Doctor Who: Radio Controlled Dalek Battle Pack
The first item released in Character Option’s lineup of Doctor Who action figures during the show’s first season back on the air in 2005, the RC Dalek Battle Pack consisted of two Daleks, their respective color-coded radio controllers, and an action figure of either the ninth Doctor or Rose. (Though almost identical to the individually-released figures – the Doctor sports a burgundy-colored sweater, and both figures have a slightly less detailed paint job – these figures beat the individual carded figures to the stores by several months.) The Daleks are the real stars of this box set, and as much as I loved Dapol’s endless fleet of Dalek figures, the attention to detail on these Daleks puts them in a whole different league.
Doctor Who: Wave 1 TARDIS Travelers
In 2000, I wrote what I fully expected to have been my last Doctor Who toy review as Dapol gave up the ghost with a final box set of Dalek variations. If someone had told me at that time that I’d be getting the first wave of an incredibly detailed new line of Doctor Who action figures six years later, I would’ve told them they were crazier than the Master. And then I would’ve placed my pre-order.
Actually, I probably would’ve placed the order first.
The Black Hole: Old BOB Kubrick
I’ll admit it. The Black Hole is less of a guilty cinematic pleasure for me, and probably more along the lines of a harmless obsession. When I saw this then-shocking PG-rated Disney movie at the age of seven, the thought of Maximillian drilling folks to death terrified me – this wasn’t make-believe stuff here like Star Wars, because my dad had a drill in his workshop! But I also knew that, if it came to that big red behemoth chasing me, VINCENT and Old BOB wouldn’t let me down. They’d have me covered. They’d know what to do. Because they were the two coolest movie robots to come down the pike since R2-D2. I later outgrew my abject fears about the movie’s most violent scene, but found that my affinity for its two robotic heroes never quite waned. Most accounts of the making of the movie have pinpointed these two hovering robots as the source of countless production difficulties, since the props were heavy enough to require piano wire to suspend them, and the piano wire then had to be optically hidden in as many shots as possible – back in the day when you couldn’t just “run it through the computer” to accomplish that. Ever notice how many opportunities the director took to get close enough that you couldn’t really see the robots floating in mid-air?
Star Wars: Jedi Council Cinema Scenes (2003)
Judging from the product shots, it looks like the most recent Star Wars Jedi Council three-packs contain repackaged figures. It’s a pity (but, in the current economy, probably a cost-cutting, inventory-clearing necessity), because the first two three-packs in this line were so refreshingly new.
Not really sticking to any one time frame, these Hasbro three-packs consist of two seats (with two seated characters and a third standing) from the movies’ Jedi Council scenes, dividing the circular Council room contingent into pie slices. One could, in theory, collect ’em all and wind up with the whole circle. (I’m sure that’s what Hasbro would like collectors to do, at any rate.)
Return Of The Jedi Wave 2 (1983)
The second wave of figures from the last new Star Wars film for nearly two decades was thick with Ewoks. Little furry dudes were crawlin’ all over this line of figures. But if, like me (and remember, I also think Jar Jar is pretty cool), you were enthralled by those tree-dwelling, AT-ST-toppling teddy bears from Endor, that meant this was the coolest wave of Star Wars figures ever.
Return Of The Jedi Wave 1 (1983)
Anticipation mounted over the first four months of 1983 as what was supposedly the final sequel to Star Wars was being completed. Even without the Internet, rumors abounded: Jabba the Hutt would be seen at last, Luke and Darth Vader would engage in one final battle (and Yoda and Obi-Wan might help), and there would be a second Death Star.
The movie was, of course, Revenge Of The Jedi.
Doctor Who: Classic Dalek Box Set + Transmat Dalek
It’s safe to say that Dapol’s most popular Doctor Who toys were the dreaded Daleks. The first toy Daleks were introduced in time for the Christmas shopping season that followed the mechanical meanies’ second appearance in late 1964, and quite a few toy licensees have benefitted from the Dalek trademark since then.
In 2000, Dapol really only introduced three new toy products: a new version of its standard TARDIS toy, this time containing a sound effect chip; a boxed set of Daleks with specialized features hearkening back to their reign of terror in the 1960s; and another Dalek, this one transparent – as seen in two 1980s adventures – due to being in a state of “mid-beam-down.” Through the transparent casing, the hideously tentacled Kaled mutant – the true mind behind the Dalek – can be seen.
The Empire Strikes Back Wave 2 (1980)
The first wave of toys to hit the store shelves after the release of The Empire Strikes Back, the second wave of Empire toys was able to reveal the vitally important character of Yoda (which was also the smallest of the original Kenner Star Wars figures, smaller than even R2-D2, Wicket, or the Jawas). Technically, Yoda was released in the first wave of figures, but was not promoted heavily to preserve the surprise of the character’s nature in the film.
Doctor Who Action Figures Wave 4 (1999)
The fourth wave of Doctor Who toys was released in late 1999, and for the first time – at least so far – Dapol released a wave of figures which did not include one of the main Doctor or companion characters. Wave four concentrates solely on the villains and monsters.
