From: gmclain@lonestar.utsa.edu (Glenn A. Mclain)
Subject: FIGURES: Action Figure Update - December 31, 1992
Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 07:29:20 GMT


     Well, I know I promised to post an update before Thanksgiving, but a slow
toy season coupled with final exams and job hunting have delayed it.  Well,
here it is, with some assistance from your fellow netters.

     STAR TREK: The Next Generation - Well the Deanna Troi figure is finally     
          available(please, no more puns.)  I found 2 yesterday at a local
          Target store.  It appears that there are 2 figures per case.  In
          case you have not found one yet, don't worry.  I suspect that the
          number per case will increase in the next month or so.  The 2 I 
          picked up were numbered in the 18,000s, so you can see that quite
          a few are already available.

          A few variations have popped up.  Fellow collector, Jeff Alley,
          informed me of a variation of the early Borg figures.  It seems that
          lower numbered Borgs have a painting deviation.  The lower numbered
          have a solid black headpiece and a blue-gray and black body.  The
          later issues have a circular gray top on the headpiece and the body
          is a more dark gray, without the blue tint.  Another variation is
          the boots of the Ferengi figure.  Early figures have a orange and
          white boots, while the later issues have orange, white and black
          boots.  Also, the ring on the leg of the Ferengi have been painted
          black, whereas before, it was the same color as the legs.  There
          have been a number of reports of mispackaging of figures, but after
          searching rack upon rack of figures, I still have not seen any.
          Of course, I'm not saying that they don't exist.

          In addition to the Troi figure, the communicator and phaser are
          readily available.  While I really like these additions to the line,
          I would much rather have the batteries either not included or 
          packaged out of the battery housing.  If you plan to hold on to 
          these items for investment purposes without opening the package,
          the battery will eventually corrode within the toy.  I have yet to     
          figure out a solution to this dilemma.

          Well, there are quite a few rumors flying around the collector's
          world today, concerning Playmates and the Star Trek line.  According
          to The Wizard, issue #17, Playmates is considering a line of figures
          and toys from the original Star Trek series.  Again this is just a 
          rumor, so don't hold me to it.  Another rumor with more substance
          comes from Tomart's Action Figure Price Guide.  According to Tomart,
          Playmates will produce a line of figures from the new Deep Space 9
          series.  Playmates hopes to have prototypes available at the upcoming
          Toy Fair.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

          There is an interesting photo in the #14 issue of Collectible Toys
          & Values.  On page 11, there is a photograph of a Galoob Wesley
          Crusher and a Romulan prototype figure.  Each is mounted on a 
          Picard blister card.  This is the first time I have heard of a 
          Romulan prototype existing.  According to the source of the photo,
          no more than 5 of each figure exist.


     Alien Figures from Kenner - probably the hottest news in the toy
          collecting world right now is the release of Alien figures.  I'm 
          not sure why Kenner waited so long to produce this line.  Perhaps
          it was their last visit into Alien toys.  They really bombed.  The
          ugly Alien figure did not sell well during it's initial release, 
          thus, the rest of the line was cancelled and the Alien dolls quickly
          moved to the clearance sections.  Of course now the boxed, 18" figure
          is selling for over $400.  Kenner initially test marketed the new 

          figures in Cincinnati for over a month before releasing the series
          nationwide.  It's unclear whether these figures will succeed or not.
          So far, it appears that they are very popular with collectors.  They   
          even come packaged with a 8-part Dark Horse mini-comic book.  But
          how will parents react to them?  I doubt that many will let their      
          children purchase these toys, thus spelling a short shelf life, which
          is good news for the collector.  I have managed to locate 7 of the 
          9 released figures.  Here is a list of the figures available;

                  - Corp. Hicks w/Alienator missile launcher
                  - SGT. Apone w/ Mega Grenades
                  - Drake w/ Smart Gun
                  - LT. Ripley w/Turbo Torcher
                  - Bishop w/Gatling Gun
                  - Bull Alien w/Power Ram Head
                  - Gorilla Alien w/"acid" squirting venom
                  - Scorpion Alien w/exploding action(similar to Term II fig.)
                  - Alien Queen w/double jaws and spiked tail

          The are also a few toys scheduled to be released with the figures;

                  - Power Loader battle suit w/missiles and claws
                  - ATAX Armor(looks similar to Loader)
                  - Stinger XT37(?)
                  - Evac Fighter

          From reports I have heard, there is no difference in the test 
          marketed figures and those release nationwide.  Another interesting
          note is that some of the photographs on the back of the card were
          posed, and are not of the actual characters or from the movie.  The
          ones that seem faked are Ripley, Apone, Drake and the Bull Alien.
          I have not seen the Queen or Bishop figures yet, so I'll have to 
          check on those later.  Overall, I'm impressed with the line and I
          see these as very collectable in the future.  Don't hesitate to
          get your set together, before they are gone.


     Terminator II additions - By now you have probably seen the latest 
          additions to the Terminator line.  The White-Hot T-1000, Meltdown
          Terminator and Endo-Glow Terminator have been out for about a month
          now.  The White-Hot T-1000 seems to be the harder figure to find 
          out of the three.  The earlier addition of John Conner w/motercycle
          seems to be readily available as well.  Kenner has announced 5 to 6    
          new figures and several new vehicles.  No word as to a release date
          though.


