#559 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 12 "ESPECIAL TERROR"

The Spanish toy magazine Figuras En Acción (FEA) has a new issue. This time we wanted to make a special number only with articles dealing with horror/terror toys. We have over 10 articles dealing with monsters: Mego, Remco, AHI, Clementoni Puzzles, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Slime & Blandi Monsters, Super Monstruos (PVC figures by Yolanda), deck of cards, stickers albums and much more...

The layout, correction and issue of this number was a huge amount of work, and all team members have spent a lot of time here. Please support us, and send the link to your friends you think that could be interested in toys.

The number includes an interview with the author of the "Dibupedia de los 80" (80s Cartoon Encyclopaedia). This is a very interesting book that talks about 350 different cartoons from the 80s.

And, of course, we have included our news, books, and travel section. This time we visit the Museo Cartago Colección, located in Murcia, Southeastern Spain.

For me, this is one of the best issues so far, and also one of the most compete issues with 99 pages (!!!).

DOWNLOAD: https://goo.gl/aTSWXd

#558 STARCOM - SHADOW BANDIT and LASER ARTILLERY (1988)

Starcom is a really great toyline from the late 80s, that didn´t have enough recognition at the time, maybe because the low sales and their high prices. The toyline from Coleco was very expensive, so most families preferred to buy cheaper toys.

Maybe another aspect that affected negatively to the line was the small size of their figures (2 inches). They are even smaller than M.A.S.K. or Dino Riders, and thus among the smallest figures that were for sale back then. This was, however, a must, because, being these figures space troops, they needed big starships. This same vehicle I present here would be two times bigger if the figure was a 3.75 inches G.I.Joe, for example. And higher sizes also mean higher prices.

It is interesting to mention that Starcom was one the last toylines to use metallic plates (tin) in their products, which was probably also very expensive to produce and to assemble in the plastic pieces. Each figure came with magnets in its feet, which is a great feature for figures representing astronats, since at low or no gravity, they will need some kind of invention to walk the spaceship´s corridors or to operate their machines at some planet´s surface. This feature was known as "Magna-Lock". The same feature was used only one year later by Exin´s Madelman 2050.

The vehicles also had some wind-up effects, and button-operated moves which added a lot of playability, in combination to the Magna-Lock effect or by themselves. This vehicle here, for example has: wind-up wings, that turn horizontal to vertical; a cockpit that can be opened to let the figure in; and a magnetic arm that comes out of the lower part of the vehicle to pick up the magnetic box for transportation. These three cool moves are activated by buttons. The Shadow Bandit is also equipped with some tin planes to place the figures over the surface of the spaceship.

I already talked about the figures in general, although not every vehicle came with one... I think the Shadow Bandit was sold without a pilot in some countries, while in other countries a random figure was added to the package. The figure depicted in the pictures is not a member of the Shadow Force, but one of the good guys. No matter what, each carded figure (not part of a vehicle) came with a small backpack and a weapon (kind of rifle) and also with a visor, which in my case is missing. These accesories are very difficult to find due to their size. Every figure is different to each other, and they include army stripes in their decorations, so you can identify who is captain, who is major, sargeant...

The toys were supported by a series of cartoons aired in 1987 and cancelled after just one season. The complete name was "Starcom: The U.S. Space Force" and their characters were young American astronauts who had to fight an evil space empire named the "Shadow Force". Each chapter presented some conflict between both factions that always resolved for the good guys. The series intended to raise interest among the younger Americans for the U.S. Space Program, and the investment in the series was high, releasing a top quality animation series, but unfortunately without much luck/success.

This "box" was sold separately as the "Laser Artillery" without any figure. There were four of its kind, each of them a very small playset that folds into a box this size. The box can be carried by many vehicles. This one is some kind of bunker with a huge cannon and two smaller ones. It is really beautiful, I'd like to get the rest soon!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SHADOW BANDIT and LASER ARTILLERY
• Toy Line: Starcom
• Year: 1988
• Company: Coleco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 5 cm
• Size of the vehicle: Around 15 cm

#557 DARDA - GO-KART, DKW MUNGA and VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE (1984 and 1987)

Maybe in an attempt to sell their products to a wider range of children (especially to girls and boys who don´t like cars), Darda decided at some point to introduce funny and special models in their assortment. Some were vehicles, like motorbikes, go-karts, planes, but other were directly animals (cat and mouse) or humans (skateboarder and delta-flyer).

