1/30/10

I keep working my way back to you, Tron

I loved the movie Tron as a kid. The Christmas after the movie came out, I received all four of the action figures and two light cycles, and those were some of the funnest toys I ever had.

The light cycles took a ton of punishment. I would yank the rip-cord and lauch them off anything I could, from curbs to homemade bicycle ramps. They literally flew! And always with Tron, Flynn or Sark behind the "wheel."

Last year a sequel to the 1982 film was announced starring none other than Flynn himself, Jeff Bridges. Last Christmas I did a post on my favorite Christmas toys of all time and Tron was high on the list. I even downloaded Tron for my iPod a few months back. But I hadn't started tracking down the toys again, until now.

I recently bought this original Flynn off a fellow toy collector on a forum I frequent, and he is every bit as cool as I remember.

The greatest thing about the Tron action figure line was that all the figures were made of transluscent plastic. These guys catch the light in all sorts of cool ways, and their sculpts are quite detailed even though they have no paint applications on them besides the "light piping" to emulate the movie look.

He looks nothing like Jeff Bridges, but Flynn was unique in that he wore a toga or sash of some sort, which covered some of his glowing light details.

The sash is molded with cloth-like detail and the painted lines end where it begins, giving his action figure a unique look. He originally came with a glow in the dark discus, which I do not have.

Next up is the Warrior action figure. I got this guy off eBay for a couple bucks.

These guys acted more as guards in the film, but they have a menacing, storm-trooper type look to them which makes them look imposing and threatening and makes them great foils for Flynn and Tron.

The Warrior came with a glowing staff, which I also do not have. Ironically, when I got the figures as a kid, I somehow lost the Warrior's staff immediately after opening him (I think it got tossed out with the wrapping paper) so mine never had a staff, so if I never have one as I reacquire these guys I'm okay with that.

So as of now I have Flynn and the Warrior. I only need Tron and Sark to complete the small series. They were re-released by NECA a few years back, so I will someday get them in their originals or in the re-releases, I'm not picky. Until then, I can re-create the early moments in the film before Tron or Sark appear.

And here's hoping for some AWESOME figures from the upcoming sequel!

3 comments:

  1. Ah the memories of Tron loved the movie when i saw it in the theaters so many years ago! Never had the toys but my cousin did and we loved them.

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  2. congrats for tracking these retro toys!

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  3. They look great! I never owned Tron figures, since the movie wasn't very successful (or even very well known) here, I saw it 'cause my dad is a nut for science fiction and movies in general. But they look so cool I might try to chase the NECA reissues.

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