Toy OTD: Toy Factory Hägar The Horrible Plush: Helga (2004)

Here's more evidence of my weakness for obscure pop culture characters. I've hardly ever seen merchandise for the Hägar The Horrible comic strip: good, bad, or otherwise! Fortunately, this plush is pretty good.

Hägar isn't one of my favorite comic strips, but the designs are simple and appealing. Like Hanna-Barbera's Flintstones or Roman Holidays, it's essentially a sitcom moved to a different time period. Most of the comic deals with a Viking family: Dad (Hägar), Mom (Helga), teenage daughter (Honi), younger brother (Hamlet), pets (Qvack & Snert) and goofy best friend (Lucky Eddie). Since Hägar was created by cartoonist Dik Browne, co-creator of the suburban comic Hi and Lois, it makes sense that the strips have a common foundation.

Helga is a feisty Brunhilde matron, more than a match for the disheveled Hägar. She's simply constructed, with her hat, cloak, head and hair formed from elemental shapes. The plush captures the forms (and the design) pretty well. Her cloak is now colored a sort of lavender in the strip, but I do remember it being blue back in the day. I'm not sure about the belt detail, but the overall look (aside from the lack of the cloak's collar) seems quite faithful to the character's design.

The construction is average, though the belt's stitching is a bit sloppy. The shapes could be tighter (especially involving the 'helmet'), but it's not bad - the facial expression is cute, and the braids do a lot to add appeal. The bright colors help evoke a comic-strip feel, too.

Like most plushes, it has balance problems, but the right-sized doll stand (or leaning it against the back of your display case/shelf) might fix the problem. A small acrylic stand (like those sold at Office Depot) also might work.

I bought this plush loose at a convention, but I have a feeling this toy wasn't packaged, but rather sold tagged instead. Unless you're concerned about shelf presence, damage, or shipping ease, boxing a plush isn't all that necessary.

Since this toy isn't all that old, the ease of finding it depends mostly on how many were made. I found an auction for one right away on eBay - you can buy it for $7.00 + shipping, or start the bidding at $4.95 + shipping (which isn't all that much more than what I paid: $4.00 flat). There's also a Hägar plush up for auction on eBay, too. Happy bidding!

PS - If you're interested in reading a sample of Hägar The Horrible, there's a new compilation of the first year of the strip. You can buy it at Amazon.com for $10.83 + shipping.

Dick Tracy Locked Up In Warren Beatty's House?

AWN.COM: Beatty Sued Over Dick Tracy Rights
REUTERS - March 23, 2009

In an effort to regain the motion picture and TV rights to DICK TRACY, Tribune Media Services is suing Warren Beatty, reports REUTERS. In papers filed last week, Tribune states that Beatty "wrongly claims" the rights exclusively.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

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If Beatty hasn't done anything with the property in over ten years, he might want to consider selling it back to Tribune (though if the larger company's bankrupt, that doesn't really work). I guess it depends on whether or not Tribune Media Services sold Beatty all of the "Tracy" rights exclusively and indefinitely.

I'm assuming that Tribune wants the property back so they can try and generate revenue, though they'll have to dig deeper into the hole in order to get some cash coming in. I really like the comic strip, but how many fans of it are left at this point?

Bloom County Heading Your Way. All Of It.

IDWPUBLISHING.COM: Bloom County Library to Collect Entire Run of Classic American Comic Strip - San Diego, February 4, 2009

IDW Publishing is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of The Bloom County Library. Beginning in October 2009, each of the five volumes will collect nearly two years worth of daily and Sunday strips, in chronological order. This will be the very first time that many of these comic strips have been collected, and the first time in a beautifully designed, hardcover format. The books will be part of IDW's Library of American Comics imprint, and designed by Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney.

"Fans have pestered me for years," said Berkeley Breathed, "for this ultimate BloomCounty collection in that polite, respectful badgering way that only fans can manage. Thank God I can now tell them something better than just 'please remove your tent from my lawn.' I can say, 'It's coming!"

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Beetle Bailey Joins The Completists' Club

Many of you may shrug, but I was excited to hear that Beetle Bailey was going to be collected in its entirety. I doubt that I'll buy all of it, but I think the strips from the '50s and '60s are very funny! The drawings have a goofy energy, and I like the gags.

It would appear that this isn't a Fantagraphics production (which would make sense, as they have a lot on their plate already), but the brainchild of a publisher called Checker. The cover design is just okay, so who knows what the scans of the strips will be like? Regardless, I'm a sufficiently big Bailey fan to take the plunge for the first book.

