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August Megaparty #13: Robin Hood?

I can't remember if Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was any good, because I only saw it once, in theaters, on some long ago Saturday afternoon with friends I haven't talked to in years. The theater was virtually empty for some reason, giving mah crew carte blanche to just roast the holy hell out of whatever was happening onscreen. As I recall, taunts thrown at Azeem were prevalent. We left early and went bowling.

What I do remember are all of the foolhardy attempts to turn the film into a full-on kiddy franchise, with action figures and games and all sorts of stuff that nobody wanted. I know the effort has to be made, because hey, the fact that some of these flicks find funding often has as much to do with promises of earnings from things other than ticket sales than the actual ticket sales. Still, in a sea of Ninja Turtles and the like, who the fuck wanted Robin Hood?

It's almost unfortunate, because Kenner's collection of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves toys very surprisingly did not suck. The action figures were well detailed, and came with so many cool accessories that you halfway forgot that you didn't give a shit about the characters. Best of all, though, was the "Sherwood Forest" playset. Why? Because it was a remodeled Star Wars "Ewok Village." THE Ewok Village. The toy I would've moved into if I was small enough. "Sherwood Forest" used the same exact mold -- it had the three trees, the platform...everything. Even the swinging rock and the capture net. The only real difference was the addition of plastic foliage to the formerly bare trees, but in some ways, that was an improvement to an already perfect toy.

I guess what I'm getting at is, I wish I held anything besides apathy for Robin Hood in the early '90s, because this was an awesome revival. Click here to download the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Kenner toy commercial, starring a few nobodies and an Ewok Village in new clothes.

EDIT: Invader Norbert's comment turns this into a survey: Name a movie or two that never got its own toy line, but should've. And what would the toys be?

Posted by Matt on 08/13/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 130 comments

I wanted a Howard the Duck plush doll.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 08/14/2006 2:53 AM

Darkwing Duck woulda rocked ass. Totally would have dropped up to six bucks for a Nega Duck.

Also what about Eek the Cat? I would have loved to get my hands on Sharky the Shark dog Toy.

Lastley, this is totally off topic, but this site made search for my TMNT figures, I found out I was a bigger nerd than I thought. I literally have every ninja turtle action figure, up until they introduced the Giraffe (Half-Court)
I also found out I have 11 Krang toys yet no accessories for them such as the AT-ST looking walker that came with them.

Chestnuts roasted by Joker @ 08/14/2006 3:04 AM

How come they never made Romper Stomper toys… the name alone sounds like it would lend itself well.
Hando and Davey as a 2 pack, Gabe, a couple Vietnamese, maybe a factory playset?

Chestnuts roasted by WonKa @ 08/14/2006 3:07 AM

I don’t think Kubricks count. That being said, Die Hard deserved a super cool toy line. I guess R rated movies weren’t allowed to have toy lines . . . but wasn’t Robocop rated R?

Chestnuts roasted by Julie @ 08/14/2006 3:11 AM

There ARE Darkwing Duck figures. I have DW and some rat with an electrical socket on his head from that line. They were great figures and I used them in my WWF ring often. As I did with a Robin Hood figure as well. I have never seen the movie and have no I idea how I ended up with the toy, but I do remember using it alot, along with my two Waterworld action figures (please do a post on those next!).

Chestnuts roasted by Ice D @ 08/14/2006 3:16 AM

Joker: Oh my God, you are SO right about Eek, The Cat! :o A plush line would’ve been spectacular. I have this big floppy/soft/squishy teddy bear and I named him Pierre, but no, he doesn’t have a hat, or look like him in any way.

I would’ve loved some Courage the Cowardly Dog stuff, too, but I’m not sure about actual movie merchandise.

I think I saw the Robin Hood movie with my boyfriend at the time, and I remember him dedicating that Bryan Adams song to me over the radio. :P

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 08/14/2006 3:17 AM

Ice D is right; there was a Darkwing Duck figure line. I remember when an old family friend took me to the mall for lunch once, and I somehow managed to come back with a figure of the nightflapper himself. (This story ties into the Hook toys, strangely enough, cos I was actually aiming for the Captain Hook role-play hook that you can wear, but it was too expensive.)

