Humble Beginnings - We all have to start somewhere :) and this is my early start

Dug up some old photographs I took of my collection back in 1996 when I just started collecting toys ;p It was a bit of this and a bit of that and a mix of everything without much of a focus on what I really wanted. That has changed since I decided to focus on 1/6 scale figures. Back then, 12-inch figures were almost non-existent and the only ones available were the vintage G.I. Joe and Action Man figures from the 1960s to 1970s and early 1980s so there really wasn't much in terms of choices or genres. Most were military based and that's how I got started. Obviously a lot of things have changed since then and now there's a specific collectibles market targeting only adult collectors with the purchasing power to buy all the high-end stuff. I'm glad to have witnessed and seen how the 1/6 scale 12-inch figure market has grown from a almost non-existent point to where it is today, an art form much appreciated by a ever growing, ever expanding pool of collectors :)

Batman has always been my first love and it was "Batman, The Animated Series" that got me hooked to toys. I loved the series with its "Dark Deco" visual style based on the artwork of producer and artist Bruce Timm. The funny thing is, I only noticed all these after my first son was born and I became a father. We watched cartoons together and "Batman: The Animated Series" caught my eye. So when I brought him to Toys R Us and saw the animated Batman toys on the racks, it was love at first sight haha. I liked how the toys stayed very true to the visual style seen in the animated series. So began the journey of discovering new things and the passion for toys was sparked. Check out my very first toy blog post HERE about Batman :)

As I began to discover more about toys and how vintage toys were still available out there in the world (internet wasn't really happening yet!), I came across the 1/6 scale world of Action Man 12-inch figures. So began the love for military figures. These figures and uniform sets were designed for boys to play with, mind you, and they were rather detailed and accurate even then. With the improvements in technology, some of the 1/6 scale figures and accessories are now of museum standard and can pass off as highly accurate historical pieces in terms of the quality and accuracy.

Movie-related merchandise were extremely scarce and the bigger players were companies like Medicom Toys and Takara from Japan but they offered mostly Japanese heroes although some American film icons did get their attention as well. I guess that's where Hot Toys saw the need in the market for highly accurate and ultra detailed movie based collectible figures. They haven't looked back since and now the market has exploded beyond their wildest dreams.

Most collectors I know would have collected Star Wars merchandise in one way or another. After all, Star Wars played a huge part in revolutionizing the toys market with their 3-3/4" action figure line in 1976. The widespread success of Kenner's Star Wars 3-3/4" toy line made the newer, smaller size the industry standard. Instead of a single 12-inch tall character with 1/6 scale outfits that changed for different applications, toy lines included teams of characters with special functions. Led by Star Wars-themed sales, collectible action figures quickly became a multi-million dollar secondary business for movie studios.

I think Star Wars has the largest and most varied range of toys than any other line. So many companies have produced and released so many different versions and types of Star Wars vehicles, Star Wars characters (villains and heroes alike) that it boggles the mind. Some have come and gone (Applause, Galoob etc) while others have withstood the text of time. Kenner had the initial license but was bought over by Hasbro and the company has been constantly churning out a never ending line of Star Wars stuff.

This was my first Star Wars Millennium Falcon from back then (1996). How could I not own a piece of Star Wars history that is the Millennium Falcon, the ship that belonged to Captain Han Solo and which brought him and his crew all over the Star Wars universe. Check out my coverage of all the other Star Wars ships / vehicles which I would later buy including the ultimate Hasbro's Star Wars Legacy Collection Millennium Falcon HERE :)

Check this out - the Millennium Falcon chasing after Buzz Lightyear

Toy Story the 1995 American computer-animated family buddy comedy film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter came out at the same time as I got into toy collecting so no surprise for guessing that I would collect Toy Story action figures and toys. Electronic Buzz Lightyear was all the rage back then and every kid wanted one for Christmas!

Those were the days of no internet and no digital cameras. So you took pictures of what you want and couldn't see the results until after the film had been developed. The internet has certainly changed the world we live in and made it even smaller with its connectivity.

Read More

G.I. Joe named 20th Century's Top Toy! Beating Transformers, Lego, Barbie and Monopoly

As reported on Fox News:
G.I. Joe vanquished Legos and Transformers, Barbie and the View-Master to be named the top toy of the 20th Century in a recent survey.

