Weirdo Toys

“WOW!”

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That’s what immediately came to mind when I first saw this Mickey Mouse Transformer (and I also thought if Minnie Mouse and Optimus Prime had a child, it would look something like this).

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This toy is such a cool combo of cute, fun, iconic Mickey Mouse and the cool, high-tech, mechanical-giants Transformers.

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And it’s Japanese. Yep. It seems like the Japanese have come up with another cool thing that we folks in the U.S. can’t enjoy without importing it (a costly import I might add). I could easily see this thing for sale at Disney shops or whatever (do those stores still exist?). I wonder what they’d call him. Optimus Mouse? Mickey Prime? There’s no name on the package (at least not written in English), so I think we should call him “Mechy Mouse” (thanks for the great pun, Mike).

Here’s a look at Mechy Mouse in his robot form. You can see the robot has elements from Mickey Mouse’s design – the shorts with the big buttons, the white gloves, and the plump cartoony shoes.

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Takara has managed to stay true to the original Mickey design elements while still giving it a robotic twist. The only real addition are the wings, which really make this robot that much cooler.

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He’s pretty detailed, but his transformation isn’t really that complex (that’s not a bad thing).

Now let’s see his truck form.

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The truck form actually seems a little more cartoony in style than the robot. I’m not complaining. It actually looks like a cartoony truck you’d see in an animated Mickey Mouse short (you know, if he were just hired to drive a big rig cross-country).

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One of the coolest and most charming parts of this toy is the miniature Mickey Mouse that directs the robot and drives the truck. I love how he’s just riding on the head commanding the impending doom of Donald or Goofy or someone (probably Minnie).

What’s great is Mickey’s change in costume. When he’s riding the robot, he’s in a full space gear, helmet and everything, but when he’s driving the truck, he’s actually wearing a trucker’s hat. Ha! So great. (I don’t know why that amuses me so much.)

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Also, note that he’s driving on the right side of the truck. That ain’t no American truck.

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The toy is pretty detailed and has a great paint job.  It’s not super-articulated or super-poseable, but he still looks nice, is well-built and has tiny surprises like the miniature Mickeys and other details like the poseable robo-visor.

I was even surprised by the inclusion of the mouse-themed Autobots logo.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention some stuff. This toy was released by Takara Tomy in collaboration with Disney in March 2009. It was actually the second of its kind.  The toy you’ve just seen is the Monochrome Edition. (I think the toys were related to the 25th Anniversary of Transformers. There’s a little “25 Years” icon on the box.)

The original version of the Mechy Mouse toy which was released a few months prior to the monochrome one. Instead of the gray, black and gold color scheme, it actually has a full-color paint job reminiscent of Optimus Prime’s red, blue and gray color scheme. I think it looks pretty nice, but I still favor the monochrome version. It just seems a bit more “classic,” “darker” or “badass” or something.

I wonder if the two versions are supposed to reflect vintage Mickey vs. modern Mickey. Makes sense.

I know this toy can be seen as a “sell-out” kind of thing for Disney or Takara. I think there’s a big divide by fans out there that don’t want their chocolate Disney to get mixed with their peanut butter Transformers.

Some fans are even knit-picking the fact that if this was a “true” Transformer, it wouldn’t have to be controlled by Mickey. Therefore it’s just a lifeless machine, so it’s not supposed to be Optimus Prime. Gimme a freakin’ break. It’s a damned toy (and a fun one at that). You might as well say something like, “I sure as hell hope his truck doesn’t have a manual transmission, because Optimus is an automatic.” Who cares??

I honestly think it was this unexpected pairing that made me pick the toy in the first place. I don’t give two craps about Mickey by himself (or do I?), but when he’s a 30-foot-tall robot that transforms into a semi-truck, you have to admit, it’s cool and fun.

The toy may seem a bit costly (retail price is $50 or so) for a casual fan of Transformers or Disney stuff. I’m a very casual fan, but this Mickey/Transformers combo toy really just pulled at my weirdo heartstrings.

• Buy the Mickey Mouse Transformer on eBay!

I’ve teased you long enough. Now’s your chance to get the very first Weirdo Toys t-shirt.