     Another Rumor for the Mill - According to The Wizard, LucasFilm has teamed
          up with Mattel to create LucasToys.  According to the article, the
          first projects will be on "non-movie related properties, but only the
          future will decide whether the much-talked-about new Star Wars trilogy
          will be next."


     Jurassic Park figures?????? - According to Kenner's Vice President of 
          Product Concept & Design, Ron Hayes, Kenner has obtained the master
          toy license for Jurassic Park.  There is no firm date on the release,
          but with the movie due out in the summer of 1993, you can probably
          expect related toys in the Fall.


     A Big Year for GI Joe Collectors - Hasbro's new line of Hall of Fame
          GI Joes are hitting the shelves.  The most recent Joe is the Basic
          Training Grunt.  The boxes are about 1/3 the size of the previous
          4 HOF Joes.  Due out are Ace, Destro w/removable mask, Gung Ho(a
          marine SGT w/sabre) and Storm Shadow.  There will also be 4 mission
          gear outfits produced for th HOF figures.  Hopefully Hasbro will
          increase the line dramatically, especially in the outfit department.


     Savage Mondo Blitzers - I guess Kenner's Savage Mondo Blitzer line has
          been troubled from the start.  First, so many parents complained 
          about the character names that Kenner modified the line.  Now, after
          modifing the figures, sales have dropped and the Blitzers are already
          in the clearance racks are Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.  I picked up a
          complete set of the 8 original packs for less than $18.  There were
          2 more sets scheduled for release, however I have been unable to 
          locate them.  Here is a list of the figures, with the changed names
          in ().  Note--I have not been able to find any of the changed sets,
          although Kenner's catalog already shows the changes.

               - Concrete Breakfast Gang
                     Shark Bait, Barf Bucket(Fanged Fleabag), Knight to
                     Dismember(Outta My Way), Metal Head
               - The Dudes of Disaster
                     Blade Invader, Bad Fart(Gum Rot), Killer Kommando, Twin     
                     Geeks
               - The Butt Kickers
                     Cleat Meat, Secret Weapon, Snot Shot(Glob Shot),
                     Gun Runner
               - Scars and Spikes Gang
                     Aping Wound, Lug Nut, Eye Pus(Blurred Vision), Kiss My
                     Bat(Fire 'N Lice)
               - The Skull Crunchers
                     Pork Chopper, Roach Kill, Fat Ax(Nuke Wave), Bad to the     
                     Bone

            The following are from the same line, but no changes were made.

               - The Sewer Surfers
                     Butterfly Gone Bad, Numb Chuck, Robozooka, Bad Audience
               - The Chunk Blowers
                     Big Hans, Direct Hit, Loaded Diaper, Tyrannosaurus Ax
               - Damaged and Deadly Gang
                     Chop Chop, Mr. Mutator Head, Blood Hockey, Head Alert

            The following were to be released as part of the same line.  I
            don't know if these were ever released.

               - Brains Not Included
                     Wedgyson, Fly'd Out, Gutter Brawl, Salad Bartender
               - Puke Shooters Gang
                     Hex Bolt, Gas Attack, Leg Up, Bad Apple


     Hockey Starting Lineups - I recently found a company pre-selling the 
            scheduled Hockey Starting Lineups.  The Minnesota Connection, in
            Lakeville, MN ran an ad in the recent issue of Sports Collector's
            Digest(Newsprint Issue p13) that listed 10 Hockey stars that Kenner 
            will release.  Among the names were Lindros, Hull and Gretzky.
            Sorry, I don't recall the price, but I'm sure you'll pay plenty
            for it.  I spent about $40 too much when I pre-ordered the Olympic
            Basketball set.  We still have Wal-Marts and Albertson selling them
            for a little over $50, and I spent $93.  KICK KICK KICK!!!!!  Oh 
            well, live and learn.


     Basketball Starting Lineups - It appears that the Basketball Lineups are
            about dried up.  This issue seems to have been fairly successful
            with Larry Johnson and Dikembe Mutombo leading the set.  Johnson
            has been seen selling for as much as $30 around here.  The Headline
            issue was also successful, with Bird, Barkley and Mutombo being
            the hard-to-find pieces.  Kenner's Basketball line is the smallest
            produced of the 3 sports, so it should appreciate much faster than
            the football and baseball, which are still on the shelves all over
            the country.


     Baseball Starting Lineups - In Feb. Kenner plans to release it's
            first ever issue of Stadium Stars.  There will be six players in
            lineup; Nolan Ryan, Cecil Fielder, Frank Thomas, Roger Clemens, 
            Ryan Sandberg and Ken Griffey Jr.  The 6-inch players will be in
            standing pose on top of the player's home stadium.  The regular
            issue of Baseball Lineups should be out in March.


   Well, that's about it from this end.  As always, feedback encouraged and
welcome.  If you feel that I am neglecting a certain line or product, feel free
to let me know.  In fact, if you would like to make a contribution to the 
Update, please send it along and I'll include it in the next post.  I realize
there is a great deal of interest in the Toy Biz & Marvel Superhero line, but
I don't have a lot of information or interest in that area.  Send the
suggestions along.  Laterzzzzz...................

Glenn......................
-- 
Glenn McLain, Vice President Data Information Systems Klub(DISK)
University of Texas at San Antonio
College of Business Student Microcomputer Lab
HB 3.01.04  (512)691-4586