Cool Toy-Related Videos Trifecta

January 24, 2012 | Poe

OK, so I’m willing to bet most of you have already seen these. But I’m posting them anyway, because I like them.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eOhiTpMpVzQ&w=500&h=284]

This amazing recreation of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark (right down to the chin rub) was done by Jeff Gurwood.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QYE4A5NQtOE&w=500&h=284]

I’m not sure if this is safe for work or not. It’s gross and incredibly immature. Also, it’s funny.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtHP4vrjPns&feature=related&w=480&h=360]

This ad was filmed entirely using the new Bandai S.H. MonsterArts figures. I’ll be reviewing them at some point, hopefully in the near future.

What’s Going On? No, seriously–what is going on here?

December 18, 2011 | Poe

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR7wOGyAzpw&w=480&h=360]

UPDATE: Some Poesters feel very strongly that the original video, complete with credits, be given its due. Very well.

My college roommate Jim passed this on to me. Evidently when you go to the Black Brewing Company’s website and are prompted to confirm that you’re over 21 (you may need to disable Adblock to see the pop-up), if you say you’re under 21, the above video is what you see.

It’s actually not working right now, and it’s a cinch that Classic Media/Mattel–to say nothing of 4 Non Blondes–will eventually threaten legal action, so enjoy it while you can!

Oh, and as to what the holy hell is is–that I don’t know.

 

Vintage Toy Ads > Spawn (1994)

November 17, 2011 | Poe

Funny to think that Spawn, which never had a kids’ cartoon* and was a very adult-oriented comic book featuring lots of murder, death, and dark religious imagery, had ads for toys on daytime kids’ television. Loving the Malebolgia cameo.

* But of course it did have an adult-oriented HBO animated series.

Vintage Toy Ads > Talking Pee-Wee

November 3, 2011 | Poe

After watching this ad, I realized I must have seen it a hundred times as a kid because the insipid theme song was way too familiar.

Notice how the ad says “For you and your kid” at the end there? A tribute to Pee-Wee’s generation-crossing appeal? Or a warning that any kid given this toy should be supervised at all times lest the doll drive the child into madness?

Bandai’s MonsterArts Godzilla goes on a rampage

August 8, 2011 | Poe

First off, all credit to Newton Gimmick of Infinite Hollywood for finding this.

This commercial was made entirely using Bandai’s upcoming Bandai S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla figure, which is Bandai’s answer to the Revoltech monsters like Baragon and Anguirus of last year. There’s also going to be a MonsterArts MechaGodzilla, but it’s the boring 1994 version. I dearly hope Bandai expands into some of the Showa-era monsters of the 1950s-1970s as well.

Toy Commercial Tuesday > Pre-Filmation Animated He-Man Commercial

August 2, 2011 | Poe

I’m guessing this is someone’s video of an old MOTU commercial that was being shown by Mattel at SDCC this year (for instance, note the swelling Star Wars music in the background). According to one of the commenters on Youtube, this video was actually made by Filmation to help sell the series to TV, but it’s clearly not in the same style as the actual Filmation cartoon was.

Lots of extra detail, real facial expressions, an Alfredo Alcala-looking Skeletor–am I alone in wishing the original series had looked more like this?

“The Toy Masters” Documentary Trailer

July 25, 2011 | Poe

Shows how out of the loop I am–evidently some enterprising He-Fans have made a documentary about the controversy surrounding who invented He-Man. I’ve touched on this before, but to my knowledge it’s never been examined as deeply as these filmmakers have gone about it.

I’d like to hope that it will settle the Roger Sweet/Mark Taylor debate once and for all, but that seems unlikely. Regardless, the documentary looks great, particularly for the stuff that doesn’t involve the who-invented-He-Man question and focuses on the franchise as a whole: there are interviews with Larry DiTillio, J. Michael Straczynski, Alan “Skeletor” Oppenheimer and Lou Scheimer, among many others.

Visit the film’s official website (warning: it’s noisy), and follow them on Twitter here.

Eternia, circa 1986

June 2, 2011 | Poe

Wow. The stereotype of the 1980s yuppie obsessed with technology, particularly the then-new technology of mass market video cameras, has paid off for us in spades, folks.

Some wise soul–specifically, the father of YouTube user sammyb7883–sacrificed a videocassette that could have been used to tape that night’s rerun of Cheers to give us He-Fans a glance into a world we thought was gone–namely, Eternia itself, replicated in miniature at a mall in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Watch the whole thing. The bored Hordak at the beginning is misleading. You’re soon taken into some sort of mystical cave featuring a gigantic Snake Mountain set. An announcer lists each new He-Man figure for the season, who gets a moment in the spotlight. And then–AND THEN–the battle begins!

Seriously, what is going on here? Is that a TV screen showing something filmed on a set designed to look exactly like the mountain? Holograms? Actual magic? I…I can’t tell.

Thanks to David O’Brien for the tip.

New Thundercats Trailer

April 4, 2011 | Poe

I actually just watched the original Thundercats cartoon for the first time yesterday, so it’s interesting seeing the twenty-five year difference with the new show. Aside from the obvious–much better animation, storytelling, character designs, etc.–the new show also has a stronger anime feel (though the original show did too–anime just wasn’t as stylized back then).

The other thing that struck me was how similar this felt to the 2003 He-Man cartoon. We have a bigger, older-looking version of the main character, a la King Grayskull, for example. Even the art style, particularly the backgrounds, seems similar.

There’s also a LOT of the Battle of Helm’s Deep from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, from the archers to the exploding wall. There are worse things to rip off, I suppose.

Is that voiceover at the beginning the same guy playing Hugo Strange in Batman: Arkham Asylum? (I think it’s Corey Burton, but while he’s listed for Arkham City on IMDB, I’m not sure that’s been confirmed.)

Thanks to Topless Robot for the link.

Vintage Toy Ads > My Buddy & Kid Sister

March 31, 2011 | Poe

Here’s my story about My Buddy. As a young kid I always wanted one of these–not sure why, I wasn’t lonely or anything, never had a desire for a brother. I wanted this mostly until I saw a My Pet Monster, and then I wanted that. But I digress–when I was five or six, my parents found a forgotten My Buddy just laying on the street somewhere. It was in decent condition except the head was a bit loose. My mom fixed it up and, despite my protests, gave it to Goodwill. I think it was intended to be some sort of lesson to me at the time, I don’t know. Anyway, I never did get a My Buddy.

Honestly, my favorite part of this ad is the ABC bumper at the beginning…I must have seen that a thousand times over the years. I miss those Saturday morning cartoon blocks. They seem to have gone the way of the dodo, thanks largely to the rise of all-day kids’ programming on cable channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.