Collectible of the Week: Electroman (Ideal)

In the mid-1970s, post-Watergate, post-Vietnam, post-Energy Crisis, America was looking for a few good, nostalgic superheroes; ones who could wash away the national blues with the time-honored principles of truth, justice, and the American way. On television, The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman and The Bionic Woman spoke meaningfully to that urgent desire, racking up high ratings and meeting with tremendous audience popularity.

On toy shelves, it was much the same story, The Six Million Dollar Man line from Kenner was big business, and left the other toy companies scrambling to compete. Mattel came up with Pulsar: The Ultimate Man of Adventure (a man in a black-and-red jogging suit with a transparent torso). Hasbro re-fitted G.I. Joe as the futuristic Super Joe. And Ideal came up with perhaps the most bizarre superhero toy of them all, the 16 inch-tall Electroman!

Described as "Ideal's amazing electronic sentinel, Electromanwears a bright red, black and yellow uniform with a dazzling "E" (for Electroman, we presume…) emblazoned on his barrel-sized torso. He also wears tall black boots and a yellow cape.

The hero's oddest fashion statement, however, remains his elaborate helmet, a clunky red affair that shoots laser beams (really just a flashlight). By adjusting a knob on the base of Electroman's neck, you can change the settings of the laser ray from Stun, to Radar, to Guard.

Toy catalogs described the settings this way: "Electroman's computer brain can detect the slightest movement and sound a warning...In radar position, he sends out flickering light that changes to a steady beam when he finds an enemy position."

Electroman's nemesis was sold separately, a brown hulking monster ("half man/half monster") with red eyes, white fangs and a reflector embedded in his head.  This villain was called  "Zogg The Terrible" and described on his black box as "A Creature so awesome only Electroman or you can defeat him."

Zogg also came with a black and red laser gun which you could use to zap him, if you didn't want to summon Electroman and his strange head gear. When hit with Electroman's laser ray, Zogg would topple over.Mission accomplished.

An odd historical footnote: Electroman actually shared his colorful costume (but not his helmet) with Black Magic Crissy, a tall African-American woman in white platform shoes. She came with five different hair attachments, but I'm not sure what her superpowers were.

Collectible of the Week: Hornetroid (Mego; 1979)

It would be a tough call to select my favorite Mego Micronauts toy from the 1970s, but leading the pack would be 1979’s Hornetroid, “the fearsome Myriapod from the far-off galaxy of Thoraxia.”  The baddest MF in the Microverse, the Hornetroid is an interchangeable aerial attack ship that resembles a giant, malevolent insect.

The Hornetroid features a front cockpit which opens to house Micronaut action figures, gripping mandibles, four translucent purple wings, a cockpit canopy that resembles compound eyes, laser cannons and more.  The Hornetroid’s wings, for instance, could flap up-and-down by pressing a tab on the ship’s dorsal spine. 

Released at the same time as the “Terraphant” (a terrestrial vehicle resembling a monster elephant…) and personalities such as Membros (with the glow-in-the-dark brain), Hornetroid also shared an awesome quality with toys such as Milton Bradley’s Star Bird and Mattel’s Space: 1999 Eagle One.  In particular, the Hornetroid could come apart, and re-form into a scout mode by joining the aft and fore compartments and discarding the middle module. 

Mego’s Hornetroid was perhaps my most desired toy of 1979 because it looked so damn scary and cool.  I still own the one my Granny bought for me that year, but it is in really, really bad shape after three-and-a-half decades.  The back dorsal wing/spine is snapped off, along with one of the front compartment’s antennae.  

I’ve also managed to lose the weird transparent purple “bomb” to the ship.  I had it just a few years ago, but now it is gone.

My son Joel loves the Hornetroid, but my toy is so played out that it just falls apart if you try to pick it up, alas.  One of these days, I’m going to have to pick up another on E-Bay for him…

The Hornetroid, though not the right scale, also appeared in the popular Micronauts comic-book series from Marvel.

Collectible of the Week: Godtron/God Mars Deluxe Set (1981 - 1982)

This “space combination” “deluxe set” Godtron or Godmars comes from the anime TV series Six God Combination God Mars that aired on Nippon TV from October 1981 through the end of December of 1982.  The series aired sixty-four episodes, and later followed up with two films.

The original Godmars series was set in the future year of 1999, and concerned Earth’s conflict with the distant planet Gishin.  The warlord of that world sent a child, Mars and a robot, Gaia, to Earth to destroy it. 

Instead, however, the child was adopted by a Japanese family and renamed Takeru.  He grew to become, with his robot, a defender of the Earth, not its betrayer.   Takeru’s  robot could also combine with five other giant robots (Ra, Titan, Shin, Sphinx and Uranus) to form the goliath known as “Godmars.”

