My desk these days…

A Christmas Exclusive

We’re officially into Christmas Season. Black Friday is past, I’ve attended my first Christmas choral concert, and later this week, I’ll be digging into the shed for the boxes of ornaments.

JCPenny, 1973

 

As a kid, I fondly remember laying on the floor, looking at the store catalogs pictures for Santa’s wish list. And the toy pages in the Sears, JC Penney, and Montgomery Ward were the mother load.

Although most stores had GI Joe figures or a selection of playsets, the big 3 had store exclusives. One year in particular, I got a huge box that contained both the Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb AND Search for the Stolen Idol (complete with both the all terrain vehicle and helicopter.) I later learned that it was a Sears exclusive set that year.

Those amazing offerings only lasted until the mid 1970s, when the Adventure Team began its decline. Eventually, Hasbro’s premier toy line was jumping the proverbial shark with “Bullet Man” and “The Intruders.” It would be another 25 years until we saw a new Golden Age of action figures.

The turn around began when Formative International started making individual 1/6 scale figures. The articulation was limited, the face sculpts were a bit off, and the clothing and accessories were lower quality, but it was the beginning of a new era. Soon, the GI Joe “Hall of Fame” appeared, with its chonky bodies and (figuratively and literally) ham-handed articulation. We all have to learn to crawl before we can teleport.

The Classic Collection upped Hasbro’s game, and ran into stiff competition from 21st Century Toys “Ultimate Soldier” (informally known as “GI Sam”). Before long, a dozen other companies were throwing their hats into the ring. Each line brought something unique to the table, be it Dragon’s attention to detail, BBI’s moving facial features (think Eagle Eyes, but with a grimacing mouth,) to several versions of metal weapons with moving parts. Add the growing world of The Internet, and the sky was the limit for choices.

But my absolute favorite part of this new ear was a return of the store exclusives. Many major retail stores offered a unique exclusive. Target, Kmart, Walmart, Toys R Us and KB Toys all had store exclusives.  FAO Schwarz always had an exclusive, too. It was always little more elite, even more exclusive, and usually triple the cost.

FAO’s EXCLUSIVE exclusive from 1995.

 

 

The era came to a close in the mid to late 2000s. There seems to be a pattern here – the initial boon was the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. Then the resurgence from the mid 1990s until the late 2000s. If my calculations are correct, we should be seeing a new series soon. Maybe the next couple of years will present a new opportunity for us middle aged kids.

We’re looking at the first layer here…
Kunk Fu grip
A few 1960s style guys

Until then, I still have a couple unopened toys laying around here somewhere. (Really? A COUPLE?) I can sit on the floor later this month and open some “new” toys.

 

-Toph

Loup-Garou

“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”

Today, I’m sinking my teeth into an old Aurora kit – “The Wolf Man.” He was first molded in plastic in 1962 – 21 years after 1941’s Universal Pictures feature.

My first Wolf Man was the 1970s “square box,” with cover artwork by James Bama. It was molded in dark grey plastic, but included several duplicate pieces that were the optional Glows in the Dark. That was the gimmick during this particular run of re-releases. Since then, he has reemerged several times, by Monogram / Revell, Polar Lights, and most recently, by Atlantis.

This particular version was by Polar Lights, and was released somewhere around 1999 or 2000. (Apologies. I should have kept closer records, and I’ll try to do better going forward.) He sat in my model stash until earlier this year, and is finally standing proud on the shelf in my hobby room.

The box was a copy of the original Aurora “long box,” featuring the titular character wearing a torn shirt and playing hide and seek behind a tree, rather than standing bare chested on a boulder, with his arms up in the attack position. Regardless of box advertising, the models themselves all assumed the latter, more menacing posture and setting.

As I was assembling him this time, I noticed 2 differences. The first was his mouth. My old one had a separate interior piece, whereas this current one just opened into the hollow head. It’s omission doesn’t trouble me, since I always thought the original didn’t fit well, and is unnoticeable for all but the closest inspection. The second difference was the missing tied ends of his belt – I’ll go into that situation in a moment.

The molded seams were pretty easy to manage. His fur texture hid my job at puttying rather effectively. As I referenced a couple sentences ago, the rope belt has always looked odd to me. The movie character wore regular street clothes when he transformed. To correct this, I made a buckle out of a small flat washer, and shaped it with a Dremel tool. Wolf Man’s attire now looks more like a 1940s Larry Talbot, and less like a 1960s Jed Clampett.

Displayed, with the top box artwork behind him.

Most of the completed kits I’ve seen have been finished with brown fur, and blue pants. I thought it might be a nice change to make his fur a dark grey (with simulated “moonlight” highlights of lighter grey,), and making his pants a dark khaki / brown. Again, sticking to the movie for inspiration, he doesn’t need to be wearing Levi’s 501s. And vintage chinos never go out of fashion.

The base came with a skull and a couple of curious rats sniffing around. I used the skull (I mean, what would an Aurora kit be without extra bones lying around somewhere nearby?) but I hung on to the rats for another project. Just an artistic choice, really.

Some assembly still required.

 

It’s impossible to overstate my appreciation for magnets

Often, completed figure kits like this one seem pretty fragile and top heavy, standing upright on 2 small feet. It puts a lot of strain on those contact points glued down to the base. They are just begging to be snapped off at the ankles. (If you don’t believe me, take a gander at how many of the figures on my shelf have ugly lower leg repairs.) To mitigate this, I’ve started using small round rare earth magnets to hold pieces like that in place. The components can then be disassembled for moving, dusting, or storage, with much less chance of damage, while holding an upright pose nicely on the shelf for display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I stated earlier, my 1st Aurora Wolf Man first was completed sometime in the mid – 1970s. This one is my 2nd. What I DIDN’T say is that I have ONE MORE in my stash. Just hiding out. Lurking. Waiting. Old kits do actually come out again…once in a blue moon.

-Toph