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07/02/2008: X-E’s ‘08 Summer Megaparty: Blame Anonymous.

“My blog is going to give away 1000 dollars every day of summer. Make sure you refresh and visit multiple times. It may not be every day BECAUSE I’M POLITE AND DON’T PROMISE THINGS I CAN’T DELIVER.” – Posted By Anonymous.

Oh, please. I haven’t updated X-E’s main page since the Superbowl. Manipulating readers into refreshing for ad impressions has clearly been a long-term goal of mine. Besides, I’m not even late. “Once a day,” I said. I’m totally on deadline.

“Anonymous” must be punished, and my chosen method in punishing Anonymous unfortunately means that you’re going to be punished right along with him. I had a beautiful, long and interesting entry planned, but now I am SCRATCHING it, and instead, I am going to review the KAHEGA ACTION FIGURE. From CONGO.


You like that, Anonymous? Are you pleased with the fruits of your uncaring and unsigned comment? You’ve ruined it for everybody. I had GOLD planned for today…and now gold has been replaced with KAHEGA. And by the way, Anonymous: I’ve got a Karen Ross action figure just waiting for your next fuck-up.

Hindsight dictates that a Congo action figure series was a terrible idea, but I don’t blame Kenner for giving it a shot in 1995. It’s assured that they had to work out the licensing details and produce the toys long before they knew how well the movie would be received. This isn’t to say that Congo was a total flop, because it wasn’t. It just wasn’t a very important movie, with its scope of diehard fans limited to stoners who found humor in the concept of a gorilla talking through the magic of a hotwired Nintendo Power Glove.

Truth be told, it’s one of my favorite films ever, and I mean that with 100% sincerity. Congo was unfairly compared to Jurassic Park due to the Crichton connection, but when most reviewers were busy looking for the Spielberg-level storytelling wizardry and never-before-seen special effects, a small-but-elite force of moviegoers realized that any flick that featured Tim Curry getting yelled at for eating sesame cake before meeting his demise at the hands of an undiscovered camp of mutant gorillas was worth twenty times more than a T-Rex launching goat carrion.

I loved Jurassic Park, but it had nothing on Congo. Congo is the ultimate movie. From egotistical “Amy Monkey” christening herself as “pretty,” to the scene where the heroes use flare guns to displace heat seeking missiles, there is not one second in Congo that doesn’t stand toe-to-toe with any other second in any other movie.


Anyway, the toys tanked. They hardcore tanked. Congo was an action movie, but even I can’t argue that its characters weren’t exactly on-par with Indiana Jones. Kenner tried everything they could to make it work, but it was impossible. Remember Peter? The kinda dorky lead guy from the movie, whose only vested interest in the adventure was returning his talking gorilla to her safe homeland? Well, to make him translate better as an action figure, they fitted Peter with a shoulder-mounted missile launcher. But deep down, it’s still just the guy from Congo who blurred the boundaries of bestiality while picking leeches out of his crotch.

Still, at least Peter is a character people who’ve seen Congo would probably recognize. I’m not sure the same can be said for Kahega. If you don’t recall Kahega’s role in the movie, that’s your problem. I’d tell you, but I can’t. Because of Anonymous.


Kahega is easily one of the worst action figures in history. Whatever chance you stood to be reminded of the film version of Kahega is eradicated by the fact that the figure looks absolutely nothing the fuck like him. Indeed, the only thing Anonymous and I have in common is that we both look more like Kahega than his action figure does.

One of the worst-proportioned toys of the modern era, Kahega’s six-pack of abs is cut into a three-pack by the odd placement of his belt, which christens a journey down to a pair of legs that could not possibly belong to the torso that isn’t more than a half a centimeter above them. And I was barely past digesting that when I noticed that the sum mass of Kahega’s head is smaller than either of his feet.


Strangely, there’s a gaping hole on Kahega’s back which allows him to handsfree-carry the smaller of his two gigantic guns. Read that again, in case you missed the bit where Kahega mounts weapons inside a hole on his back. You really gotta feel for poor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. He had to be so excited when he heard that he was going to be immortalized as an action figure, and then he gets this. You also gotta feel for poor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje because text-to-speech programs really don’t know how to pronounce his name.

