X-Ray Men from Space

Earlier today, while doing my daily five miles on the exercise bike, I found myself thinking about X-Ray Man from Fisher-Price Adventure People. More specifically, the astronaut version my brother had that came with the Firestar 1 and Alpha Star 1 sets.

Alongside Clawtron, X-Ray Man and X-Ray Woman were some of the line's resident space adventurers and featured some pretty far-out designs. Of course, they were clever repaints of existing Adventure People figures, but let's be honest: some of the coolest toys ever made have been repaints. Don't be a hater.

My older brother and I were big Adventure People fans back in the day, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that we had quite a few of them. I've mentioned Clawtron before as one of those figures that remained on his bookshelf well into adulthood, and I still fondly remember his Firestar 1 battling my Alpha Interceptor during countless imaginary space conflicts.

Sometimes I wish the astronaut version of X-Ray Man got a little more attention. He was a fun design, looked great alongside the other space-themed Adventure People figures, and honestly deserves a little more love than he gets.

Yo Cyborg!

I've been wanting a Henshin Cyborg for a while. The chance to do so has come up a few times, but I never pulled the trigger. Nothing fancy, a reissue would suffice. I'd really love to get a Dokuro King as well, maybe a King Walder. I've had one in mind since last Toylanta. Wanted a Robotman/Biotron too. Saw a few actually for decent prices, but didn't pull that trigger either. Missing just enough parts to make me consider it longer than the con went on. A few parts is no big thing, but ones that ultimately affect the visual look of the toy is another. Same guy was some great Diaclone and Rock Lords stuff. Thinking right now to splurge on some of that stuff at the con. Of course like any Toylanta mental purchase list... card subject to change.

Thinking more about it, I think I need to get more of the space figures from Adventure People. The only reason I haven't before is a resounding 'I already got all those dudes back in the 80's'. Though, they're all in boxes in my Mom's garage. Getting another set as well as the ones I never got would be a lot more fruitful I imagine. I get plenty of the homages, wish I would have gotten that last Clawtron Battle Tribes did, but a OG set to maybe put on a nice shelf next to my mini consoles would be nice.

Adventure People

Without a doubt, one of the best and most influential toy lines ever. I wish the space and sea sets were shown in the commercial.

Beyond your wildest Imaginext

Credit: Matthew Garrison of Imaginext Generation

The current 'on fiya' post in Imaginext Generation is the first sighting of the newest Imaginext blind bag series. Which is, without a doubt, all that and a bag of chips. Let me elaborate in case the amazing picture doesn't already make your mind explode. Imaginext, while being a toy line intended for small children, is very well catered to adult nerds. I've said before that Imaginext is the modern day Adventure People, but as you can see in the picture, there is an Adventure People homage in this series (not the first time either).

What's super cool is that the new X-Ray Man also pay's homage to it's Microman/Micronaught leanings with with a doggy nod to Henshin Cyborg. That's super awesome. I'm tempted to also get one for my brother. The sci fi Adventure People held a proud place on his bookshelf from childhood well into his teen years and I'd wager he still has them stowed away somewhere. Then there's Triple Threat Snake from Battle Beasts making a sneaky appearance. Readers of Zone Base already know how I feel about Battle Beasts and many have fell from me cutting them over many a heated rub sign fight. I'm willing to disagree on many things, but I might kill you over a Battle Beast.

Last and certainly not least. In fact probably the most surprising, a two pack of Muscleman/Kinnikuman and Terri-Bull/Buffaloman from M.U.S.C.L.E/Kinnikuman. That's the kind of awesome surprise you not only didn't expect, but probably embarrassed yourself when you found out. Like other folks my age, I've probably got a metric ton of the little toys and pop hard when I see anything similar. This... this right here... is amazing.

The other guys on the bag look similar too, though I outright am fuzzy on them. Fish head dude is really reminding me of something. The centaur looks a lot like a Navi from Avatar, but being a centaur makes me wonder if he's supposed to be somebody else. Radiation suit guy is a long awesome trope that doesn't need any explanation. You know, there's tons of high end toys for the adult collectors market, but the best one can be found at any Walmart in the toddler aisle for not a lot of money.

Imaginext Power Rangers Pink Ranger and Pterodactyl Zord

I've made no secret that I love the Imaginext MMPR line. It's a 100% fun way to collect toy versions of the classic characters that honestly works really well. While Imaginext is aimed towards smaller children, it does have it's share of adult collectors and Fisher Price acknowledges that often. Imaginext is essentially the modern day equivalent of Adventure People and just like Adventure People, Imaginext makes just plain wonderful toys. Their Power Rangers line doesn't give the characters much of a cutesy make over. These are essentially smaller sized figures with really neat vehicles and play sets. There's often some neat play feature integrated into the vehicles and play sets that is utilized by way of turning the figure on a base.

The Pink Ranger makes the Pterodactyls mouth open. Also, if you have the wings folded up, they snap back into place. Just a silly little play feature that's hard to hate.

The Zord makes me think of Windstorm from Starriors a bit. Owing more to it's similar nature as a robot pterodactyl than anything, I'm curious if a blue version might find it's way out at some point just as a robot figure turns up in the blind bags. Imaginext is crafty like that sometimes. As you can see, the Pink Ranger stands on her base to pilot the Zord in a satisfying manner and even has some firing rockets. I've already got the Pink Ranger from the figure two pack, and just like the other Rangers that come with standard versions of the Zords, they are the same figures without the variations that run throughout the line. So really, if you missed the two pack, here's another with the bow for the combining Power Cannon.

Imaginext toys are really hefty and satisfying. I had been passing on this Zord set as I already have the regular figure from the two pack. Though when I saw it in my local Walmart's spring clearance section for $4, there was no way I was passing on that deal. Which I'm really happy about as my track record with these larger Zords has been all positive. These are just wonderful old school Adventure People style sets themed to a series I really love and it works amazingly well. I'd argue better than normal Power Rangers toys. This set is normally around $14 on average, so $4 was such a steal I expect the police to knock down my door any minute.

I think the best example of just how neat these toys are can be summed up in the Zord's hidden form. Despite the sets not being able to combine to form the Megazord, you can still convert the Pterodactyl into it's chest formation. It's not a happy accident either, they took time to paint and deco up the Zord's underside just for this detail and really could have skipped it. See what I mean when I say these are arguably better toys than the normal toys? I do worry that when Hasbro's toy control kicks in that the Imaginext line will eventually go away and Playschool will take over. Which, could be awesome. Playschool makes great similar figures and I'd wager they'd possibly explore other series than MMPR. Just, man, Imaginext is really nailing it. It's going to be a tough act to follow.