Come With The Thunder

[Blue Thunder: you can't tell if it's flying or not]
Written by GL

Some of you true classic fans out there may remember the 'other' helicopter' movie - the one right on par with Airwolf. It was one of the most recognizable retro vehicles of all time, and it has been (as of this quarter of the year) reproduced for your owning.

The Blue Thunder die-cast copter features; a nose Gatling gun that is mobile and movable (able to rotate up, down and side-to-side), a removable canopy and a detailed cockpit with all the panels.

Remember the old school one that was made out of plastic? Get it now in die-cast. This gem is set to be released in March 2009 and you're looking at a going price of USD$130 (or BND$195). To be found at all good online resellers.

Holy Half Shell !

[Original Party Wagon: party on Wayne]
Written by GL

Following suit with the popularity of Transformers (thanks for the huge movie), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) are making a come back with the announcement of their 25th Anniversary launching.

The first real product to me re-issued into the market is (awesome-ly enough) the Turtles Party Wagon, shown above. Now, I had this as a kid and it was one of the coolest vehicle additions to my spoilt-childhood collection of TMNT ever. It is totally refreshing to hear that a soft come-back is in the works.

Let's just wait and see on what maybe the follow-up product that will make up the 25th Anniversary line.

The Turtles Party Wagon is currently on pre-order at most online selling sites and will cost roughly USD33 (or around BND46). Set release date is June 2009.

Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dawg

[Classic Autobots: Rodimus & Hound]
Written by GL

Ok, I agree that this is probably one of the crappiest titled blog entries I've ever produced. But there no judgement on quality. I chose to do this character focus purely because of the sheer coolest of this Autobot character represents and because a good and dear and very married friend of mine has this Autobot in his mini-Robot Heroes collection (which I managed to have a gander at over the weekend).

[Robot Heroes: cute as Hound]

The toy piece that was to become the Autobot known as Hound was originally released as part of the Japanese Diaclone series by Takara (one of the first robot lines that contributed to the birth of the Transformers as a line).

What makes Hound a classic is that he was a pure first generation Transformer. He was released in 1984 and was one of the smallest of the Autobot cars. Hound's alternate mode is that of a 4X4 military jeep, and comes with three different weapons - a missile launcher, a machine gun and a hologram gun. All this artillery more than makes up for his size. Message: midgets should just buy guns.

[Animated Hound: small but strong]

Fact to dazzle your girlfriend with: Hound is known as Dépisteur in Québec and Canguro in Italy.

As a 'person', Hound is known for his love of the planet Earth, his tracking skills, and the ability to project highly realistic holograms.

During the first season of the cartoon, Hound served as the Autobots' primary scout and reconnaissance soldier - this appeared to suit him well because he quickly grew to love the natural landscapes of planet Earth. Hound was also integral in the creation of the original 3 Dinobots, as he was the fella that captured holographic images which served as rough blueprints for construction of Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge.

[Animated Hound: loves football too]

After a spurt of early appearances, Hound became more and more absent from the show, showing up only when his holographic powers were needed. Autobots = petty? We'll never know.

He first appeared in 'More Than Meets the Eye', the three episode pilot that launched the toyline onto television. Funnily enough, for the earlier parts of the show Hound was Spike's prime companion before Bumblebee came along. Hound was the first to introduce Spike to the concept of transforming and also gave Spike a tour of the nearby desert while telling him tales of Cybertron. Hound would also end up being rescued by Spike once when this friendly Autobot was almost drowning. Hound was in the main cast of the pilot, almost playing as large of a role as Optimus Prime himself.

This changed however when the show moved into its regular season. Bumblebee became Spike's companion, and Hound took a backseat. However he still did have some notable appearances.

[Animated Hound: no one messes with you when you have a gun on your shoulder]

Hound made a brief cameo appearance in the Transformers: The Movie where he, along with Sunstreaker, stood next to Optimus Prime before Prime confronted the Decepticon forces. We can assume that Hound did not survive the two attacks on Autobot city, as he did not make any further movie appearances. This might have been due in part to the fact that they were discontinuing the 1984 toyline and thus needed to kill off some characters to move along.

[G1 Hound: stubby as he was]

When Hound was released in 1984, he came with a hologram gun, a machine gun, a missile launcher, 3 missiles, a spare tire (!) as well as a gas can (!). He was a practical yet deadly fella.

As mentioned, Hound was released as part of the initial Autobot assortment in, transforming into a Mitsubishi J59 Jeep. Mounted on the back of the vehicle mode is a large, silver machine gun turret.

[Vintage Package: all the accessories were true]

In robot mode, Hound is armed with a large, silver holographic rifle and a shoulder-mounted, spring-loaded, firing rocket launcher with three silver projectiles. The US version of this launcher had severely weakened springs for safety reasons.

