11/13/2003 Entry: "New Article: The Maxx Steele Erector Set!"

Since so many articles over the past few months have been holiday-themed, I figured we should get back to basics. Oh hey! Here's something basic: Maxx Steele Erector Set. Some of you might remember Maxx as the lead hero from "Robo Force," though he's appeared in other forms on the site through the years. Well, he's back. And now he's an Erector set. Review includes a video clip of the original commercial, and an exhaustive study of the actual kit, which I own. Things didn't pan out the way I hoped in creating my new robot, but at least I can fall back on the timeless "oh, a pineapple got involved" excuse and not feel too bad about it.

Next Macy's Parade review should be up by Monday...Tuesday the latest. I originally intended to go with 1986 next, but wouldn't you know it, the '85 video just fell in my lap. So I guess that's coming up. I know I'll never go backwards, so if you guys are going to see everything, it's going to have to be chronologically. I wouldn't put it on par with the '86 parade, but there were a few key moments definitely worth seeing. It was pouring rain on Thanksgiving in 1985, and that made for a very strange parade. Sajak's new co-host? Claire Huxtable. Yup.

By the way, I know some of the site's readers had some legitimate luck in winning prizes with a few of UGO's many contests, so if you feel like giving a new one a shot, here it is. It's a promo for that new "Gothika" flick, but you don't need to be interested in that to like the prizes. Pocket PCs and that sorta stuff -- you know, the kind of crap you want to own just so you can tell people you own it. Anyway, these contests are on the up and up and I gain nothing whether you enter or not, so izz up to you. Though, if you do win, make sure somebody knows where you came from. Ya came from heah.

There might be another new article up before the next parade review -- as an old eBay habit, I still pick up old board games whenever I find 'em cheap. These, by the way, are some of the easiest auction moneymakers in as far as the price you pay versus the price you can get for 'em. You'll rarely pay more than 2-3 bucks for one at a yard sale/thrift shop, and more typically even less. Keep it in mind if you ever need quick cash. Anyway, through this, I've gathered up some really good ones that tie into the kind of shit talked about on the site. None of 'em warrant a full length article, so I'm gonna lump them together for a boosted review. The lot includes two 80s faves and one video-turned-board game too awful to go unpunished.

I'll go back and fix the static link later, but those who couldn't download the Toys 'R' Us "Stompers" commercial from the '84 parade review, now you can.

Chestnuts roasted by Armagideon Time @ 11/13/2003 08:33 AM EST

ok before sleep maxxapple wasent that bad i mean sure his robot grip arm couldent crush a marshmellow if it wanted to and the metal pole arm wasent even an arm but it wasent an arm on mazz steele it was a pole and what does maxxapple have that maxxsteele doesnt a cool ass leafy hat so Nuts to you maxxsteele NUTS TO YOU!

Chestnuts roasted by atomrenner @ 11/13/2003 08:33 AM EST

Matt, you should try to find an instruction booklet on the web. Then try to adapt it to a working Maxapple. It would be like a cyborg, except fruit style. A tropical terminator.

Maybe you shouldn't do that.

Chestnuts roasted by Sean @ 11/13/2003 09:02 AM EST

This article is both kind of a letdown, and kind of an uplift. How is that possible?

Chestnuts roasted by spazzamatic @ 11/13/2003 09:29 AM EST

also from the commercial, the grandfather kinda hesitates twice. Once before saying johny's name... and then he says he can be very exciting... and... um... usefull. It's like they were holding a gun to his head while he read it.

That's why I like it.

Chestnuts roasted by chad @ 11/13/2003 10:23 AM EST

I never owned a max steele but my cousin did i always wondered what the robot was. he just let it collect dust it was so kick ass though the arms where the best part. it was so much better then the pinebot. but after seeing this i think erector sets should be combined with food more often we need a pudding robot. i like butterscotch myself but if u want choclate or tapicoa it could work.

Chestnuts roasted by jc @ 11/13/2003 10:40 AM EST

Wow, a pineapple robot, yummy

Chestnuts roasted by Xen @ 11/13/2003 10:50 AM EST

I think you've invented a new toyline matt. Plus in the cartoons they could use it as propaganda to have kids eat fruit. Their enemies could be chocobots with an occasional cameo by Starscream or Rick James

Chestnuts roasted by man at arms @ 11/13/2003 11:25 AM EST

Bring on the '85 Macy's parade! Can't wait for that.

Chestnuts roasted by Scott @ 11/13/2003 11:27 AM EST

Okay, so the 1985 parade is coming up next, and I'm sure that will be great, but I'm REALLY looking forward to the 1986 parade.

