Last Action Hero 1993 Mattel

After a string of major Box Office successes throughout the 80's and the first couple of years into the 90's Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity had reached major heights with his last major movie; Terminator 2: Judgment Day breaking all sorts of records and managing to impress critics and audiences the world over with its slick action and stunning CGI effects it was only a matter of time before Hollywood began scrambling for a new vehicle for Arnie to star in! It of course had to be action driven but Arnie had also recently showed off his comedy chops to great effect in the likes of Kindergarten Cop and Twins and so Last Action hero was conceived to be sort of parody of those big, dumb action movies that made household names out of  the likes of Stallone, Van Damme and of course Schwarzenegger!


LAH was produced on a rather sizable budget placing all of its faith in Arnie's popularity with his ability to both excite and entertain a broad range of movie fans (having then recently extended his profile to include family friendly fare in addition to his harder edge R-rated action flicks)to bring home some impressive Box Office takings! Unfortunately despite a very aggressive advertising campaign (including advertising in space!) and a bunch of promotional tie-ins bad word of mouth spread fast and it received a critical mauling on its release with things going from bad to worse when Jurassic Park became the mega hit that it was taking a huge bite out of LAH's takings!         


As the interest in the movie itself faded so did the enthusiasm for the tie-in toys produced by Mattel which saw average sales and eventual bargain bin residence despite being a thoroughly decent line of action figures! Here we will explore some of those figures available:  

Dynamite Jack Slater: Tough LAPD Detective Jack Slater in reality is the main character in the "Jack Slater" film series portrayed by action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, but when a young film fan is transported via a magic ticket into the movie playing before him in his local theatre the  fictional universe jack inhabits becomes Danny's reality! Something Slater finds hard to believe when Danny tries explaining to him he is just a character in a movie and everything around them is just a product of Hollywood imagination! Until of course they both follow the evil Benedict back into "our world" and Slater has to come to terms with the fact he only exists on movie screens! 

With Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity at its peak due to his successful foray into family friendly fare such as Kindergarten cop its no wonder this line is made up of more than half of the figures dedicated to his Jack Slater character including this particular figure which has a spring loaded arm which launches various small weapons such as Dynamite sticks and Dumb Bells! The figure features Jack's signature look: a leather jacket with red T-Shirt and Blue jeans combo with fabulous detailing especially on his snake skin boots and belt buckle! The likeness of Arnie is what's most important here and it is captured perfectly but unfortunately is the same one used throughout all of the Jack Slater figures making for a distinct lack of variety! Another odd choice made with these figures is the decision to have the Jack figures hands sculpted to hold a gun but isn't supplied with one which is all the more strange when you consider that Evil Eye Benedict comes with no less than three hand guns!     

Hook Launchin' Danny: Young Danny Madigan loves nothing more than spending his time at his local Theatre watching his favourite action hero beat up bad guys on the big screen! Even when sat in his English class watching Laurence Oliver perform Hamlet on film he imagines what that movie would be had it starred Arnold Schwarzenegger! "To be or not to be? Not to be!" quips Arnie as he lights up a his signature stogie sending an explosion off in the background! His dreams come true when he is magically transported into the Jack Slater universe via a magic ticket provided by the theatre owner but will it be everything Danny hoped for?

Danny is represented very well here in action figure form with a decent head sculpt that bares a nice resemblance to kid actor Austin O'Brien! He comes with A grappling Hook accessory which is nicely designed and executed but hasn't any basis in the movie itself!

Evil Eye Benedict: As portrayed by Charles Dance the evil assassin for hire Mr. Benedict is cold and calculating and equips himself with a variety of weapons including exploding glass eyeballs! When Benedict finds Danny's Magic Ticket and discovers its amazing properties he enters into our world and forms a dastardly plan to destroy Arnold Schwarzenegger and thus do what he could never do in the movie world; kill Jack Slater!  

the on screen character designs is followed closely in these figures sculpts and also have generally very good likenesses of the respective actors with Mr. Benedict being one of the most effective figures in the set despite his simple design the only thing that is off about this figure is the fake eye which should be on his left side!

The most impressive thing about this figure is the array of accessories he comes supplied with including three different styles of hand gun, Fake eyes and a brief case with a couple of decals to store it all in!

Axe Swingin' Ripper: When released from a 10 year prison sentence, thanks to Jack Slater, The Ripper seeks his revenge by kidnapping Slater's own son! Though Jack manages to defeat The Ripper in the end it is at the cost of his own child, an event which has haunted him ever since! But The Ripper only remains dead for a short time before Benedict who with the aid of Danny's Magic Ticket brings him into the "real" world to kill Jack Slater actor Arnold Schwarzenegger!   

