VeggieTales Series 1 Blind Bag: LarryBoy

This may be one of the more "from left field" type of posts that I've ever posted. Earlier this year while hanging at the beach with my brothers we made a trip to the local Ollie's discount store while staying in Myrtle Beach, SC. As we were in the line to checkout, I noticed on the shelves by a nearby register a box of little blind bags. I couldn't tell exactly what they were from where I was standing, so I hand my brother hold my space in line so I could check them out.

Low and behold they were collectible mini figures of the children's CG animated show, VeggieTales. If you aren't familiar with VeggieTales, they are, well, vegetables that that tell all sorts of stories...mostly with a Biblical flavor. 

I flipped over a package and I saw that there were 6 different randomly packaged characters, one of which was the "super hero" LarryBoy. I then noticed that each bag had a small hole so if you looked closely enough you could figure out which character was in the bag. Being that 4 of the 6 characters were green, you did have to feel the bag a little to determine Larry from Junior Asparagus, etc...but finding LarryBoy didn't prove to be too difficult.

These little vinyl figures measure anywhere between one to two inches tall. I was surprised at how nicely sculpted the figure was. The paint applications are pretty good too. Sometimes on these cheap little blind packaged toys the quality can leave a lot to be desired.

The LarryBoy character is especially goofy, which is why I sought him out in the box, however now that I have him I have no idea what to do with him! None the less, this is a quirky, but fun little purchase and well worth the $.79 I paid.

Loyal Subjects Transformers Action Vinyls (Wave 3): Rumble

During the height of blind packaged collectible popularity, a small company called Loyal Subjects  acquired the licenses for several popular 80's brands. One of these was of course Transformers. When these were initially launched I grabbed one out of curiosity and I just wasn't that pleased. I watched from a distance and saw that their build, style and quality seemed to improve. First with the GI Joe brand, then others. When I was ready to give them another chance, I couldn't find them at local retail anywhere! 

Fast forward to a few months ago where I found a few boxes from the 3rd wave at a Five Below discount store. I believe they were priced at $4 each. Unfortunately several of the boxes had been opened and the foil bag inside punctured to reveal the toy inside...or the boxes were outright empty. I found 2 boxes that were still firmly intact so I grabbed those.

 

Wave 3 features 10 more Generation 1 Transformers: Bonecrusher, Rumble, Trailbreaker, Scrapper, Swoop, Blitzing, Laserbeak, Longhaul, Wheeljack and Sludge. Chase figures (Sunstreaker, Hound & Frenzy) once again are randomly inserted at various odds.

One of the two boxes that I purchased that day ultimately yielded Rumble...yes, Rumble, not Frenzy. I'm not here to get into the long time "RIBFIR" debate, so why don't we look at the toy?

If you aren't familiar with these Action Vinyls, they are small, deformed versions of the popular characters. They have limited movement...at least the Transformers do. He came packaged with his arms and guns sealed in separate bags inside the larger foil bag. He assembled very easily with the pile drivers pegging into the holes on this side and the guns pegging into his bag.

The sculpting on the head is fantastic, from the shape of the "helmet" to the facial expression. The paint apps are spot on and applied with care. There is no mistaking who this is supposed to be...again, I'm not going down that alley!

These are small, fun and inexpensive little collectibles. If I had a work desk I'd say they would make as a good "desk bot". I've worked the few of these I have into my collection by placing them on shelves throughout my office/hobby room and they blend in perfectly.

Scooby-Doo! 50 Years

Growing up one of my favorite cartoons of all time was none other than Scooby-Doo. I would be in a trance watching the show afternoons after school, so much at times that my mom would knew how to punish me good...by taking away Scooby!

I did not know that 2019 was the 50th anniversary of the Scooby gang. I also did not know that a line of action figures celebrating 50 years were going to be released as Walmart exclusives either. When I finally found these a few months ago I quickly snatched up a few of the twin packs. Priced at $5.96 I couldn't pass these up, regardless of how good I thought they would be. 

