Steppin' Out Rowlf

For years, Animal was my favorite Muppet. But, as I grew older, I changed my mind. That honor now belongs to Rowlf and I finally decided I've been without an action figure of the character for far too long.

Performed by Henson himself, Rowlf was the first of the major Muppets. Originally appearing in a dog food commercial in 1962, he picked up a recurring gig on The Jimmy Dean Show a year later. Whether or not it was intentional, I always felt like this informed his character on The Muppet Show and the movies. While the others seemed worried most of the time, Rowlf was generally more laid back. He seemed to have a better grasp on show business, like he'd been in the game longer. Kermit and Piggy always felt like they were struggling to build up their careers, but Rowlf always felt like his time had passed, like he was a part of the fading vaudeville era the Muppets are a tribute to. Although he never came off as bitter or upset, I always felt like there was a melancholy subtext to his character.

Well, years and years ago, Palisades produced a "Steppin' Out" Rowlf figure, which was available at comic, toy, and some other spots for a while. I'm sure I came across him once or twice - this would have roughly corresponded to when I'd just started collecting toys - and passed him by. Yeah. Live and learn.

I found this one loose on Ebay. He had all his original accessories, with the exception of his stand (identical to several others I have, anyway). He wasn't cheap, but he was more reasonable than what packaged ones are going for. My wife, also a lifelong Muppets fan, didn't object, so I bit the bullet and ordered the figure.

The figure himself is great, both in terms of sculpt and paint. The articulation is on the low side, but he has enough to pull off the poses you need. His ears are articulated, which I like.

As a result of being used, my figure has several paint scuffs on him, but that's the cost of buying used. At some point, my wife and I might see about cleaning him up, but I took pictures of him as he is.

In some ways, the accessories are as impressive as the figure himself. The figure came with two things: a scale bust of Beethoven and a scale grand piano. As awesome as the bust is, I don't think it'll surprise anyone to hear the piano is my favorite of the two accessories. Actually, in this scale, it might be my single favorite accessory ever produced.

This came disassembled, both when I bought it and in its original packaging. The legs snap in securely and hold the body up. The top opens and is held in place by a moving peg. In addition, the keys are protected by a hinged cover, and the music stand flips up or down. The whole thing is made of hollow plastic, but it looks fantastic. Once again, there are some paint scuffs on the piano, as well as the figure.
The bust is accurate to how I remember it portrayed on the show.

Given what the toy I'm looking at cost me, I'd rather not consider how little it was when originally released. Years ago, when these first hit store shelves, this would have run you about eight bucks. Now, used, it ran me $56 with shipping. That's how it goes sometimes. If I'd wanted one in the package, I'd have been looking closer to a hundred bucks - ouch.

But it was worth every penny.

Muppets: "Vacation" Fozzie

As we get closer to the release date of the new Muppet movie, I thought it would be a good time to continue shouting the praises of the greatest action figure line to ever grace the shelves of toy stores. Palisades: you are sorely missed.

While Lindsay and I have plastic versions of most of what I consider the "core" Muppets - Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, etc. - there have been a few lingering holes in our collection. The most notable, at least to the casual Muppet fan, has been Fozzie Bear. I've been meaning to remedy that for years, but I finally had a chance on Labor Day, when I found this at Midtown Comics. Thanks to a 20% off sale, I wound up taking Fozzie home for $16, which isn't quite as good a deal as getting the Koozebane Kermit for the same price, but is still more than fair as far as this collector's concerned.

I knew I'd like this, since I've yet to buy a single toy in this line I haven't at least liked. I don't think I was expecting to love this, though. I was wrong. This thing is absolutely incredible.

The toy itself is great, featuring some fantastically utilized articulation. The cut elbows manage to maintain the sculpt's integrity while opening up some gorgeous posing options. Other than that, sure, the articulation is minimal - V crotch, ball jointed shoulders, and a head joint that must a ball, even though it gives you a fairly limited range. The amount of different poses you can get is fairly staggering, and the figure always looks more like a statue than an action figure.

What really sells the figure are his accessories. Fozzie has a suitcase (sorry; it doesn't open), a hat, sunglasses, and a flotation device. The flotation device looks amazing, as does the briefcase. The sunglasses are pretty cool, though they're a little hard to position and potentially easy to lose. It's the same deal with the hat, which is held in place by a magnet - a great way to capture the look of the show without having to muck up the sculpt with pegs or holes.

Finally, you also get a sheet of stickers you can affix to Fozzie's case, if you're so inclined. While the stickers look cool, I think I'm going to hold off, since I really like the case the way it is.

