around 1967 and the 11 episode “Space Stars” revival aired between 1981-82.) Anyway, the character designs were super cool and just screaming for more toys.
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February 14th, 2013
I love taking pictures of the little plastic people. Its kinda my grown-up way of playing with my toys. As an adult, I don’t think its quite possible to replicate that very imaginative space children occupy when playing with their toys. Trust me, I’ve tried. Through the eyes of a child, toys become more than inanimate things. They come to life. For me this has evolved in such a way that now I simply enjoy trying to recapture that unique perception of a toy via whimsical photographs. Plus, action figures never blink.
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February 4th, 2013
You ever have a moving box of miscellaneous stuff that just never gets unpacked? I’ve had one that’s travelled with me to multiple homes. Ever time I look at it I get irritated because I’m kind’uv an anti-packrat. Finally the other day I decided enough was enough, the box was getting unpacked even if it meant throwing away all the contents. Much of it did get tossed. But one item in particular captured my attention: an old Pinewood Derby car.
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February 2nd, 2013
“There’s a lotta things about me you don’t know anything about. Things you couldn’t understand. Things … you shouldn’t understand.”
I’m not sure if its taken six months to write this blog because the lines quoted above are how I feel a little, but, if you’ll forgive my tardiness I’ll plow ahead! A couple years ago I decided to dip my toes into cosplay land and made an attempt to doppelgäng Plastic Man. Truth is, I had fun. So as last year’s San Diego Comic-Con began looming I started to wonder if there was any other character I could attempt to pull off.
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June 6th, 2012
A few months ago I was out in NJ visiting my mom. By now, I’ve scoured every nook and cranny of the house I grew up in for remnants of toys from days gone by. My previous visit turned up a vintage MEGO Dukes of Hazzard General Lee (a week after I bought one on eBay). But that was in a far corner of the attic and it was the bottom of the barrel. So when I was out this time I didn’t think there was anything left to go through. My mom, however, pulled out a big box of old LEGOS. Just for fun I decided to separate all the pieces by color, put the sets in Ziplock bags, and have ma sell them at her next garage sale. Well, as I picked through the pieces I came across some miscellany related to the little plastic people …
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February 25th, 2012
OK, this is just kuh-razy. This past week I posted a blog about my vintage 3 3/4″ mini-collections. In the last paragraph I alluded to the fact that I continually hunt for the rare LJN Magnum P.I. Ferrari and action figure. Its been a white whale of mine for a while. You know, one of those items you have a saved search for on eBay that you check religiously every morning when you get to work. After you make your coffee. Actually, this is a two-saved search item: “Magnum PI” and “Magnum P.I.” Yeah, it makes a difference.
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February 21st, 2012
Last year there was a thread in the General Toy Talk section of the Action Figure Insider forum called: Whats Your Pride and Joy? It was a cool topic and I remember posting: “I think right now my Pride and Joy is my humble collection of 3 3/4″ scale vintage figures.” Since then I planned on blogging about that answer. But, of course, there were collections that happened to be a piece or two away from being complete. “I’ll do the blog as soon as I get one more TRON frisbee,” the refrain would go. Finally I came to terms with the fact that I will always have a little collection that’s not quite complete. So, here follows a series of portraits of my Pride and Joy, as it stands right now…
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January 22nd, 2012
Yes, you read that right. Apparently, I’m not the only nerd who thinks Bruce Lee and, in particular, Bruce Lee’s appearance in Game of Death is the coolest thing ever. Whoever is behind the Industrial Toy Werks Super Powers bootlegs is obviously a fan, too. Oh, for more about this kooky series of customs, please see Julius Marx’s blog about his ITW Mirror Master. I’m not a Super Powers collector but I do love weird kitschy stuff, and so these things have caught my eye on several occasions. I know you’re squirming, Chip. Well, seeing as how I’ve done everything but dress up as Bruce Lee in the yellow track suit, it was only a matter of time before I finally picked up one of these customs.
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January 17th, 2012
I’m hoping you didn’t come here looking for facts. Or statistics. Or anecdotes from former toy company big wigs. All you’re gonna get is a flimsy theory pulled from CantinaDanny’s Action Figure Observer’s Field Guide. But it is true that, from the early days of the little plastic people, action figure lines have been light on the lady folk. Granted, the Star Wars movies themselves were pretty male centric but its funny to note that out of 100 vintage Star Wars figures, six were female. Five Princess Leias and a Sy Snootles. Somebody is probably going to correct me by saying something like: “The Death Star Droid was really a fembot!”
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November 29th, 2011
Its not uncommon to find examples of genetic engineering within the realm of parumplasticus populus [Latin: little plastic people]. In fact, the re-purposing of action figure DNA happens frequently within a species. What’s not as common is to see unrelated species share the same genetics. Rarer still is to find that elusive action figure line that is bred almost entirely from foreign DNA. Some within the scientific community call this kitbashing. And Kenner’s 1991 line of figures from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves took this practice to new heights.
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November 22nd, 2011
Sometime back I posted a blog entitled The Bazooka Wormhole. I defined the phenomenon this way:
a) A geek obsession that results in countless lost hours exhausting every aspect of trivia related to the niche subject.
b) A compulsive preoccupation, at times against your will, with the minutiae of a particular topic within geek culture.
Urban Dictionary published my little term thus immortalizing it for all time. Anywho, after my first mock blog about Metron’s collection of chairs I pretty much got sucked down a 6″ scale chair wormhole and posted a second blog showcasing more cosmic settees. God forbid, I stop there. Whether or not you are still (or ever have been) entertained by photos of Metron with everything but his Mobius chair, here are some more entries…
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November 21st, 2011
So a while ago on one of those rare days I get the nerve to enter the Mattel forums I stumbled on a thread entitled Attention Customizers And JLU Fans. On page 9 forum member Ed Case posted some pics of his Sgt. Rock custom. Now, I’m a big fan of many of you amazing customizers. This one just jumped out at me because: 1) Sgt Rock was at the top of my list of JLU character wants and 2) Ed did a really nice job. Some PMs were exchanged and finally Ed caved to my threats and agreed to make another Sarge for ol’ CantinaDanny’s collection.
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October 31st, 2011
Happy Halloween, all you AFi Munsters!
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October 29th, 2011
On the heels of our last entry into the Action Figure Observer’s Field Guide we now focus our microscopes on one particular specimen from Phylum: DC / Class: Little Plastic People. Homo hominis plasticus (Plastic Man) is a difficult subject to observe based on the fact that his physical characteristics are ever changing. I’ve attempted to catalog all figural representations of homo hominis plasticus that have existed since that vat of Crawford chemicals became an evolutionary catalyst for Eel O’Brian. But who is to say whether or not the DC Direct Alex Ross Justice Plastic Man isn’t just impersonating the Justice League Unlimited Plastic Man? We’ll never know.
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