Now it's time to get back to some blogging!
And to ease back into the swing of things, I'm tapped into my vast folder of pics to pull up this little gem that was part of my toy care package from Brian over at Cool & Collected that I kept meaning to blog about, due to its sheer awesomeness, and today's that day.
The 80s, from a playthings point of view, was rife with toys that were cranked out by companies quickly (and often cheaply) in order to cash in on a hot fad. And nothing could possibly illustrate that better than this sweet Mr. T remote control car...
Hooooooooo boy! Look at this paragon of quality toy making! I love toys like this. Yeah, they're cheap-looking, but there's a ton of quick-thinking innovation in this piece. You can almost picture the designers at the toy company going, "Okay, we've got permission to make Mr. T toys! But we don't know how long this fad is going to last, so we really gotta crank something out. Do we still have those crates full of little red remote control Camaros? We do? Sweet! Now get what's-his-face in here from the sticker making department! I've got an idea!"
The real beauty of this piece is in the decals. Showing Mr. T from the front in the windshield, gripping the stearing wheel like he grips fools by the throat, and then showing him in the driver's side window raising up a threatening fist as if to say, "Hey, fool! Get outta the fast lane! I've been trying to pass you for the last 7 miles!"
And in case you don't know whose car this is, they added a big Mr. T logo to the sides and front. I don't know if this is an official logo for the mo-hawked celebrity, but it seems familiar to me.
But the greatest decal of them all is the random jumble of gold chains on the back windshield. Holy crap, that's bizarre! I'm sure this decal is just filler graphics, but it makes me think that the toy designers wanted to imply that Mr. T has just left from his weekly trip to the jewelry store and has loaded up his entire back seat, filled all the way to the back windshield, with piles and piles of gold chains.
Checking out the copyright sticker, I was shocked to see that yes, it was a legit Mr. T licensed product, and double shocked to see that it was produced by Remco, makers of some of my favorite Universal Monsters figures among many other great toys of the '80s.
So, once again, thanks to Brian for sending this my way!
That's it for today. Don't gimme no jibber-jabber and come back soon, fools!
