Friday Is Bring Your Little Big Chap to Work Day

In the late '70s and early '80s, it was customary for toy companies to purchase the rights to make action figures from the popular movies and TV shows of the time, especially in the tiny 3 3/4" size (which was super-easy for kids to carry around in their pockets--and super-easy to lose).

The Star Wars toy line is, by far, the best known and most popular of these toys, and every other toy maker in the business tried to emulate that success, most especially Mego, which had passed on making toys for the Star Wars franchise (and, by no great coincidence, went out of business a few years later).

So the market was flooded with itty-bitty, semi-posable representations of characters from such less-than-stellar efforts as The Black Hole, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Legend of the Lone Ranger, among many others.

One movie you didn't see such figures for, however, was Alien, the 1979 science-fiction/horror hybrid classic that featured Sigourney Weaver in her first starring role and an all-star roster of character actors (Yaphet Kotto, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Veronica Cartright)...oh, and one big fucking scary alien. known affectionately (then and now) as the "Big Chap."

You almost saw those toys, though.

Kenner held the license to make such toys, and they did produce a huge, 18" figure of the "Big Chap" himself (a toy which is now hard to find and super-expensive). However, they only got as far as the prototype stage for the 3 3/4" figures from the movie before someone, somewhere no doubt realized that producing a line of toys from a gory R-rated horror film probably wasn't the best thing for the sleeping patterns of America's children. (Never mind that we would have thought those toys were wicked cool and cleaned the shelves of them...when our well-meaning parents weren't looking, of course.)

But lo, all these decades later, the fine folks at ReAction Figures have dug out those prototypes and produced the figures we never had when we were kids. Now the "Big Chap" cam loom over my computer monitor--and, when he returns home, harass my tiny Doctor Who and Universal Monster figures, too.

Tuesday Is Bring Your Honey Badger to Work Day

Because Honey Badger don't care. Honey Badger don't give a...well, you know.

Tuesday is Bring Your Colorful Arachnid and His Reptile Friend to Work Day

In honor of the opening of the first movie in the freshly rebooted Spider-Man franchise (after only 5 years? really? Then again, Spider-Man 3 really did suck), here are Mego Spidey and his scaly opponent, The Lizard.

When I was a kid, Mego Spidey was arguably my favorite toy--he was a nice representation of the character, and unlike other Mego figures, he didn't have any accessories to lose (belt, boots, gloves, etc.).

The Lizard, on the other hand, is kind of goofy--his outfit is nice (love the plush tail) and the scales on the hands and feet were unique to this figure--but the head sculpt kinda blows the notion that he's a vicious animal who wants to tear the web slinger limb from limb. I mean, dude is smiling, for crying out loud.

Friday is Bring Your Super Hero with the Super Familiar Name (if not face) to Work Day

This is Captain Marvel. No, not the guy who says "Shazam!" and changes from a teenage boy into a superhero. This is the other guy at that other comic book company who touches his bracelets together and changes from a teenage boy into a superhero.

Comic books are confusing sometimes.

Friday is Bring Your Extraterrestrial Crustacean to Work Day

"IT'S A TRAP!"

Friday is Bring Your Gothic Soap Opera Vampire to Work Day

With the opening today of the big-screen adaptation of Dark Shadows--about which I've already expressed my concerns/doubts--I thought it would be a good time to revive, at least momentarily, Bring Your Action Figure to Work Day with this, um, lovely fellow. He's gotten reactions on both extremes: One coworker had no idea who he was, while another remembered running home after school to catch the latest installment of the gothic soap opera.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/23/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/9/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 3/26/10

Iron Man--keeping it safe to sanitize your hands.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 3/19/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 3/12/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 3/5/10

Friday is Bring Your Talking Chihuahua to Work Day

A dozen years ago or so, a fast-food chain ran what was intended to be a one-off commercial featuring a talking chihuahua who's heart's desire is--what else?--the fare of said fast-food chain.

The commercial was a huge success, even though some thought the depiction of a heavily-accented Mexican dog was stereotypical, and the chihuahua appeared in numerous other commercials for the chain over the next three years, always mouthing "his" pop culture-marking tagline: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." The chain even distributed plush toys of the chihuahua like the one pictured above, which speaks four different phrases, including a couple tying into the American version of Godzilla that came out in 1998.

Turns out the little dog wasn't a "he" at all, but a "she" named Gidget, who, after the Taco Bell campaign ended, made a few more appearances before retiring to a life of walking on the beach and sleeping in the sun.

This past Tuesday, Gidget suffered a stroke and had to be put to sleep. She was 15 years old--a pretty good age for a chihuahua.

Rest well, li'l pup.

Stand Your Action Figure on His Head Day

Actually, this was several days ago, when a bored coworker went around to various desks in the office and stood as many action figures as possible on their respective heads. (I will take the large number of toys in the office as a tribute to my ability to influence--corrupt, even--those around me.)

Thus, we had various characters in several yoga-like poses, including:
The movie version of The Spirit (the movie might have sucked--Frank Miller just doesn't know when to stop his characters from talking, or to give them anything interesting to say--but the action figure is pretty cool).
The Terminator atop my neighbor's cabinet.
Even Bigfoot!