It feels redundant to say it, but this is another spectacular action figure. Highly recommended if you ever see one at a decent price.

October Horrors, Pt. 6: Dissection of a Kiss

I bought this figure a few months back for the giant 'I' packaged in the lower left - I wanted to give it to Zatanna as a table (more on that here).

Here's the figure intact with all his accessories. Don't get attached.

Almost immediately, the figure's lower arm snapped off. I didn't have much interest in keeping the figure intact anyway, so I decided to salvage the parts.

The head is fascinating. Despite being a traditional action figure in most respects, the head is actually more like a typical doll's: soft, hollow plastic with rooted hair.

He also came with this delightful spear.

I've kept everything except the green fuzz. I have no idea how much of this stuff I'll get around to using, but you never know.

Spawn: Scourge

Ah, Spawn. What would the 90's have been without you? I remember when it seemed like Spawn was here to stay, like he was the future of comics.

Ha! These days, the character's remembered more for his impact on toys than comics. Spawn may not matter much on the comic shelves, but the influence McFarlane had on the toy industry can't easily be overstated.

None of this has anything to do with I bought this, however. Honestly, I just wanted the parts, particularly the head. Well, the lower head, anyway.

If the copyright info on the back is to be believed, this guy's from 1996. The articulation is pretty good for the time, but clearly dated.

The sculpting is really the strong point: there are some really cool ridges and horns that have great custom potential. Not bad for five bucks at St. Mark's Comics.

Dusty Trails Action Series 2: US Army 3rd I.D.

Here's another Dusty Trails figure I bought at St. Marks Comics for five bucks. Like the last, I picked this guy up for his base.

Since I don't have a need for a giant picture of a diseased dictator, I'm planning on either pasting something over it or finding a way to sift through different backdrops. More on that eventually.

I'm not going to say too much about this figure, seeing as he's going in the spare parts drawer, but I will mention the sculpt and paint are great, while there's almost no articulation. The gun is removable, and on its own is a great accessory.

The packaging made a big deal about being able to see the look of determination in his eyes. Ah... if you say so. Honestly, he looks kind of scared to me.

Once again, this is a cool statue, but not much more. The sum of its parts add up to much more than the toy, however, and I'm thrilled I found this for as little as I did.

Dusty Trail Action Series 1: S.W.A.T. Pointman

I remember seeing these in Toys R Us several years back. While I was intrigued by the bases, I wasn't as serious about collecting back then as I am now, so I never picked one up.

However, when I came across this at St. Mark's Comics for five bucks, I grabbed it up.

This was produced by a company called "Dusty Trail Toys." They were clearly trying very hard to duplicate McFarlane's success: since I haven't heard of them since, I'm guessing they weren't all that successful. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

As a statue, this is a pretty impressive piece. The sculpt and paint are both phenomenal. On the articulation front, this doesn't do so well. There are few joints here and there for fine-tuning the pose, but it's really only designed to hold the one.

Though I did manage to get him doing a dance:

The value of this comes from the stand, which is pretty fantastic, though I wish the door closed. In addition, I think they went a little overboard detailing the damage.

You also get a pair of goggles and a gun. Both are good accessories and will work with other six inch figures. For example:

The Pointman's custom bait, and his accessories are headed for the bin, though I haven't decided whether or not I want to turn his stand into something else. To be honest, I kind of like it the way it is.

Ertl 1989 Batmobile

Last year, my wife and I found a talking Edna Mode in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop in Seattle Washington for something like three or four bucks. This year, seeing as we were back in the city for a few days, we decided to see if lightning would strike twice.

Well, it wasn't quite the same level of a find, but I found a plastic bag containing a bunch of small toys going for two dollars. One of those toys was a 1989 Ertl Batmobile. There were also some other assorted toys of interest, including a few Star Wars Galactic Heroes, which we kept (unfortunately, we wound up throwing out some of the other contents, since we had limited space in our luggage).

I like the detail work here. The shape's a little off from the movie, but it's instantly recognizable. I do wish they'd skipped the giant bat symbol on top, as it wasn't in the film.

The scale is also interesting. It's significantly larger than Hotwheels. I'm guessing this is around 1:48, but I'm not really sure. Here's a picture side by side with a Hotwheels Batmobile:

Other than the wheels, there are no features or moving parts. What you see is what I got.

When I was looking through the photos, I noticed a detail I'd initially overlooked: there's a small Batman in the driver's seat. It's incredibly difficult to see him beneath the glass, but he's there. Here's the best picture I could manage:

Not bad for a few bucks. Not bad at all.