The battle-hardened Hasbro action figure, which first hit toy shelves in 1964 as the Vietnam War ratcheted up, was picked by visitors to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis' website as the top choice. The original 12-inch soldier, relaunched as a smaller action figure in the 1980s, has captured the imaginations of young children for years. The museum picked their top 100 toys of the last century and put them up for a vote that 24,000 people participated in.

G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe, fighting man from head to toe...

"Toys are a powerful tool for exploration and imagination as we learn and grow," said Jeffrey Patchen, the museum's president & CEO. Transformers and Legos came in second and third place, respectively. Other toys that fared well in the voting included Etch-a-Sketch, Play-Doh, Monopoly, Hot Wheels, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head, Cabbage Patch Kids, Crayons, Spirograph and Raggedy Ann.

G.I. Joe comes out on top!

The National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., inducted G.I. Joe into its National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004. According to the New York museum's website, Hasbro has sold more than 400 million of the action figures. The original figure was shrunk to eight inches in the 1970s, then retired from production in 1978 before its resurrection as a 3.75-inch figure in 1982. In the early 1990s, Hasbro took G.I. Joe back to its original size, and cashing in on collector demand, produced several new and vintage replica versions.

From its early days during the Vietnam War, G.I. Joe has been controversial, according to the Toy Hall of Fame.

"For some critics, Joe’s message of “might makes right” is the wrong one to share with children," says the Hall of Fame's website entry on G.I. Joe. "Other adults counter that Joe encourages kids’ stories of good triumphing over evil and fosters creativity, imagination, and self-esteem. But while grownups argue over Joe’s merits and flaws, kids play on, and hundreds of other “action figures” people the toy landscape."

According to wikipedia: The conventional marketing wisdom of the early 1960s was that boys would not play with dolls, thus the word "doll" was never used by Hasbro or anyone involved in the development or marketing of G.I. Joe. "Action figure" was the only acceptable term, and has since become the generic description for any poseable doll intended for boys. "America's movable fighting man" is a registered trademark of Hasbro, and was prominently displayed on every boxed figure package.

The Hasbro prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (marine / soldier) "Skip" (sailor) and "Ace" (pilot), before the more universal name G.I. Joe was adopted. One of the prototypes would later sell in a Heritage auction in 2003 for $200,001.

Aside from the obvious trademarking on the right buttock, other aspects of the figure were copyrighted features that allowed Hasbro to successfully pursue cases against producers of cheap imitations, since the human figure itself cannot be copyrighted or trademarked. The scar on the right cheek was one; another, unintentional at first, was the placement of the right thumbnail on the underside of the thumb.

The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier (U.S. Army), Action Sailor (U.S. Navy), Action Pilot (USAF), Action Marine (USMC) and later on, the Action Nurse. The term G.I. stands, in popular usage, for Government Issued and after the First World War became a generic term for U.S. soldiers. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure". GI Joe's appeal to children has made it somewhat of an American icon among toys.

This is the G.I. Joe Timeless Collection III 1/6th scale Talking Action Pilot 12-inch figure released in the year 2000 and came with pilot's flight helmet with visor, oxygen mask and hose, flight suit, Mae West life vest, flashlight, G-pants, black boots, flare gun, working parachute, blue fatigue cap, belt with Service Pistol and holster, knife in sheath and Map case with map. When you pull his dog tag, you can hear him sound off

The hard case parachute pack keeps the parachute neatly packed inside

And can be opened to deploy the working parachute

Hasbro G.I. Joe Timeless Collection III 1/6th scale Talking Action Pilot 12-inch figure stands above the heap of other toys that have not made the grade, lying in a pile at his feet.

These are the toys my boys had when they were much younger and have since outgrown them but we just never got around to throwing them away so they are still kept around in the house as a reminder of their childhood days. See if you can recognize some of them.

They had dinosaurs when Jurassic Park was the rage (also from watching the animated Extreme Dinosaurs), animals when Lion King reigned at the cinemas, ninja turtles, robots...

SPAWN toys from the McFarlane line of figures, Marvel superhero action figures, Star Wars action figures...

The list goes on ;p These are only the tip of the iceberg haha What to do when their father is a toy collector? He's most encouraging indeed.

Read More