Toy OTD: Tim Biskup, Gama-Go's Deathbot (2007)

Gama-Go (Tim Biskup's merchandising label) focuses primarily on clothing and prints, but every once in a while a marvelous toy or art piece will appear! While some are very limited and pricey, others (while still great) are more mass-produced and affordable. GG's Deathbot figure is a nice example of the latter.

Mr. Biskup's art and design sense embrace a playful neo-retro sensibility, and Deathbot's construction and look reflect that. The bold colors, simple shapes, and minimal detail are straight from his palette. The sharp paint passes help support his look, too.

The use of materials - wood and metal - evoke a nostalgic feeling as well, being reminiscent of children's toys made in the fifties and sixties. There's a great tactile quality you get with wood, and I'm sure it resonates strongly with older collectors!

The only minus with this figure - and it's a small one - is that the arms and legs are segmented (with a bendable core) so that they may be posed. This is great for potential balance issues - you can flex the legs if it's not standing properly - but the segments are so tightly packed together that the limbs can't be posed very much. This looks the most like the original design, but if you like to pose your toys a lot, Deathbot fits a little more into the 'display-as-is' category. I'm more of an 'on-model' guy, so this call is fine with me.

The packaging - as you might expect from Gama-Go - is really sharp! It makes a bold statement without hogging up a lot of shelf space. The 'bursting-wall' window border is clever, and the theme is carried through the rest of the package with a wrap-around cityscape. Again, Mr. Biskup's design sense is maintained nicely here.

Like older wooden toys, Deathbot was designed to be re-purposed as different characters with minimal changes. Add a hat, alter the paint, tweak the body shape, and presto - you've got an undertaker, an Oktoberfest reveller, a detective, or one made of solid 'gold'!

Four of the five versions are still easy to find and very affordable. You can get the undertaker version is at The Presto Gallery for $14.95 + shipping, and the lederhosen, gold, and detective variants are all at Ningyoushi.com for between fifteen and twenty dollars. Google shopping shows even lower prices, so compare before you buy! Unfortunately, the original version seems to be sold out, so you'll need to set up an eBay favorite search for that one. Happy Deathbots!

Artwork ©2007, 2010 Tim Biskup.

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price Racing Rowboat #730 (1952)

Fisher-Price toys moved into the fifties with a shift from an illustrative look toward a bolder, more graphic approach. While the labeling became simpler, the overall forms involved in a toy's composition became somewhat more complex. The emergence of plastic as a material led to more complicated individual parts as well.

I think Racing Rowboat is another of the transitional toys - the boat artwork is still rather representational, and there's only a few plastic parts. On the other hand, the face is much more stylized than earlier pieces, and the movement - the sailor rows and the boat itself bobs - is much more complicated than a typical pull toy. It's very appealing and takes advantage of contemporary materials and techniques without going, well, overboard. It appears, too, that you could make a variant easily (a fisherman, say) with a simple change of colors and labels. This type of design versatility is clever, and was used from time to time to create additional items for the line.

Packaging for Fisher-Price was still very simple at this point. I wasn't able to find a photo of a Racing Rowboat box, but I gather that most F-P toys were packed in cartons decorated like this one - the toy's identifying text was printed on the end flaps. Graphically it's pretty sharp, and very cost-effective to do (I may do something like this for my upcoming toys, as I won't be able to print up individual box designs).

You'd probably guess that '50s Fisher-Price toys are harder to find and more expensive to buy. There's more than a couple non-auction websites out there that deal with older toys, so you may want to try thefind.com or Google (shopping) before you jump right to eBay. Unfortunately, I can't find one for sale online right now, eBay or otherwise. If you really don't mind digging, put 'fisher price rowboat' in a standard Google search, and see if any sale listings pop up. Search engines don't find everything! But if you're more of a moderate hunter, let the computer's fingers do the walking and set up a new-fangled eBay favorite search. Good luck!

