Comic-Con Hosts Red Fraggle!

It's official! Red Fraggle herself will be at San Diego Comic-Con on Sunday, July 27th! Come and watch Red dance her cares away right in front of you!

Red's going to be there (along with the always amazing puppeteer, Karen Prell) to beat the drum for the Fraggle Rock DVDs (especially the upcoming season four box - the last set of the series!):

2:45-4:15 Fraggle Rock— Help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock and learn more about this fall's newest DVD release! Join Red—making a personal appearance—as she sneak peeks the DVD special features and some other DVD surprises! Room 6B

See you at the 'Con!

Toy OTD: Applause Jetsons Doll: Elroy (1990)

This is an older toy that I've had since my days at Tiny Toons (we're talking early nineties). Warner Brothers TV Animation was in the Imperial Bank building, right next to the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Naturally, we'd pop down there at lunchtime to shop and play video games. One of the neastest stores in the mall was part of a chain called Cartoon Junction.

Animated features and television shows were getting better again after a big dry period in the late sixties through to the mid-eighties. They also started to make money, and a new generation of cartoon geeks were growing up and began earning disposable income. The means to manufacture toys had improved drastically since the last peak in the late fifties/early sixties. The success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? inspired many studios to re-examine their classic licenses. The time was right for a new wave of animation-based merchandise, so chains like The Disney Store and Cartoon Junction began to emerge.

Anyway, this is one of the toys I bought at Cartoon Junction when merchandising began to pick up. Applause released a line of vinyl/plush Jetsons toys, and though the line was pretty uneven in terms of quality, I snapped up George and Elroy!

It's an appealing combination of materials, the vinyl allowing for a far more accurate facial sculpt. The plush body makes it a bit cuddlier, plus it gives the feeling of a cloth costume, since the extremities are vinyl, too. In the minus column, it's not all that posable, plus it doesn't balance very well. The plush collar is very thick, so it might have been better to cast it with the vinyl head, and then segue to the cloth body. Otherwise, it's a cute, affordable toy.

This figure isn't in big demand, so it shouldn't cost you a lot of money to buy. There's an auction for one on eBay right now starting at $9.95 + shipping, complete with its original tags. Good luck!

Original Mach 5 Go! Go! Go! Opening

Jerry Beck helped me to find this clip from the Japanese show that became known as Speed Racer here in America. What surprised me was that the famous theme song was always in the opening titles - I always thought that it was created for the domestic release.

Don't you think this version of the song should have been in the new movie somewhere - in the end credits at the very least? It makes me want to see more of the Japanese version of the show, even though I think it'd wind up disappointing me, like reading the original manga did.

Anyway, I think the music and visuals are fun - enjoy!

Toy OTD: Cartoon Network Powerpuff Girls Maquette: Blossom (Signed)

Originally, I bought the Trendmasters Powerpuff Girls action figures, but while they each had bases, stability was still a problem, so I upgraded to the maquettes (I think I bought the set at Comic-Con one year) after they were released. It's not a cheap solution, but they are well-mounted and stable.

The sculpting is fine - it's a great interpretation of the design, and the attitude is captured nicely, too. The paint work is a little rough, but not to a point where it really detracts. I'm just spoiled by the meticulous work on overseas toys!

I waited in a huge line to get Blossom signed by the show's creator, Craig McCracken. I couldn't help feeling like I shouldn't have had to - Hey, I'm not just another fan... I went to the same school, and I'm working on cool stuff, too, I thought - but I felt like I'd be an asshole if I cut to the front. So I waited for my autograph, and complimented him on the then-newly-released Powerpuff movie, which I enjoyed a great deal.

There's one for sale on eBay for $49.99 + $16.95 shipping. You can make an offer, and it might be worth a try, as I think the shipping charges are pretty steep!

Toy OTD: Funko Wacky Wobbler SDCC Exclusive: Scooby-Dum (2007)

I can feel your respect for me as a collector slipping away, and I'm not sure that I blame you. Scooby-Doo wasn't exactly Hanna-Barbera's creative zenith, and the show was wearing pretty thin by the time that Scooby-Dum came along. So why did I buy this?