The Empire Strikes Back Wave 1 (1980)
1980. New wave was in. Early video games were about to reach their apex. And best of all, Star Wars was back – not the original, but a new movie following up on the original, taking us to new places and new adventures. Life was truly good. And so were the first figures from that sequel.
The Empire Strikes Back had such a diverse spread of locations and climates and environments that the first figures – released just prior to the movie – left you wondering just what the heck was going on if you, like me, were a kid whose only bona fida spoiler about Empire consisted of the TV commercials advertising the movie.
The “Lost” Star Trek Characters
In previous ToyBox columns, I have complained long and hard about how Playmates failed to produce action figures of some of the more popular latter-day Star Trek characters. This is very, very true. However, it was brought to my attention that I was wrong on one count – and it was also brought to my attention that Playmates isn’t the only source of the occasional new Trek character in plastic.
Tron 20th Anniversary Kubricks (2002)
An amazing blast of Tron nostalgia from Japan, these “Kubrick” playsets – a popular variety of novelty toys that resemble nothing so much as Lego men on steroids – offer the first miniature models of any Tron vehicles other than the light cycles. And that said, the light cycles kick butt too.
Each playset comes in a massive box adorned with authentic Tron artwork (right down to attributing the figures to being actual ENCOM products), and a fold-up lid held in place by velcro. When opened, the lid offers a window view of the items in that individual set.
Star Wars: Star Tours Wave 1 (2002)
One of the most consistent Walt Disney World attractions since the late 1980s, Star Tours is a motion simulator ride based on the Star Wars universe. Set in a strangely cheerful (and decidedly unofficial) storyline parallel to Return Of The Jedi, Star Tours takes a “spaceship” full of passengers on a sightseeing tour of the third moon of Endor – or at least that’s the idea. There’s just one problem – the droids driving that ship aren’t quite the professional pilots you’d like if you happened to be a paying passenger on that ship, and when you add to that the fact that the Empire seems to have built a second Death Star at Endor and is now engaged in a decisive battle with the Rebel Alliance in the space above the moon, well, naturally mayhem ensues.
Star Wars Episode II – Wave 1 Droids (2002)
Anyone who’s read Toybox for any significant amount of time knows that I’ve got a thing for droids. Be they R2 units or Daleks, there’s something fascinating about little plastic robot replicas. And this wave of Star Wars Episode II figures certainly fits my droid collecting bill.
Of course, you can’t kick off a new range of toys for a new Star Wars movie without R2-D2 and C-3PO, and this line of figures is no exception.
Babylon 5 Shadow Sentient
The most difficult Babylon 5 figure to locate – and the most expensive to find in the current collectors’ market – the Shadow Sentient is a strikingly intricate representation of Babylon 5’s ancient evil. It’s also possibly the best shot anyone has of figuring out the creatures’ shape, which was always kept rather indistinct on screen.
Technically, the Shadow Sentient figure belongs to the third wave of Babylon 5 figures, but it was seldom if ever distributed on its own; the Shadow Sentient was an exclusive pack-in figure with the first release run of the Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game. Still on its card, the Shadow Sentient commonly fetches prices of $100 or more. (I specifically sought a loose figure just because I wanted to be able to examine it outside of its blister bubble without devaluing it – and because it’d be cheaper, though I discovered not by much.)
Dragon’s Lair 3-D (2002)
19 years ago, a video game arrived in the arcades which was supposed to rewrite the history books for video gaming. And in some unexpected ways, Dragon’s Lair did just that. But at the time, all we knew was that it was an insanely cool game using a laserdisc to run specific sequences of gorgeous Don Bluth (The Secret Of NIMH, Xanadu) animation. Which sequences it ran depended on your actions – more often than not it turned out to be the death of your alter-ego, dim-witted knight Dirk The Daring.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Waves 5 & 6 (1994-95)
Following the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s sensationally successful final year on the air, Playmates began making plans to draw that toy line to a close, after which a new “generic” range of Star Trek toys would include characters from Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and even the movies.
The fifth wave was a very minor supplement to the fourth wave, adding the long-awaited Tasha Yar figure (as she appeared in her first season uniform; an incredibly rare Yesterday’s Enterprise uniform variation was released a year or so later), and the only toy ever created of the late Mark Lenard’s trademark Vulcan character Sarek.
Babylon 5 Action Figures Wave 4 (1999)
Following much later in 1999 than Exclusive Premiere’s third series of Babylon 5 action figures, the fourth wave was no longer standard toy store fare, or even standard comics chain fare. The fourth wave was into serious collectors’ territory – distributed primarily in England.
Reflecting the recent fifth season, the fourth wave puts Captain Lochley in plastic, as well as year five frequent flier Bester (though it’s not as good a likeness of Walter Koenig as, say, the Chekov figure from the Playmates Classic Star Trek collector’s set) and the previously unnamed Drazi and Gaim ambassadors.
