It's a bird, it's a plane...

...it's a Super GoBot!

Cy-Kill to be precise.

Although GoBots were well known as predominantly 1:64 ish scaled vehicles/robots, a handful were produced which were much larger and more in proportion with their major competition, the Transformers.

Both the Guardian leader (Leader-1) and Renegade leader Cy-Kill were produced as Super GoBots during the series' short run.

Cy-Kill, as his name implies, transfo...I mean Goes from Bot mode to Motorcycle mode. The Super GoBot version differs from his mini version in that his wheels and engine are integrated and do not detach from Cy-Kill at all. While this is an advantage in that you do not have any extra parts to keep track of, it detracts a bit from his design - part of what made Cy-Kill look so cool in robot mode was that his wheels were held on his shoulders.


Cy-Kill is pretty solid, with his torso/head being die-cast metal and the tires being made of rubber. His "change" is simple but effective, and of course his old school Japanese giant robot design is quite groovy.

With GoBots recently on my brain, I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I found him at the swap meet today, but good golly miss molly I nearly lost it when I stumbled onto him! I had the small Cy-Kill when I was a kid (and he had the green/grey/black color scheme) so although this one is a little roughed up, he's a great find and in good enough shape to happily be added into my slowly rebuilding GoBot collection.

We built this Batmobile on Rock and Roll

A few weeks back my brother from another mother Charles aka Chunky B of Eclectorama fame sent me an awesome package full of toys, just out of the kindness of his Texas sized heart. I certainly owe CB a huge public "Thank you!" (and more) and I will eventually cover all the keen toys he sent me here on Toyriffic.

First up is this groovy C3 Construction Mini-Batmobile.

Cue announcer: "When last we left our intrepid duo, they had been encased in plastic by the troublesome Toyman!"

Anyways, I just got around to releasing our heroes, as well as the pieces of their Batmobile, which I quickly reconstituted.

Before Lego had the Batman license a few small and large Batman (and Superman) themed building sets were released in 2004 with figures and playsets/vehicles that were made up of Lego compatible blocks and components.

This mini Batmobile even has a rotating flame coming out the rear of the jet turbine. Neat!

Of course the stars of the sets were the figures themselves. Not sure if the building block playsets were phased out due to lack of consumer interest or because Lego lawyers got on the case, but Minimate figures are still going strong with licenses covering everyone from DC to Marvel to Ghostbusters to Battlestar Galactica to almost everyone in-between!

In addition to Batman (with expandable cape,) this set included a Tim Drake Robin, complete with his bo staff.

Also included is a Batarang for Batman. "Be careful out there, chum!"

Of course the figures fit nicely into the cockpit, but only one at a time (it is the MINI Batmobile after all!)

Last but not least, the set includes a suction cup with a piece of string connected to it for high flyin' adventure!

Thanks again CB! I owe you big time!!!

Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage!

Reports are coming in from all over geekdom (ironically, not one single solitary reporter is wearing a low neck yellow jumpsuit...except me) about the recent acquisition of all things TMNT by Nickelodeon.

Of course, the first "guy" to acquire the ninja turtles was none other than Master Splinter himself!

This Master Splinter is the re-released Playmates action figure from last year, part of the TMNT 25th anniversary commemorative release. Like Leonardo, I found Splinter at Ross for $3.99. Unlike Leonardo, Splinter does not come with a DVD episode of the original cartoon - only the four turtle releases appear to have that addition.

Splinter has a small star shaped "scar" painted on his cheek. I don't recall how that fits into the cartoon or comic version of Splinter, but I do remember Splinter losing an ear to Shredder in the movie before his owner was massacred and before he mutated into a humanoid rat. I guess that is what the scar is meant to represent.

Like all of the original TMNT releases, Splinter comes with a rack of nifty ninja weapons. And a cane. But that ain't no ordinary cane!

It hides a sword! Damn that's cool. The weapons and accessories really added to the greatness of these original TMNT toys. Sadly they are also the hardest parts to find still with the figures, which is part of why these re-releases are so welcome in my collection.

The bow/arrow combo came apart from the rack - attached to the rack were the two cane pieces and two throwing stars. I only removed the cane/sword, as the throwing stars are sure to be lost, even by me.

"First Disney/Marvel, now Nickelodeon/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 2009 is truly the year of the rat!"

Gorilla my dreams

Does anyone know the origin of this King Kong looking gorilla?