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price Merry Mousewife #662 (1965)

I love old Fisher-Price toys, especially from the days when they were made out of wood. The illustrated paper labels used to decorate them have the charm of children's books, and the movements are always clever and fun!

It's an odd experience to see a toy of a non-licensed character today - while there were plenty of things spun off from Disney, Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera and Walter Lantz characters in the sixties, there was also a sizable category of toys that were (among other things) simply animals, circus performers, or storybook characters.

This is a transition toy for Fisher-Price. The use of plastic has begun, but it's still quite limited and tasteful - the parts are only those with complex or delicate shapes. There's no paint on them, and they're all the same color, but the simplicity of the wheels (notice that they're still wooden) helps to pull everything together.

The paper decorations are nicely integrated into the simple wooden form, and there's a great solution to the choice of movement. The wheels' motion has been transformed into the sweeping function, and it's naturally accompanied by an appealing pre-chip noisemaker.

The packaging isn't complicated - most Fisher-Price toys simply came in mid-weight, decorated cardboard boxes - but the graphics on them are nicely done.

This isn't a terribly rare piece, so your main challenge will be finding one in the condition that will be satisfactory to you. The closer to mint (or perfect condition) that you want it to be, the harder it'll be to find, and the more it'll cost. Getting the toy in its original package compounds the value (and price) still further. There's a couple of auctions on eBay right now, including a nice-looking one for $55.00 + 9.70 shipping. Good luck!

PS - Remember, eBay sellers don't have to tell you everything if they don't want to. Try to find pictures of the complete toy before browsing, so you can make sure nothing's missing or snapped off. Make sure to ask if the movement and noisemaker work before bidding. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price Tick-Tock Clock #997 (1967)

This toy goes way back for me, though it isn't the original I had as a kid. It's a very simple idea - you wind it up, and it plays like a music box while the sun/moon disc rotates. Tiny scenes of a kid's day are revealed as the die-cut window on the disc rotates. Since I've heard the song since I was a tot, it's incredibly soothing, like watching an episode of Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood at any point in your life (If you're too young to remember watching it, just humor me).

Like most F-P toys of this period, it's mostly wood, with a little plastic used to its strengths (the plastic 'crystal' surrounding the clock face, for example. As with the Tooly Birds, this was made in an industry with far less licensing - there's references to Hickory Dickory Dock and Dick and Jane in the artwork, but that's basically it. The design is charming - maybe a touch bland - but it evokes storybooks from the early sixties very nicely. The only construction variation I've noticed is that some of the plastic handles are yellow and some are red, so keep an eye on that if it's important to you.

This toy is really tough - it took getting left outside in the sun and rain to ruin the one that we had, and even then the paper labeling got the worst of it!

Because the toy is so durable, it's not too difficult to track down a working one. The trickiest part is finding one with a nice-looking 'crystal', so it depends on how fussy you are, and how much you're willing to pay. There's two eBay auctions going right now, and the starting bids range from $7.50 to $14.99 + shipping. Make sure to ask if the music box works if it's not metioned in the product description - always approach eBay with a heaping spoonful of caveat emptor. Good luck!

PS - If you're a huge F-P nerd, you can buy a print of this toy's patent here.

Toy OTD: Handcarved Anita & Jeff Wedding Figures, 2004/2005

Okay, it's not really a toy, but it seemed like the perfect entry for Valentine's Day! One of my good friends commissioned this for us as a wedding gift. It turns out that the guy who made Hardware Wars (Ernie Fosselius) is also a really great woodcarver, and whips up all kinds of cool, homemade automata.

I love the texture of this piece, and the likenesses and paint work are really good, too! Ernie knew Anita fairly well, but he didn't know me at all - he visited me at work a couple of times to figure out what I look like. I think he did a great job!

Naturally, this is a one-of-a-kind piece, so you can't get one just like it (I'm kind of assuming you really wouldn't want to, and I don't take it personally). I don't know how often he does commissions, but if you email him and ask politely (and generously), who knows what could happen?

