Toy OTD: Tomy Sergeant Murphy Friction Toy (1995)

There was a period in the nineties when Tomy manufactured toys based on Richard Scarry's Busytown characters. It's not the only time that Scarry's animals have been merchandised, but it's one of the best! Sadly, the toy line wasn't all that big, but at least it happened. Highlights included friction vehicles - I seem to remember toys of Lowly Worm's apple car, Bananas Gorilla's Bananamobile, and of course, Officer Murphy and his motorcycle.

Toys like this one are so nice to see - the figure and motorcycle have been tweaked a little to meet safety standards and facilitate production, but both still evoke the warmth of the original drawings. Even though Scarry's machinery and uniforms were fairly detailed, the designer chose to simplify the entire toy significantly. Preserving the simple color scheme also keeps the charm level high!

There's not a lot of articulation, but it's about the maximum that you'd want for a children's toy - neck, shoulders and hips. Murphy is removable from the bike, which allows for even more play. I've never really rolled it about that much, so I can't tell you how good the motor is - only that the motor incorporates 'training wheels' so it can balance easily.

The biggest minus is that the friction motor isn't hidden all that well. It's very easy to see where it was added onto the original design - but at least color is used to make it less obvious. Generally, it doesn't disrupt the overall cheerful look of the toy.

There isn't a complete set available right now, but you can get a Sergeant Murphy figure by itself through eBay for $9.95 + $2.60 shipping. Keep looking with an eBay saved Favorite Search!

Toy OTD: Tomy Electronic Pokemon Toy: Bellossem (aka Kireihana)

Like almost everyone else on earth in the mid-nineties, I fell victim to the Pokemon craze. Fortunately, I limited my obsession to the more elaborate toys and a few of the PVC figures. This was NOT a good line for completists, for as far as I know, new characters are still being added to this day!

Tomy released a cute line of sound-activated, electronic toys that were eventually distributed domestically through Hasbro. Bellossem is one of my favorites, because it seems like such a iconic Japanese toy. When you make a sound, the flowers on its head spin, the body spins about, and it chirps happily (I don't know if it's a word, a phrase, or just a sound). Although I'm sure most parents wanted to smash it after about fifteen minutes on Christmas morning, everything other than the sound - the design, sculpt and paint job - are really appealing. The execution may not be as good as many Japanese toys, but it's solid and professional looking.

My version here got a little too much sun - the red flowers faded a bit, so I tweaked them in Photoshop.

This toy wasn't all that expensive originally - I think I paid twenty or thirty dollars for it (that was before they were distributed in the U.S.). Finding one of these would seem easy - one would think trillions of them were made - but I haven't found one online in well over a year. If there's still any Poko-nerds out there, feel free to drop me a line and let me know where one could get this toy! Otherwise, it's back to the eBay Favorite Search. Good luck!

Toy OTD: Tomy Magical Collection Figures: 'Runaway Brain' Mickey, Pablo The Cold-Blooded Penguin, Bullseye

I'm generally not a big fan of small PVC figures, but this line is so well sculpted, a lot of them are too good to resist! Here's a few stellar examples.

The sculpts are typically very strong, with good posing and a nice sense of the character's personality. The paint work is also pretty tight, especially considering the size of the figures. If the character needs it, it'll be packaged with a small stand.

Some mini-figures get a little carried away in an attempt to create a background, the result becoming cluttered and busy. For the most part, though, the Magical Collection line ignores backdrops completely, keeping things nice and simple.

The best thing about this series is that it has no focus - any character from any Disney film (feature or short) could be made into a figure. While there's not a lot of really obscure characters, there are plenty of unintuitive ones.

These have all been out for a little while, so you'll have to do some digging to find them. Runaway Brain Mickey is for sale on eBay for $26.99 + $7.99 shipping - yikes! There's a monochrome version of Bullseye available at Toyzz.com for $11.99 + shipping, but I can't find the regular version. I can't find Pablo anywhere, so warm up those eBay Favorite Searches!

Toy OTD: Tomy Richard Scarry Vehicle: Lowly Worm's Apple Car (1995)

Given how incredibly appealing Richard Scarry's books are, I'm always surprised that there isn't a constant flood of merchandise based on his drawings! Tomy did one of the best Scarry licenses, and it's been quite a while since it happened.

This is just a great little toy! Press down on the apple leaf, and the car scoots across the floor. there's very little paint on it - most of the colors come from the plastic parts themselves, which you know I like. Lowly's treatment is a little bland, but Tomy gets BIG points for making him removeable - I always took characters out of their cars, whether they were supposed to or not!

There was a bigger line of Richard Scarry toys and figures, but I mainly remember an Officer Murphy toy with him riding his motorcycle, and Bananas Gorilla in his Bananamobile. All of them were cool, but I prioritized and bought just Lowly and Officer Murphy.

I don't remember how much this cost back in the day, but I'm confident that it wasn't expensive. Even now, you can get one in an auction starting at $9.99 on eBay.

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.