This is the first in what I hope to be a series of t-shirts featuring custom illustrations of various weirdo toys featured on this site.

First up? Apple Devil.

Be the first (and only) person on your block to flaunt a brightly-colored, apple-headed devil on your chest. The shirts are all good quality, asphalt-colored American Apparel brand. The graphic is a 6-color print, so… it’s fancy-schmancy. (Also, note there is a small, black graphic which reads “WeirdoToys.com” on the left sleeve.)

I’ve also created a “Weirdo Apparel” page and a quick link to the shirt in the side nav bar. Hope it’s not to “sell-out-y.”

Thanks for all the your support guys.

(The shirt is “unisex,” so it’s not just for girls like the photos may imply )

… and thanks to Bubba Shelby for inspiring the title of the t-shirt. Corny and Punny but still great!

Keep on Yuckin’
Asphalt Tee

 Fine Jersey Short Sleeve T-Shirt – 100% cotton by American Apparel

$20

So for those who don’t know, the Heroes Convention is a comic con that takes place every year in Charlotte, NC. It usually happens around Father’s Day weekend. It’s actually this weekend – June 19-21.

Anyway, I try to make it there every year. I shop around some for random comics, toys and stuff, but I’m usually hanging around with my buddies from Wide Awake Press, Top Shelf or Dollar Bin. I’ll be doing the same this year, but this time Weirdo Toys is representing a little bit. It’s not much, but I’ve managed to design the very first Weirdo Toys t-shirt. Maybe you’ll recognize the guy featured on the shirt?

The shirt is American Apparel brand, Asphalt-colored, 100% cotton, unisex tee. I’ll have S, M, L and XL for sale. The shirt will be $20. If you guys like it, I can even put them up for sale here on blog.

Anyway, if any of you are in Charlotte this weekend, be sure to drop by and say hello, and while your at it, be sure to stop by and support the Wide Awake, Top Shelf and Dollar Bin crews:

J Chris Campbell
Duane Ballenger
Josh Latta
Brad McGinty
Andy Runton
Robert Venditti
Rob Ullman
Ben Towle

Not only are these all cool guys, but they even have cool comics and stuff for you to buy which include:

The Ancient Age (very few copies)
Avatards - Josh Latta
Traffic & Weather - Robert Ullman
Broken Rekkid - Duane Ballenger
Blast It - J Chris Campbell
Neatobot Trading Card - J Chris Campbell

Also:
Decision Decider Coin
FLUKE (variant cover very few copies)
Tobey Maguire Comics & Stories - Brad McGinty
Redskin Rashy - Josh Latta

Plus:
Mandar DVD by Brad McGinty
Apple Devil T-shirt by Justin Gammon
Music Bot T-shirt by J. Chris Campbell
Heroes Convention Attack Poster
New Duane T-shirt (not pictured)

And:
Back in print Rob Venditti’s Dads
New Dollar Bin Book with WAPPIES Brad, Josh, J Chris and Pat Lewis in
J Chris Campbell has a story in the AWESOMER anthology with cover by Heroes Con guest Jeff Smith.
Joey Weiser will have some of the FLUKE poster

Hope to see you there!

I was reluctantly in a McDonald’s restaurant the other morning ordering an Egg McMuffin for breakfast. (Don’t ask me why. It involves traveling to “in-the-middle-of-nowhere”, Georgia and being stuck with one or two options for food.) While waiting for my order, I casually strolled around the place when I noticed the familiar, plastic bubble filled with crappy Happy Meal toys based on some Hollywood blockbuster movie. The movie toys this time around were based on characters from “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithonsian.”

That’s when I saw this guy.

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A dinosaur skeleton? I had to have him, but I sure as hell didn’t want to order a Happy Meal. I asked the cashier if there were any dinosaur skeleton toys left and if I could just buy it outright. She rummaged through a large pin of shrink-wrapped plastic, and it turns out, there were only two characters left – the T-Rex and some Octopus thing. What luck! Better yet, she said the toy would only cost me $1.07. Wow! Not bad.

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If you’re familiar at all with the Museum movies, you’ll know that in the movie, after the museum closes, all of its exhibits come to life. Well, one of the exhibits is giant skeleton T-Rex that runs around like a super-hyper puppy fetching a bone for the museum’s security guard. So, this is a walking wind-up toy of Rexy, and I must say he looks pretty cool for a McDonald’s toy.