Katella – I think that was based on the old Kenner ‘Tree Tots’ playset. My mum tracked one down over eBay (paid an ungodly sum for it) for her sister for Christmas last year. Favourite childhood toy and everything. Tears everywhere; very messy.

And Brett – mine too.

Chestnuts roasted by Daniel85 @ 08/14/2006 3:40 AM

i had the Robin Hood’s Battle Wagon!! at least if thats the name that matches with the "vehicle" i had. it was a two-level, battering ram on wheels. i never understood how that thing could drive around, but somehow it always managed to. and it also had this completely useless drawbridge-like feature on it. as rediculous as it sounds, that was a pretty cool toy.

also did the the sherwood forest/ewok village have a spit where you could fit a figure’s neck into it, allowing you to raost the figure over the fire? i seem to remember that from somewhere.

i had a cap’n hook figure from the hook line. and for some reason he had extendable legs, which allowed you to see his thighs where the ends of his frilly stockings were. hook with instant 1 foot growth power? i guess so.

Chestnuts roasted by kevin. @ 08/14/2006 4:01 AM

That was "Tall Terror Captain Hook", kevin. The majority of the figure line was Peter Pan and Captain Hook variations, of varying levels of ridiculousness.

I always wanted a "Moment of Epiphany Peter Banning, with cell phone" so I could re-enact that bit where he throws his phone into the snow.

Chestnuts roasted by Daniel85 @ 08/14/2006 4:11 AM

You can see pictures of the Darkwing Duck action figure line from 1991 here: http://www.virtualtoychest.com/darkwingduck/darkwingduck.html

Playmates also did a series of TaleSpin figures around the same time. I guess they didn’t sell well and the 2nd series of each was cancelled.

Chestnuts roasted by Jon @ 08/14/2006 4:20 AM

i’ve always wanted a "Quest for the Mighty Sword" playset. damn that’s a great (bad) movie!

Chestnuts roasted by angus @ 08/14/2006 5:10 AM

THE TOP 5 MOVIES OF THE 90′S THAT DESERVED TOY LINES, YET, NEVER GOT THEM, HOWEVER IN MY HUMBLE OPINON, "DESERVED" ONE….

1. SE7EN
2. TRAINSPOTTING (DEAD BABY CHASER!)
3. BOOGIE NIGHTS
4. DARKMAN
5. GOODFELLAS
6. BLOODSPORT
7. CEMETERY MAN
8. FIGHT CLUB
9. FACE/OFF
10. SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER

Chestnuts roasted by JERRY HORROR @ 08/14/2006 5:11 AM

Julie -

There wasn’t a line of Die Hard toys, but Neca did make a John McLane figure. It’s probably still in stores now if you look hard enough, or just try eBay.

What about "Fletch"? They could’ve done tons of Irwin Fletcher figures. Or "National Lampoon’s Vacation" – there was talk of doing a 1:18 scale Family Truckster, but for some reason it never materialized. Sigh.

Chestnuts roasted by Frederico Bimmel @ 08/14/2006 5:12 AM

Ah, the Darkwing duck toys.. I even had two Darkwings, one of which I painted yellow so I could have a Negaduck.. .. That’s really sad now that I think about it. Were there "Willow" action figures? I would have died for a Mad Martigan..

Chestnuts roasted by toktobis @ 08/14/2006 5:35 AM

I like your thinking on the Negaduck thing, toktobis. Reminds me of how I used a toy of the blonde girl from the Burger King Kids Club to stand in for Lex from Jurassic Park, cos Kenner never made a figure of her. They did of her whiny brother, though.

Hmm. I guess everyone’s gone for the night/day. I’m waiting up for my mother to come onto MSN Messenger. It’s my birthday tomorrow, and she usually tells me the story of ‘The Night Before Danielmas’ every year. This is the first year I haven’t been at home on my birthday, so we’re doing it in the manner of the age. I just hope she doesn’t include l33tsp33k.

Chestnuts roasted by Daniel85 @ 08/14/2006 6:48 AM

I think Blue Collar Comedy Tour: the Movie would make an excellent action figure line. Bear with me, plase.

