Flip stuff into Mr. Mouth’s mouth!

I’ve never heard of this toy, but the commercial caught my eye. Looks like something I would have enjoyed as a kid.

It’s interesting to note that Mr. Mouth was originally created by Tomy in the mid-70s and he wasn’t a frog at all. Instead he looked like something out of H.R. Pufnstuf or maybe even a big-headed Pokemon. I guess at some point, Milton Bradley bought the rights to the Mr. Mouth frog incarnation and manufactured it at least into the 1990s, but it seems to be discontinued now.

=

Anyone have any memories of either version? Apparently, I missed the boat on this one!

Shrinky Dinks make the fun shine!

Remember Shrinky Dinks?

Remember the coloring? The cutting? The pre-heating? The baking and waiting? The little piece of plastic that would then come out and be 1/8 the size of the original form? Then you were left with a tiny piece of plastic on your kitchen table for you to stare at.A lot of production goes into getting those tiny pieces of plastic. With each step in the creation process, the tension and excitement would mount and it never really paid off.

DING!

Mom: “Your He-Man Shrinky Dink is ready!”

Me: “Oh… That’s it? What am I supposed to with THAT???”

This commercial pretends you’ve just made an action figure of sorts and you’ll have wondrous adventures, but that was never the case. I remember using some for necklaces or whatever, but honestly, there just wasn’t much to be done with a baked Shrinky Dink outside losing or breaking them.

Oh, don’t get me wrong though, they’re from my childhood– so I still love’em. =)

Secret Command(o) (AKA – Rambo: First Blood Part II) now on Virtual Console!

http://wii.ign.com/articles/100/1007678p1.html

There’s a lot of licensed games I wish Nintendo would get around to upping on the Wii. Some of which we may never see because it’d be more legal & financial trouble than it’s worth, but at least I can dream.

In the meantime, I can play the generic Rambo: First Blood Part II port called Secret Command, er, Secret Commando, um… Ashura..? Confused? Oh who cares! Go read the review for a full title recap. Basically, all you need to know is that as the review says, “the reason you’d buy it is because it’s really Rambo”.

A Rambo video game. On Wii. ‘Nuff said! Here’s my $6.

Is it this?

This? (Cover art designed by Jacob Dunham of Silver Springs Elementary School, Mrs. Petrie's 3rd Grade Class.)

Or this?

Happy Meal featuring Super Looney Tunes

I swear, McDonald’s Happy Meals put out some of the greatest toys known to mankind. Perhaps a full article is warranted on the subject…

Anyway, it’s rather unfortunate that I did not collect all 4. I only had Wonder Pig (Petunia Pig) and Batduck (Daffy Duck). I still have Wonder Pig and her snap-on costume!

My 10 Favorite Cobra Figures

A few days ago, I listed my ten favorite figures from the G.I. Joe team, now it’s time for Cobra to shine…

H.E.A.T. Viper (1989)

High Explosive Anti-Tank Viper! Great description of this guy “Cobra Bazooka Man”. This figure, which came along during one the last few glory years, definitely has some wear and tear in my collection. All the accessories are gone, the crotch is broken the legs and arms are extremely loose and the o-ring is hanging by a thread, but that just goes to show how much I loved this figure and played with it back in the day. All of my action figures also doubled as wrestlers and for some reason, I dubbed this guy “The Terminator”, for his wrestling name.

Alley Viper (1989)

Part of what appealed to me about this figure was the bright orange & blue camoflauge. In ’89, he really stood out in the Joe line (the early 90s produced all kinds of ugly neon figures). I lost this figure years ago, but scored one (and the almost-as-cool 1990 version as well) on eBay. According to the filecard, Alley Vipers were the Cobra equivalent of a S.W.A.T. team.

Iron Grenadiers (1988)

Once I started looking into bidding for Joes online, I was surprised by how popular this figure is. Pretty pricey if you want one of these. The o-ring broke on mine, so I only have one from the torso up. When I would play with my Joes, I used this figure as Cobra Commander (hey, he changed his look every year, so why not?).

B.A.T. (1986)

A B.A.T. is just about THE coolest Joe figure ever made. I’m a sucker for a hologram torso! Plus, swapping out accessories on the arms was really cool too. Of course, the more accessories you have, the more you’re going to lose…

Crystal Ball (1987)

A very gimmicky figure with a goofy look and a goofy name but I still loved the guy. Must’ve been that hologram shield that did it for me. He looks kinda like Ra’s al Ghul and was Cobra’s hypnotist. Ooookay.

Croc Master (1987)

I didn’t own Croc Master (I do now though), but this guy was AWESOME! Just look at him! He looks like some psycho from a slasher movie (and the Batman villain Bane) and he had the ultimate accessory — a CROCODILE!!!

Big Boa (1987)

It took me 22 years, but I finally own Big Boa! Just got him in a few weeks ago from a winning bid. I don’t know why, but I loved the fact that this guy had boxing gloves and a punching bag. Really cool helmet too. He looks like an extra from Mad Max.

Flak-Viper (1992)

One of my top guys when the Joes wrestled! He had a backpack for the accessory that fired missiles. Flak-Viper got a really cool repaint for 1993: orange, gray and green (trust me, it works).

Storm Shadow (1984)

I was never into the whole Snake-Eyes/Storm Shadow thing. I get it, they’re ninjas, but I don’t go ga-ga over them like so many Joe fans do. In fact, I always like thought the Spirit/Storm Shadow feud from the cartoon was much more interesting. Nonetheless, ninjas are pretty cool, especially white ninjas.

Tomax/Xamot (1985)

I loved to hate these guys in the cartoon and never thought they were used enough. Great design. Half ballerina, half football player.

Thanks to YoJoe.com for the images.