Mystical Warriors of the Ring

Goliath & Ulric, before & after color change

WHAT: Mystical Warriors of the Ring is a new indie toy line from Fantastic Plastic Toys that was first teased in late 2012 and debuted for sale this past weekend at C2E2 in Chicago. It's sort of a fusion of M.U.S.C.L.E. and Battle Beasts, featuring 2" anthropomorphized animal wrestler figures. The first release in the line includes two wrestlers--the wolf, Ulric Wolfrom, and the crocodile, Goliath--as well as a wrestling ring and a few other goodies. While attending C2E2 I was lucky enough to pick up one of the first sets sold. I wasn't completely sure if I wanted to dive into yet another toy line when I saw photos online, but after having a set in person I have to say I'm officially sold!

The figures themselves are very, very cool. Goliath in particular is a gorgeous, eye-catching sculpt. He's a real brute (Ulric looks somewhat diminutive in comparison--it's hard to think he'd stand a chance in the ring). I can see people getting into the line based on this figure alone. Ulric is very nicely done too, but a hulk of a character like Goliath is naturally going to steal the spotlight. The package says the figures are made of "high quality UV resistant urethane," which gives them the feel of a hard, rather lightweight (but not cheap) plastic. Personally, I always prefer mini figures done in a more flexible plastic or rubber, but I don't really mind the material of these guys. I'm just not going to try to find out how easily they'd break, because it seems like it might not take too much.

A few different versions of the sets were offered at C2E2, each featuring different figure colors: one with metallic green and purple, one with metallic gold and one with thermal color change (dark green to yellow-green and purple to blue). I opted for the thermal set and am really happy with my choice. The color change feature works very well when you put the figures in hot water and definitely adds an extra element of fun. They are also translucent once changed, and even in their standard form there's a very slight translucent quality to the material which I love.

Creepy Crawlers!

My hoard o' 1990s Creepy Crawlers

Recently, while going through old stuff, I found a large container filled with all of the Creepy Crawlers toys I made as a kid. I can still remember the huge deal it was getting the version of the oven made by ToyMax on my 10th birthday, and spending hours upon hours concocting different colors with the "Plasti-Goop" and creating little rubber creatures with it (I really did have friends as a child, I swear). I was always into collecting the kind of stuff this blog focuses on, so I loved being able to create these kinds of things myself. I'm glad I hoarded my Creepy Crawlers creations all these years, because some of them are pretty damn cool! I recently began photographing the various kinds on their own. I've got a long way to go until I get through all the different kinds included in that box pictured above, but let's take a look at a few different ones for now.

First up is a standard Creepy Crawlers creature--the scorpion! Judging by how many of these guys I've got, I think I made it my mission as a kid to create as many scorpions as possible. I think it was part of the basic starter creature mold, which I'm pretty sure came packed with the oven itself. Maybe not the most exciting Creepy Crawlers creature, but a classic.

These next guys are something not so typical as far as Creepy Crawlers go. They're larger "Create a Creature" monsters, from molds which I believe came out later on in the ToyMax run. The idea is that the molds included different parts of the monsters and you could mix and match. The problem was that you needed a special "Super Oven" to accommodate the molds, so I think I had to beg permission to make the two shown below in our household toaster oven (which is probably why I only made two of them).

I don't really know what the below things are supposed to be, or what the name of the mold set they came from was. I guess just some sort of monster bugs. I like them, though. The cool thing about Creepy Crawlers is that you could create all different kinds of creatures, from realistic ones to totally bizarre made up ones.

Neclos Fortress: New website / figure archive!

Are you a fan of the awesome Japanese keshi line Neclos/Necros Fortress? Or do you think you might want to become one?

Then go check out a new Neclos website I put together at NeclosFortress.com!

I've been big into collecting these toys for a while now and thought there needed to be more information on them out there, so I began working on this site a few months ago. It includes an archive of its over 300 figures and cards, background info on the line, a photo gallery, and even a Neclos-specific forum.

I hope fellow Neclos fans find it useful and enjoy looking around!

Mini M.U.S.C.L.E. charms

One of the coolest things I ever remember getting out of a toy vending machine were mini, rubber, translucent colored charms of M.U.S.C.L.E./Kinnikuman figures. The top photo above shows a few that I got in the late-'80s out of a machine in a bowling alley. They originally had little loops for hanging on the tops of their heads, but I tore them off as a kid. My favorite is the coral-colored mini Iwao. I have a memory of seeing a clear blue one in the machine too, but it was at the top and I only got to spend a few quarters so sadly I never managed to get it.

Fast forward more than a decade later, and while browsing eBay I find more of the same type of charms, except glow in the dark and with more characters (as shown in the second and third photos). I was lucky enough to win the auction, and these little guys have held a place in my collection ever since.  I count 10 different sculpts, but I wonder if there were additional characters turned into mini charm form.

Has anyone else ever come across these?

Repulsive reds

Toy lines in this photo: Terrible Monster, Monster in My Pocket (Gremlin), monster party favor, Gorewad Monsters, Vampires, Warbots, MUSCLE (Kinkotsuman, #36), Mini Boglins (Flerk), Dragons N Monsters, Garbage Pail Kids Cheap Toys (Double Heather), Terekoma vending machine bootleg, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sidekick figure (Sewer Sea Gull)