He was reissued in 2004 by Takara in their collection reissue series, and this mold was used to make the e-Hobby exclusive Detritus figure (whom is a Junkion, if you didn't know) during that same year.

Hound was yet another greatly designed and personalized character that just didn't pull through into the modern age. But, he will alway be remembered. Just like Wheeljack. Let us bow our heads.

The New Millennium

[The Millennium Falcon: back on the market]
Written by GL

Take a knee and let me tell you a little about the good old days. The good old days were a time when cartoon heroes were cartoon heroes - they had no flaws, they always caught the bad guy and they always got the girl. The good old days were also a time when every great cartoon or show always had great toys to match.

Classic Articulation isn't what you'd call a 'Star Wars' centric online publication; however, one still has to pay respect to those play-sets that just purely rock. And, the Millennium Falcon is a hard cast example of how awesome the good old days were.

Many would say that the Millennium Falcon was the toy that never arrived when every nine-year old kid wanted it in 1977.

Hasbro has decided to relive this era with a new 2.5-foot Hasbro's Star Wars Legacy Collection Millennium Falcon, built for everyone's Star Wars collection. It's probably the most realistic Falcon toy you can buy, with LEDs everywhere, sounds, movable parts, and almost every detail imaginable, minus real engines and some rims.

Check out the details bulleted below for your reading convenience:

• Light-up cockpit with room for four figures.
• Medical bay.
• Secret smuggling compartments to hide from pesky Death Star crews.
• Auto-opening boarding ramp.
• Pivoting gunner station.
• Crew quarters with light-up dejarik table.
• Rotating laser turret fires two missiles and makes weapons sounds.
• 3-missile launcher with blasting sounds.
• Cannon that launches a "laser" missile (whatever that is.)
• Missile-firing mini-fighter inside an opening docking bay that makes electronic boarding and flight sounds
  
• Pivoting training probe with lightsaber sounds.

And it's approximately 30% percent larger than the original version of the toy.

Ever since it was introduced on the screen, the Millennium Falcon has become one of the most recognizable vehicles in movie history and one of Hasbro’s most popular toys.

Last year, the toy’s steel production mold – which was used to create hundreds of thousands of Millennium Falcon toys – suffered a crack that rendered the tool damaged beyond repair. Hasbro began creating a new mold, and used this opportunity to improve its toy’s play value by increasing the ship’s size (which now accommodates a whopping 18 action figures) and adding authentic lights and sounds; making this the most exciting cosmos fighter in the galaxy.

If you value your collection, you would want to fork out the US$179.99 (or B$244.78) for this totally retro, totally spankin' vehicle. Look for product pictures online.

Die-Cast Knight

[KITT: the world's sweetest ride]
Written by GL

Coming at you from nowhere (which I'm sure Kal-El will appreciate) are retro revamped models just right for the action series fan.

Made by the unassuming Skynet company, who also manufactures Robocop and Alien figures, this KITT model is totally out of die-case and is built to a scale of 1/43. This means that if you could increase the size of this model 43 times, you could sit in it, drive it to Boustead and get it fitted with new rims and a leather trim.

But that's not all, also made to the same scale, for your collector's delight, is KARR. Built the same and shaped the same, just with a different paint job.

Expect to pay US$43.77 (or B$61) for each of these baby's and expect them to only arrive by November 2007. Check out more on Big Bad Toy Store.

Cowabunga Dudes!

[The Original Turtle Blimp Mark I]
Written by Kal-El

'Do you remember this?' or my question should be 'did you ever have this?', The answer is YES!!

The Turtle blimp was truly an amazing classic vehicles - i remembered because when i had this blimp, it cost me $45 bucks to get it at the old Hua Ho in Gadong (1st Hua Ho). It was first seen in the cartoon series of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Then came out their advert on Brunei Television. Man, I was sold.

[Here's Donny]

As you can see, the Turtle Blimp could carry a few numbers of the turtles, as it was invented by their own turtle engineering (Donatello), the Turtles were able to crash a party (Ninja Thieves) straight from above. Crushing the Foot Clan with a reckless abandon. And of course leaving the Shred-Dude crying and whining like a baby.

[Apparently they had a different version of the Blimp]

However, when i had the Turtle Blimp, i recall that you have to blow it up, and there's a handle for you to carry it around. But sad thing is that, it could easily be punctured if your not careful like we were when we were kids. Shame tho, but i loved it so much that i even had to use a finger plaster to put over the punctured hole on the Blimp. I guess what's left of it was just memories now.

Keep on reading dear fans, Keep you heart feeling young by visiting us at Classic Articulation.