Now that it's Halloween I finally sat down to open and photograph the figures and I realized I forgot to pick up Shaggy! I almost decided to forego posting this until I got Shaggy, but after all...it's Halloween so here we go!

Frightface Scooby and the Black Knight

Scooby-Doo chases ghosts and ghouls with the rest of the Mystery Inc., but he'd much rather keep busy with a "Scooby Snack!" His best friend is Shaggy, and you can usually find both of them either running away from a monster or snacking on double-decker sandwiches in the back of the Mystery Machine.

The Black Knight is a large, black suit of armor that is rumored to come alive at night when the moon is full. Despite being made out of heavy metal, the Black Knight moves very quickly. You never know where he is - until he is right behind you!

There are two different two figure packs that feature Scooby. I chose this one for the frightface "action" feature. This version comes packaged with the Black Knight, although you'll notice he's actually not black.

Scooby overall has a nice sculpt. His paint apps are all applied pretty good, from his black spots to his nose and collar. Surprisingly his legs feature more articulation that I would have imagined. They rotate a full 360 degrees where they attach to the body. The "elbow" and knee joints are pins and allow for about a 45 degree range of motion. His hips are a little wide, but this almost natural. His tail is not articulated.

On the back of his neck is a little tab that slides up and down. This activates his frightface feature, where his eyes extend from his head and his tongue sticks out. I find this to be a nice touch as Scooby often had a real animated face in the cartoon.

I found the Black Knight figure to be rather boring. I looks like a suit of armor, but it has no real character. The only paint apps are the yellow on the face and the red crest on top of the helmet.

The Black Knight is more articulated than some of the other larger monster figures in the series. He has points of articulation at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. This articulation however is limited outside of the shoulders which give a full 360 degrees. The hips are partially limited due to the armor's skirt, but I could pull off a walking pose...imagination required of course.

Daphne Blake and the Wolfman

Fashionable, curious, and a magnet for trouble! Her tendency to plunge into scary situations has earned her the nickname "Danger Prone Daphne," as every choice she makes seems to put her in harm's way!

A supernatural looking creature with frightening fangs, the Wolfman uses his super strength to scare everyone in his path.

When I first ran across these figures at Walmart I could only find the Shaggy and the two Scooby sets. The packs with Daphne and Velma were no where to be found. I don't know the ratio of the figures in the case, but since my initial find I have now found both of the ladies on multiple occasions. 

Daphne comes dressed in her iconic purple dress with pink leggings and a green scarf around her neck. The face sculpt seems to be modeled after her more modern cartoon appearance versus the classic Hanna Barbera cartoon I grew up with. Her right hand is sculpted in a manner with which she can hold something, but as far as I can tell none of the figure packs come with accessories.

The shoulders, elbows, helps and knees are articulated. At first I thought her right arm was assembled backwards as there is a large piece of plastic that hinders the movement at the elbow. I'm still not 100% convinced this wasn't assembled wrong. Her dress also hinders the hip movement, not allowing a sitting motion. I know the figure fits in the Mystery Machine van that is sold separately, but I guess she has to stand inside the van since she can't sit? 

The Wolfman is has that classic look from the cartoon which I love. The oversized coat, tattered pants and the pale skin/face all look great. Not sure why his feet are yellow though when his hands are white?

The only articulation you'll find on the Wolfman is in the arms. His right arm moves up and down while the left arm has a full 360 degrees of motion. His legs don't move and combined with his small feet make him hard to stand, especially if his arms are raised. This makes him more top heavy and adds to the tendency to tip over forward.

Velma and Frankenstein's Monster

Velma is the resident whiz kid of Mystery Inc. Her hyper-analytical mind deciphers clues almost as fast as she can say "Jinkies!" Although the group tries to stick together, Velma often ends up wandering off by herself, searching for the next clue. While Scooby-Doo's weakness is snacks, Velma's weakness is her glasses. Without her black-rimmed specs, she's lost!