There are some pretty dark moments in Last Action Hero amongst the OTT action and comedic elements particularly the scenes featuring Tom Noonan as "The Ripper"! The axe wielding maniac who appears fleetingly but memorably in the movie is an interesting but a surprise addition to this line as he could be viewed as a somewhat inappropriate choice for a toy line clearly aimed at children (after all the character does spend most of his screen time attempting to kill a child!) He happens to be one of the best figure in the bunch with lots of intricate detailing and a strong (if slightly toned down) resemblance to his on screen counter part minus the yellow raincoat which has instead been replaced with a top hat and cloak combo I guess to give him a sort of Jack the Ripper appearance!  

Heat Packin' Jack: Slater is primed and ready for his nemesis "The Ripper" who kidnaps poor Danny and then, according to the kid in the toy commercial, tears Jack's favourite red T-Shirt with his trusty Axe! 


One of the several Jack Slater figures produced for this line "Heat Packin'" has borrowed some elements from the Dynamite Jack  figure including the same exact head and legs sculpts however the torso and arms are unique to this figure and filly show off Schwarzenegger's incredible physique! Yet again this figure isn't supplied with anything he can actually hold and so would have fared much better had his hands been moulded into closed fists instead!  

Jack comes armed with this big all in one weapon that attaches to his back made up of various elements such as a extendable chainsaw and a missile launcher!




Last Action Hero received mediocre reviews and began a steady decline in box office takings and was ultimately deemed a failure especially when compared to other big hitters in 1993 such as Spielberg's Jurassic Park! If not taken too seriously or analysed too closely LAH can be seen as an enjoyable and occasionally smart action extravaganza with some clever in-jokes and cameos thrown in for good measure! Mattel's toy line is actually a very solid one with great movie accurate designs and fun action features and accessories despite some short comings including the odd design flaws and the lack of variety in the characters, another plus point is that these are in scale with Kenner's Terminator 2 toy line if you wanted to these as a companion piece to a genuine Arnie classic! 


The full set of figures available: 


-Dynamite Jack Slater  
-Hook Launchin' danny
-Evil Eye Benedict 
-Axe Swingin' Ripper
-Heat Packin' Jack
-Undercover Jack
-Skull Attack Jack


Vehicals:
-Slater's convertible
-Evil eyed roadster    

The Shadow 1994 Kenner

The Shadow was born in the pages of 1930's Pulp Novels before being adapted to various media entertainment including radio broadcasts (Famously performed by non other than Orson Welles) as well as the more modern Comic book format and black and white movie serials of the 1940's. It was quite a long wait for The Shadow before getting the feature film treatment and had created quite a legacy and inspired the creation many similar characters, among them Bob Kane's Batman.


The superhero genre had been given an overhaul in Hollywood after the success of Tim Burton's Big Screen Batman movie in 1989 and so the time felt right for Pulp classic character despite younger audiences lack of awareness of him. Director Sam Rami had originally sought to bring the Shadow to a modern audience but problems attain the licence prevented that for happening so instead the director opted for an original story that borrowed elements of The Shadow entitled Darkman released in cinemas in 1990 proving to be something of  a hit and has since become a cult favourite!
1994 saw the eventual release of the official Shadow feature starring Alec Baldwin along with an impressive supporting cast of highly regarded performers in what was a fun but hugely flawed end product. Audiences were kinder perhaps than critics, who felt the movie to be "forgettable" despite being visually distinctive, but ultimately preferred some of the other offerings from that year including another Comic Book creation The Mask  (which also had a toy line provided by Kenner!) starring Jim Carrey whose popularity was beginning to reach massive heights at the time.


Perhaps it was the lacklustre appetite for the movie that saw the mediocre sales of Kenner's Tie-In Toy line which had been fairly decent if not anything special. To this day the toys aren't particularly sought after (Aside for some of the vehicles) which is a bit of pity as they really aren't a bad little set! Here we will look at several figures released n the line: 

Transforming Lemont Cranston: The mysterious vigilante known as The Shadow has gone by many different pseudonyms over the centuries in 1930's new York he is Billionaire playboy Lemont Cranston who uses his wealth and influence to help aid him in his crime fighting operations!  The film opens in Mongolia where Cranston has become the evil and corrupt Ying-Ko a brutal warlord  in Mongolia Before being  kidnapped by agents of the mysterious TULKU who then begins to restore Cranston's humanity and teaching him the ability to "cloud men's minds" using psychic power in order to fight evil in the world before returning to his Native New York to take up the Mantel of The Shadow!

