From the Star Wars toys of the late 1970s to all-things Batman in the mid-90s, Kenner Toys produced heaps and heaps of awesome action figures that kept millions of kids (and kids-at-heart) entertained. No matter your interest, be it comic books, cartoons, sports, or even movies you probably shouldn't have been watching just yet, Kenner likely had several product lines that were right up your alley.
For comic book fans, Kenner had the amazing Super Powers Collection (circa 1984) and a wide variety of other Batman and general DC Comics-related figures in the decade that followed. I especially enjoyed their fairly screen-accurate toys based on the fantastic Batman: The Animated Series. (Seriously guys, check out the BTAS Batmobile. Wow.)
Kenner produced toys based on many other cartoons as well, some of the more memorable examples being The Real Ghostbusters, Disney's brilliant Gargoyles series, and M.A.S.K. Dude, the M.A.S.K. toyline kicked ass!
In a glorious example of maintaining natural flow in one's writing, "ass" being a naughty word makes me think of the various toylines Kenner produced based on R-Rated movie franchises such as Predator, Terminator, and Alien. It's no real surprise given those properties' reasonably toyetic nature, but I always get a little smirk when thinking about figures of fairly violent creatures like the Renegade Predator hanging out in stores with the likes of your typical "ages 3 and up" fare.
While we're talking about Kenner's movie-based output, yeah, you might recall a little toyline based on that Star Wars flick that kinda-sorta revolutionized the action figure market altogether. Kenner produced the toys for the sequels and both Power of the Force toylines as well, all of which contained more than a few "must-have" items.
I could go on and on, because all of that yammering only scratches the surface. I glossed over tons of examples, including some rather major non-action figure toys like the Easy-Bake flippin' Oven! Oh, and if I had gotten into how Hasbro (who took over ownership of Kenner in 1991) released their Transformers: Beast Wars series under the Kenner label, well, you'd have had to set aside many more hours to read this. I brought up all of this to simply remind you that...HEY! Kenner produced an impressive amount of truly memorable toys that helped shape the childhoods of many. They certainly helped shape mine, and I'm sure many of you reading this can say the same.
However, while there is certainly a lot of room for nostalgia in the likes of toy collecting, there's an inherent tendency to forget what you've already had as you continually focus on amassing more and more. While an affection for Kenner will always be rattling around in the dusty corners of my geeky little soul, it took a recent find on Twitter to really make me stop and take a moment to appreciate it. Credit given where credit is due: I've been having a blast following the "KennerToys" Twitter profile!
With over 2,000 followers, @KennerToys on Twitter is already quite popular. However, as it's fairly new to me and only a small number of my toy-collecting friends also follow, I'm here to spread the word to any who might be interested! Since following, my Twitter feed often has images of awesome old figures, boxes and blister cards, and promo material. Here's a wacky collage of just a few recent examples:
Seeing this stuff day to day has definitely lifted my spirits a time or two. If you're also the sort to enjoy looking back on toys and collectibles long past, well, I highly suggest you give the KennerToys Twitter a "Follow!"
No comments:
Post a Comment