Alien Magic 'Fizz & Find' figures

WHAT:  Here's a great toy line from a few years back that I wasn't familiar with until very recently when TwoHeadedBoy was kind enough to send me some. I loved them as soon as I saw them. I'm not sure whether or not they were available in the U.S., but I don't recall ever seeing them in stores here.

What line produced the bizarro creatures you see above? Alien Magic!

Alien Magic toys were released by Moose as one of their "Fizz and Find" properties, which included eggs you'd dissolve in water to reveal little plastic toy parts you could then put together to form mini figures. Other Fizz and Find lines included Dino Magic and Dragon Magic.

The concept sort of reminds me of Galoob's old Trash Bag Bunch line of the early 1990s, in that you'd have to drop an outer container in water and watch it fade away in order to find out which figure you got. You always wound up getting a lot of doubles, but at least it was a bit more exciting than just opening up a typical package.

I had seen people talk about Dino Magic figures online, but the line never really appealed to me enough to get me to investigate further. Alien Magic is a different story, though. I love how crazy-looking these things are! They are truly imaginative sculpts. And I like how they don't look goofy or cutesy, like so many monster and alien-themed toys these days do. They look creepy and psychotic, which is usually how I like 'em.

These guys are made of hard plastic and have painted details. Each figure comes in a couple different pieces that snap together, which allows for mixing and matching of different pieces on different characters. According to the packaging example pictured above, there were 18 different Alien Magic sculpts available, with three of them being "ultra rare" glow-in-the-dark aliens. Here's a closer look at the sculpts I have:

This photo is by TwoHeadedBoy & shows a couple additional aliens

I think my favorites are the reddish-brown guy with the huge fangs and mouths on his arms, and the three-legged egg-like thing (seriously creepy).

A big thanks to TwoHeadedBoy for introducing me to these and hooking me up with some!

For more on Alien Magic, check out this thread on them at LittleRubberGuys.com.

What do you think of Alien Magic? Do you have any or remember seeing them in stores? Does anyone have photos to share of additional sculpts not seen here?


WHEN:  According to information here, Alien Magic toys were originally available around 2007, and were still being sold at discount shops as late as 2011.


WHERE:  U.K. (and possibly other countries...does anyone know for sure?)


WHO:  Released by Moose Toys

Warriors of the Universe: MOTU knockoff vending minis

Vending machine header card

Last week I completed one of my collection goals. I finished my set of 12 Masters of the Universe knockoff vending mini figures in transparent colors! Check out the whole crew above.

I first became aware of these many years ago when I got a green Ram-Man (who was sadly missing his axe) in a lot of random minis off eBay. He was the only one I had up until last year, when I set out to track down more of them. Fast forward to earlier this month, and Man-E-Faces and the He-Man holding an axe were the final two I needed. Thanks to the kindness of another collector and luck on eBay, I got them both within the same week!

According to what I have been able to find out online, these guys were sold in the mid-late 1980s in toy vending machines under the name "Warriors of the Universe." It must have taken someone hours to come up with that name in order to not use Masters of the Universe, huh? I actually don't remember seeing these out in the wild as a kid. I'm sure if I did, I would have gone nuts trying to amass as many quarters as possible.

Here's a list of the MOTU characters included in the set, from left to right, top to bottom in the above photo:

Ram-Man & Zodac close-up

He-Man with axe
Stratos
Skeletor
Teela
Ram-Man
Beast Man
Man-E-Faces
Mer-Man
Man-at-Arms
Evil-Lyn
Zodac
He-Man with sword (possibly Faker)

These figures are made of a firm-yet-flexible plastic, maybe a bit softer than a MUSCLE figure, but not rubbery like a Monster in My Pocket figure. They're about 1.5" tall. They were also released in a variety of solid, non-clear colors, but I wanted to put together a set of the transparent versions because I think they look cooler. You can argue that the details don't show up as well on clear figures--and you'd probably be right--but man, nobody will ever be able to convince me that a mini figure doesn't get an extra jolt of awesome when it looks like a Jolly Rancher. The clear colors include orange, red, green and blue (if there are others, I haven't seen them).

