Mailbox Invaders - Burger King Creature from the Black Lagoon

Not sure if I knew this existed before I found it. I was browsing eBay for Creature from the Black Lagoon stuff and happened on this 1997 Burger King Kids' Club toy.
I ended up winning it for minimum the bid of $3. Great deal!

For a fast food premium, he's actually pretty cool! He stands about 4" tall and is molded in a semi-translucent green plastic. He's only got 4 points of articulation because his head is molded on to the body, but I'm not complaining.

His chest is a big button which didn't do anything when I pushed it. I thought maybe his batteries had died in the years since he was made until I did some research. Turns out, it's a squirt feature! You press the button and hold him underwater to suck in the water. Then you press it again to spit. It's a logical feature, maybe he's got some poison dart frog DNA in him, but the other figures came with a neat accessory.

Looks like they all also had a glow in the dark sticker too.

League Post - Young Love

This week brings another slightly vague topic from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers

When I was a kid, my favorite _______ was _______.

The idea was originally proposed by Cal from Canadian Cave of Cool as your favorite childhood movie. While I could still answer it that way, for me it's a "No Duh" question.
One that I can reflexively answer without even thinking about it.

But this is partly where I'm going with my reply. When I was a kid, my favorite toys were also Star Wars. To get even more specific, the Hammerhead action figure.

To this day, I still couldn't tell you exactly why this guy stood out to me as a kid. Sure, I liked aliens and monsters as much as the next kid but ol' Hammerhead was without a doubt my bestie, I remember bringing him around with me. Was it the soothing aqua of his one piece jumper/tunic? Was is his gnarly, veiny skin that kinda looks like a tree? Was it the unique head shape? Or was it his sideways glancing, shifty eyes? Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Walrus Man?
 

Back in '78, there wasn't the glut of action figures to choose from like there is today. Star Wars pretty much started the 3.75" size standard. Before that it you had to get your action in 12": G.I. Joe, Barbie or Mego. Smaller figures meant easier portability for kids and more bang for a parent's buck (ie: more figures!)

 

Just seeing any of these little guys is like being able to see the pure essence of my childhood. Having epic battles and adventures, either alone or with friends. Taking toys to the nearby swamp or outside is the winter to photograph my own scenes (wish I still had those pics). Making up my own stories because at the time, all we had were the movies, a weird Marvel comics series (I still want a Jaxxon figure, non-ironically even) and a few Han Solo books.

Sure, they only have five points of articulation and in some cases barely resembled the actors but at the time, we didn't care. Having figures that were close enough was good enough. Before getting a Millennium Falcon for my guys to cruise around in, I used The Eagle from Space:1999. It was still a pretty cool ship!

I still have foggy memories of getting the Early Bird Kit and eventually, the figures themselves. The other big memory I still vaguely have is of my dad calling a toy store at a mall 45 minutes away to see if they had Yoda because none of the local stores had him. Ah, the days when phone books were still a thing. Thanks, dad!

Enough of my waxing nostalgic, other Leaguers are also showing the love

Fortune and Glory Days held on to some classic toy photos

Toys seem to be popular this week with Goodwill Geek too

Crooked Ninja Turtle shares another of my childhood loves, except about a decade later

An Interview with the View-Master Master

A few weeks ago, The League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment had me go on a mythical spending spree at Hake's Americana. One of the items I picked out was a lot of View-Master reels, because one of them featured the Addams Family.

Shortly after, Shawn from Branded in the 80s pointed me to a fantastic View-Master site called View-Master World which has scans of the same reels and lots more. Not only does he scan and digitally master the images, he also includes the text from the accompanying books.

I exchanged a few emails with the man behind the curtain and ended up selling him an older Red Riding Hood set of reels I had. Because I really dig his site and the effort he's putting in to preserve these pieces of pop culture history, I did a little interview with him.

Click through to read it.