Friday is Bring Your Patriotic Action Figures to Work Day

Sunday is Flag Day, and I can think of no better way of celebrating the anniversary of the official adoption of the Stars & Stripes by the Continental Congress in 1777 than by displaying action figures of the original patriotic super heroes: The Shield and Captain America.

The Shield first appeared in the first issue of Pep Comics, which had a cover date of January 1940 and no doubt appeared on newsstands before then, meaning that the super-strong, super-smart G-man was punching out Nazi-like bad guys about two years before America entered World War II. He continued his adventures throughout the war before eventually yielding not to a masked criminal or world-dominating fiend, but to a redheaded teenager and his pals. Archie Andrews, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, who had grown wildly popular during the war years, eventually subplanted all of the company's masked avengers--even the company name was changed from MLJ to Archie.

To The Shield's right is, by far, the best-known patriotic hero of all time: Captain America, who also appeared in print--with a March 1941 cover date--well before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7 of that year. Cap, however, didn't bother with beating up villains from made-up countries; he's shown on the cover of Captain America Comics #1 socking none other than Adolf Hitler squarely in the jaw. Captain America and his teenage sidekick, Bucky, continued to fight the good fight until 1949, when another then-popular trend--horror comics--put an end to their exploits...for a little while, anyway, until super heroes came back into fashion.

There have been many action figures of Captain America over the years--some great, others awful, most reasonably bland (like the Toy Biz figure from 1990 seen in the photo above). The Shield, however, has only had one action figure, made by Remco in 1984 during one of the character's infrequent revivals. Today, however, they stand proudly next to one another, celebrating the colorful piece of cloth that has waved from flagpoles all over the world for more than two centuries-- and the people, the spirit that cloth represents.

Friday is Bring Your 8th Wonder of the World to Work Day

This coming Monday, May 4, is my birthday. While I'm not feeling especially celebratory this year--one of those "how ther hell did I wind up here?" kind of deals--I'm not past buying something for myself.

This year, that "something" wound up being something out of the ordinary, and yet quite fitting for me.

One of my coworkers, who knows of my loves for both classic cinema and action figures, pointed me to a Japanese website that had the two figures pictured above available at a deep discount: King Kong (from the 1933 original, not from the more recent--and more inferior--remakes) and the Tyrannosaurus Rex that he beats the stuffing out of in one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed. And since my budget could handle such a relatively minor expenditure (I would get both figures for less than the price of one) and there were no toys on my Amazon wishlist, I went ahead and placed the order.

The T-Rex arrived early this week, but Kong (shipped separately for whatever reason) didn't show up until today. As soon as he did, though, they both went on display in their full black-and-white glory, much to the delight of my officemates.

They'll come home with me tonight when I toddle off for my three-day weekend and take their proper place atop my TV--from there, they'll greet one and all who dare come to La Casa del Terror (once I actually buy new furniture and clean the place, of course).

Friday is Bring Your Starship Captain to Work Day

Lately, I've been taking requests for Bring Your Action Figure to Work Day.

Last week, one of my esteemed co-workers asked specifically for Mego Batman (the removable cowl variety, who always looked to me like a little kid playing in a Batman costume two sizes too big for him) and Robin (the version with the painted-on mask; the removable mask version looks like he's ready for his cameo in Eyes Wide Shut), and I was more than happy to accommodate. I parked the boys on either side of my computer monitor, and they were much admired throughout the day--even though they're both wearing oven mitts.

This week, someone asked for Star Trek figures. And, again, I was pleased to oblige.

Mego produced a full line of Star Trek figures back in the mid-1970s, including most of the crew of the Starship Enterprise (except for Sulu and Chekov, both of whom had figures planned, but never produced) and a variety of aliens for them to fight with. Above, you can see Captain Kirk, smirking ever so slightly like he's checking out an alien babe and thinking, "Hey, how you doin'?" even though he's pointing a less-than-intimidating powder-blue phaser at nothing in particular. (Out of frame are his buddies, Spock and Dr. McCoy, both looking on their commander with a typical mix of awe and irritation.)

Flanking the good captain on the left is the Gorn, an alien that appeared on the original Star Trek TV series and took on Kirk in solo combat. Mego made their own Gorn as part of their original line, but he looked nothing like the TV version: They took the head from the Lizard, a Spider-Man villain they'd produced as part of their World's Greatest Super Heroes line, changed the color to brown, plunked it on the same body and uniform they'd used for the Star Trek Klingon figure and called it a day. Mego fans still debate to this day whether or not the Mego Gorn is charming or abominable. (Count me in the latter category.)

EMCE Toys, which began reissuing Mego's classic Star Trek line a couple of years ago, has since expanded the line beyond what Mego produced (including the never-produced Sulu and Chekov figures) and now have even gone back to make a TV-accurate Gorn. And the masses rejoiced.

The figure on the right, though, is something of a mystery.

