My Old Toys

Tomy has manufactured a bunch of cool robot toys during their existence, but Robie The Banker (also marketed under the name of Mr. Money) is probably the most memorable. Robie was basically just a bank with simple robotic functions  – you put a coin in his hand and he would “eat” it, depositing it into his belly for safe keeping. And, well, that’s pretty much it. Needless to say, though, this resulted in hours of fun as a kid watching Robie lick his lips and chomp down on your money. Robie may not have been the coolest or most useful toy robot on the market, but it certainly had a ton of personality. How could you forget a face like that?

Information about the various versions of Robie The Banker seems to be pretty scarce. The year of origin for the little yellow guy is unclear – Based on my research the likely year of his U.S. debut would be 1988, but I was only 2 years-old at the time so I can’t really say with 100% certainty that this is correct. He’s definitely a product of the 80′s though. Interestingly, Robie the Banker was actually manufactured by RadioShack, while the Mr. Money model was manufactured by Tomy. Both are more or less the same in appearance, so it’s just a matter of whether you prefer the name Mr. Money or Robie The Banker.

Here’s Robie in action:

To be honest, Robie isn’t all that amusing as an adult. Sure, he’s cute, but there’s not really anything you can do with him besides feeding him coins, which makes the fun you can have somewhat limited. But he’s totally awesome as a cool, nostalgic little robot that you can leave on your coffee table or desk and really brighten the place up. On top of that, it seems that Robie has become fairly rare and is a pretty highly sought-after collectors item. If you have one of these guys, make sure you give him the appropriate amount of love and care, or at the very least give him to someone that will. He’s a special guy that should be cherished.

The Barnyard Commandos were a kick-ass line of toy action figures made by Playmates in the late 1980′s and early 90′s. Much like Mattel’s Food Fighters toys, they came in two rival factions – There were the R.A.M.S. (Rebel Army of Military Sheep) and then there were the P.O.R.K.S. (Platoon Of Rebel Killing Swine). Needless to say that the two groups did not get along. The story behind these toys is that these animals accidentally ate radioactive waste abandoned by the military on their farm, thus mutating into intelligent and vicious military killing machines.

If you were a kid back then you probably have fond childhood memories about playing with these toys. They really didn’t do much as they were made of soft hollow plastic and weren’t poseable, but they were the meanest looking things on the store shelves back then. They were always scowling and had tattoos and eyepatches – Exactly the kind of image that kids growing up think is awesome. There’s just something really badass about a sheep with a rocket launcher strapped to its back. The Barnyard Commandos were so cool that they didn’t need to have moving parts – They encouraged the use of your imagination, and that was perfect. Kids would get their friends together and play war between the Rams and Pigs and have a great time without the need for technologically advanced electronics. The world of children’s toys back then was exciting and full of life. Not like these days…

There was also a Saturday Morning Cartoon produced based on the toys, but it was really lame and was canceled after four episodes. Burger King also tried getting in on the short Barnyard Commandos craze by putting out a line of tie-in toys included with their Kid’s Meals.

The Barnyard Commandos are pretty hard to find nowadays due to their limited production run, so if you can find some for sale you should definitely try to buy them. The second series of the toys included vehicles for the Barnyard Commandos to ride in, which are especially rare these days.

Here is a list of all of the Barnyard Commandos figures that were produced:

Series 1

R.A.M.S.

* Sergeant Woolly Pullover
* Commodore Fleece Cardigan
* Major Legger Mutton
* Pilot Fluff Pendleton

P.O.R.K.S.

* General Hamfat Lardo
* Private Side O’Bacon
* Sergeant Shoat N. Sweet
* Captain Tusker Chitlins

Series 2

R.A.M.S.

* Master Sargent Cornelius Cannonfodder
* Private Bull Bellwether
* Commander Missiles Muttonchop
* Lieutenant Sureshot Shearling

P.O.R.K.S.

* Corporal Hy Ondahog
* Staff Sergeant Blaster McBacon
* Major Piggyback Gunner
* Captain Hogg Wilde

Vehicles

* Bacon Bomber
* Pork Chopper
* Pork-A-Pult
* Ram Tank

So, that’s what the Barnyard Commandos are all about – If you still have some lying around, cherish them, as they’re one of the many really cool toy lines to have slipped through the cracks and cruely forgotten by the sands of time.

Some of the greatest toys ever sold were the Food Fighters action figures that were made by Mattel. These toys were introduced late during the 1980′s and were only available from 1988 to 1989; however, because of their affordable design, discount stores carried them until early in the 1990′s. They were developed based on foods that were popular and were constructed from soft rubber with plastic limbs. They were offered with plastic backpacks and weapons that could be removed, and they wore hats and helmets.

Mattel’s Food Fighters were divided into two separate groups that fought against one another: the heroes, called the Kitchen Commandos, were headed up by Burgerdier General, and the bad guys were called the Refrigerator Rejects and were led by The Mean Wiener. Riding out to battle in vehicles, the Food Fighters action figures participated in combat operations with a functional arsenal at hand.