He's tall, dark and gruesome. Frankenstein's Monster has jet-black hair and sunken eyes that are offset by sallow green skin...and a scowl.

The character of Velma always got on my nerves, from her smart comments to her losing her glasses and being rendered as utterly useless. This figure, like Daphne, seems to be modeled after her new animation model over the classic. The paint apps on this figure are a little more limited, as the little bows that were molded in her brown hair were not painted. Her eyes are painted on the blue lenses of her glasses. While it works in animation, I can't but think it looks odd on the figure.

Velma is the smallest figure of the Scooby gang, however she sports the same articulation as the other figures. Her skirt too hinders her leg movement, but at least each leg moves independently of each other. Just like Daphne, Velma's right hand is molded to hold something. There is a small hole in her fist, but she didn't come packaged with any type of accessory. Hmm?

Frankenstein's Monster is the best of the monster figures I've purchased thus far. He's big, solid and looks fantastic. His overall sculpt is awesome and his paint apps are spot on. I love his how legs and feet are a little mangled looking.

Articulation is very limited on Frankenstein's Monster. His arms can rotate a full 360 degrees and that's it. I would have liked it if his head moved or even his waist, but for a $3 figure you can't expect too much.

To this day I still enjoy Scooby-Doo and I'm glad that I picked these up. I still need to grab Shaggy and possibly Fred and the Mystery Machine van. I'm not sure where I'll display these in my office, but I'll find a place eventually. Overall for $6 these are fun, yet simple figures. They seem pretty plentiful at Walmart stores in my area so I'm sure you can find them where you live if you are interested in picking them up for yourself or for your kid.

The Initiation

The 1980's were a great time for horror movies. The slasher sub-genre in particular enjoyed a plethora of movies during this time. I have no idea how many of these types of movies were made, but I'm still discovering to this day movies from this sub-genre that I've never heard of. The Initiation is one of those movies that I recently came across and watched. Now I'm scratching my head in disbelief of how I've gone this long never hearing of this movie.

The Initiation is about a group of girls pledging to a sorority and part of their initiation is to break into a department store building to steal the uniform of the night watchman. The lead actress suffers from a reoccurring dream and seeks answers from a college professor. While all of this is going someone is stalking them from the shadows, killing the girls and their friends.

I went into watching this movie with no real idea of the story or any expectations. I didn't even realize that it started Daphne Zuniga (Space Balls, Melrose Place) until she appeared on screen. What sold me on watching this movie was the interesting movie poster.

The Initiation was released in 1984 and set in Texas. It was originally directed by Peter Crain, but was later replaced by Larry Stewart. It stars Vera Miles (Psycho), Clu Gulager (The Return of the Living Dead), James Read (Legally Blonde) and Hunter Tylo (The Bold and the Beautiful).

In most horror movies you know who the antagonist is, but in The Initiation it's not clear who the killer is. There are times that you may think you've figured out who it is, but it's not revealed who it is until the end of the movie. Speaking of the end, there is a plot twist that I didn't see coming nor did other reviewers of the movie.

The movie opens up with a young Kelly Fairchild (Daphne Zuniga) sleeping in bed, a storm just outside her window. She wakes up and hears something so she walks down the hall to her parents room. She sees what she thinks are her parents making out in bed, until she realizes that the man isn't her father. She stabs in him the leg (it's not clear where she got the knife) before another man walks into the room and is caught on fire from the fireplace in the bedroom. Her mother carries her out of the room with her looking over her shoulder and the man lying on the floor, fully engulfed in flames.

Kelly then wakes up, only to be in the sorority dorm being hovered over by one of the lead sorority sisters in charge. Kelly and 3 of her friends are the last of 20 original pledge members to Delta Ro Kai and are being lead downstairs where they learn of their fate. They are tasked with breaking into the Fairchild building, which is essentially a giant department store (or mall if you will) that her father owns and where Kelly happens to be working. They are to steal the night watchman's uniform to complete their task. However one of the sisters has other plans for them...essentially to have a little fun at their expense and scare the crap out of them.