By the way…I have the full set of Congo action figures. Everyone from “Monroe” to “Blastface the Grey Gorilla,” who according to his package comes with “mutant fury.” “Mutant fury” was Kenner’s code-speak for “this figure does not come with anything.” I guess by the time they finished fitting the seventy-seventh action figure with the same shoulder-mounted missile launcher, they knew they were pushing it. My point? If Anonymous messes with me again, I’m breaking out the Amy action figure. The AMY action figure. Think before you leap, Anonymous. Adebisi lives.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 235 comments

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Curse you anonymous. Though, if this is what we get instead of gold I’m not that disappointed. And where is this rich blog anyway? Mama needs a new pair of stilettos.

Ghosted by fionalenox @ 07/02/2008 10:34 PM EDT


Did you ever review Congo?

Ghosted by mezzanine @ 07/02/2008 10:35 PM EDT


STOP EATING MY SESAME CAKE!!!

Ghosted by TribalWarlord @ 07/02/2008 10:37 PM EDT


Remember those neon faux-futuristic plastic sunglasses that Pizza Hut gave out to promote “Back to the Future 2″?

Those would fit right into a summer countdown post.

You can’t let anonymous internerds bother you, man. Otherwise you’re going to approach these comment boards with trepidation.

Ghosted by Regicide @ 07/02/2008 10:37 PM EDT


Anonymous can suck my balls, and I DONT EVEN HAVE ANY. I will grow some for the sole purpose for him to suck them. Seriously, WTF. Anywho, unfortunately i have never seen congo, but now i am intrigued…at least by the power glove reference

Ghosted by Leigha @ 07/02/2008 10:37 PM EDT


Regicide: Holy shit, I don’t remember that, but I do remember getting a really funkily-shaped pair of multicolored neon sunglasses from Pizza Hut on a long ago trip to Wildwood. Those had to be from that promotion. I’ve always wondered about them.

Ghosted by Matt @ 07/02/2008 10:38 PM EDT


I never saw Congo… so I can’t really compare action figure to the real deal.

Ghosted by Aaron @ 07/02/2008 10:39 PM EDT


I have not seen congo, but I’ve heard about Tim Curry’s death in it and that seems kinda fun, maybe I’ll watch it this weekend.

On to the action figure, the look on his face is incredible, he looks like he could be bested at a game of chess by amy the monkey.
Wait, Amy was smart right? Her speech powers didn’t just come from this modified power glove you speak of did they?

Ghosted by JoshC @ 07/02/2008 10:39 PM EDT


Amy was smart enough to know sign language, and the Power Glove thing translated sign language into synthesized speech. (This text is taken directly from the Congo storybook.)

Ghosted by Matt @ 07/02/2008 10:41 PM EDT


Ha, I love the way the text-to-voice program says his name. If I didn’t know better I would have thought it was a message played backwards or somebody speaking in tongues.

Ghosted by Jack @ 07/02/2008 10:41 PM EDT


So how is everyone doing? Sorry about FIRST! I got excited…

Ghosted by Aaron @ 07/02/2008 10:42 PM EDT


3 for 5 dollars!? I lived for that sort of thing as a kid! Too bad KB never clearances anything good any more. I am not pay 15 dollars for a 4 year old Transformer KB!
Anyway this was a great post! I remember little about Congo other than the rad lazer that was the “cutting edge in satilite communications”. Slicing savage apes in half with a dimond powered lazer? I’ll admit it…Jurassic Park didn’t have that.

Ghosted by ...? @ 07/02/2008 10:43 PM EDT


I’M DRUNK!

Ghosted by El Loco Gordo @ 07/02/2008 10:45 PM EDT


That really doesn’t look like me at all.

Ghosted by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje @ 07/02/2008 10:46 PM EDT


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/103/289019032_9c7400ac22.jpg?v=0

Try looking cool in a pair of those. They’re like something a japanese punk rock girl would wear.