The Food Fighters never became mainstream due to their brief manufacturing period and the absence of a television cartoon series that depicted the characters, so people quickly lost interest. Those who were fortunate enough to have enjoyed these incredible action figures no doubt remember them fondly and know how awesome they were. Their movements may have been somewhat limited, but any child with an imagination at all loved the stories about and the personalities associated with these figures that made them so much fun to be played with. I absolutely loved these toys as a child and played with these figures for endless hours. I owned nearly every figure, but The Mean Wiener, which was the most difficult character to find, always eluded me, so I had to play with an actual hot dog instead. Oh well…

Kudos to Mattel for their Food Fighters action figures, which were the greatest toy of their kind ever sold; kids everywhere enjoyed countless hours of play with these toys, and they were an incredible toy concept. Mattel’s Food Fighters allowed kids to play with their food without suffering the parental consequences, and we know how much kids love to play with food.

The following is a list of all of the figures and vehicles that Mattel released in the Food Fighters line:

The Kitchen Commandos, distinguished by their black boots, green clothes, and red weapons.

• Burgerdier General, a cheeseburger (The leader of The Kitchen Commandos)
• Major Munch, a donut (available with either a chocolate glaze or a red strawberry glaze)
• Lieutenant Legg, a chicken drumstick
• Sergeant Scoop, an ice cream cone (available as chocolate ice cream or strawberry sherbet)
• Private Pizza, a pepperoni pizza slice
• The Combat Carton, an egg carton tank with a ketchup bottle cannon
• The Fry Chopper, a frying pan helicopter
• The Refrigerator play set, the Kitchen Commandos’ base (never released)

The Refrigerator Rejects wore brown boots, black clothes, and had blue weapons.

• Mean Weener, a hot dog (The leader of The Refrigerator Rejects)
• Chip the Ripper, a cookie (available in either chocolate chip or macadamia nut)
• Short Stack, a stack of pancakes (available in maple syrup or purple syrup)
• Taco Terror, a taco
• Fat Frenchy, a box of French fries
• The BBQ Bomber, a grill with a spatula catapult

Well, there you have it – that pretty much sums up everything about the Food Fighters. Anyone who loves classic toys, particularly the kind of stuff that was popular in the late ’80′s and early ’90′s, should try to seek some of these bad boys out!

You may recall a time when “Furby Fever” swept through toy shops all over the planet. The subject of this excitement was an electronic pet – The first appearance of a genuine “robot” in households around the country. Because they were often falsely credited with having actual “artificial intelligence,” and were rumored to be capable of duplicating what they heard, Furbies were prohibited in some intelligence service offices. In reality, especially by today’s standards, Furby is a relatively uncomplicated toy.

Tiger Electronics released Furby just in time for Christmas of 1998. It quickly became the “must-have” toy and for the next three years, over 40 million were sold. The original Furbies were six inches tall, and implemented a heart shaped infra-red port that enabled them to interact with other Furbies. As they spoke, the light detector located on their face would light up. They were initially programmed to speak in an inarticulate “Furbish” fashion, but seemingly acquired English over time. The explanation is really quite simple. The Furbies were intentionally programmed to speak in an indistinguishable manner and slowly evolve to speaking more coherent English. The belief was that the more you interacted or spoke with your Furby, the more quickly it would acquire English. The real story is that there are four stages of Furby “language” acquisition. It goes from Furbish only, Furbish mostly, Furbish with some English, slowly transcending into mostly English.

In effect it is not unlike the process of a non-English speaking person learning English. Not all Furbies learn to speak English. Furbies speaking 24 different languages were release worldwide.

Eventually, there were additional releases that were extensions of the Furby product line.

First there were Furby Babies that were smaller versions that couldn’t dance, but picked up English more quickly than their larger counterparts.

Then there were Furby Friends which were specialized versions of the same technology. Some of the more popular releases included versions of ET, and Yoda from Star Wars.

In 2005, Emotronic Furbies were introduced which were larger than the original, lacked motion detectors, but had a more “expressive” face. Most importantly, it had on off switch, which was a welcome added feature! The most substantial innovation with these Furbies is that it included a voice recognition system that could actually react to verbal commands.

Then came the Emotronic Furby Babies, having the same features as the adult in a smaller size.

The Emotronic Funky Furby was introduced in 2006 which were enhanced with the ability to dance and could even learn and remember dance routines. Other features of the entire line of Furbies include a range of colors,

moving ears, and eyes and a beak that could open and close. Additionally, the beak included a sensing element that allowed the Furby to react when it was being “fed.” In later versions, a motion sensor was added that enabled the Furby to declare “Fun!” or “Scared!” depending on the handling of the toy.

Another feature that is embedded in my mind is the fact that Furby would exclaim “Whee!” I have memories of a car journey in which a Furby, entombed beneath a pile of luggage, shouting out an adorable “Whee!” every time we turned a corner. It was cute at first, but after a few dozen sharp turns, I was definitely wishing that the Furby had featured an off switch.

The Furby was limited in its movement. It could slightly lift itself by utilizing a small ramp underneath, which enabled it to “dance.” Furby was also able to sing. Remember, the originals did not include an off switch, but mercifully, Furby could be persuaded to take a nap.

Even though toys become more and more elaborate each year, Furbies are still fun toys to have and can provide something fun and unique for youngsters. Happily, they now feature an off switch!