I'm a big-time sucker for merchandise of obscure cartoon characters, and I do like how this was made. It's not perfect - the eye paint is a little weak, and it does have a(n arguably more necessary) label on it. But I like the fact that the pose is well-balanced, and that the base has been kept to a minimum (making it monochromatric - with the name sculpted on it, and not painted - might've been nice. Placing the nodder pivot at the collar is a good call, too.

This was an exclusive at the Funko booth last summer at San Diego Comic-Con. It's still for sale at toywiz.com for $69.99 + shipping (!!), a far cry from the under-$20 price that I paid. Surprisingly, eBay is the far saner option, selling there for $11.50 + $8.00 shipping. Phew! That's much better - Scooby-Dum's not that interesting a curio!

Animation Remake OTD: George of the Jungle

USA TODAY: 'George of the Jungle' will swing once again
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

George of the Jungle is getting a makeover.

The naive, Tarzan-like bumbler, known to many adults by the 1967 cartoon and its catchy theme song, returns in a new version on the Cartoon Network on Friday (9 ET/PT).

The new cartoon makes George a teenager instead of an adult, as he was in the original created by Jay Ward. His old friends — Ape the Ape; his pet dog, Shep; and gal pal Ursula — return, joined by some new characters.

Although this George is aimed at a younger audience, kids 6 to 11, he shares most of his predecessor's traits, says Tiffany Ward, daughter of the late animator.

"He still lucks into things. He still smashes into trees," she says.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Cartoon Network | Matt Groening | Brendan Fraser | George of the Jungle

Ward's offbeat characters, which also included Rocky and Bullwinkle, Peabody and Sherman and Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, may appeal both to parents who grew up with the original and to children who have seen the 1997 movie starring Brendan Fraser. (That film precedes the George episode Friday at 7 ET/PT.)

"Moms and dads know it. Kids grew up watching the film. They can all hum the theme song. And the humor is timeless," says Amanda Cortese of Classic Media, which made the show with Ward Productions under the label Bullwinkle Studios.

"What we're seeing in entertainment is a lot of co-viewing," Cartoon Network's Rico Hill says. "Kids are sitting down and enjoying TV with their parents."

In recasting George for a younger audience, there will be fewer of the Ward insider puns and jokes that attracted adults to his earlier cartoons. "Ward produced a whole string of shows based around humor more than the drawing style. They were aimed more at adults," animation historian Jerry Beck says.

Ward, who died in 1989, still has many fans, including The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, who named his central character Homer Jay Simpson in tribute.

New George characters include Ursula's father, Dr. Towel Scott, and a witch doctor and his daughter, Magnolia. They all live in a fictional jungle, Mbebwe. New performers play the theme. ("George, George, George of the Jungle — watch out for that tree … !")

The addition of Magnolia gives Ursula a friend and also may be a way to attract girls to a cartoon that tilts toward boys, Hill says.

George, an acquisition that has been broadcast in Canada, is a good fit for the Cartoon Network audience, Hill says. Although it has more girl appeal, he would have liked a little more diversity in the characters.

For some unexplained reason, Magnolia has a Southern accent. "That's the way of Jay Ward," Tiffany Ward says.

The new George has 26 episodes, each containing two cartoons. Only 17 episodes of the original were broadcast. Those, along with an unaired earlier pilot, will be available on DVD Feb. 12.

George isn't the only Ward update in production. Peabody and his pet boy, Sherman, are the subject of a DreamWorks film scheduled for 2010, Tiffany Ward says.

*************************************************************************************

That's the bad news. The good news is that the original show has a much better chance of being released on DVD soon, with (I'm assuming) an accompanying notice that it's no longer appropriate for children.

Toy OTD: Mattel Bear In The Big Blue House Plush: Tutter

The best Henson character designs are perfectly suited for merchandising, as they're practically toys already! The cast of Bear In The Big Blue House hearkens back to old-school Muppet design - bright colors, and bold, simple shapes. That puts you on second base already, but it still takes a good licensee to bring the design home in a great toy.

Mattel's done a fine job of adapting Tutter into a appealing, affordable plush! It's very cute and faithful to the source. A wide variety of Bear merchandise was available, but this toy was definitely my favorite!

I originally bought this at a Target for ten dollars (or less). The toys aren't sold in stores any more, but you can get Tutter and his buddy Treelo for $10.16 right now on eBay.