Star Wars Episode II – Wave One: Jedi Knights
The first wave of action figures from Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones is so big, it really needs to be broken up into different groups – and the biggest group represented in the first 27 figures happens to be the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, the Jedi Knights. As you may or may not have seen or heard by now, Episode II features a Jedi gathering that takes place in a much more hostile environment than that of the council chambers on Coruscant, and this first wave includes plenty of figures designed expressly to recreate that scene.
Star Wars: Power Of The Jedi Final Wave (2002)
Ahhhh, the Power of the Jedi. As awkward and out-of-place as was the name of Hasbro’s oft-maligned range of Star Wars figures with no specific movie in mind, I think it’s sometimes shortchanged by the fans and collectors who are overlooking the unique and eagerly-awaited characters it brought to our toy shelves.
Babylon 5 Action Figures Wave 3 (1999)
It was 1999 before the third wave of Exclusive Premiere’s Babylon 5 collection hit the shelves, and by that time, it was also obvious that this toy line was in trouble. With more than enough first and second wave figures still taking up shelf space, Toys R Us stores declined to carry the third wave, which now became a Diamond Comics exclusive. Diamond Comics carriers had been the only place to find the earlier waves’ variant figures; now they were the only place to find any of the new figures at all.
Star Wars Episode II: Preview Wave (2001)
I’ve been going out of my way to not go out of my way to learn too much about Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. I have seen the trailers, but I’ve been staying right away from the spoiler-heavy fan sites. This time, I want to find out in the theater.
Once again, however, I have succumbed to the urge to buy Hasbro’s “sneak preview” figures. Whereas last time we got Mace Windu in the mail with an appropriate number of proofs of purchase and receipts, this time we get four new characters slyly released on the current “Power Of The Jedi” packaging (though those actual words are conspicuous by their absence) in retail stores everywhere.
By the way, if you’re trying not to be spoiled about anything, best to hit the back button now.
Tron 20th Anniversary Toys (2002)
In late 2001, after years of it being a budget video title with a strong cult following, Tron was suddenly embraced by Disney as if it were the next big thing; a new special edition DVD was prepared, a long-overdue soundtrack CD was released, and quietly, behind the scenes, Japanese toy manufacturer Neca picked up the license to reproduce the cool toys that were originally produced by Tomy in 1982.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Wave Four (1994)
In 1994, it was clear that Star Trek: The Next Generation was on its way to syndication heaven, as the series was due to be retired and promoted to movie duty. Playmates had diversified its line of Star Trek figures in anticipation of this, branching out to create ranges of Deep Space Nine and Classic Trek figures. But Playmates wasn’t about to quit trying to cash in on Next Generation’s success just yet.
Star Wars Episode I: Watto’s Box Cinema Scene
Man, I need to get myself into a Star Wars flick someday.
That way, even if I show up for about ten frames of film, I’m almost guaranteed to have an action figure. Need proof? Check out one of the most recent Star Wars Episode I Cinema Scene box sets, “Watto’s Box.” Specifically, Watto’s Box refers to his box seat at the Boonta Eve pod race, which he shared with some really odd company.
Star Trek: First Contact Action Figures (1996)
Welcome to our look at the Star Trek: First Contact toys, or “how Playmates killed the Star Trek action figures.”
I admit to being frequently critical of Playmates Toys’ for its handling of the Star Trek line from 1996 onward, and here is where I think they went wrong.
With the eighth Star Trek film on the horizon, Playmates liaised much more closely with Paramount this time around, trying to avoid a costly fiasco like the incorrectly-costumed toys from Star Trek: Generations.
Babylon 5 Action Figures Wave 2 (1998)
Very late in 1998, Exclusive Premiere released a long-awaited second wave of Babylon 5 characters by popular demand. In many toy stores, the first wave of figures were still warming the shelves, and were discounted from their lofty $8.00 price tag to around $3.00 each. B5 fans were eagerly picking up the figures, but the cold consumer reality of it was that it seemed like they were the only ones doing so.
Star Trek: The Movie Era (1996)
1996: Voyager was over a year old, First Contact was on the way, and Worf had been a fixture on Deep Space Nine for several months. In a way, this time frame was the last hurrah for Star Trek merchandising, before the public tired too much of the franchise. Playmates, having seen very limited success with its lines of Deep Space Nine and Voyager action figures, folded all of its Star Trek toys into a generically-packaged range whose blister card simply bore a movie-era “Star Trek” logo. While continuing to introduce characters from the later series, Playmates also acceeded to fan demand for more version of the classic Star Trek characters.
Star Wars: Power Of The Jedi Wave Two (2001)
For the second wave of the retitled, all-encompassing Power Of The Jedi figures, Hasbro turned to an interesting mixture of fan requests from the original trilogy, new Episode I characters and a few revamped versions of previously released characters, and several revisitations of the original Kenner line.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Wave Three (1993)
A few months after Playmates’ second wave of Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures hit the shelves, the third wave was released, introducing many more episode-specific characters to the mix.
Gone were the tricorder/phaser “holsters” which had graced the Enterprise crew member figures since the first wave. Sadly, the cheesy phasers – complete with day-glo orange “beams” – remained standard-issue for the Trek toys.