I´d like to get some of these "exotic" models, but since they are not a toy car, they are not easy to find on flea markets or similar. However, these three cars could actually be considered "funny", since they are also rare choices for vehicles: a Go-Kart, a Volkswage Beetle with some hippie flowers decoration and a Military Jeep. Very different vehicles, and not the ones we are used to see as scale models.

These three models presented in this entry are somehow rare vehicles or normal vehicles decorated in a funny way.

Go-Kart in dark Green – 1984 – Nr. 1800-122

DKW Munga in Military Green “Police” – 1984 – Nr. 1500-020

Volkswagen Beetle in light blue – 1987 – Nr.1410-001

The Jeep model has been used as a promotional ítem by many companies, so it is a model with many variations.

UPDATE: Thanks Steve for identifying the DKW Munga (wrongly described as "Jeep")

UPDATE 2: I just found a new Go-Kart, this time in silver grey, I like it better than the dark green.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: GO-KART, DKW MUNGA and VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE (Nrs. 1800-122, 1500-020 and 1410-001) (Numbering according to www.dardamania.de)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1984, 1984 and 1987
• Company: Darda (Germany)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#556 FX SCHMID - WUNDER DER TECHNIK (Around 1955)

This deck of cards was manufactured by Schmid (today FX Schmid) in the 50s, maybe 1955, although it is quite difficult to give an exact year...

Similarly to the deck by JSJW shown in a previous entry, the box simulates a small book with leather covers, although it is made of cardboard. I bought both decks from the same seller, so I guess that both are have more or less the same age. It belongs to the series "Quartett Bibliothek der Unterhaltung und das Wissen" (Quartett-Library of Entertainment and Knowledge).

The quartet has 9 families, each of them represents one category in the “wonders of technology” or “wonders of engineering”, like: roads, canals, bridges, trains, high buildings, shipbuilding or telecommunications.

 

 

I love the theme of the deck and the pictures are great. Despite being so old, the deck is still quite modern, in most categories, the works shown are still considered very advanced 60 years later… the only category in which the “wonders” have been clearly exceeded are maybe telecommunications.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: WUNDER DER TECHNIK
• Alternate Names: WONDERS OF ENGINEERING (English)
• Year: Around 1955
• Company: FX Schmid (Germany)

#555 JIRAIYA/GIRAYA NINJA - BARON OWL and DOKUSAI (1988)

This series by Bandai was very advertised in 1992 when Bandai arrived to Spain. The Japanese company brought a lot of new toylines, each of it with its own TV ad. Most of them were very small lines (just a few references, like this one) and didn´t have much success. The most successful line was Saint Seiya, while almost all the other toylines are today forgotten (in Spain at least, in Japan most of them are very popular even today). The toys however were manufactured a few years earlier, and introduced earlier as well in other markets, like France in 1989.

I bought two figures the summer of 1992 as some kind of cheap replacement of a real Saint Seiya. The figures are made of a jelly-like sticky plastic, that could be stretched, launched against the wall or the ceiling (where it would stick to), but that is not what caught my attention in the first place... it was the armour, which was, in a way, similar to Saint Seiya´s. The figure also came with some accesories, like swords, bows, knifes, and a figure stand. Even with the armor, it would be difficult to place them in standing position without the stand. The drawback of the armour, is that you cannot really play with the stetch feature... which in the end is the cool thing.

Blistercard Images taken from todocoleccion.net

The collection comprises 5 characters, all of them are actually the same figure with different heads. The main character is Giraya, the hero. Giraya fights together with two other characters: Baron Owl, the "brain" of the organisation and Wild, the young apprentice. On the other side, there is some evil organisation, whose leader is Dokusai. The baddies are only two, being the second one Habrun. As in most good vs. evil stories, the bad guys want to rule the world, and the good guys have a hell of a lot of work stopping them.

Pic: todocoleccion.net

Despite being a nice toy, they are not collectable, because the figures won´t withstand the test of time, and will degradate at some point. So my advice would be not to spend much money on these figures.

In Spain they were sold in blíster cards, like those in the pictures, but in other countries, they were sold boxed.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DOKUSAI and BARON OWL
• Toy Line: Jiraiya/Giraya Ninja
• Year: 1988
• Company: Bandai (Japan)
• Size of the figure: Around 15 cm