Toy OTD: Medicom Vinyl Collectible Doll: Buzz Lightyear

I've been enamored with this toy line for quite a while, and this Buzz toy is still one of their best figures! It's simply gorgeous. The sculpt and paint work are so on-model, it's as if they had access to the digital files - but I don't think they did, which makes the likeness and pose all the more impressive. This sculpt is so good, the artist mimicked the model intersection points in the pose - in other words, the places where the pose caused parts of the character model to intersect each other (out of view of the camera, of course). Awesome!!

Many Buzz Lightyear toys have to drop the helmet for safety reasons, so it's great to see a full bubble for Buzz when he's in delusional mode. He doesn't know if our atmosphere is breathable yet! Better articulation, a sound chip, and an LED for Buzz's "laser" would've been cool, but the raw quality of this figure helps reduce those points to quibbles.

This figure's been out for a while, so it might be tougher to buy (I think I paid $50-$60 for mine originally). There's one for sale on eBay Malaysia for $150 + shipping - ouch! You may want to wait and try to find a better price. 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: Thinkway "Toy Story" Alien Lamp

This is one of my favorite Toy Story alien items - the sculpt is terrific, appealing and on-model. There's very little paint - the plastic is molded into the appropriate colors, which looks great! There's no branding anywhere to clutter up the design, and the base is simple and on-theme (making the buttons into craters is a nice touch, too). The head lights up and it talks when you turn it on. It's got my voice saying all of the phrases, so naturally I'm happy about that!

I guess this item didn't sell very well, because they were only made once (I don't remember how much these cost originally, but I think they were under $20.00). I can't find them anywhere right now, so I think an eBay Favorite Search is your best bet!

Toy OTD: Japanese Toy Story 2 Squeak Toy: Wheezy (Signed)

A toy doesn't necessarily have to be flashy or complicated, as long as it's done well. This is easily my favorite toy of Wheezy, mainly because the sculpt and paint job really capture the character beautifully. It's just like the toy in the film (but the manufacturer did give it a squeaker for a little extra play value). It's the difference between simple and easy - making this toy on-model is a simple idea, but it's far from easy.

There's nothing but a cryptic "PPW" on the feet, so I have no idea who produced this figure. I'm not sure how much it cost originally, or how much it'd cost to get one now. A Tomy Wheezy is for sale right now on eBay, but if you look closely, the proportions of the face (especially the size of the beak) seem different. You can get that one for about $94.00 USD, including shipping. Ouch! You'll have to set up an eBay favorite search if you want to try for a better price.

On a whim, and since Joe was always around at the studio, I got this toy signed soon after I got it. I don't have any of Joe's drawings or many pictures of him, so needless to say, I'm glad that I have this now as a nice memento of Joe and that time that I got to work with him.