If you have a movie, a television show or a cartoon series, you have to have a line of collectible figures of superheroes to go with it. It’s practically law. This fact that every property needs a line of toys has given birth to some of the most hilariously unnecessary figures, including toys based off the children in Jurassic Park, the ring announcers from the Rocky franchise and forgettable one-off characters from Dr. Who.
Be it a weird premise, an over abundance of excess or completely missing your target, these silly yet awesome superhero figures are the ones that you remember long after you’ve outgrown your expansive toy collection. These are ones you can argue are the best Super natural character of all time, like the following three.
1. G.I. Joe Battle Corps Ice Cream Soldier
For more than three decades, Star Wars has tested the limits of exactly which characters fans would pay money to own (see below). When G.I. Joe debuted in the 1980’s, it started with a small number of toy superhero figures based off the most popular characters of from the cartoon G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The series was popular enough that more characters were added to the show and action figures were created so fans could own a piece of these new and exciting heroes and villains. Hasbro didn’t really test the limits of which characters fans would get behind until it debuted the Ice Cream Soldier in 1994. This toy’s name was as dumb as it is misleading. You hear Ice Cream Soldier and think this is a G.I. Joe that attacks with tubs of Ben & Jerry’s. But no, the Ice Cream Soldier carries a combination flamethrower and rocket launcher; two things that have nothing to do with ice cream. The Ice Cream Soldier action figure was discontinued in 1994. Clearly America was not ready for a character this amazing confusing.
2. Cy-Gor II Spawn
The Spawn comic book series has always had a flash of excess and originality to it. Excessive language, excessive violence and excessive sexual situations made the series a must read in the 1990’s. Its action figure line would carry over that level of excess. Creator Todd McFarlane started McFarlane Toys in 1994 so he could turn his characters into super figures that were way ahead of everything else on the market. The first series of Spawn toys had an superhero character based of the character Violator. Until his debut, most action-figures had followed the standard human shape format. But Violator, though he had two legs and two arms, was nothing like a human. So his action figure had to be different. It was. The Violator action figure, along with the rest of first series of Spawn action-figures, put McFarlane on the map and encouraged even more unusual and excessive superheroes from the comic book franchise. No longer did creators have to abide by age old guidelines when creating characters that could be transformed into action-figures. Violator opened up the floodgates for the unique and original characters we have today, while McFarlane’s dedication to excellence has brought collectors a wide assortment of highly detailed and highly original unearthly powered figures based off books, movies, the NFL, NBA and more.
3. 1978 Kenner Snaggletooth Star Wars
Do you remember that scene in Star Wars when a tall and blue clad Zutton sat idly by at Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina? Of course not! That’s because Zutton wasn’t tall with a blue suit. He was a short guy with a red suit. That little facet of information didn’t stop Kenner from making their deadline. With only a black and white photo of the Zutton’s face to go off of, Kenner produced the original Snaggletooth character from Star Wars. Though the face was dead on, the rest of this figure was completely wrong; wrong colored suit, wrong height and even wrong footwear. Zutton in the movie was barefoot while the original Snaggletooth action figure sported silver boots straight from David Bowie’s closet. The character was corrected in later releases, but this original Snaggletooth action figure became an instant collector’s item. Even the Gentle Giant re-release of the blue Snaggletooth action toy, more than thirty years after movie was first released, became a hard to find collector’s item. What makes this action figure so great, nay the greatest, is the idea that Kenner could get so many things so wrong and still have a hit product on its hands. This is the equivalent of the first Darth Vader action figure being purple with a yellow lightsaber. So wrong, yet so right and so incredibly awesome, this hard to find Star Wars movie characters taught us all about the importance of keeping flawed characters in mint condition.