There's no release date as of yet, but you can pre-order it for $15.61 + shipping at Amazon.com.

Buck Rogers Returns to Hollywood And Toy Shelves

"Nu Image/Millennium Films has acquired film rights to 'Buck Rogers,' and will give live action screen treatment to the venerable pilot who awakens in the 25th Century and battles evil. Nu Image/Millennium's Avi Lerner got the rights from the Dille Trust, which is run by the surviving family of series originator Frank Dille."

To read the rest of Micheal Fleming's Variety article, click here.

If you haven't been there yet, stop by gohero.com and check out the progress on their upcoming old-school (i.e, 30s-style), limited-edition Buck Rogers figure - it's looking great!

Garfield (Without Garfield)

Some time ago, I remember someone altering Garfield comic strips by removing the cat's thought bubbles. Jon became delusional, attention-starved and even more pathetic.

Now, it's been taken a step further with Garfield Minus Garfield - as you might imagine, they've removed the title character entirely. This time, Jon collapses into pathological oblivion!

I guess someone will eventually paint Jon out as well, or replace both of them with other characters, like Sigmund Freud and Keanu Reeves.

Ilinois Dick Tracy Museum Closes

NORTHWEST HERALD: Funding woes foil Dick Tracy museum
By JENN WIANT - jwiant@nwherald.com
Monday, February 04, 2008

WOODSTOCK – The Chester Gould – Dick Tracy Museum, housed in the Old Courthouse building on the Woodstock Square since 1991, will close June 1 for financial reasons.

Jean Gould O’Connell, daughter of “Dick Tracy” comic strip creator and former Woodstock resident Chester Gould, said the museum had been struggling financially.

“It’s been happening slowly for the past couple of years,” she said. “It was much too difficult to get fundraisers going. It was the same few people [who] were called upon to do it. We just found that we couldn’t make a go of it.”

O’Connell is pleased that the museum, which is privately funded, has lasted this long.

“I’ve put my heart and soul into that museum and tried to make it something that Woodstock would be proud of,” she said. “This is a very sad time for us, but we’ve had very many wonderful years there.”

The estimated 300 pieces of memorabilia and art in the museum, most of which had been donated by people all over the country, will be returned to the owners, O’Connell said. Beverly and Cliff Ganschow, owners of the Old Courthouse, said they would like to maintain a small, permanent display of Chester Gould and “Dick Tracy” memorabilia in a room of the building.

Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager was sad to hear about the museum’s closing.

“The Dick Tracy Museum was a wonderful resource for members of the community, as well as the school youth, and certainly it provided a draw for some visitors to our community,” Sager said. “We certainly are going to miss the museum, but we do understand, with respect and appreciation to the family, the decision that they have had to make.”

Fundraising for the Dick Tracy statue being planned for the grassy area outside of the Old Courthouse had been put on hold, O’Connell said.

Kevin Stebbins, who organizes the annual Dick Tracy Days Parade in June, said the festival probably would cease to exist after the museum closed. The parade will no longer be associated with the comic strip character and will become a community parade, Stebbins said. It has been scheduled for a week earlier this year, on Father’s Day.

When he learned Monday that the museum would close, Stebbins said he was “kind of shocked,” but had expected it to happen eventually.

“I know that they’ve had some financial difficulties in the past and they haven’t had very much support in the community,” he said. “... [But] I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.”

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Crap! I was thinking of trying to go to Dick Tracy Days this year. So much for that... bummer.

Cats, Sticky Tape, And The New Year

Chris Sanders has started a new weekly comic strip (called Kiskaloo) over at his blog, and naturally he's already kicking ass. I can't wait to see more! Keep your fingers crossed for toys...

Thanks to John Sanford for the tip. Check out his strip (Chippy and Loopus) if you haven't already! He has rabbits and nail guns.

Happy Beaver Comic 3

Toy OTD: Dark Horse Mutts PVC Figures

A little while ago, Dark Horse released a four-figure set of characters from the Mutts comic strip. Earl and Mooch are both available in larger sizes, but there's two other characters (Guard Dog and Shtinky) included that you can't get any other way. So of course I bought it!

The sculpts and paint apps, while not as good as many imported toys, are still nice for the figures' size. The poses also stand well without bases, not as precariously as the larger vinyls.

These haven't been out all that long (since last October), so you can still get the set for retail - reduced, in fact, to $13.49 + shipping from Things From Another World.