#1102 BIKER MICE FROM MARS – VINNIE vs. GREASEPIT (1993)

I presented this toyline with two of the villains, which are the first I managed to complete. In the meantime, I completed these other two figures: another villain, Greasepit, and one of the three main characters: Vinnie in its first version. The mice came with more accesories than the villains, so they are more difficult to get complete. 

They toyline is gaining popularity among collectors today, and it is often mentioned when discussing the action figures which are most sought-after nowadays. Just a few years ago, they were extremely cheap to find, but a nice complete figure is nowadays a bit too expensive for me. The few bits I have were bought some years ago for very low prices. I recall having bought a huge lot of Biker Mice (including Motorbikes) and Action Man because it included just a few bits of older collections such as StarCom for no money. When I received the huge parcel I sorted the Action Man for sale and kept the rest, although I had no Biker Mice yet. I am glad I didn´t sell them at the time, because I wouldn't have got much money for them.

Vinnie is one of the three members of the gang together with Throttle and Modo. In this collection, such as in the Ninja Turtles, all are equally important and there is no character that appears more than the other two in the cartoons. Something interesting is that the mice had an accident in which they lost the sigh (Throttle), an arm and an eye (Modo) and his face got burned off (Vinnie) and that all of them have a dark side (or, at least, darker than in most cartoons). Vinnie sometimes behaves egoistictly, is stubborn and braggs when things go well. The characters are maybe designed for older kids who would appreciate a more elaborated plot, compared to, for example, the Ninja Turtles cartoons (not the comics!)

Greasepit is the classic not-so-intelligent and clumsy bad guy, following the orders of his boss, Lawrence Limburger. It is the only evil figure to have its own motorbike, the Grunge Cycle (a tri-cycle, actually). As all the figures representing evil characters, his face is cartoonish, while the face of good characters are more human-like. For kids in a shop (in 1993), trying to choose which figure to buy, I guess Greasepit would come as number one choice for an evil character.

Opposite to the two figures presented previously on this blog, these two are very well articulated. They can bend knees and elbows/wrists, but the shoulders are articulated by means of a ball-joint, same as the legs. This adds a lot of playability to the toys, mostly considering they have to be poseable enough to sit in and drive a motorbike.

As any quality action figure, they included a series of accesories. The mice always include a helmet (safety first), plus other stuff. Vinnie comes with a claw and a metal bar, which is a choice I do not like very much, but, at least, is something original, rarely seen. Greasepit comes with a more common gun attached to a backpack/can. The cardback also included a filecard that roughly explains the background and the history of the figure.

I still have other figures and vehicles to show, but I´ll let some time pass between two entries dealing with the same toyline.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VINNIE vs. GREASEPIT
• Toy Line: Biker Mice from Mars
• Year: 1993
• Company: Gaoob (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 15 cm