EDIT: Thanks to Jon K of Random Acts of Geekery (I knew I could count on Jon for the answer!) I now know this is the Palmer Plastics Company King Kong from their Unbreakable Movie Monsters pack released in the mid 1960s, and that he also originally came with a tiny Fay Wray (wish he still had her.)

He is a couple inches tall, and is cast in solid blue plastic.

He also looks like he's hailing a cab.

I found him at the swap meet, and I got him for free the same day (and from the same vendor) I got my little blue Zonkers alien.

He's a little rough, and if I had to guess I'd figure he's older than the Zonkers guy who came out in the eighties.

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal!"

My blood runs cold...na na na nana na...Cy-Kill is the centerfold!

I was visiting my parents a couple weeks ago and I came across a couple of my old GoBots magazines. I brought them home figuring they'd make a great blog post, and since I posted about a GoBot yesterday, today I bring you GoBot Magazine's Premiere Issue cover date Winter 1986 (released late 1985,) in it's entirety!

Well, not quite, I don't have the Collector Poster anymore. But the rest of the magazine is here. Click each picture to embiggen, if you wish.

Premiere Issue! Collector Poster! Meet Leader-1 and the Guardians! Sweet!

And check out Leader-1's nonchalant expression as Cy-Kill gives the GoBots logo the finger.

A big Tonka truck ad on the inside cover - GoBots were distributed by Tonka, but by the time I was buying GoBots I was done with Tonka Trucks. So that ad's a waste.

Greetings from Leader-1 on page 1.

Published by Telepictures Publications, Inc. - I wonder if any of those people still put "GoBots Magazine" on their resumes...or if they ever did.

Muppet Magazine probably had a more successful run than GoBots magazine, I'd wager.

Fan letters. I can't help but wonder about these people, what are they doing now, and do they still look fondly back on their letter or art being published in GoBots Magazine as a high point in their life? Look, you can also subscribe to GoBots Magazine. I didn't.

More letters and art. Do you think Matthew Kramer of Grand Forks North Dakota is a graphic designer today? Oooh, and look at that spiffy watch you can get if you can choke down a Charleston Chew!

Finally, some articles. Movie Previews talks about Legend (a classic,) and Young Sherlock Holmes (a...whatever.)

Yipes, this one gives me pause;

"Special Event: It's not every day you can launch your teacher into space. Well, Concord, New Hampshire, high school students will watch it happen when their social studies teacher blasts off with astronauts on-board the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 22, 1986. Sharon Christa McAuliffe, who was chosen from 11,000 teacher applicants, will keep a journal about her space experience. Yes, but will she be tested on what she learns?"

I remember that day vividly. My Fifth Grade teacher Mr. Avery wheeling a TV into the classroom, "The Space Shuttle...it exploded."

No it didn't!

"Yes...it did."

Sorry, back to the magazine.

A High Tech report on robots.

We've come a long way since 1986.

Page 17 begins "The Blast of Doom" by P.E. King (what is he, a duck?) and R. Reese. I wonder if those are real names?

Oh those silly Renegades.

Leader-1 trying to get me to subscribe again. Is he on commission?

Leader-1 shows Dr. Braxis what's what, and the Statue of Liberty needs saving.

An article about "Explorers" starring River Phoenix. I loved that movie...I wonder if it's available on DVD. Probably not.

"If I Had a Robot..." state the stars of 1986. It should have been "If I can see my future..." Daryl and River would have both benefited from a little more forward thinking.

Word search. Looks like I found them all. In record time too, no doubt. The Jetsons (with Orbity) and Galtar! The funtastic world of Hanna-Barbera indeed.

Finally, the back cover. A glowing bouncy ball. Wait, the glowing bouncy ball people had an advertising budget?

Well that's it. Feel free to enlarge the pages and try to enjoy the magazine...because I have one more issue that I may or may not grace Toyriffic with, depending on how many cries of "Yay" or "Nay" I get on this one ;)

Karma Chameleon

I call it "Toy Karma," and I've got it good.

Just the other day I stumbled onto a Flickr album belonging to a collector calling himself Astronit. He appears to specialize in space themes, vending machine toys and cereal premiums (pull up a chair and give yourself an hour or two to look at all his goodies. I'll still be here when you're done.)