In this 1994 adaption of the Pulp classic Alec Baldwin is tasked with playing the duel role of Cranston/The Shadow and he does so with real enthusiasm and relish, he particular has the right raspy vocal talents to pull off the scenes where The Shadow is only heard! Its a great performance in a flawed but fun film and Kenner have done a really nice job of capturing Baldwin's likeness particularly in the days before digital scanning of actors features was possible!
The rest of the figure is decent but really lacking detail and is awkward to pose, what's really great about this particular figure is that he can "transform" into his alter ego by pressing down the head into the body and clipping on various pieces of armour to create...... 

...The shadow! or at least a variant of the Shadow, this particular figure is designed to have  more armoured looked with a sort of gas mask covering the lower half of his face rather than the trademark red scarf!

The extra pieces have some nice detailing and are very effective when placed on Lamont! Also as an extra feature The Shadows eyes light up when a light source passes through the clear red plastic placed inside the  hat

All of the extra pieces clip on and fit nicely and give a great overall look even if it is  a little far off his on screen appearance, he comes with a silver-lined fabric cape attached to the chest piece, attachable glove pieces  and two pistols!

Shiwan  Khan: Former student of the Tulku Shiwan Khan possesses even greater powers than his adversary Cranston  having successfully resisted redemption and so remained evil. Khan is the last descendant of Genghis Khan is set to fulfil his ancestor's goal of world domination!

You really don't get the sense of Khan being a powerful mystical being from this figure even when adorned with his gold coloured armour and snake staff! There really isn't much resemblance between this figures design and the look of the character on screen but despite that he has a pretty decent head sculpt complete with "real hair"! 

Khan also comes with a Snake (Python) Staff and a dagger with an evil face etched into it that come cast in the same colour plastic as the removable armour pieces. Interestingly they both have an action feature where the mouths can be moved up and down to give the appearance of coming "Alive"! 

Dr. Mocquino: The Voodoo master is one of The shadows deadliest foes from the original pulp magazine series. He posses a hypnotic power capable of turning mere men into loyal zombie minions forming his own cult of faithful followers and worshipers of Voodoo rites! 

 Though this is a very nice looking and well made figure he has nothing to do with the movie itself as he appears no where in it! Even his design differs greatly from his comic book appearances! despite all of that this figure is probably the nicest one in the line and even has some very interesting and nicely detailed accessories such as....

....This tiny "voodoo doll" of the shadow! Which is a nice added little bonus making the only figure in this line which has very little to reference  !

One of the Shadows many abilities is that of invisibility! he is "The Shadow" after all and toy manufactures usually achieve this particular effect but casting a figure in clear plastic! Which means there is little to no paint applications to speak of but there are some nice sculpting details to add more dimension to an otherwise plain looking figure! 

The figure also comes with his trademark cloak and pistol as well as a detachable chest piece! He also has an action feature which you can activate by squeezing his legs together, his right arm raises his gun and his left arms lifts his cloak to his shield his face!

As shown above each Action figure has its own unique art design on the packaging!

The packaging also comes with full instructions with picture demonstrations!




The Shadow was a decent attempt at bringing the influential but long since relevant Pulp Magazine character to modern audiences. Much of the Shadow's legacy can be found In Bob Kane's Batman, which audiences identify much stronger with, and so it can be argued there isn't really any need for The Shadow any more he certainly isn't the household name that many other superheroes are! With that said there is much to like to about the movie including a solid ensemble cast including the fabulous Sir Ian McKellen, Peter Boyle and of course star Alec Baldwin  who makes for a very effective Shadow! 
Kenner's Toy line isn't a failure either but is maybe a little generic and uninteresting compared to some of their better licences with only a couple of the figures produced really worth recommending! Still fans of the movie and/or The Character in general will probably want to pick these up as there is very little alternative available! 