If you didn't know, the impossible-to-find Bubble-Eez commercial aired only in 1986, usually during cartoons. I don't know if it was one of the commercials during he parade, but I can always hope.

I never bought the gum, but the jingle alone was justification enough for the product's existence. Bubble-Eez bubble gum. Best jingle ever.

I will see that commercial again some day. I don't know when and I don't know where, but X-E is probably my best bet. I just have to be patient.

If I could re-discover General Mills Powdered Donutz Cereal in a blue box from 1980 (something that I was in search of for many years) then surely I will come across the elusive Bubble-Eez commercial one of these days.

There is one other thing I want to find. A music video in which a guy who works on a dam falls to his death, but I digress.....

I'm rambling. I'll stop. Keep up the good work. Thanks for the cool articles.

Chestnuts roasted by Chaos Mage @ 11/13/2003 12:18 PM EST

You wouldn't believe how handy my plastic claw comes in.

Thanks for the commercial with the stompers. If I win my auctions this weekend, I'll drop a couple of bits into the tip jar for the bandwidth when I am paying.

Chestnuts roasted by klatubaradanikto @ 11/13/2003 12:30 PM EST

I wonder how many of the actors/actresses portraying the grandparents/parents in the plethora of commercials on X-E are dead now.

Chestnuts roasted by sweepthelegjohnny @ 11/13/2003 01:02 PM EST

That is quite possibly the greatest robot of all time.Matt,you are a freakin GENIUS!

Chestnuts roasted by Icymatt @ 11/13/2003 01:52 PM EST

I'm one of those winner's Matt, thanks for steering me towards the contest's on UGO, i've never won anything before. Wish it was one of the larger contests they have, but I'm not complainin, free is free. I won one of the Samsonite backpacks with the DVD's and Games in it. It says it comes with 50 dollars worth of "The latest video games and DVDs" Hope it's not Troll 2 and ET for the Atari 2600!

Chestnuts roasted by Bizzar @ 11/13/2003 03:28 PM EST

I just want to say thank you Matt, because I was one of the few you talked about that remembered them fondly, but for the longest freakin' time I couldn't remember this toy line's name. You have shown me the light. I loved these guys, especially suction cup asses and the bendy straw arms. Too much fun we had in the 80's, too much fun I say! ^_^

Chestnuts roasted by eyeless @ 11/13/2003 03:36 PM EST

I never had an Erector set. I always wanted one though. Espectially after seeing that awesome Erector contraption from The Sandlot. I hated The Sandlot, but that Erector deal was pretty good.

Wow, 50 dollars worth of the latest video games and DVDs? That's like 1 game or 2-3 DVDs...

Chestnuts roasted by Tony @ 11/13/2003 03:54 PM EST

Loved the article as always, but I'd thought I'd just point out that the first paragraph is repeated twice.

Chestnuts roasted by Gregory @ 11/13/2003 04:04 PM EST

Great article I wish i had an Erector set.Keep up the good work

Chestnuts roasted by Romo @ 11/13/2003 04:19 PM EST

Doesn't matter to me, I'm just thrilled I actually won something online that's not a scam!

Chestnuts roasted by Bizzar @ 11/13/2003 04:19 PM EST

Oops! Thanks Gregory - fixed now.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 11/13/2003 04:32 PM EST

I just saw this on good ol' (evil) ebay, and thought it would be of interest. If there is anyone here that can afford it, good for you, you must be living right. Or cheating through an accountant.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3154177092&category=18989

The weirdest thing? It's the WHOLE MOTU universe. Even She-Ra stuff!

Chestnuts roasted by Sean @ 11/13/2003 04:58 PM EST

OK, I'm the first one posting to actually own up to owning the Maxx Steele Erector Set as a child. I had it and put the whole damn thing together too. Seems like it took forever, and I was CONSTANTLY working at it. I think I had the opposite of ADD. I had Attention Abundance Disorder. I could focus like nobody's business.

Anyway, it was actually dissapointing once he was finished. The plastic claw was too weak to hold anything heavier than the Popoid Matt is illustrating in his picture, and it was too noisy to sneak up and grab the cat's tail. I expected a robot to do all my chores while I lounged in my Dad's armchair, but I had to stay a foot and a half behind the thing due to the tethered remote.

Don't even get me started on the "magnet" arm.

Cool article though.

Chestnuts roasted by Dane E. Coffey @ 11/13/2003 08:46 PM EST

thats the best robot I've ever seen.

Chestnuts roasted by candice @ 11/13/2003 08:46 PM EST

I remember Robo Force,although I don't think I actually owned the Maxx Steele one. They were kinda cool,but you could only do so much with them,becuase they were so cluncky.

