The 1992 cartoon was not the first time fans got an animated take on the Addams Family, but it was the first one for me. Playmates was responsible for making the toys, and goodness their toys were ever faithful to the cartoon! I remember seeing these in stores before ever knowing about the cartoon. I was thrilled to say the least. There was something just fun and quirky about the Addams Family.
I collected pretty much everything that was made for this line, and those items will be showing up soon. For now let's check out a carded Playmate's Addams Family figure: Morticia Addams!
Morticia was my favorite. I loved her dress and her whole attitude. Her figure had a spooky action feature with dead vines coming out from her sleeves. She also came with a little Thing accessory. What I loved about her, was that her plant skills were sorely lacking, and it was ok. My green thumb is much like hers. Somewhere Perfuma is shaking her head at me in disappointment.
Each figure had an action feature and came with a Thing doing something or another. There was also nice articulation for the size of the figure. I personally thought Playmates did a fantastic job with this line, barring a few things. (A bit more on that later.)
I loved the back of the card. There was a lot going on. The top featured the family in their animated finest snapping their trademarked fingers. Below the photo was the line up of figures along with the obligatory collector card, called a Freaky Family Portrait. There was no mention of the animated show, which has led me to believe that the toy line came out first. That, or Playmates just wasn't wanting to advertise that much for the cartoon.
The line up for the toys featured the entire main cast of characters, only there was one fatal problem. Three figures never made it onto toy shelves. Wednesday, Thing, and Cousin Itt were merely labeled as 'Coming soon.' They never came. (To my knowledge and endless searches, I never saw those three figures ever get released.) This is very interesting, because those three figures were essentially prototypes featured on the back of the card. This rarely happens with toys. I am sure there is a story, but I am not entirely sure what happened. The cartoon only lasted two seasons so Playmates could have stopped production on any new characters due to a lack of customers. I don't really recall other people freaking out for Addams Family toys, aside from me. But then again, I didn't really have much friends at the time.
The Freaky Family Portrait was full of great details. I love how her wardrobe is sultry and her penchant for growing Killer Lettuce is just a common occurrence. I mean lettuce is a killer. Have you ever tasted it? I also loved how Gomez loved her. I always dreamed that is what love was all about. Speaking french and driving a man totally wild with head crazed lust. Now I am just lucky if I can prevent myself from falling and busting a hip. I guess Morticia had this sense of confidence and sexiness with a dash of macabre glamor that I really liked. Plus she has got to have the most interesting parenting skills ever.
This is not the end though for the Addams Family toys! Join me next week when we look at the line up all loose and fancy free! Be sure to also leave your comments. Did you collect these toys? Who was your favorite Addams Family member? Does anyone know why there was never a Wednesday released? These are the questions on my mind. I hope you are all doing well and keep it here! The week is just starting! Take care everyone!
those are great- have never seen them. Gomez was my favorite- he had a childlike enthhusiasm- played with model trains, smoked cigars, & fenced! :D
ReplyDeleteGomez was a really fun character. And the good thing about this line is that most of them can be found on the secondary market for a very good price. In case you were wondering. lol
DeleteIt would be hard to believe that they didn't know there was going to be a cartoon when they made the toys because the cartoon was more or less a remake of the 70's Adam's Family cartoon also made by Hanna Barbera that used almost the same exact character designs-I'm guessing HB just remade the toon to cash in on the movie-interestingly enough though even though there was a movie they decided to base the toyline on the design of the cartoon instead of the film likenesses -unlike say the Beetlejuice toys which were based on the likenesses of that movie instead of it's cartoon. I think this is because the Adam's toon and film happened so close together they could choose which they wanted to use and the toon designs were very good and streamlined. Perfect for toys.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Adams character was the Cousin Itt-but I also liked Thing and actually have a hand based character based on him. I much preferred the Munsters to the Adam's Family though-mostly because that show was produced by Universal so they could make the characters resemble the Universal Monsters-and one episode even had a guest appearance by "Uncle Gil" who was none other than my favorite monster The Creature From the Black Lagoon! I will give it up to the Adam's in the sexy department though because Morticia was much hotter than Lilly Munster.
-another excellent early 90's monster toyline based on an EXTREMELY short lived tv show was Little Dracula. That line was also super cartoony.
Ya know I really wanted movie inspired Addams Family toys. The cartoon did enough though to make me happy. I did like the Munsters too, but my problem with the Munsters was that they just didnt have the items for sale, until recently.
DeleteI remember these.
ReplyDeleteThey were a lot of fun!
DeleteShe's great! I recently picked up an Uncle Fester from this line on a whim and love him. These are fun figures, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Ron! These were really fun toys. I liked them a lot, if only they'd made a Wednesday though.
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