Ghosted by Regicide @ 07/02/2008 10:47 PM EDT


Damn you, Matt!I had $1,000 to give away everyday this summer, and now no one will get a penny! And it’s all because of you!

Ghosted by Anonymous @ 07/02/2008 10:51 PM EDT


Was Congo where the gorilla army protects their diamonds with futuristic kick-ass guns?

Ghosted by Clockwork @ 07/02/2008 10:52 PM EDT


Well, Back to the Future II took place in 2015, so the glasses still have 7 years to look cool. That has as much chance of happening as the flying cars and hoverboards in the movie though.

Ghosted by Jack @ 07/02/2008 10:52 PM EDT


I’m starting to think that a review of all the Congo characters wouldn’t be such a bad thing afterall. Maybe, in a strange sort of way, Anon did us all a favor.

Ghosted by Nizz @ 07/02/2008 10:53 PM EDT


Matt you REALLY know how to shut up a troll! lol. And just for the record I don’t consider this a punishment for me because I like your writing THAT much! Oh and did you get my e-mail about your Wii number ? I don’t want to be a pest about it so I wont mention it again after this. Just post it whenever you feel like it. =)

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 10:54 PM EDT


I had a pair of those glasses. Two, actually. I thought they were totally awesome when they first came out.

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 07/02/2008 10:56 PM EDT


I remember seeing Congo and leaving thinking “what the hell was that all about?”

And we’ve got only 7 more years until flying cars and hoverboards!

Ghosted by Shuanfu @ 07/02/2008 10:56 PM EDT


I just realized that Dr.Peter Elliot is Sean McNamara from Nip/Tuck.

Ghosted by Eponymous @ 07/02/2008 10:57 PM EDT


Yeah! Go Matt! Loving the Summer fun, by the way. Thanks for providing much happiness.

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 07/02/2008 10:58 PM EDT


I think I had a pair of wierd glasses like those a LONG time ago. I might be thinking of the Back to the Future 2 pair.

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 10:58 PM EDT


Actually, Since I pay $100 a week in gas I’m more looking forward to the garbage powered cars in the movie then the flying cars.

Ghosted by Jack @ 07/02/2008 11:00 PM EDT


I actually saw Congo in the theater back in the day. The reason I like it so much is Tim Curry gets the living shit kicked out of him, and pretty much everything else living in him (ha ha ha) got kicked out too. Amy’s “voice” was a bit cheesy but definitely added to the unintentional humor. Best Amy scene is where she smokes the cigarette :D Sadly thats about all I remember from the movie…..

Ghosted by phunqsauce @ 07/02/2008 11:00 PM EDT


Well phung I don’t think anyone can argue that Tim Curry getting the living shit kicked out of him is not Oscar worthy. I do have to give Congo credit though because they finally made the Power Glove useful.

Ghosted by drew do @ 07/02/2008 11:07 PM EDT


I had those BTTF II glasses! I thought I could see the future with them, but that’s because I was a dumb little kid.

Jack– YES! Turn trash into fuel! Honestly, why haven’t we tried that yet?

Ghosted by Annette @ 07/02/2008 11:18 PM EDT


Well, the problem is that the trash powered Fusion generators, which A)we haven’t successfully done yet, except maybe in a lab somewhere in exacting conditions and B)would be astronomically expensive.

:(

Ghosted by Cameron T. @ 07/02/2008 11:21 PM EDT


Woo hoo, I haven’t been on XE for a while now, glad to be back.

I got married last weekend and then went to Orlando for the honeymoon, and used a lot of your HOT DISNEY THINGS Matt, thanks!

Ps – Congo rules, but no way it beats JP! That’s blasphemy!

Ghosted by Tommy Day @ 07/02/2008 11:24 PM EDT


It would be pretty cool if the world was really like it was shown to be in bttf2.

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 11:25 PM EDT


Cameron – Not to mention that having a fusion generator in your car would be a bit on the unsafe side. You get in an accident and an entire city block could be nuked.