Toy OTD: Product Enterprise Ltd.'s 7" Die-Cast Stingray

I only wish I could afford more of Product Enterprise's great Gerry Anderson collectibles, because they're so beautifully made! It's clear to see that a lot of love has gone into making these die-cast replicas look just like their televised counterparts. They're a good scale for fine detail, and the paint jobs are gorgeous! There's just no downside to these beauties - aside from their high-ish prices, but well worth it if you can spare the cash!

You can still buy a Stingray right from the Product Enterprise website if you're a US customer - it's now £9.99 + £6.00 shipping, or about thirty US dollars.

Toy OTD: Sababa Fraggle Rock Plushes: Wembley, Red, Boober, Gobo (2004)

It's hard to believe that these toys are four years old already! These plushes were released a little before (or alongside) DVD collections of the show that have now culminated in the full-season box sets we enjoy today. They're affordable, accessible versions of the characters, and as such, they work quite well. The toys are good likenesses of the characters, and the colors and clothing are pretty accurate.

The biggest minus here is the pom-pom antennae the some of the characters sport. There's no internal support for them, and the fluffy tips seem too limp most of the time (I worked hard to get them to look right in this photo). I'm sure it's for safety reasons, but Red suffers the most from these choices, and it's the one aspect where you might wish there was a version made for older fans.

The next minus is that a couple of primary characters are missing - Mokey and Traveling Matt. I'm sure that there's fans who want an even bigger line, but not producing all the main characters is disappointing (especially since I think Matt is one of the neater looking Fraggles). Hopefully that'll change if the DVDs continue to sell, but the gap between this toy line's release and now is pretty big at this point.

You can get all four toys - Wembley, Red, Boober & Gobo - at toysrus.com easily. Don't ask me why, but Wembley and Boober are $11.99 + shipping (each), and Gobo and Red are $12.99 + shipping (each).

By Popular Demand

A couple more pictures of the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer mall display. Enjoy!

Photos by Ken Mitchroney, at the Eastridge Mall.

Toy OTD: Gemmy Industries Hocus Pocus Plush

Here's a simple beanie-plush from Gemmy's Frosty The Snowman line, I'm assuming that there's two reasons why plastic 'beans' are added to the majority of small plushes - 1) it helps them stay upright; and 2) it lumps them into the Beanie Baby category, which I'm sure helps them sell better. Maybe, anyway - I'm not sure there's any heat left to the beanie craze.

This is a pretty basic toy, but it's a good likeness of the character. The embroidered eyes help preserve some of the original 2-D design. The shapes and texture are nice and straightforward, and there's no gratuitous branding or labeling to clutter it up - a really nice job for the price point.

I can't find this toy for sale online right now, so you'll have to cast your net on eBay and see what turns up. Good luck!

Toy OTD: Memory Lane Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Figure: Boss Elf

Memory Lane has been making our holidays happier for the last few years by making lots of Christmas characters! The Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer line is one of their best, featuring plenty of the Rankin-Bass players.

The boss elf is one of my favorite figures, mainly because he's a secondary character that might not make the cut in other toy lines. I've never figured out why he sports a sixties-jazz goatee, but I think it's amusing.

The sculpt and paint job aren't dazzling, but they're on-model, and quite good for the price point. The hat is removable (I think it's magnetic), and he comes with a misfit toy (the train with the square-wheeled caboose), a baton to conduct the Christmas chorus, and toy-making blueprints. The biggest minuses are that his eyes look a bit glazed over, and the loose hip joints can make standing the figure tricky.

Being the holidays, you can get this figure pretty easily - it's $9.50 + shipping at cosmicclutter.com. If they're out of stock, a Google search should provide you with a ton of other options!

Ruff And Reddy Episodes Viewable Online!

Check 'em out over at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive! They're protean H-B, to be sure, but it's neat to see. This series isn't available on DVD yet, so take a look and expand your Hanna-Barbera nerditry!

Toy OTD: Belae Scooby-Doo Soap Bottle (1999)

This isn't a Soaky soap bottle - (I think) those were made from the late fifties into the early seventies, so this is far too modern. Still, it's a terrific sculpt - better than a lot of the older bottle toys. It's great how the designer hid any trace of the cap under the head (it separates below the collar).