THE FIGURES

Name of figure: with included accesories

Jeff Foxworthy: with microphone, six-pack and fishing pole

Bill Engval: with microphone, dear rifle, and "STUPID" sign

Ron White: with microphone, cigarette, shot glass, scotch bottle

Larry the Cable Guy: with microphone, back scratcher and guitar

VEHICLES AND PLAYSETS

Electronic talking Bass Boat

Larry’s Truck with electronic lights and sounds

Limosine with electronic lights and sounds

Tour Bus vehicle/playset

Center Stage talking Playset

EXPANSION FIGURES

Camoflage Jeff: with binoculars, duck call and jar of deer urine

River Tubin’ Rob: with sunglasses, innertube, and beer cooler

Mall Walkin’ Larry: with fart machine, store mannequin and fake dog dropping

The character played by David Alan Grier whose name I don’t Remember: with camcorder, cowboy hat, and suit carrier

Victoria’s Secret employee played by Heidi Klum: with pricing gun, tape measure and various articles of lingerie

Bill Engval riding an electric floor buffer with free-wheeling roll-and-spin action: with bottle of tequilla and electronic vomtting sounds

Chestnuts roasted by Hoverbored @ 08/14/2006 7:10 AM

If we aren’t counting Kubricks,then I think the Japanese unliscensed "Android Hunter" figs wouldn’t count either. So I pick Blade Runner. The figures could be Decker,Racheal,Priss,Billy Idol lookalike replicant (it’s been awhile),Wake up it’s time to die replicant,and the Tyrell boss. (was his name "Tyrell"?) The chase figure could be that "I make your EYES!" dude,the vehicle could be Deckard’s "spinner" cop car,and the playset could be the rooftop from the final battle. Ertl did make some diecast spinners but they weren’t action figure size.

Chestnuts roasted by Kid Nicky @ 08/14/2006 7:30 AM

Count Duckula
David the Gnome

Chestnuts roasted by BBBoggs @ 08/14/2006 7:33 AM

Most of the really cool movies I wanted to see toys for actually HAD toys, though some I’ve never actually seen. I have heard people talking about Krull toys though, and remember my parents telling me about me begging for them in the store (of course, this wasn’t followed by "and then we bought it for you" or anything). I used to have a couple of the toys based on Clash of the Titans…they were pretty awesome. I don’t know if there were ever Dark Crystal toys, but they’d be pretty cool.
One line that I would have liked to have seen would be Legend (and I mean toys, not models, not counting the McFarlane Darkness toy). Not just the main characters, as much fun as it would be to be able to lynch a Tom Cruise toy. The movie had some GREAT bit-part monsters in it that they could have pulled a Star Wars and made action figures out of. Would have worked really well with the Dungeons and Dragons figures (which contained my favorite playset to this day).
As for Robin Hood, yeah, great movie if you ignore Kevin Costner. Relatively serious, but had a lot of fun with itself. That said I don’t think I’ve seen it in 10 years or so, but at the time, I loved it.

Chestnuts roasted by josh @ 08/14/2006 7:37 AM

How about Johnny Longtorso from MST3K?
I was going to say Bubba Ho-tep, but then found out it already had figures. Same with Mirrormask, though I’ve never seen them in real life and can’t tell if they suck.

Chestnuts roasted by Jessica Marie @ 08/14/2006 7:58 AM

Brazil and Battle Royale should definately have had a toy range. Were there ever any for Time Bandits?

Chestnuts roasted by Scott @ 08/14/2006 8:07 AM

Hey, I just watched Mirrormask a couple of days ago. I really have no strong feelings one way or the other about any associated action figures. I just wanted to point out that it was a really good movie.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 08/14/2006 8:10 AM

Apparently I’m like the only person on this board who not only sat through all of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but actually like it. I was obsessed with this movie in an unhealthy way. Though disturbingly not with Kevin Costner, but with the guy who played the Sheriff of Nottingham. But then again, I was in 8th grade.

As for movies that should have toy lines … I got nothing. Then again, I’m not huge into action figures. I’m still content with my Gumby and Pokie. I just wish I could find the Blockheads somewhere.

Chestnuts roasted by LemurCat @ 08/14/2006 9:18 AM

Three words:
Deliverance Action Figures

Wouldn’t that be scary?

Chestnuts roasted by Deuce @ 08/14/2006 9:39 AM

Haha Titantic, with a sinking ship playset that tilts and Evil Glacier Lair.

Chestnuts roasted by kelley201 @ 08/14/2006 9:50 AM

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 13th, 2006 at 11:36 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.