Before the night of the break-in, Kelly tells one of her instructors that she wants to do her term paper on dreams. He thinks she is trying to be a brown nose as that is the subject he is working to get is degree in. They strike up a conversation and she reveals to him the re-occuring dream she has been having from her childhood. This is where we also learn that she has amnesia after falling out of a tree house at the age of 12, losing all of her previous memories. This is played up too much, but does factor into the ending.

We also see a private sanitorium that is located 300 miles away from the Fairchild's home (the mileage is given by Clu's character). There an over the top nurse is trying to relay some information to her patients when she sees the gardner out the window. She starts tapping on the window, yelling at him to leave. All we see of this guy is his disfigured face and hands as he takes his large garden trowel and continues to dig into the ground. Later that evening several of the inmates escape the sanitorium, killing the nurse. The next day is when the Fairchilds receive a call regarding the escape. This made me wonder if there was some sort of connection between the two.

The second half of the movie takes place in the Fairchild building, which actually was a real working mall. Much like the crew in the original Dawn of the Dead filmed in the real Monroeville Mall at night, the crew had 12 hours each evening to film before they had to wrap up and get out. This mall doesn't look like your traditional mall. From the outside it looked more like an office building, but as the cast runs around the mall you can clearly see individual stores. The setting helps add to the fun and suspense once the killer shows up. I don't want to say too much more about the movie because it really warrants a view, if not a purchase.

The kills in this movie aren't all that original, but they get the job done. The killer's weapon of choice (for most of the kills) is a large garden trowel, however other instruments of destruction are used such as a knives, a machete and even a harpoon gun! A few of the kills are done on screen with practical effects. The character Alison (Hunter Tylo), one of Kelly's friends probably has the bloodiest, most gruesome kills.

I thought the acting at times was bad, however Vera Miles comes through playing the role of Kelly Fairchild's mother. Clu Gulager is good, however is killed off fairly early in the movie. What I didn't know is that The Initiative was the first cinema role for both Daphne Zuniga and Hunter Tylo. Both of them are great throughout the entire movie.

Lately I've watched a lot of bad 80's horror movies so it was refreshing to watch a good movie for a change. While The Initiative didn't reinvent the slasher sub-genre of horror movies, it did a good job keeping the viewer guessing who was the killer. Now that I've seen it I was able to piece things together from earlier scenes that I originally missed. This is far from the perfect horror movie, but it is a fun movie nonetheless and one that I'm glad I stumbled across on TubiTV. Arrow Video recently released a 2 disc collector's edition Blu-Ray in late 2018 that I may have to track down because I enjoyed the movie that much.

Hot Wheels: Volkswagon T2 Pickup (Volkswagon 3/10)

From a young age I've always been intrigued by Volkswagon automobiles, thanks in large part to the VW Beetle. While I don't know a lot about the brand or it's history, when I saw this T2 pickup hanging on the pegs of my local Target store I didn't hesitate to grab it.

This T2 is part of a subline of Volkswagon vehicles, so the design may have something to do with that. The majority of the truck's die-cast metal body sports this nice metallic copper with streaks of yellow, orange and red down the side. Fifteen52 is stamped on the top of the truck's cab. The truck does it low on it's frame with shiney gold rims peaking out. Silver chrome bumpers and side running panels finish off the look.

On the back of the truck where the tailgate would normally be, sits a cut out are with the engine partially exposed. The engine appears to be die-cast metal and painted (?) black. You can see that the bed of the truck is flat with small grooves. Some red paint on the taillights would have been a nice touch.

Overall this is a fun Hot Wheels vehicle and one that I'm glad I picked up. I don't buy a lot of die-cast vehicles, but when one stands out like it's bound to catch my eye.

The Sand

There is an old saying that you can't judge a book by it's cover, but does that extend to movie posters? Going into this movie I figured it would be true and this movie would be as silly as the poster. Was I right? Was I wrong? Before I get into the movie, why not watch the trailer.