Mego named him the Neptunian, even though no such alien race ever appeared on either the original series or the later cartoon version. Co-workers have been somewhat befuddled, one asking if he was a Sleestak (referring to the reptilian monstrosity from the '70s Saturday-morning staple "Land of the Lost") and another remarking that he looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The latter may be closer to the truth than the co-worker realized. There's a long-standing rumor that Mego planned to make a Creature figure for their Mad Monsters line (which already had Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Mummy), only to discover that Universal owner the rights to the character. Rather than pay a licensing fee, the story goes, Mego scrapped their idea for a Creature figure and used the hands and feet they'd created for the Neptunian instead.

Whatever the Neptunian's origin--unique creation or aborted effort--he's still kinda cool looking. And Captain Kirk will still totally kick his ass. 'cause that's how he rolls.

Friday is Bring Your Fertility Symbol(s) & Savior to Work Day

Today is Good Friday, though, as an agnostic, I've never understood why it's "Good," since it's the day Christ was crucified. (Perhaps one of my Catholic or Lutheran friends can explain this to me.)

It is certainly "Good" in the sense that it is Friday--which means the week ends (one hopes), it's Easter weekend (bring on The Ten Commandments!) and, of course, it's Bring Your Action Figure to Work Day.

Little Bunny Froo Froo, who has served as an Easter decoration at La Casa del Terror for quite some time (I think Mom got him as some sort of fabric softener premium and passed him on to me) and has been contentedly munching his carrot at my workstation all week, though the Pez dispensers are a brand-new addition.

(Isn't it interesting that the two holidays devoted to Jesus--Christmas and Easter--have appropriated so many pagan fertility symbols, like evergreens, eggs and rabbits?)

A less obvious, but vitally important, participant in today's display, however, is an action figure of the Man himself, tucked subtly onto the shelf of my cube so as not to offend coworkers who might think I'm being flip or disrespectful by bringing in a Jesus doll to work.

I intend no such disrespect, especially with this figure who, though He wasn't actually manufactured by the legendary Mego Corporation, was made using molds left over after Mego went out of business in 1983, and therefore is a pretty high-quality representation of Christ. He looks gentle, wise, friendly--just how I how I'd hope He would be.

Friday is Bring Your Gigantic Flying Reptile to Work Day

Last week, when I brought a large, imposing dragon to work, one of my comrades-in-arms mistook Draco for an older, more famous flying menace: Rodan, star of his own Japanese monster movie and co-star in numerous others with Godzilla, Mothra and many more. this coworker remembered that when he was a child in Alabama, his uncle, after having seen the original movie, claimed to have seen the prehistoric terror swooping low over the smokestacks of the factories and mills of Bessemer, a suburb of Birmingham.

The imagination of a ten year old is a furnace that doesn't require much to keep it stoked, so what would it do with such a potent shovelful of fossil fuel? It would burn long and red with terror. And so it did.

Now, at the end of a month of giant monsters, I might as well go out big while rousing a few flashbacks in my wake. And you can't go much bigger then the Shogun Warriors Rodan.

Back in the late '70s, Mattel produced a series of enormous robot toys called Shogun Warriors (based on Japanese toy manufacturer Popy's giant Mazinger figures). Part of this line was a version of Godzilla that shot a tongue of flame out of its mouth, as a proper Godzilla should. (The flame was triggered by a lever at the back of his neck; this lever snapped off pretty easily, and most second-hand Shogun Godzillas have only stumps to work with.) He was also able to shoot his left hand at his opponents (something the movie Godzilla could never do.)

Since Mattel had Godzilla in their Shogun Warriors and he was, by this point in his "career" a good guy, they must have thought, "Hey...doesn't he need someone to fight?" And thus, we have Rodan, rendered in plastic with grasping claws (strung with rubber bands), flapping wings (also strung with a rubber band and operated by three bowling ball-style holes in his back) and snapping jaws (operated by a much stronger lever than Godzilla had). His wingspan is fairly amazing--over 40 inches from tip to tip--and he can be seen from damn near any vantage point in the office.

This has, of course, prompted many more questions from coworkers, most along the lines of, "Do you display all these things in your apartment? How big is your place, anyway?"

My apartment is no bigger than average, I'd guess, and no, I don't display all of the toys I own in it; I'd need an apartment closer to the size of the Field Museum for that.

But Rodan? You're damn right I've got him on display at home--proudly on display at that.

Tuesday is Bring Your Flying Turtle to Work Day

As you might imagine, many of my coworkers not only take notice of Bring Your Action Figure to Work Day--they also have many questions.

Who is that? If you don't know, you don't need to. Move along.

How much did that cost you? None of your damn business.

Do you really own all those...things? Yes. Yes, I do. (Insert confused/alarmed/frightened look here.)

Occasionally, the questions relate neither to my income nor my relative state of sanity. Sometimes, coworkers want to know if there's "more where that came from." The answer, generally speaking, is, "Yes. yes, there is."

Example: The first time I brought a Godzilla toy in, I was asked whether or not I had a toy of Gamera the flying turtle at home as well.

"Well, now that you mention it..."