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I’m actually surprised that I’m featuring a McDonald’s toy on the blog, but there are a few good reasons I’m writing about him.

1. He’s cool. (He’s a walking, windup dinosaur skeleton for crying outloud.)

2. He’s cheap. (Only $1.07 w/ tax.)

3. He’s at McDonald’s right now. (but I’m not sure how long.)

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Oh yeah, one last thing – the Rexy toy comes with a trading card. It contains bio info and trivia about the character. It’s nothing special to look at.

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But the really, really, really, really lame thing is, in order for Rexy’s walking action to activate, you have to slip the card into his back to press a small trigger. What the hell kind of crap is that? Why not just let the toy walk on its own? If there needs to be a trigger, why not just let it be an on/off switch. If there needs to be some gimmick that wakes the dinosaur and allows it to move, why couldn’t it just be some cool extra piece like a bone or a little man to ride it or something? A playing card? Gimme a break.

Well, what do you expect for a dollar?

I’m sure you’re all familiar with these classic Universal Monsters. They’re the classic movie monsters that the world knows and loves.

Well, today I’d like to share with you Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and the Mummy.

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These 8″ figures were produced by Imperial Toy Corporation and Universal Pictures in 1986. You may not recognize them at first glance because they’re so darned quirky and awkward-looking compared to most modern renditions of the classic monsters. That’s actually what I love about ‘em though. They’re so “off-model” and uniquely charming.

And according to their packages, they come “with posable arms and head.” Not a huge selling point, but what else were they gonna call out on the package? “With goofy, inaccurate likenesses and proportions?”

Let’s just see how they measure up to their on-screen counterparts.

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Here we have Dracula’s Grandpa…

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… Frankenstein’s swollen, awkward, teen-aged son…

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… Um… the Mummy’s stunt double…

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… and what actually looks kinda like the Wolfman.

I guess they do bare a resemblance to the movie characters but not necessarily to the actors portraying them. (I know these things were released in the 80s, so I probably shouldn’t be so judgmental. Everything nowadays is made from a feakin’ computer scan of a face.)

You thought their faces were funny? Wait til you see the rest of ‘em.

Let’s start things out with the time-honored blood sucker, Dracula

Dracula
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He’s a friendly Dracula (either that, or he’s waving down a cab).

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I’m really surprised they didn’t give this guy fangs. C’mon! That’s his gimmick. Now he just looks like a very pale, formal, butler-superhero type.

The figure is almost completely black and white except for the few dabs of red. None of the red is blood though (unless you imagine those a blood-covered lips).  Oh, and his medal of honor and buttons are yellow.

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Don’t you just love those plump, cartoony hands they put on this guy? They look a lot like the classic cartoon gloved hand (you know, like Mickey Mouse or whoever would wear). I am glad they went the extra mile and added the rings though. I guess Dracula had a thing for bling.

Hey. He’s got a dab of green on his ring too. So that means they actually used 5 colors on this figure. Wow.

Now, let’s look at Frankenstein (or “Frankenstein’s Monster” as I like to refer to him when I’m feeling anal about it).

Frankenstein
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Jesus H! Look at those hands! What the hell’s going on here? I know Frankenstein’s cobbled together from various body parts, but I’ve never known him to have freakishly large hands at the end of super long arms. He can reach his knees without bending over. FREAKY!

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And look at his tiny head. Adorable (or should I say “abhorable”).

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This Frankenstein’s actually really great. I wish the other figures in this set were as distorted and goofy as this guy. I think he’s my favorite of the bunch.

Next up is everybody’s furry favorite, the Wolfman.

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I’m not quite sure what to say about this guy. He’s actually a decent-looking Wolfman figure. His yellow and red color scheme threw me off at first, but that’s about it. And I guess I find it hard to believe that he’d turn into a wolf, run through the woods terrorizing people and still manage to keep his shirt fully buttoned and tucked-in. That’s one prim and proper Wolfman.

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His feet actually look like furry boots or slippers or something. Wonder why only his shoes tear off but the rest of his clothes stay completely intact.