They get big points, too, for picking a character that you can sculpt in a pose that can form a bottle shape nicely, without resorting to props or small backgrounds. The colors of the head and body plastic are two clearly different browns (not as obvious in the picture), but it's a minor quibble considering how on-model and in character it is!

I bought this new at a Walgreens (or Target, or something like that) for less than ten dollars. I can't find one for sale online right now, so pop in a favorite search on eBay and keep your fingers crossed!

Toy OTD: Japanese Muttley Bank

I imagine I've mentioned before that Wacky Races merchandise is still fairly common in Japan. Aside from the cars themselves, Muttley is a very popular character in any WR toy line, maybe because he was a cartoon survivor, going from Wacky Races to Dastardly and Muttley In Their Flying Machines and other Hanna-Barbera shows later on. Plus, he's a cute cuddly dog - it's not super-tough marketing math!

I picked up this vinyl bank about eight or nine years ago from eBay, when that was the easiest way to get Japanese toys. It's still one of my favorite H-B/WR pieces. It's a great sculpt, capturing the iconic pose really well. It's not marked up with any unnecessary branding or logos, and the coin slot is handily out of sight when viewed from the front. The paint work is limited and simple, but well-executed. The colors may not be perfectly on-model, but they're bright and appealing. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is - there doesn't seem to be any markings on it anywhere.

Even though I bought this quite a while ago, two eBay auctions popped right up on the first try. You can buy one for $22.00 + $7.61 shipping (or best offer) right now from SHE_WOLF DOG TOYS - enjoy!

Toy OTD: Ahi/Azrak-Hamway Int'l Flintmobile (1974)

I love me some Flintmobile! It's one of the neatest looking cartoon vehicles, and it beat the Wacky Races cars by roughly ten years. I love the design, I love the sound effect it makes when it drives away, and I love that's it's the only car where driving it's about a million times harder than walking! You can't even turn it around without picking the whole damn thing up into the air. Fred may be overweight, but he's no weakling. One 'wheel' alone probably weighs as much as he does!

Anyway, here's a motorized version from the early seventies. This one's broken, so I have no idea how mobile it would be. This design preserves almost everything I like about the car - nice, simple shapes and appealing colors. The toy's proportions are also really nice - ofttimes the car gets too wide in order to accommodate all of the characters. That being said, it's too bad that Wilma and Betty got bumped, but you see Fred and Barney carpooling on the show a lot, so it makes sense (though if you follow that line of reasoning, Dino shouldn't be there). I wish Dino was poking through the soft top like he does in the opening sequence, but the designer's solution is still pretty appealing.

I bought this on eBay - since it wasn't working and not very old, I don't think it was all that expensive. On the other hand, it doesn't seem all that common, either - I can't find another one online anywhere. I think an eBay Favorite Search is in order, if you want this car!

Toy OTD: Baby Puss Vinyl Toy

Here's another bizarre piece of Hanna-Barbera merchandise from the sixties. Aside from the shaved face, the color isn't as out of whack as many other toys from this period are. For whatever reason, someone decided that Baby Puss needed some accessories, and added a bow tie and belt(?). At first blush that seems really odd, but I guess it's no weirder than Yogi Bear being totally naked except for a hat and tie. At least the green works nicely as an accent to the yellow body!

I think there are toys for Fred, Barney, Wilma, Betty, Dino and Baby Puss (you know, the cat that throws Fred out of the house in the credits of the later episodes) - I don't know if there are vinyl Pebbles or Bamm-Bamm figures in this line or not.

These toys aren't impossible to find, but they're not particularly common, either, so I think they usually range from $70 - $100. There's one for sale at whatacharacter.com for $165, but they're not known for bargains - you may want to dig around on eBay for a while before you jump on that!

Muppet Junkie? You've Got A Whopping Fix Coming

Season Three of Fraggle Rock will be released on Sept. 11th for $34.27 + shipping, and Sesame Street: Old School Vol. 2 is coming out Nov. 6th for $24.71 + shipping. Sweet! Hopefully we can get more skits with discarded characters like Roosevelt Franklin...

Thanks to Muppet Central for the news!