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price Barky Pull Toy #462 (1960)

Here's another great old-school Fisher-Price toy! This type of toy construction was used a few times to create different characters (see Gran'pa Frog), but each of them is a clever variation on the same overall design.

It's hard to beat the killer combination of richly rendered labels, wooden construction, and the charm of a mechanical ratchet noisemaker. Even with the traditionally styled illustrations, the toy feels very stylized, but very appealing!

This is an older F-P toy, so it's a little more expensive than its later counterparts. I can't find it on eBay or anywhere else online, but some patient hunting should turn one up. I'd expect to pay between fifty and a hundred dollars for one, probably on the higher side. Good luck!

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price #444: Queen Busy/Buzzy Bee (1962-1985)

This isn't one of Fisher-Price's best toys necessarily, but I had one as a kid, so nostalgia demanded that I get a spiffy replacement from eBay!

Queen Busy Bee is nice and simple, with a cute noisemaker and plenty of charm. The designers get a lot of play value out of their simple materials, accenting the spinning wheels and wings with bouncing spring antennae. I wonder if the illustrator knew what the artwork was for - there's wings painted onto the 'thorax', even though the toy has wings as separate parts! It's very cute, regardless.

This toy was made for so long, there's tons and tons of them out there - it'd almost be harder not to own one! Needless to say, there's some variations in the construction, but basically no one version is much more expensive to get than another (well, the '59 model will cost you, but in general it's not a pricey toy). A quick search on eBay revealed thirty-seven different auctions, so this is kind of a fish in a barrel unless you're looking for the box, or want to the toy to be in ultra-mint condition. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price Lacing Shoe Music Box #991 (1966)

This toy may not be a gold medlaist in the Fisher-Price olympics, but nevertheless it's got charm to spare! There's tons of play value too, in spite of it being a teaching toy - tiny passengers that ride in the cockpit/toe of the shoe, and there's a tumbler scrolling sweet drawings as it plays music. So cute! This type of stylization is getting rare these days - I think it helps kids learn how to be imaginative through toy representations of the world that are more abstract, more symbolic than literal.

The increasing amount of plastic is used very well - for the carrying loop (upper left), the opening toe, the scroll-viewing panel, and the high-wear wheels. Of course, it teaches kids how to tie their shoes, too! I wonder if this works for left-handers - it look me a long time to learn how to tie my shoes because of that.

This is a more recent toy from the F-P line, so it's not all that tough to find. If you don't mind tracking down the figures separately (though it does have the original box), there's an eBay auction for this toy starting at $14.99 + shipping. Also, here's more information about this item than you'd ever want or need - enjoy! Happy hunting!

Toy OTD: Fisher-Price #464 - Gran'pa Frog (1958)

I love this era of Fisher-price toys - made with simple wooden shapes, but the paper labelling is well drawn and tastefully rendered in a storybook style. Plastic parts are just starting to creep into the equation, but it's only used for the parts that would be too fragile if they were made of wood. And of course, the noise-maker is totally analog - serrated wheels, offset axles and a paper and wood resonator make an appealing 'croaking' sound when the toy is pulled.

Your best bet to find one of these is either at a toy show, or on eBay (that's where I've scored most of my F-P collection). Make sure to ask a lot of questions before you bid - a lot of people sell 'display pieces' that won't roll or move properly, or have a broken noisemaker. Sometimes the item descriptions don't exactly lie - but they're not always very forthcoming, either.

Here's an auction for a reproduction that's starting at $9.99 + $8.45 postage. I haven't seen this one up close, so I can't say if it's inferior to the original toy. Sometimes I buy repros if the originals are prohibitively expensive - be warned, when you start getting into '50s F-P toys (and older), things get pricey.

Neat Toys For Sale (If You Can Read Japanese)

What a neat combination of futuristic designs and old-fashioned materials! There's six different Moebius-like toys here at take-g.com - they've got other cool toys there, as well. I'm not sure if these are kits that need assembly, or if they're pre-built. If you can read Japanese, or have a buddy overseas, you can pick 'em up at this online store!