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One thing I’d like to point out is the subtle “gore” included with this figure. While Dracula, the guy known for drinking blood every day, doesn’t have a drop on him, this guy, the Wolfman, has blood spatter and fine mist sprayed all over his hands. Looks like he’s had a busy night. Maybe his shirt was actually white before sundown.

Oh yeah, and check out the chunks of flack on his fingers (or is that the freshly-torn flesh of another victim? Mwa-ha-ha!).

And lastly, we have the Mummy.

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This Mummy honestly resembles an injured stuntman more than a centuries-old, decayed zombie wrapped in bandages.

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He’s just standing there in a body cast.

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He seriously looks like an over-the-hill daredevil who’s suffering from scrapes, burns, broken bones and probably a bruised ego.

You should probably retire buddy.

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Even the spots of dirt (or whatever they’re supposed to be) look like dried blood seeping through the wraps. Very, very goofy. This guy’s my second favorite

Okay, that wraps up our look at screwed up Universal Monsters toys.

So what if the toys are ugly. Why else would you want to buy them? Are you telling me perfect likenesses of each of these movie characters would be more interesting than what I’ve just shown you? I think not.

I hope you enjoy these guys as much as I do. If you like them, you can buy them on eBay right now!

You know what’s lame? You’ve only really had one good toy entry since the last “Weirdo Searches” entry. It’s pretty embarrassing actually. Sorry.

I’ll do my best to get a quality entry to you this week. I’m busy with some personal crap, but that’s no excuse.

To help alleviate the pain, here’s a quick glance at the stuff I bought last weekend at the Charlotte toy show.

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Here’re some random Joes and Joe knock-offs.

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Some old Universal Monsters toys.

I know those may be semi-interesting, but check these guys out.They’re not from the Charlotte show, but they’re great nonetheless.

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It’s an awesome bootleg He-Man and Skeletor set I got from Mexico.

Don’t worry. You can definitely expect to see a detailed entry about these guys.

And now, onto the goofy Weirdo Google Searches that lead to my blog.

The Top 20 weird search terms from April 1-30, 2009: (I just couldn’t keep it at 10 this time )

20. “what is the name of the elf who wanted to be a dentist on rudolf the red nosed reindeer”
19. “the batman shoes the ones that have robin”
18. “those who wait… leave your”
17. “sweet&lovey boobs”
16. “drool coming out ass videos”
15. “‘what do you get’ ‘you cross a dragon’”
14. “amtoy + i love you sooo much”
13. “animal with weird balls”
12. “got some big ass titties”
11. “banana up your snatch”
10. “boob enhancer machines”
9. “comic devil who likes apples”
8. “cool jesus toys”
7. “i think frankenstein”
6. “squeeze a dinosaur and it vomits on you-toy”
5. “how to be a weirdo”
4. “toy rub my way”
3. “funny thing about boobs that i saw recently”
2. “how much is archie bunker’s grandson doll worth”
1. “ass lisp”

“Ass Lisp?” Can that be heard during flatulence? If so, what does that sound like?

Hey everybody!

I know I usually report on toy shows after the fact, but I thought I’d try something new this time. I’m actually letting you know about a show early, so we can compete for the hidden treasures.

This weekend, there’s a toy show at the Metrolina Tradeshow Expo in Charlotte. I’m gonna go on Sunday I think. Hopefully there will be good stuff leftover for me.

7100 Statesville Road
Charlotte, NC 28269
704.596.4650

Saturday: 9 AM - 4 PM
Sunday: 10 AM - 4 PM

Adults: $5.00
Children under 15:  FREE
Weekend Pass: $7.00

If there are any local Weirdo Toys readers in the area, I’d love to meet you (It may be awkward or it may be fun. I dunno).

By the way, I’m not gonna start doing a national toy show report or anything (at least not yet). I’ll just occasionally list some shows I’m going to, and I’ll hopefully show you the results of my regular toy treks. If there are toy shows you all are interested in, I can blog about those too.

The Charlotte show is hit and miss. Sometimes, I don’t find anything worthwhile, and other times, I come across gems like these:

I hope to see you there.

Oh yeah. I need to warn you. It seems like half the show is usually  NASCAR and other sports memorabilia. Good luck