Some movies start out slow, introducing you to the various characters and setting the stage. The Sand jumps right into the thick of it. The movie opens with shaky cell phone video of young adults (?) partying on the beach at night. Most of the main characters are shown partying, but outside Kaylee (girl in the red bikini top on the poster) you really don't know these other people will be part of the main staff. The party scene happens over the course of just a few minutes and doesn't show much outside of partying and two guys carrying some large slimy round thing. What?

The next morning Kaylee wakes up in a lifeguard hut on the beach. She walks outside to the ramp and sees 4 others a sleep in a car sitting just below, one girl asleep on a picnic table and one other guy still asleep that was stuck into a garbage can. The movie doesn't really address what happened to everyone else, just has the camera pan across the beach showing empty sleep bags on the beach.

Immediately everyone starts to wake up and when the girl on the picnic table steps off and onto the sand, her foot is immediately stuck in the sand. The others question how she could be stuck and give her crap. Then she falls over and catches herself only for her hand to become stuck. One of the guys in the convertible decides not to be a jerk and jumps out to help her. This is when you really know that something is up. This is also the first (and only) gory scene in the movie. The special effects I thought were pretty good...too bad they couldn't keep that up as the movie progressed.

Something carnivorous is under the sand and anything with a heartbeat that directly touches the sand is basically food. If I still have your attention and you're thinking this is one of those bad SyFy movies...you'd be right. While I've not seen another other movies with killer sand, I know of at least one other horror movie that I believe has a similar plot. Thankfully the movie clocks in at just under 1 and half hours because I have better things to do. I didn't hate the movie, but I've seen better.

The acting was OK. I've seen worse. The special effects started off great, but quickly fall apart. The CGI used in both attack scenes and of the monster underneath the sand aren't well done and comes across as cheesy. The ending of the movie leaves it open for a sequel...but Lord I hope that never happens.

I streamed this movie on TubiTV for free. Had I paid to rent this movie I would have been highly dissapointed, but seeing how I didn't have to pay a dime to watch it made it a little easier to swallow. I can't recommend this movie, but I also can't say it's the worse thing out there.

Sleepaway Camp

I have a confession to make. I've seen a lot of horror movies and the slasher genre is one of my favorites. The 80's produced a lot of movies, some good, some bad and some down right unwatchable. Sleepaway Camp is one of those movies that has grown into a cult status over the years and just about every horror fan has seen it...except for me.

Again, thanks to TubiTV I was finally able to sit down this weekend and watch this movie. Going into this movie I knew all about the killer and the shockingly, twisted ending of the movie...yet I've never seen even a scene from the movie. It's highly regarded in a lot of horror fan circles so I thought I owed it to myself to watch it.

I doubt at this point much can be said that hasn't already been said about this movie. If you're reading this I'm going to guess you've seen the movie or at least know about it's premise. The story centers around a young 14 year old girl, Angela, who is sent off to the summer camp with her cousin. However years earlier she was traumatized on the same like that Sleepaway Camp is located. All throughout the movie Angela is bullied and picked on, by both her fellow female campers as well as the boys. Then one by one many of these same people end up dead. The camp owner tries to keep things down, worried the camp's reputation will take a hit and no parents will want to send their kids the next year. Eventually the killer is revealed...in a manner most shocking.

I know this will be not be popular opinion, but I just didn't care for this movie. From very early on a sexually pervasive undertone is set and that just made my stomach churn. A large majority of the cast are young children and the early comments were just too much. The mannerisms and language of many of the children/young teens is horrible. The way they treat each other is pretty over the top and at times they seem to go overboard. I'm a child of the 80's so it's nothing that I haven't seen or heard, it was just crazy the way a lot of the kids behaved in this movie.

Slasher movies are usually about the kills and Sleepaway Camp does offer a pretty large body count. I didn't find the movie to be over the top bloody or gory, but many of the kills do use practical special effects. The kills are violent, but usually not too bloody. One kill (involving mother nature) I thought was interesting, but not realistic. Most of the kills weren't drawn out either, happening rather quickly. Some you don't even see happen, just the after effects.

