So, last week marked a historic time in United States history. A controversial time. I’m sure you all remember the moment you heard the big announcement.
Yes.
Yes we can.
Yes… we can induct a stick into the Toy Hall of Fame.
What a time we live in. A time where sticks are considered toy equals to the likes of Barbie, Play-Doh and Etch-a-Sketch.
Yeah. That’s right. As of last Thursday, THE STICK (along with the Baby Doll and the Skateboard) is now in the Toy Hall of Fame. How cool is that? It’s a bit weird, huh? It’s true that every kid plays with sticks I guess. Now it’s come to the point of acknowledging their iconic play status (now that’s what I call progressive).
So, this little piece of toy history actually reminded me of some little weirdo toys I’ve had put away for a while.
They’re not real toys. Well, they are, but… They’re fictional toys in a sense. They are toys of toys. Hmm. I’ll just get to the point.
It’s Log! (from Blammo!)
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Yep. You remember Log don’t you? It is a toy that was featured in commercials on The Ren & Stimpy Show. A lot like the Stick, the Log is just a huge chunk of wood, allowing kids’ imaginations to go wild. The commercial basically spoofs classic kids’ toys like Slinky, Barbie and Mr. Potato Head.
Maybe this will jog your memory.
So these Log toys are pretty goofy on their own, but they actually came packaged with a Ren & Stimpy toy series that was released in 2004 by Palisades Toys.
Unfortunately, the toyline never made it past Series 1. Luckily, I was able to get some before they were gone. The toys were pretty nice I guess, but no matter how many Stimpy toys I bought and returned, the left hand would always break off. Pretty frustrating.
As you can see on the back of mini toy package, there are five Logs to collect in the series: Action Log, Log for Girls, Secret Agent Log, Log of the Klondike, and my favorite of the bunch, Civil War Log.
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BUT… the logs on the toy package don’t line-up with the ones that were actually packaged with each figure. I’m not even sure if they made them all. Can anyone confirm if these were randomly placed in with each figure, or were these future Logs that were never released?
Action Log
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Sure, there is Action Log, which appears to be the rugged, G.I. Joe-fuzzy-beard inspired log.
Log for Girls
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And then there is Log for Girls, which appears to be the a combination of a Barbie doll and Mr. Potato Head.
Puppet Log
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But here we have a Log that doesn’t appear on the package at all. It looks to be a Puppet Log or a Ventriloquist Log.
Invisi-Log
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And Lastly, we have what I call the Invisi-Log. Not sure what this thing is. The Ghost of Log? Actually, it’s more likely to be a spoof of the rare “chase” figures that are released with various “collector’s” toylines. You know, the repaints or clear ones or gold ones or whatever. It’s a pretty funny gag if you ask me.
On a side note, the creator of Ren & Stimpy and the frontman for Spumco Studio, John Kricfalusi, writes a fantastic blog featuring various tips, techniques, history and all kinds of stuff on the topics of drawing, animation and old toys. It’s a truly entertaining and informative website, and I recommend you check it out.
INFO UPDATE:
As you may or may not know, the Ren & Stimpy toyline basically ended after the first series of figures. Well, it turns out, there were a lot more LOG figures in development. Here’s a look at a bunch of goofy LOG prototypes on sale in Corndog Collectibles’ eBay Store. Check ’em out. (Heck, if you have enough money, maybe you should buy one :D)
These toys look really great. Too bad they never made it into the grubby little hands of us toy collectors.
Alien Log
• Buy the Alien Log on eBay!Baby-Wet-Myself Log
• Buy the Baby-Wet-Myself Log on eBay!Electro-Log
• Buy the Electro-Log on eBay!Cheerleader Log
• Buy the Cheerleader Log on eBay!Log of Arabia
• Buy the Log of Arabia on eBay!Sports Star Log
• Buy the Sports Star Log on eBay!Radioactive Log
Mega Log
• Buy the Mega Log on eBay!Yule Log
• Buy the Yule Log on eBay!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 1:53 am
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Whenever I hear/think “Log” it’s always this one. Didn’t know there was an “action” figure of it. That’s way cool.
I had no idea they actually made “Log” toys! Those are just plain awesome.
BTW they really missed the boat by not inducting a gun shaped stick into the hall of fame. Those would entertain us as kids for hours. Or maybe a “Y” shaped one to make a slingshot. What dumb kid plays with a straight stick?
I am shocked that Rock and Stick were not the very first ones in. Shocked!
…it’s big it’s heavy it’s wood…..it’s better than bad it’s good!
that’s awesome! i would’ve loved my own action log back in tha day! but it’s not too late! i’ve actually been to the toy museum, being from Rochester, it kicks ass! ….but they forgot about the empty cardboard box! OH THA POSSIBLITIES!!!
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What about the cardboard box? That one definitely deserves to be in the Toy hall of fame.
@ Bubba Shelby – gun-shaped sticks. You’re right. Who played with a regular ol’ straight stick?
@Tina – the toy museum’s that cool huh? do they have any interactive exhibits?
@ André – the cardboard box has already been inducted to the museum. Glad they’re on their toes.
Here are the most log toys I’ve seen together.
Corndog Collectibles on eBay
http://tinyurl.com/corndogcollectibles
Actually, the puppet log, as you call it, is really “Singing Log”. I got that one when I bought Mr. Horse.
I didn’t know they actually made the log toys. Back in 97 or 98, Kricfalusi’s studio, Spumco was right across the alley from me , and it seemed they spent more time partying than anything else. They had the noisiest most obnoxious parties. Loved Ren and Stimpy, but Spumco was a neighborhood nuisance. I think all the partying took its toll on the quality of work. It started to show in their later cartoons that became nothing more than clip shows. Guess who called the cops on them? Hee hee!
Ha. Thanks for sharing that little tidbit. I can definitely imagine Spümco being an obnoxious neighbor.
They also made Civil War Log which comes with the Palisades Toys Ren Hoek Member’s tin lunchbox set. I believe corndog has this up as well.