Comparison with MUSCLE & Monster in My Pocket figures

Here's a shot of Mer-Man and Man-at-Arms minis in solid color versions. Interestingly enough, Mer-Man is made out of hard plastic while Man-at-Arms is made out of soft, rubbery plastic. Now that I've finished my clear set, I'll probably try to fill out a set in solid colors.

What about you? What do you think of these guys? Do you own any or remember seeing them in vending machines?

Mono Minis of the Day: 3/7/14 to 3/22/14

Here are the latest batches of Mono Minis of the Day--as posted daily on the Little Weirdos Instagram, Twitter and Flickr.

The lineup in the photo is as follows, from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Necsouth from Neclos Fortress
2. Allosaurus from Scholler Dinosaurs
3. Ferocious Frankie from SLUG Zombies
4. Gulp from Mini Boglins
5. Kraken from Monster in My Pocket
6. M5 Bravo from Greasebat & Friends Gummi Playset
7. Graffiti Petey from Garbage Pail Kids Cheap Toys
8. Skeleton warrior from fantasy playset
9. Robin Mask from MUSCLE
10. Creature from alien-robot suction figure set
11. Cryborg from OMFG
12. Gator Jones from SLUG Zombies
13. Chief Glonk from Mini Boglins
14. Larry the Lemur from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sidekicks
15. Goody Goody from Freakies
16. Unknown kaiju keshi

Mystical Warriors of the Ring: Pearlescent neon green PVC set

Arriving just in time for St. Patrick's Day, a brilliant new pearlescent neon green color of Mystical Warriors of the Ring PVC mini figures has been unleashed by Fantastic Plastic Toys!

This green is the first new color of MWOTR figures since they debuted in the PVC material late last year with flesh, red, glow-in-the-dark, pearlescent blue, and pearlescent black releases. As with those releases, the green set consists of three characters (from left to right in the above photo): Sheldon Sabre, Kayin Kungaa and The Widowmaker.

Up until now the pearlescent blue has been my favorite color, but the green gives it a run for its money. It's just so vibrant and really makes the figures jump out no matter where you have them displayed.

This is a convention exclusive color. You can find them at the Planet Comicon in Kansas City (from March 14-16) and C2E2 in Chicago (from April 25-27) for $9 per set. They're well worth it, so be sure to pick some up if you're attending one of the conventions, or have a buddy who is going grab you some.

As always, be sure to keep an eye on the MWOTR official site for all updates with the line, and check out a few more photos of the new green figures below.

The Widowmaker

Kayin Kungaa

Sheldon Sabre

Bizarro-balls: A random sampling of Madballs knockoffs

So far, I've done posts on a bunch of different toys that copied, or at least drew inspiration from the classic Madballs gross-out line of the '80s. This includes:

• Mini monster balls
• Wacki Balls keychains
• Squirt Devils water squirters
• Bad Bad Ball pencil toppers
• Wacky Goulies suction cup things

But when it comes to weirdo Madballs knockoffs, that's just scratching the surface. This is a post to showcase a handful of other related oddities I've come across.

The first examples, pictured at the top of the post, are about the same size as standard Madballs. They even rip off actual Madballs characters--specifically Aargh (blue guy) and Skull Face (pink guy). They differ in that they're made of rubber instead of foam and are hollow inside. I've had these pretty much as long as I can remember, but can't recall exactly where I got them as a kid or if they were sold under a specific name.

Here we have some football-shaped knockoffs. I'm pretty sure the blue one comes from the same group as the ones in the photo at the top of the post. It's at least made out of the same material. The one with the worms crawling out of its eye is from a set that definitely has a name--Weird Balls by the Mel Appel company. This one is called Worm Skull. You can see a packaged example, and other balls from the line, here.