I hope the '86 parade has a commercial for Eternia,becuase I just love the old Masters of the Universe commercials that are posted on the site. I love the "Dum dum dum dum" at the start before the kids start playing. Those drumbeats are really primal,and I like that.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 11/13/2003 08:58 PM EST

Small update -- it's looking like I may have to merge the '85 review with the '86 one, because the '85's audio is so off-kilter, the video clips will be almost pointless. Plus, most of the good stuff was repeated in '86, so we'll see.

Overlord -- I don't think there's an Eternia commercial coming up on there, but there's SEVERAL others. Fright Zone, lots of She-Ra, etc etc.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 11/13/2003 09:02 PM EST

*shakes fist in the air* damn you grandpa!

Chestnuts roasted by Rachel/Rachel cakes @ 11/13/2003 09:44 PM EST

As a kid I thought all robots had to be evil. Robots were put into action stories so that they could be destroyed by the hero, or at least that's how I felt. Whether playing TMNT, GI Joe, StarCom (kudos to anyone who remembers that one), and other sets it was clear: ROBOTS WERE EVIL. Thus I couldn't picture myself playing with Maxx Steele and his merry band. I liked to play with figures that I imagined had depth and character, who felt pain and couldn't simply be rebuilt. That's just my guess on why the Robo Force line didn't make it. I believe I had a friend or two that had some of the toys, but they just didn't look interesting. How do you have adventures where the main character isn't even alive? Or am I taking this too far, like I do everything else?

Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 11/13/2003 11:03 PM EST

That's one way to look at it, but the thing I always loved about my robot toys was pretending they were the 3-P0 to my Luke. The reason I bring up Robo Force fairly often on the site is actually because it's one of my earliest toy memories -- alone in the backyard with the "Coptor" figure, who helped me collect acorns for a purpose I was never quite sure of.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 11/13/2003 11:10 PM EST

I am a robot and i find it offensive that you did not finish my brother!!!

Chestnuts roasted by P-Bot @ 11/14/2003 12:01 AM EST

Question, Matt: How are you able to hold onto tapes of stuff like the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade from 1986? I tape everything, but everything always gets taped over with hockey games, which just cheeses me off. Why? What's the difference between your able-ness to keep this crap, and my inable-ness to?

Chestnuts roasted by jjgoreha @ 11/14/2003 08:43 AM EST

I just looked at that He-man collection on eBay...the dude says he's had it listed for 40 out of 365 days. Um...He should probably break the frigging set up because I can't imagine ANYONE shelling out ten grand for it. Either that or he should say it's haunted.
Maxx Steele brings back memories. No, we didn't have him but I remember a couple of years ago when they came out with the Max Steele toys that are action figures I thought at first they were going to be robots. Then I saw them in stores and was slightly pissed.
My best friend right now is Thing #2 that came out of my Ricce Crispies. Just thought I'd share that.

Chestnuts roasted by Killer Duck @ 11/14/2003 01:21 PM EST

Thanks for the info,Matt. I have some setimental feelings for Eternia,becuase my brother and I had the darn thing back in the day,along with with every other MOTU playset. I loved that thing,but my brother wrecked it.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 11/14/2003 02:09 PM EST

Maxx Steele! Jeez, haven't thought about them in years. As a kid I had a friend with a rich and guilty absentee father who really went overboard on gifts, so he had all the cool stuff.

He had the BIG computerized Max Steele (which he wouldn't let me touch) and the little Frogger and Pac Man video games that looked like the consoles (which he wouldn't let me touch). He even had that computerized tank you could program to perform little tasks (which, again, he wouldn't let me touch).

The fucker...

Chestnuts roasted by Inky @ 11/14/2003 02:20 PM EST

Matt, I'm a fairly regular reader and I have been for some time now, and I'd just like to say that this is definitely one of your finest articles. The humour in this one is much more prominent than usual, I think, and it works very well. Plus the toy is damned cool. Kudos to you, sir!

Chestnuts roasted by J64 @ 11/14/2003 02:21 PM EST

Yes, the C-3PO argument. I should have been prepared. I guess I can't argue against C-3PO. Even though he was sometimes annoying 1-upping R2-D2, it was still a cool idea that one had a robot sidekick . . . hmm, that gets me thinking. Now see, I would have played with Maxx Steele if he was the counterpart to a human master, but I don't think that was so, correct? I really don't know anything about the line. The giant Maxx Steele robot I bet was fun to have. I had a life-size R2-D2 thing. How I wish I still had it. T'would be fun to use it in a lazer blast battle. Oh, those were the days.

Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 11/14/2003 03:43 PM EST

Strangest thought just hit me. Back in the days when this robot was made, it was like looking into the future. At least toy execs and ad men wanted you to think that. Same with movies. Seems to me that right now we're supposed to be in "the robot age" or some shit. I had more actual robots back then than I do now (one and it was a dumb flip bot...ok it was kinda cool). I know that technically there's robots and we've got much better computers but I want my damn robot servent!

Chestnuts roasted by Killer Duck @ 11/14/2003 08:10 PM EST

Hell, that article was amazing... I honestly shivered when i saw the look in Grandpas eyes in the last pic... he's freakin crazy... like... a fox of some sort.... and seriously, man, you just did the fruit world a favor for finding a use for those damned spikey coconut wannabes... I mean seriously... pineapples, what the hell can you do with them, besides make half assed robots? Im gonna buy one...or maybe I wont... depends on if I care enough to get out of bed tommorrow..... man, keep up the sweet work dude!

Chestnuts roasted by Shane-o @ 11/14/2003 11:48 PM EST

I had the Max Steele robot phone but that was it. Freaky looking thing.

Chestnuts roasted by Tikibob @ 11/15/2003 04:56 PM EST

MAXX STEELE!! I remember these things... I think I have a few Sears catalogs with the MAX lineup in it also! (It pays to keep things)

Chestnuts roasted by Dethstryke @ 11/15/2003 10:10 PM EST

Pineapple robot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Scourge @ 11/15/2003 11:46 PM EST

I just realized I used bad grammer in my last comment. 50 points* if you catch it. Clue: "I would"

(*Just kidding, I don't have that many points to give away. In fact, I have none. Points aren't even real.)

Chestnuts roasted by Gregory @ 11/16/2003 05:33 PM EST

yes they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Rachel @ 11/16/2003 06:54 PM EST

sorry but like usual i didnt have much to say. matt your so random i did not expect to be reading an article that would eventually become a making of a pineapple robot.....blew me away ..

Chestnuts roasted by Scourge @ 11/16/2003 07:29 PM EST

Have you guys seen VH1's "I Love the 80's" series? That show RULES! Especially Gilbert Gottfried's "What the (Bleep)" moments. You gotta check it out. (Especially Matt; I have seen such X-E fodder as Rainbow Brite, Garbage Pail Kids, and Jem.)

Chestnuts roasted by Scott @ 11/16/2003 09:54 PM EST

He said erector. Uh uh uhuh uhuh.

Chestnuts roasted by Beavis @ 11/17/2003 04:36 PM EST

I was too old to have the Maxx Steele Erector Set as a kid but was young enough to have an Erector set back in the primordial age of toys you can build stuff from where they didn't (as such) have "themed" sets yet, you just got a bunch of Erector pieces in a box that had pictures of stuff you *could* build with the pieces. Those little pointy-ass metal things would render the Erector Set unmarketable to kids in this day and age, plus your average kid these days is too retarded to use any tool but a PS2 controller.

Chestnuts roasted by MangoMonkeyBoy @ 11/19/2003 05:53 AM EST

Chaos mage.

Being the geek that I am I think the video you MAY, might, mighty mighty might be looking for is called the Highwaymen.

Chestnuts roasted by gl2899 @ 11/19/2003 04:17 PM EST

If anyone wants to relive the fun of Erector robots, you could always look for the Droids Factory kids or science stores for Robotix. Frankly, I'm surprised the Battlebots kits didn't catch on better. Maybe parents are just scared to let their kids watch Comedy Central, considering some of the stuff on there from time to time. :)

I actually know a store near me that has the non-Erector Maxx Steel robot, but I don't know if he's selling it or not. It's been there for years. Well, I'm happy with my Voice Command R2D2.

Chestnuts roasted by ShadowWing the Technorganic Autobot @ 11/23/2003 04:28 PM EST

I love Robo Force. When I was a little kid I had this one that was colored red and grey, and had sort of a phallic nose. It could suck in water and shoot it out of said nose. I would take it in the bath with me and play with it. I was naked with the Robo Force bot.

Chestnuts roasted by Laserbeak says "caw!" @ 12/13/2003 04:58 PM EST

I am new to the internet and I am surfing here and this is so cool. I did a search in the search engines on "accountants" and I found your web blog.
I am a chartered accountant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and thus my interest in searching for "accountant" on the WWW.
I just wanted to see how the rest of the world thinks about chartered accountants and see what trends and technology are happening in the accounting world. It is quite interesting, the different things discussed on a website found by searching for "accountant" in the search engine.

Respectly yours
Stephen J.
A Halifax Chartered Accountant

Chestnuts roasted by Halifax Chartered Accountant @ 02/05/2004 08:00 PM EST

Send it to me. I guarantee I will send it back fully assembled and working.

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Chestnuts roasted by consolidation debt free @ 11/04/2004 03:22 PM EST