While looking through his photostream I saw this picture and a flood of memories came back to me about a toy alien I had as a kid that came in a box of Screaming Yellow Zonkers. The odd alien was modeled after another toy I had at the time that came in a bag of Star Wars-esque little plastic space men. (UPDATE: Through a completely different toy search I found a pic online - Outer Space Fighters and Galaxy Laser Team manufactured by Tim Mee)

In fact, I chased after the Screaming Yellow Zonkers specifically for this one alien. I don't know how many boxes I had my mom buy before I got him, but I'm pretty sure I got lucky early. My Toy Karma is nothing new.

So today I went to the swap meet and, you guessed it, I found him. And he was free (I bet you didn't guess that.)

"I come in Peace."

Some kind of cross between a turtle, a crab, and a snail, this guy is a pretty unique and fun creature, reminiscent of fifties sci-fi B movies.

The toy has no markings, but according to the Screaming Yellow Zonkers packaging, his name is Zip.
The space set these were based on was originally released in the early eighties, and re-released in the nineties (I recall buying a bag of them when I discovered them at a Mom and Pop type toy store.) It included "inspired by" figures of Luke, Darth, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 among a couple others in all sorts of funky neon colors. I don't still have any of mine, but I'm sure one day my toy Karma will find them for me if I focus my powers on them.

In the meantime, I have Zip, and that's good enough for now.

Meet the Beetle

After months of searching and not finding, I finally have in my possession a DC Universe Classics Blue Beetle!


I love the Ted Kord Charlton Comics version of Blue Beetle. This figure even has a holster on his hip which holds his "B.B." gun and snaps closed to keep it securely in place! Keen!

Unfortunately, I have a love/hate relationship with DC Universe Classics which is quickly souring into a hate/hate relationship. The toyline is extremely well designed and the characters are true to their comic book appearances, and so many fan-favorite characters are filling out the line. Add to that awesome "Collect and Connect" bonus figures, and it should be a no-brainer hit.


Sadly Mattel is poorly managing the line with record level QC issues, piss poor distribution and Walmart exclusive waves getting into the hands of more scalpers than fans, it's near impossible for an average joe or even a hardcore toy fan to complete a wave and get a whole Collect and Connect figure built, let alone get their hands on all the figures they want in any given wave.


Blue Beetle came out in wave 7. Wave 10 is reportedly hitting stores now (Walmart stores only however - Wave 10 being an elusive-exclusive wave.) That's three waves ago, and I never saw him at retail. I had to get him from a fellow collector living somewhere in the mid-west. By the way, I've only seen Wave 8 figures once (not all of them mind you) and reports have Wave 9 suffering some sort of "we didn't make enough" issue and tons of online pre-orders have been canceled. I won't even get into my experiences with the handful of figures I have from waves 1-6. Way to go Mattel - no toyline should be this hard to get. Seriously.

Anyways, Blue Beetle is awesome and although I am seriously considering backing away from active pursuit of DCUC, I couldn't pass up the chance to add the character to my collection. Mattel, you're dang lucky to have the DC license, because it's the characters and their decades-long mythology that gets people buying your toys, not your business model.

Space Goofs in Christmas Disguises from Carl's Jr.

Get a load of these three wise...um...men?
Beneath these three yuletide exteriors...

Beat the hearts of Halloween whatzits - these ain't no ordinary Christmas baubles!

Actually these guys are called Space Goofs or Stupid Invaders or Les Zinzins de l'espace depending on what country you see them in. A cartoon that flew completely outside my radar, I had never heard of them before finding these Carl's Jr. fast food premiums at a garage sale last weekend. Released in 1998, they're marked "Gaumont" and "Saban," which was the only way I was able to track down who they are.

Dressed as a Christmas tree is Gorgeous Klatoo.

The two-headed snow man is Stereo Monovici's disguise.

Etno Polino rounds out the trio as jolly old St. Nick himself.

Their disguises clip together in two plastic halves, encasing solid pvc figurines inside. Here's nude Stereo.

Gorgeous Klatoo. Hubba hubba.

And last but not least, Etno. Pucker up, buttercup.

Apparently there are two more Space Goofs, and two more toys in this series: Candy Caramella and Bud Budiovitch. I'd love to add them to my collection; I have a spare Gorgeous Klatoo and a spare Stereo Monovici, so if anyone out there wants to make a trade email me!

In the meantime these guys make the ultimate fall decoration - I take them out for Halloween and don't have to put them away until after Christmas!