These things are still somewhat of a mystery to me, even though I can tell you exactly where I got them. They were being given out as game prizes at a local carnival sometime in the mid-1990s. They're made of hard plastic and look like they're supposed to sit on top something, but I don't know what. They're slightly smaller than an actual Madball, but not by much. They're modeled after actual Madballs character, with the names (Snake Bait and Freaky Fullback) marked on their bases, so I wonder if they're official Madballs products. Has anyone else ever seen these?

Next up we have these mini pink weirdos, which are some of my favorite knockoffs. They're about the size of a superball, are made of a hollow soft plastic and have a hole on the bottom so they can be used as pencil toppers. I actually think they might have been sold on top of pencils. I got these sometime in the '90s, but I can't remember how many different sculpts there were or anything else about them.

Here's one that came attached to a clear container that was shaped like a body and filled with tiny crunchy fruity candies. I remember getting it at a mall candy store in the late-'80s or very early '90s. I also remember there being additional characters. I wish I still had the body, but I think it got damaged at some point over the years and got thrown out. Damn.

Finally, what says "grotesque monsters" more than brightly-colored plastic pop beads? I think this is proof right here that everything was made into a Madballs knockoff. I got these off eBay a couple years ago, so I'm not sure exactly when they originated or how they were first sold.


There you have it. While there are undoubtedly plenty more Madballs knockoffs in the world to blog about, that will do it for now. I'm sure I'll have more to post at some point. What about you? Do you own any strange Madballs imitations?

Kōryū Densetsu Villgust keshi & vending bootlegs

One of the many Japanese keshi lines that you've probably seen around if you're into collecting monochromatic mini figures is Kōryū Densetsu Villgust. Villgust figures depict characters from the Japanese RPG of the same name, which was released in the early 1990s. According to the Villgust Wikipedia entry, the premise of the game was to "rescue your girlfriend and to return to modern Japan from a parallel medieval world."

I've got only a handful of Villgust keshi, but there are many different sculpts that exist, including a variety of monsters and heroic warrior type characters. You can see a whole bunch of them here. Some of the figures--like the ones pictured at the top of this post, consist of multiple pieces, with heads that plug into bodies, etc.

The figures are made of soft plastic and come in many different colors, including peach, gray, light green, dark green, blue, gold, red, purple, brown and more.

Of the ones I own, my favorite is the peach guy pictured above, who looks like some kind of cat-mummy pharaoh!

Villgust characters also appeared in U.S. vending machines as bootlegs. In the mid-1990s, I remember getting the figures pictured below out of a department store vending machine. They're about 1" tall and made of very soft, spongey rubber with removable plastic "gems."

Unfortunately, as you can see, the non-durable material hasn't held up too well over the years.

The only reason I realized these were Villgust knockoffs is the fact that the cat-mummy and robed monster guy are the same characters as depicted in the larger figures shown in the first photo of this post. Here they are side-by-side:

What do you think about Villgust keshi? Do you own any of the real things or remember seeing any bootlegs in vending machines?

Mono Minis of the Day: 2/19/14 to 3/6/14

Here are the latest batches of Mono Minis of the Day--as posted daily on the Little Weirdos Instagram, Twitter and Flickr.

The lineup in the photo is as follows, from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Sunshine from MUSCLE 
2. Ectoplasmic Phantom from Monster in My Pocket
3. Garamon from Ultraman SD figures
4. Spacey Stacey from Garbage Pail Kids MiniKins
5. Motor Ghost from The Real Ghostbusters 
6. Monster from Geddes Mega Monster erasers
7. Monster from Cromy Club Monster in My Pocket 
8. ZAMA from Diener Space Raiders
9. Angel from Handful of Heroes
10. Robot from Heavy Metal L-Gaim knockoff vending machine keshi 
11. Floworm from Neclos Fortress
12. Loch Ness Monster from Monster in My Pocket
13. Ashuraman from MUSCLE
14. Bunnywith Mesmerizing Eye from BUNNYWITH
15. Monster from Super Sentai knockoff vending machine keshi
16. Monster from Cromy Club Monster in My Pocket