Full figures available:  


-Shadow: Lightning Draw
-Shadow: Ambush
-Shadow: Ninja
-Lamont Cranston: Transforming
-Shiwan Khan
-Shiwan Khan: Battle
-Dr.Mocquino
-Mongol Warrior
-Deluxe Shadow: Bullet Proof


Vehicles:
-Shadow Thunder Cab
-Shadow Mirage SX-100
-Shadow Nightmist Cycle
-Shiwan Khan Serpent Bike

Dick Tracy 1990 Disney/Playmates toys

Any movie released in the summer of 1990 would have had to try and match the mammoth success of the previous years "Batman" and Dick Tracy (another 30's era comic book character) seemed like the perfect candidate for the task. Though Dick Tracy isn't quite the household name Batman is the original comic strips were some of the most popular of their time featuring a collection of kooky bad guys Batman would be proud to add to his own rouges gallery! In order to insure Tracy was a hit Disney ploughed almost as much as it cost to make the movie into the promoting of it  in what was at the time one of the biggest advertising and merchandising  campaigns  in movie history! When tallied up with the overall budget and compared to the movies box office takings made for a slightly disappointing gross despite a decent performance in cinemas and generally favourable reviews. In the end Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy is still one of the most visually impressive and colourful comic book movie adaptations ever produced and though often overlooked in favour of some of the more recent big screen offerings DT is possibly one of the most faithful and unique entries in the genre.  


Its a similar story when it comes to the action figure line produced by Playmates, the toy company best known for their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, who designed the Dick Tracy figures in that familiar TMNT style bringing the movie designs and the original Comic strip artwork together in a single figure!
14 figures were produced in total but only 13 of those were widely released with the 14th figure based on the mysterious "The Blank" held back as it was packaged with a removable mask revealing his secret identity which therefore would spoil a much guarded and highly teased twist for cinema goers! By the time the figure was due for release the toy sales had plummeted and so the figure only saw a very limited run in Canada when it was finally released and as a  result "The Blank" is now one of the most highly sought after and rare action figures ever produced! 
Here we will look in detail at some of the figures available from the line:    

Dick Tracy: Very much the "straight man" in a world of bizarre and grotesque villains, Tracy will do anything to bring these slimy scum bags to justice! Adorned with a bright yellow overcoat and fedora Tracy has his own brand of policing and he will risk everything to bring down the evil crime boss Big Boy and his gang even his own reputation!  

Playmates were still fairly new on the block when they released these Dick Tracy figures and as such felt the need to keep these figures in line with what they had already produced, namely the iconic TMNT series, which explains why the figures appear dwarfish in stature with large heads and in squat positions! but like those earlier Ninja Turtles figures DT features some nice detailing bright colour schemes and bold expressions that perfectly show off some of the great character make up designs from the movie. Tracy here is more "normal" looking perhaps than the others yet doesn't quite look the spit of Warren Beatty who played him in the movie still it is recognisably DT even if the figure isn't supplied with the iconic yellow trench coat!

Big Boy: Power mad Big Boy Caprice dreams of a world without Dick Tracy around to meddle in his affairs! After having successfully pocketed all of the crime bosses in town and with the D.A on his payroll Big Boy is almost untouchable if not for copper Tracy breathing down his neck and the mysterious face-less crook "The Blank" stirring up trouble!

The award winning make up job for the Dick Tracy movie still stands out as one of the best and most creative in the prosthetic make up field all of which make for interesting and quirky action figures! Al Pacino goes full OTT in his portrayal of Big Boy giving Jack Nicholson's Joker a run for his money and even earning an Oscar nomination for his efforts!and despite being buried under all of that glorious make up Pacino still shines right through as perfectly captured in this playmates figure which comes with a Gun/Holster and money bag accessories!  

Flattop: Big Boy's right hand man Flat Top is as loyal a henchman as they come and as a result does most of his boss's dirty work! He along with Itchy even manages to get one over on Dick Tracy on numerous occasions. In the comic book Flattop is one of the most frequent adversaries and one of the best liked amongst fans!

Flattop is easily one of the most recognisable Dick Tracy villains and his look in both the movie and the action figure is consistent to the numerous other incarnations of the character I'd say his look here however leans slightly closer  to the comic book incarnation as opposed to the film  version he even has a different attire here than what he wears on screen (which was inspired by early production photos) Flattop comes with A Tommy Gun and Bullet cartridge holster along with a unique accessory which appears to be a noose!

Pruneface: Along with Lips Manlis Pruneface is one of the city's most prolific and powerful mob bosses! After Big Boy eliminates former boss Lips and takes over his empire he presents an unrefusable offer to all of the Mob Bosses in Town: combine forces or face the same fate as Lips! Though Pruneface finds himself in a somewhat uneasy alliance he and Big Boy are ultimately united in their hate for Dick Tracy!

Prune Face stands out as one of the most gruesome looking figures in the bunch incredibly even more so  than he appears in the movie! he comes with a dynamite plunger and Tommy Gun/Bullet holster accessories!

