Random Toy of the Day: Windcharger (Transformers)

Robot form.

Since I'd been spending so much time in Toronto lately, I'd originally planned to attend Dollism in Buffalo (only an hour-and-half across the border!) over this past weekend, but fate intervened, and I ended up back at home in VA/DC instead.  So while that means I don't have any interesting stories to share (or new dolls to show off), at least I was able to take a few toy photos!

First up is Windcharger - a 1980s transformer who is about the same size as a matchbox car when he's in his vehicle form.  Being compact means that I frequently misplace him, but that's also the reason he's at my house rather than in my mother's basement with the larger transformers - he was an accidental stowaway when I first moved out, and he's moved around with me ever since!

In terms of display value, there's not much to him, but compared to the larger transformers of his era, he's proved to be nearly indestructible.  The big ones are all missing pieces now, while this guy still looks almost exactly as he did when he was new.

Vehicle form.

Random Toy of the Day: Grumpy Bear (Kenner's Posable Care Bears)

Grumpy Bear.

It's raining, so what better day to introduce Grumpy Bear, the Care Bear with the thundercloud  belly?

As with all of these figures he has five points of articulation and a forelock of rooted hair.  I tend to class them as action figures, but suppose they could just as easily be called anthro dolls.

Even though this blue bear here has joined me for all of my relocation adventures, I don't have any particular nostalgia for the Care Bears line as a whole, I'm just a general fan for the negative characters in the perky lines, I suppose.

While I might not have been a huge fan of the line as a child, my sister was, and I found evidence that my mother went a little overboard at a few neighbourhood yard sales and the Samco sale (a warehouse toy sale that was held in Toronto every November - it closed down in the mid-1990s, I believe), because I just discovered a bin of Care Bears and playsets in my mother's basement.  I haven't had the opportunity to go through them yet, but I'm hoping to go identify and photograph them soon.

Out of the Box: Character Options' Doctor Who Series 2

Cyberman, the Doctor, Jack & K-9

I was just looking through/sorting photos and discovered a whole batch of toy pictures that I hadn't done anything with.  So instead of sorting through the basement, I thought it would be fun to share some of those.

Since I've been hearing talk lately about the newest Doctor Who shows (which, like all those summer movies, I haven't seen), I thought I'd start with some same-themed toys.

The Cyberman lived on my desk at work from
2007-2009.  Yes, he always rode a bunny.

Back in 2007 I had the opportunity to share a crate full of new figures with a neighbour (I'd been a fan of the audio adventures for ages and had enjoyed the reboot up to that point, although I'm not sure I was a big enough fan to need a crate of these) - and so I ended up with a wide variety of figures from Character Options' DW Series 2 toys.  It was probably a silly thing to do since I really only wanted K-9 and the Cyberman, but either way I also ended up with the 10th Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jack, a werewolf and two Krillitanes (one grey, one brown).

In terms of quality, these figures are nicely made - they're detailed enough to clearly be the characters and creatures from the show but solid enough to hold up to play.  Most of the figures have between nine and eleven points of articulation, and they have great balance.

In the years since then, I've given away the werewolf, and the Krillitanes and Mickey and Rose have ended up in storage, but a few of them are still hanging around.  And since I have very few new/good photos of these toys, how about some old terrible ones? ;)

One of the only photos I could find with Rose and Mickey
(they're on the far left here).

K-9 survived many terrible photos with my late Staffie, Sadiedog.

Terrible lighting, but who didn't want a ridiculous
crossover like this?  Right?

Out of the Basement: ToyBiz Light-Up Classics Wolverine (and Happy Labour Day!)

Digging through my mother's basement the other day, I came across a slightly more recent toy than most of the ones I've been posting about recently - Wolverine from the late 90s ToyBiz "Light Up Weapon Classics" line (I mentioned the Nightcrawler from this series a couple of months back).

Unlike the Nightcrawler, this figure is not terribly well engineered and can't stand on his own.  He also has a bit of an odd face sculpt, which is unfortunate.  On the other hand, he still has his original weapon, and - even more surprising - it still lights up!

I'm not sure if this toy is going to come home with me, go back into the basement, or be traded or gifted along, but it was interesting to see it again!

If you're celebrating a holiday weekend today, I hope it's a good one!