This gigantic toy from Taiwan -- a present for Joel -- was produced in the early 1980s and the components are made of diecast model.  The box advertises a “wonderful six in one robot,” and inside, as you can see, are all the parts, as well as accessories such as swords and the like.

Below, you’ll find the introduction to Godmars.

Collectible of the Week: 2-XL (Mego Corp; 1978)

2-XL is a “robot with a personality” manufactured and released by Mego Corp. in 1978.  This small robot is an “electronic toy” and “comes complete with 8-track cartridge, instruction, and game booklet.”

On the box, 2-XL is described as:

THE TALKING ROBOT THAT WILL

Tell Jokes

Ask you True-False Questions

Ask you multiple-choice questions.

Tell you if you are right or wrong.

Give you the correct answer.

Give you more information on different subjects.

Play games with you and your friends.

Play standard 8-track cartridges as well as 2-XL Cartridges.

A whole range of “additional 2-XL tapes” were also available at local toy stores of the day including.

Sports: “For the sports fan in the family, 2-XL sports tape is programmed for exciting questions, jokes, riddles on all sports, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, water sports, etc. Test your knowledge against the coach, ‘Uncle Brainy.’”

Games and Puzzles: “A tape of funny and challenging games and puzzles for the entire family complete with game book. Various levels of difficulty. Great for parties or those rainy days.”

Guinness Book of World Records: “What was the longest frankfurter ever made?  Who was the shortest woman who ever lived?  What was the world’s hopscotch record? Hundreds of challenging questions from the Guinness Book of World Record for hours of fun.

Science Fiction: “For science fiction, Superhero lovers.  Includes jokes, facts on fictional characters, superheroes, and famous science fiction characters.”

Metric System/Education:“2-XL introduces your family to the Metric System. In his own special way, 2-XL ‘educates’ and amuses as he translates the metric system into ‘English.’ A must tape for all members of the family before those speedometers change to kilometers.  And square yards into square meters.”

Interviews with Great People from History: “Did you ever chat with Alexander the Great, or Daniel Boone? Let 2-XL introduce you to the great personalities of history in the most fascinating Talk Show ever.”

Monsters, Myths and Legends: On the trail of Bigfoot, Dracula and Frankenstein, 2-XL encounters the scariest monsters of all time. It’s spine-tingling adventures ahead in our ghostly gallery of myths and legends.”

50’s and 60’s Nostalgia: 2-XL turns back the clock to the fabulous fifties and sixties as he tests your knowledge of intriguing trivia – Elvis, the Beatles, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Gunsmoke to name a few.”

Other cassettes included Astronomy/2-XL in Space, Believe This or Not, Adult Games and Puzzles, Animal World, Storyland: 2-XL and the Time Machine, U.S. Presidents and American History and The Basics of ABC’s.

The wondrous and boxy 2-XL, who came equipped with a voice that sounds like Lou Costello’s, was re-modeled in the 1980s to be less boxy, and somehow less fun.

Below you’ll find TV commercials for 2-XL in both of his incarnations. 

Memory Bank: Starroid Raiders (1978 - 1981?)

My beloved Granny, also known, by her friends as Tippi, passed away in 2007 after a failed heart surgery.  But today, I still possess a lifetime of fond memories of her, especially from my early childhood.

Tippi was a funny character, both a bragging Texan and a gorgeous pin-up model in the days of World War II .  By the time I knew her, however, she was in her sixties had an absolutely terrible time keeping track of the toys I wanted for my birthday or Christmas. Not that it was an easy task to keep track of all that stuff given my affection for everything sci-fi rom Star Trek and Space: 1999 to Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica.

In the immediate aftermath of Star Wars (1977), for instance, a world of knock-off toys were released, flooding the market and perpetually confusing senior citizens who were trying to figure what it was all about. 

Of course, I always wanted authentic Kenner Star Wars figures for my collection, but because of my beloved granny, I kept ending up with the knock-offs, including a weird line called...Starroid Raiders.

These small action figures from Tomland had several points of articulation and came with accessories such as blasters and light swords.  One weird quality about them, that I recall, is that the figures all had soft, over-sized heads that could, rather easily, be pulled out of their neck slots.  And they were all aliens of unknown variety. It was thus difficult to be certain which were supposed to be good, and which were supposed to be evil.

The Starroid Raiders had hard-to-remember names such as “Aton,” “Haza,” “Newt” (presumably not Gingrich...) “Papi,” “Tior” and “Koga.”  I have memories of owning Koga, in particular.  I believe he was my first Starroid Raider.  But over several holiday seasons, I kept getting more of these figures from my Granny…even though I didn’t really want them. 