The acting was hit and miss. The camp owner I couldn't understand most of the time either because of his acting or his accent. The kids were brats and one in particular camp counselor wasn't so great either. The setting of the movie wasn't bad, in fact we've got a camp near where I live on a lake that I was reminded of while watching. The score and sound effects were standard fare, nothing that stood out to me. 

Fun fact, the late father of the great James Earl Jones has a small role a cook in this movie!

All in all I really thought this movie to be average. Perhaps if I had went in completely and totally spoiler free I may have a different opinion. I'm glad to have finally checked this one off my list, but I was expecting more based on this movie's reputation. I'd give this movie a C.

Mil gritos tiene la noche (Pieces)

I remember seeing the VHS jacket for Pieces in our local Video Visions movie rental store back in the 80's. I knew my parents would never let me watch a movie like this when I was young, but I've always been curious about this movie for some reason. Thanks to TubiTV, I was finally able to watch this movie in all it's 80's, grainy (and bloody) glory.

What I didn't know before watching this movie that it was a Spanish film, pretending to be American. The movie is set in Boston, MA and was partially filmed there, but the producer (Juan Simon) was Spanish himself and most of the movies he's known for were filmed in his native country.

The movie opens in 1942 and you see a little boy sitting on the floor of his room, singing a line from Humpty Dumpty while working on a jigsaw puzzle. When the camera pans up over his shoulder you can see the puzzle is a painting of a nude women. The boy's young mother stands at the door of his room, watching. When she enters and sees the puzzle, she instantly goes beserk, hitting her son. She starts tearing apart his room looking for more "filth", while threatening to kill him if she ever finds this sort of items again. She commands the boy to go get a trash bag so she can clean up this mess, only he returns with an axe and brutally kills his mother. A concerned neighbor goes and gets the police after no one answers the door bell and while that is happening, the young boy begins to cut up his mother with a hand saw. Yup, this movie is "exactly what you think it is".

The movie fast forwards to 40 years later (1982), to the campus of a New England college. A young female, studying out on a lawn somewhere on campus is attached by a masked man wielding a chainsaw, decapitating the girl. When the police show up to investigate, the find the body...but the head is missing. Hmm...

The police detective, Lt. Bracken is played by Christopher George. His assistant was Sgt. Holden, played by Spanish actor Frank Brana. I immediately recognized Christopher George, but I couldn't place him in any other movies I had seen. Then later it hit me as he played Peter Bell in Lucio Fulci's cult classic, City of the Living Dead. George's wife, Linda Day, also plays a roll in the movie as the undercover cop, former tennis pro. 

While I like Christopher George as an actor, the rest of the cast wasn't that great. Now knowing that it's a Spanish film makes a little more sense with some of the casting. There are several plot holes and goofs in this movie that it's hard to take it seriously. That and some 80's movies just haven't aged that well. However the special effects and gore, while tame to today's standards, were really good. I can imagine this movie causing quite the stir with audiences and the media when it was original released in 1982. 

Obviously the idea behind the killer wielding a chainsaw as their weapon of choice had to come from Tobe Hooper's classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre, however don't mistake Pieces for just being a knock off as the two films are quite different from one another. Texas Chainsaw wasn't that gory of a movie, cameras cutting to a different view at the last scene so the viewer could imagine in their mind what was happening. Not in Pieces. If you're squeamish in the least bit, then there are a few scenes you'll want to close your eyes to or turn your head.

I'm glad I finally watched this movie because while it was silly and comedic at times (which I believe were unintentional) it was a fun ride. I can see why this movie has a world wide cult following and has become a horror classic. It's gritty, dark, gory and centers around a perverse and corrupted killer (who has style...they wear a fedora!). If you like 80's slasher movies and you've never seen this movie, then do yourself a favor and head over to TubiTV using this link and watch the movie for free.