Toy OTD: '60s Ideal Peter Potamus Doll

This is a really nice vintage doll I found on eBay a while back. It's unusual that a plush can stand on its own, so it gets big points just for that (I think there's a bendable frame within the stuffing)! It's still cuddly, and quite well made - the designers made the head out of plastic so that material could do the heavy design lifting. Nice colors and simple details - the leg wrinkles even work for the character! Good proportions, too.

I think this toy cost around $60.00 or so. There's one for sale at gasolinealleyantiques.com for $79.50 + shipping, but it's not in very good shape. I see the phrases rare! and hard to find! thrown about by dealers so often, I never really know when to believe it.

Toy OTD: Tomy Fraggle Rock Wind-Up Toy: Doozer

This is an item ripe for re-issue, now that Fraggle Rock is starting to come out on DVD! Tomy made a few different Doozer wind-ups back in the day, and they're still the best merchandise of those characters. They're really appealing - I love how they molded the parts out of six or seven different colors of plastic, rather than painting an all-green figure. I think it looks so much better that way!

Don't expect to find a working specimen - they seem to break pretty easily. If you can find them on eBay, they make great display pieces! Generally, they're pretty affordable - expect to pay between $5 - $35.00, depending on condition and location.

Toy OTD: Funko Wacky Wobbler: Velma

Funko just keeps delivering plenty of kidvid love - this time in the form of everyone's favorite bespectacled teen detective, Velma! As usual, the sculpt is nice, and the paint apps, while varying to a degree, are also good.

Rather than give the character a grotesquely oversized head, the designer wisely chose to bobble Velma at the waist, like a hula nodder. It's a nice touch that best preserves the integrity of the source design. There's the usual awkward and unecessary labeling of the base, but all things considered, it's a minor quibble.

You can get a Velma Wobbler for $8.49 + shipping at givemetoys.com.

Iwao Takamoto, 1926 - 2007

LA TIMES: Scooby-Doo creator Iwao Takamoto dies
From Associated Press 8:05 AM PST, January 9, 2007

In a career that spanned more than six decades, Iwao Takamoto assisted in the designs of some of the biggest animated features and television shows, including "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp" and "The Flintstones."

But it was Takamoto's creation of Scooby-Doo, the cowardly dog with an adventurous heart, that captivated audiences and endured for generations.

Takamoto died Monday of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. He was 81.

Born in Los Angeles to parents who had emigrated from Japan, Takamoto graduated high school when World War II began. He and his family were sent to the Manzanar internment camp in the California desert, where he learned the art of illustration from fellow internees.

Despite a lack of formal training, he landed an interview with Walt Disney Studios when he returned to Los Angeles and was hired as an apprentice.

Takamoto worked under the tutelage of Disney's "nine old men," the studio's team of legendary animators responsible for its biggest full-length films before moving to Hanna-Barbera Studios in 1961. There he worked on cartoons for television, including "Josie and the Pussy Cats," "The Great Grape Ape Show," "Harlem Globe Trotters" and "The Secret Squirrel Show."

Takamoto said he created Scooby-Doo after talking with a Great Dane breeder, and named him after Frank Sinatra's final phrase in "Strangers in the Night."

The breeder "showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such," Takamoto said in a recent talk at Cartoon Network Studios.

"I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong."

Takamoto also created other famous cartoon dogs such as Astro from "The Jetsons" and Muttley, the mixed-breed that appeared in several Hanna-Barbera animations. He also directed the 1973 feature "Charlotte's Web."

Takamoto was survived by his wife, Barbara, son Michael and stepdaughter Leslie.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Cute Kid's Show On Noggin

Jack's Big Music Show is a very cute new puppet show (well, new to me, anyway) that's a lot of fun for kids and adults! Appealing designs, great puppetry and catchy songs, too! Take a look at their web page and Tivo an episode or two. Make sure to check out Sheldon the Grumpy Squirrel!

Santa And Rudolph, Good As New!

A while ago, a whole bunch of Rankin-Bass stop motion figures were unwittingly discarded in a company move. These two puppets, kept at (an employee's?) home and used as Christmas decorations for decades, may be the only two left.

The new owner's just had them restored. Bask in their holiday goodness! This almost looks like Santa went to Sears and had their picture taken! Either that, or the yearbook photo place.