What’s worse is that year after year, I kept getting these figures under new, less-creative brand names.  I believe Tomland also released similar figures in the ensuing years as Space Raiders and Space Fighters.  I think they also released a ship called "Space Hawk" under the name “Star Force,” which looked like a mold of the Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica, only it boasted (detachable) upper wings as well as lowers ones, and a slightly different snub-nose configuration.

The great irony of my collection of Starroid Raiders -- which I no longer possess -- is that today they are considered incredibly valuable collectibles, and fetch unbelievably high prices on E-Bay.  I really wish I had kept my collection, but in my teenage years I had no idea they would eventually be anything other than sorta cheap Star Wars knock-offs.

So today, I want to thank Tippie for giving me all those action figures, and for being ahead of the curve with all those Starroid Raiders toys.   

Collectible of the Week: Space 1999 Adventure Playset (Amsco/MB 1975)

I first featured the Amsco Cardboard Adventure Sets of the 1970s here on my blog way back on September 29, 2005.  But, every now and then -- especially if the toy is Space: 1999 related -- I enjoy hauling out a collectible a second time.

So today, I’m once again featuring the Space: 1999 Cardboard Adventure Playset, with some new photographs I just snapped.

A little background: In the early-to-mid 1970s, Amsco and Milton Bradley cooperated to produce four cardboard play-sets (for Marvel Comics, Planet of the Apes, The Waltonsand Space:1999). These giant Amsco dioramas were packaged in large, attractive and colorful rectangular boxes, were produced from "durable" cardboard, and were advertised as "fun to assemble,"

The kit you see pictured comes from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's outer space epic, Space:1999 (1975 -1977) and is a diorama of the lunar installation, Moonbase Alpha. 

As you can see, there's a landing pad, a cross-section of Moonbase Alpha's interior, including Main Mission Tower, a yellow moon-buggy, and plenty of cardboard representations of characters and aliens.  Also, the set comes with two Eagle spacecraft and two nuclear charges, the latter for detonating asteroids.

The heroes in the Space:1999 set are made in the likenesses of Martin Landau's Commander John Koenig, Barbara Bain's Helena Russell, Barry Morse's Professor Victor Bergman and even Clifton Jones' David Kano.  Unfortunately, the set was produced pre-Maya, so there's no Catherine Schell figure here.

One thing I enjoy about this particular set is that some effort was made towards accuracy in terms of the figure personalities (if not the Moonbase interiors). For instance, three cardboard figures in the Space:1999 set are aliens directly from Year One episodes. 

Peter Cushing's Raan, from "Missing Link" is here with his daughter, Vanna. The popular and horrifying octopus-like monster from "Dragon's Domain" is featured as well (with a puddle of drool/goo...).  Even the scorched Zoref (Ian McShane) from the episode, "Force of Life" is included in the set.

The Alphan figures can inhabit the base, and even ride a working elevator from one level to the next.  One door in the interior leads right out to the docking port, where the docked Eagle is stationed. One figure is a blond astronaut, who I insist is actually Captain Alan Carter (Nick Tate), although his hair isn’t quite right.

When I turn fifty, I plan on selling a large range of my prized collectibles as part of my retirement investment  plan (since freelance writers don’t get 401Ks or pensions…), but I don’t know that I can bring myself to sell this Amsco toy -- it was an anniversary gift from my wife -- or the other Space: 1999 collectibles.  We shall see...

Collectible of the Week: Voltron Coffin of Doom/Coffin of Darkness (Panosh Place; 1984)

Joel and I have been watching and enjoying Voltron: Defender of the Universe(1984) on Netflix over the holidays. 

Although Voltron hasn’t quite reached the level of Joel’s current/ongoing Cyberman/Doctor Who obsession, he loves one aspect in particular of the Japanese animated series.

In each episode, Haggar the Witch sends a fierce ro-beast to challenge Voltron and the heroes of the Galaxy Alliance.  These ro-beasts arrive on planetary surfaces in kitted-up space coffins: weird colorful caskets that “birth” the monstrosities

In 1984, the company Panosh Place created a whole line of really great Voltron toys -- ships and figures -- including the Coffin of Doom (containing the Ro-Beast Scorpius) and the Coffin of Darkness, which houses the Ro-Beast memorably called “Mutilor.”

Both of these swing open coffins house Voltron action figures, and feature forward-aiming armament, as you can see from the photographs.  The back of the coffin box describes the grim vehicles thusly: “Only a dreaded Ro-beast could live in this evil coffin.  But this is no ordinary resting place, because this horrific flying machine takes Scorpius/Mutilor on his barbaric missions.

