Introduction and KENNER SWAMP THING TOYS !

Hi Folks!….

 so this is my first post here on my new Toy and Toydesign/Art page called :  TOYSCHNITZEL!

I am dedicating this blog to cool toys and collectibles that i love or/and that are worth supporting as i think that modern toys besides video games and a handful great exeptions SUCK.

So while i will also feature some great modern figures and toys here the most of them will be vintage or  a little older.
Also i will talk about everything that makes figure/vinyltoy and statue collecting great just because i love it so much that nowadays many people like me who grew up in the 1980s show their love for toys and figures on the internet and with their craftsmanship!the indie toy scene is growing steady and i want to support this movement with passion.

I am currently living in Germany and also while there is collectors over here too i want to spread the word a bit to make the scene grow over here which is also needed.
I am a communication/graphic designer so i am also developing my own ideas about casting my own figures over here.
Since i am new to Figure making and casting molds (i have over 10 years of experience in model building and painting as well as miniature painting and customizing) i would be grateful for any help!
Thanks a lot for checking out my page and contact me anytime if you have some stuff to talk about!

Best Greetings Florian














Sooo let's get started:






The first line i wanted to feature here is a toyline from the early 90s called SWAMP THING by Kenner.



The Swamp Thing Family! (from left to right: Bio Glow-, Snare Arm-, Capture-, Camouflage-, Climbing- and Snap Up - Swampy)



Kenner is most popular for making the star wars Actionfigures of course so most of you might know those.
In a very smart marketing move George Lucas made a fortune with the little plastic figures that promoted his original star wars trilogy!

But Kenner also made some great other toylines for example Batman and SWAMP THING!

For those of you not familiar with the character of swamp thing:

Bernie Wrightson (art) and Len Wein (story) created him i thing way back around 1971!

Scientist / Botanist Alec Holland got almost killed in an attempt to blow up his laboratory(which was successful) and killing him (which was not successful) instead he turned into a swamp monster by tons of chemicals leaking from the exploded laboratory!
(Alan Moore later changed that origin story so that the swamp thing was always there,as a fighter for the green, a mystical energy derived from all plant life on this planet.)
There were and still are Comicbooks coming out today from Dc Comics/Vertigo.If you are interested in some good and also sometimes spooky monster/horror Comicbooks look for Alan Moores Swampthing from the 1980s.Those are really great ones.
There were also 2 movies in the 1980s which i liked, the second one being rather funny and not so serious.I remember heather locklear being in that.
Also there was a tv series (which i used to watch when i was a kid.And over here in germany it ran around noon on the weekends.)it featured some really cheap effects (by the time of the late 80s they were ok).Writing of the series was pretty good as far as i can remember.It was aimed more towards kids than adult people.
I can't remember much of any specific plot line but there where some cool moments in that series that showed the capabilities of the swamp thing.

And finally there was an animated series for tv as well which was short lived and did not find its way to germany at least as far as i know.
I didn't watch that but the toys are based on swamp thing and the characters from that saturday morning cartoon show.
Swampy had to fight a bunch of Monster guys called the Un-men along with his arch enemy Anton Arcane.


This is the Snare Arm Swamp Thing Figure!

So lets talk about the toys finally:

The toys came out first in 1991!The design of the figures is really excellent!
They were really ahead of their time and they all have different action features like color change or extending arms or the always popular glow in the dark feature!the figures are also pretty sturdy and do not break easily!

I was able to get all 6 variants of the Swamp Thing himself :

1. Camouflage Swamp Thing
2. Snare Arm Swamp Thing
3. Snap up Swamp Thing
4. Bio Glow Swamp Thing
5. Capture Swamp Thing
6. Climbing Swamp Thing

 …..and this shows were the toyline its best at!









Although i have to say that the other Figures like the 2 Human guys (one afro american and a native american dude by the names of Bayou Jack and Tomahawk) also look quite cool!I might try to pick up the rest of the line somehow.

The villains are also totally badass because each one of them comes with a translucent parasite monster helmet thingy!These guys are:
- Anton Arcane (with a Spider Thingy)
- Dr.Deemo (with a Snake / Serpent like Thingy)
- Weed Killer (with some really weird looking bog Sucker Thingy)
- Skinman (with a Fangbat Mask thing with wings)


I really have to find some of those on card because i need to get them for the collection.
The designs of them are also really cool i mean just look at the Weed Killer or Doctor Deemo that looks like a Voodoo Priest(he even comes with a little voodoo doll of swamp thing!).

There are three vehicles in this line and those are :
the Bog Rover(a mix of a tank and hovercraft with skis on the front and a harpoon on top) and the
Marsh Buggy that looks totally cool!
the third one was the Evil Buggy that looks a bit like the Bog Rover in red and black.


Also there is a big playset called the Transducer that came with a little mantis dude and you could tie him in some sort of mutation chamber.Maybe it also came with some slime i don't know that for sure.It looks pretty cool and its not very expensive either.I unfortunately have no really good pics of the playsets here right now.

The other and final playset was the so called Swamp Trap that features some snare or sling trap and this is basically a little hill with a tree on top of it and some yellow plastic flowers.


So yeah, that's basically it and i tell you once you decide to open them up from the cards you won't regret that.I mean even now over 20 years since their release they are totally awesome and have a great play and display value!
Also the are still totally interesting for kids because cool Figures like them do not get made anymore by mass market companies.
For any toy collector with a heart for the 80s and 90s and creatures and also for kids wanting to have great looking monster toys with great play value and tons of fun this is the toyline to get!




Camouflage Swamp Thing turns from bright green to brown when you put him into the freezer for a few minutes!




They are retailing on the internet for around 15-25 Dollars (around 20 Euros) each, the villains are a bit cheaper usually!
The vehicles come for around 20-30 Dollars (around 30 Euros) still in Box
I don't know how much the Transducer is still in Box but out of the Box it goes for around 25 Dollars (up to 30 Euros)

I have no idea about what the price for the Swamp Trap is but i would not spend more than 40 Dollars (in Box) on it.

In Europe they are pretty hard to find so i can just recommend looking for them on the net on auction places in the uk(no custom fees) or in the us(bear in mind that for everything over 20 Euros of Value, you have to pay the customs fees extra in Germany).
Sometimes they show up on german auction sites as well so keep your eyes open for them if you are interested!






Finally here are two original 90s toy commercials for the Swamp Thing line (from 1991) :

This  is one for the Figures and the Swamp Trap Playset!

And another one for the Transducer Playset!

Happy toy hunting and stay green :D !