Ghosted by Clockwork @ 07/02/2008 11:28 PM EDT


I’ve seen Congo and I don’t remember anything about it except Amy and her power glove/speech.

An “OZ” reference always rules.

Anyway, I went to the grocery store today and actually got my hands on some Jolly Rancher Sodas that were on sale months after Matt talked about them. I also bought a new type of Oreo there called “Fudgees” that I haven’t tried yet.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 07/02/2008 11:29 PM EDT


Tommy Day I think Matt is saying Congo is better than JP BECAUSE it’s cheesy. He’s a B-movie fan like myself. For B-movie fans, the cheesier the flick is, the BETTER it is.

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 11:29 PM EDT


I wonder how Matt would react to Stinkbutt, the self-proclaimed “Big Boss of This Area”?

My theory is that the “area” he refers to is the space that holds his comment proclaiming such. If that’s the case, then yes, he is the big boss of that area.

The subject of Congo made for a great non-sequitor ending to a Freakazoid episode. “I have a question: In the movie ‘Congo,’ how do you know when it’s a Gorilla or a Guy in a Monkey Suit?” And then Freakazoid, Cosgrove, and Roddy McStew all go see Congo and argue about which is a Gorilla or a Guy in a Monkey Suit. Good times.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 07/02/2008 11:29 PM EDT


Fuck You Anonymous.

Ghosted by J-Dog @ 07/02/2008 11:32 PM EDT


Wait wait wait. We’re not being all serious business with this, are we?

Ghosted by Annette @ 07/02/2008 11:33 PM EDT


Anonymous people ruin everything.

Ghosted by Tommy Day @ 07/02/2008 11:35 PM EDT


Hells yes, can’t wait for 2015! I’m gonna get me a hovering Delorean!!

And I’m in love with Tim Curry. Trufax.

Ghosted by Cat the Vampire Slayer @ 07/02/2008 11:36 PM EDT


Invader Norbert I JUST remembered that Freakazoid episode. LOL, it was a good one. They were ALL good ones, but that one in particular was among my favs.

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 11:37 PM EDT


Kahega looks eerily similar to the hasbro action figure of The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase’s faithful sidekick and man servant Virgil.

Ghosted by BOAT @ 07/02/2008 11:38 PM EDT


Yes Anette, I am being very serious business here, the look on the action figures face IS incredible.

Ghosted by JoshC @ 07/02/2008 11:38 PM EDT


Please don’t let that anonymous asshole troll get to you. I don’t post here much, but this is one of the best websites around. It has saved my sanity at work many times and been a great place to relive happy memories of my childhood. It would be crushing to lose this place.

Ghosted by Jack @ 07/02/2008 11:40 PM EDT


I’m hoping that wasn’t really Matt that posted since it was deleted.

Ghosted by Anonymous @ 07/02/2008 11:41 PM EDT


I actually thought it was funny, or I wouldn’t gave given Anonymous credit for Kahega. Truth is I would’ve written about Kahega anyway. Kahega rocks.

Ghosted by Matt @ 07/02/2008 11:42 PM EDT


lol JoshC.

Okay, glad to know there’s not some crazy internets drama going on up in here. XD Back to Megaparty funtime.

Actually, I have to go cook now. Bummer.

Ghosted by Annette @ 07/02/2008 11:44 PM EDT


Annette OF COURES WE’RE NOT BEING SERIOUS ! =) Just sit back and relax.=)

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 11:45 PM EDT


Matt you could write about sock puppets and I would HAPPILY read it. =)

Ghosted by ULTRAMAN @ 07/02/2008 11:49 PM EDT


Matt’s problems with the anonymous troll is one of the reasons it took me five years to decide to put comments on my blog…and then only because a friend requested it. I don’t handle criticism well to begin with.

Though I remember hearing about “Congo” (and how notoriously bad it is) when it first came out, I’ve actually never seen it. I have very vague memories of seeing the action figures on major markdowns in K-Mart and elsewhere well into the 21st century, but not the one detailed here.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 07/02/2008 11:52 PM EDT


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