It goes on to say: “Combat and chaos, that’s why Haggar the Witch created the Coffin of Doom/Darkness.  And with its wings spread, war lamp lit and clicking battle sound, it more than lives up to its creator’s most diabolical dreams.”

The boxes also describe the terrifying pilots.  They thrive on “combat” and pilot the coffins. 

“From the moment you see” their "eerie glow” and hear their “forbidding sound, you know that evil is on the way.”

“Voltron, beware!”

Alas, the pilots are sold separately from the coffins of doom/darkness. 

Now I just need to get my hands on a Panosh Place Voltron and Castle of Lions…

Collectible of the Week: Doctor Who Tardis Playhouse (Dekker Toys; 1982)

If you saw my Christmas photograph from a few days back, you know that the TARDIS came to visit Joel’s holiday this year...filled with Doctor Who toys, including a bump-and-go-cybermat and a lego-like Cyber-conversion chamber.  

Specifically that holiday TARDIS is the Dekker Toys “Tardis” playhouse from 1982, an officially licensed product from the BBC. 

This TARDIS stands four feet high -- just a little taller than Joel at this point -- but is not alas, bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.  We’re still working on the issue of dimensional transcendentalism.

As you can detect from the images of the Tardis playhouse above, it was produced and marketed in the era of the fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison.  Joel hasn’t seen any episodes of that age, yet.  We started our Whovian survey with Patrick Troughton (“The Tomb of the Cybermen,” “The Mind Robber” and “The Krotons”) but have also now watched “The Sontaran Experiment” and “Revenge of the Cybermen” from the Tom Baker Era.   I'm debating whether I think he'll be freaked out by the giant Wirrn in "The Ark in Space."

The Tardis playhouse is actually something of a tent, one held up by narrow PVC poles at the corners. And inside there is even a control room and view screen…a feature which Joel loves.

When I was a kid, I would have traveled to the ends of the Earth (or Zeti Reticuli, in Whovian terms…) to get my hands on a TARDIS playhouse like this one.  I understand that a full-sized, inflatable TARDIS is also being released soon for further Time Lord adventures.  I think it would look great in our garage when Joel outgrows the playhouse.

2012 - A Year in Collectibles #12: G.I. Joe Adventure Team (Hasbro)

One of my favorite toys from childhood was Hasbro's G.I. Joe Adventure Team Headquarters, a two-story base for the large G.I. Joe action figures of the age.  

Now, I wasn't actually that big a fan of G.I. Joe himself (save for his 1977, sci-fi-themed Super Joe incarnation..), but his headquarters was an amazing piece of work, and it functioned admirably as an enemy fortress for the Knight of Darkness (Ideal), or for Mego's Klingons.

This large fold-out base came complete with a signal buzzer, an elevator chair, a map table, maps, equipment storage racks, and hangers, ear phones for Joe, and even an Adventure Team Comic-Book.  I still love the retro-futuristic look of the thing, with the blinking-light computers and tape-to-tape reels.

Designed for Ages "6 - 12," this Adventure Team H.Q. box was accompanied by the legend "where the adventure begins..." and could fold-up, like many play-sets of the 1970s, for "easy storage."  This feature made it easy to take outside, into the backyard, and into the thick of new adventures.

I'm still not certain how I came by my  original Adventure Team Headquarters, but I think it arrived courtesy of my (now-deceased...) uncle Glenn, my father's youngest brother.  He had collected a huge amount of G.I. Joe toys (including the Sea Wolf submarine, and a mobile support headquarters) and one day decided to pass the entire collection onto me, his nephew.  I'll never forget that act of kindness.  I know for sure that the mobile HQ was in that bunch of Glenn's toys, as were several figures, and I *think* that's how I got my hands on the Adventure Team HQ, though it is possible my parents found it for me at a yard sale.

The comic-book that accompanies the HQ encourages the reader to have a "different adventure every day with G.I. Joe" and to look for G.I. Joe adventures including "Danger of the Depths," "Flying Space Adventure," "Secret Mission to Spy Island," "White Tiger Hunt," "Fantastic Free Fall," "Capture of the Pygmy Gorilla," "Hidden Missile Discovery," The Shark's Surprise" "Space Walk Mystery" and "Secret of the Mummy's Tomb," among others.

Inside the comic book, the new H.Q. is described as "incredible" and a "team member's dream."  It also notes that it "takes more than daring to operate out of this Headquarters.  It takes a good knowledge of advanced electronic technology to operate all this special equipment."

All I know is that I spent a lot of great, imaginative play hours with this toy back in the mid-seventies.  I recently got my hands on one on E-Bay, and intend to share it with Joel.  We'll see what he makes of it...

Below, you'll find a TV commercial for the HQ.