Itchy: Another member of Big Boy's Gangster entourage Itchy works closely with Flattop assisting in the various crimes set out by their boss! Cackling and wise-cracking his way through various criminal activity's until the final show down with Dick Tracy sees Itchy scratched out!  

Itchy here bares a strong likenesses to his on screen counterpart and even has some extra details to emphasise his name sake (IE the scratch marks on his arms) He comes with a lead pipe ready to put the frighteners on some poor old store owner who isn't quick enough with Big Boys cut of the profits!

Influence: One of Pruneface's  main henchmen Influence joins Big Boy's ranks along with his former boss when all of the city's mob are brought together in a bid to finally take total control!

Influence is featured sparingly throughout the movie itself despite being a pretty popular character in the comic books and even appearing in some of the early black and white serials of the 40's! this figure does a decent job in capturing the characters likeness and even gives him a touch more personality by adding various little sculpted details on his suit such as a spider and syringe!  

Mumbles: Having worked closely with Big Boy Caprice during the time they worked for Lips Manlis Mumbles quickly joined Big Boy's ranks after the murder of Lips and the take over his night club! Though Mumbles loyalty was eventually tested when he was arrested and integrated by Tracy!

This is one of the nicest looking figures in the line and, though it might not be readily apparent at first glance, there is certainly more than a hint of Dustin Hoffman (who played the role) in the face sculpt! 

Shoulders: Bruiser and enforcer to boss Lip's Manlis Shoulders find himself at the wrong end of a Tommy gun when Flattop and itchy turn up uninvited during a  game of poker where fellow gang members Rhodent, Little face and The Brow are also taken out as part of Big Boy's take over from Lip's!

 Shoulders appearance in the movie is very brief to say the least though he is featured heavily throughout the original comic book run. This figure does a nice job at capturing the more subtle makeup design work done on shoulders I feel, though the accessories are pretty much as the same as several other gangster figures in the line but seeing as his screen time is so limited it is just nice to have a figure based on him at all!

Sam Catchem: The only other "Copper" in this line is Tracy's most trusted and loyal fellow detective Sam Catchem who even after Tracy is Framed for murder by the mysterious "man without a face" stands by his fellow officer of the law!

Sam has some really nice sculpted details on his shirt with a camera and police badge visible though throughout the film he is usually seen with his orangery/Brown overcoat  here however he has a more relaxed appearance with his loosened tie and rolled up sleeves and comes armed with a Gun/Holster and Baton similar to Dick Tracy.The face sculpt is also very nice capturing his on screen likeness rather well as well as adding some extra details such as the bullet hole's on his hat!

Steve The Tramp: The only Bad Guy in the line who isn't a part of either Lips, Big Boy or Pruneface's organisations! Steve is the Fagan like street tramp who uses orphaned children to do his bidding within the petty crime circuit but a brief encounter with dick Tracy soon puts an end to his

Steve The Tramp is probably the best figure in the whole set despite only appearing on screen for mere seconds, the figure was hugely controversial on his initial release causing the figure to be pulled from store shelves prematurely due to complaints of insensitivity towards homeless people. Of course the bio on the back of the packaging didn't help matters describing Steve as an "ignorant Bum" who would "use and abuse any young, helpless prey" (the full Bio card can be viewed bellow) Steve also came with three accessories A Trash Can Lid, Knife and Plank of Wood, apparently the weapons of choice for a homeless thug! The figure is very nicely detailed and brightly coloured and what's more if you don't much care for Dick Tracy he will fit in perfectly with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line of figures!     

Each figure came with a short comic book story drawn in the style of the movie to give you a flavour of the character!

each figure came with a cut out and keep Bio card designed to look like a police file on that particular villain.

Finally we have the full list of figures that were available including the extremely rare "The Blank"!

These figures, as with the Movie itself, are hugely underrated in my opinion and the stick these toys get for being "ugly" is largely misguided. Fans of Playmates TMNT and Toxic Crusaders lines will find much to love in the Dick Tracy series of figures which are very collectable and quirky if nothing else. The highlights of the series are most certainly some of the more bizarre looking characters including the elusive "The Tramp" and the extremely Rare "The Blank" figures! With good general likenesses that lean more towards the comic book iterations and a decent selection of accessories despite some repetition these figures are a whole lot of fun!


Also available in the line:


-Dick Tracy
-Big Boy
-The Brow
-Rodent
-Pruneface
-Shoulders
-Flattop
-Itchy
-Lips Manlis
-Influence
-Mumbles
-Sam Catchem
-Steve The Tramp
-The Blank


Vehicles:


-Big Boys getaway Car
-Police Squad Car