Welcome to Rods Toy Box. A toy and comic book collectors blog focusing on UK comics past and present. From Marvel to DC, Transformers, He-man and movie franchises. All aspects of comic book, horror and sci-fi will be explored. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRJ7xbUBGARtVV_MYKADlQA/featured?disable_polymer=1
Sunday, 12 April 2020
Friday, 10 April 2020
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
Zodiac Toy Stores
Zodiac Toy Stores were a chain of toy stores in the UK that were very successful in the 1980s but unfortunately quickly went out of business in 1990. As a child I would be in heaven every weekend when my parents would take me to my local Zodiac, which I only knew as 'the He-Man shop'.
The wall of Masters of the Universe toys seemed as if it reached the ceiling as I stood in awe at all the new characters for me to choose from.For a more in depth look at Zodiac toy stores and their history go to https://zodiactoys.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys
Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys premiered on September 7th 1996 but ended after just 26 epsiodes on June 21st, 1997. The cartoon series followed the adventures of Captain Simian and his crew: Gor-illa, Spydor, Dr Splitz and Shao Lin as they travel the cosmos in their ship the Primate Avenger to protect the universe from the evil Lord Nebula, a half human, half black hole villain who wanted to become a complete black hole to swallow the universe.
The series featured some nice animation for the time and pretty funny writing. Often referencing pop culture movies such as Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Mattel released an action figure line to accompany the animated series in hopes of catching the same success the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had. Though like many before it such as Bucky O'Hare, Street Sharks and Biker Mice From Mars it failed to attract the level of fandom the TMNT had. In fact of all the Turtle wannabes, the Space Monkeys feared the worst and it seems to be a nigh on forgotten show with no DVD release and only fuzzy VHS copies of episodes online. A shame as the cartoon and toy line were both good quality and deserve more of a fan base.
The series featured some nice animation for the time and pretty funny writing. Often referencing pop culture movies such as Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Mattel released an action figure line to accompany the animated series in hopes of catching the same success the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had. Though like many before it such as Bucky O'Hare, Street Sharks and Biker Mice From Mars it failed to attract the level of fandom the TMNT had. In fact of all the Turtle wannabes, the Space Monkeys feared the worst and it seems to be a nigh on forgotten show with no DVD release and only fuzzy VHS copies of episodes online. A shame as the cartoon and toy line were both good quality and deserve more of a fan base.
Super Looney Tunes - Bugs Brigade International.
The Super Looney Tunes were released with McDonalds happy meals back in 1992, amalgamating the Warner Bros cartoon characters with DC superheroes. The set of four was made up by Bugs Bunny as Super Bugs, Daffy Duck as Bat Duck, Porky Pig in drag as Wonder Pig and The Tasmanian Devil as Taz-Flash.
The gimmick of the toys was that you could switch them from the regular characters of Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Taz to their superhero identities with snap on outfits.
The Looney Tunes comic at the time featured strips about the Super Looney Tunes naming them the Bugs Brigade International.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)