Codename : AIRWOLF

[A wolf in sheep's clothing]

Written by Kal-El

Everyone knows what Airwolf is, the show ran from 1984 to 1987. The show was about a supersonic helicopter with the codename: AIRWOLF. The show was devised by Donald Bellisario, who also had created Magnum P.I. and then would go on to produce other noticeable shows like Quantum Leap, JAG and NCIS.

[Bad boys of the 80’s…and girl]

Airwolf show ran for as long as four season, in the first three season, casted Jan-Michael Vincent (A loner who stays in his cabin with expensive art paintings), Ernest Borgnine (the ever so cheerfull Dominic, owns Santini Air), Alex Cord (who works for the FIRM and supply's Airwolf with millitary artilleries and wears whit all the time) and Jean Bruce Scott (the third co-pilot for Airwolf and loves water melon juice). And on the fourth season, for the USA network, was recast. The show had a musical score (orchestral based in the first and early second season episodes; synthesizer-based thereafter) penned and performed by Sylvester Levay. Check out the Airwolf Intro on the Youtube below.

Basically Airwolf is an aerodynamic lifting body with a twin turbine driven rudder system capable of propelling into 300 knots, in other words it’s a fast twin engine jet chopper. This Jet chopper can disengage its rotors system and ignite the two additional jet turbines. 9.6 seconds after ignition, Airwolf can exceed Mach 1 from sea level to 65,000 ft. Although Airwolf is more of an aggressive force to recon with, it could either be used as a great defender to preserve peace or in the wrong hands, it might just be called as the Devils own machine of destruction.

[Bell 222 modified to Airwolf’s concept design]

The flying Airwolf helicopter was actually a Bell 222. The concept behind Airwolf was a supersonic and armed helicopter that could blend in by appearing to be civilian and non-military in origin a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'. Airwolf's insignia patch as worn by the flight-crew was a snarling wolf's head with gossamer wings that appears to be wearing a sheepskin complete with the head of lamb over the wolf's forehead; a play off "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

I thought the show was very well written in the first three seasons, we will not talk of the fourth season (simply because they recast for the fourth season, which was not cool). The scenes were spectacular and the plots where well knitted in most of the episodes. I liked the attention to detail and the ability for it to be quite believable, despite the fictional capability of Airwolf. I mean, this jet chopper could be the most amazing inventions of mankind if it existed; the characters complimented each other and made the show very dynamic. Even the music created by S. Levay was really good. I bet you most of us could still hum it.

[Dun-da-da-da-dun-da-da-da-da-dun-da-da-da-da-dun, daa daa dun. (Well something like that)]

Now, this blog isn’t just about the retro tv shows and cool collected cartoons, we also try to diverse a little bit just to make the blog a little bit more interesting, Now, here comes the fun part, the collectibles. Unfortunately there never were any Airwolf action figures made or other collectibles that I could remember or find on the net. But I’ve always remembered that they had die-cast models made out of it. But it was a shock even to my self, The Airwolf legacy still lives on till today. BIG BAD TOYS are selling an exact replica scale model of Airwolf and they are only selling it for U$84.99 (est BND$127.80), how awesome is that?! And get this - a fully functional perfect replica Airwolf helmet. I went “Waaaa!” when I saw this. Check it out below.

[Aoshima’s version of Airwolf currently sold at Bigbadtoys.com]

[For more info visit airwolfthemes.com]

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a new movie produced to give Airwolf a final resting place in T.V. history. But that is unlikely. However, there are all kinds of fan clubs and sites that celebrate this one of a kind 80's show, you will see that Airwolf is very much alive out on the internet. Well not just the internet, some of those helicopter RC guys still keeping it very much alive in the air. Check out this awesome short clip of an Airwolf RC, after seeing it, 'I never had that, but I want that!'.

Thanks for reading, keep the dream alive y’all. Dun-da-da-da-dun-da-da-da-da-dun-da-da-da-da-dun, daa daa dun.

Miles Of Mayhem

[Miles Mayhem: the baddest dude on the block]
Written by GL

What do you think would happen if Colonel Sanders (of KFC fame) decided to dress himself up in navy-military blue, take to the air in a specialized attack aircraft and attempt several times to take over the world with a gang of thugs? The answer is simple: he'd be Miles Mayhem.

If you don't already remember, Miles Mayhem is the leader of the anti-task force known as V.E.N.O.M., the arch rival team of M.A.S.K. However, the only thing you should put down about V.E.N.O.M. is the fact that their acronym was terribly thought of: Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem. Not really the most terrifying-sounding organization. But they had the weapons, the masks and the evil intentions. And most importantly, they also had the vehicles.

In the case of Miles Mayhem, undisputed leader of V.E.N.O.M., he had the Switchblade.

[Original Packaging: the very awesome Switchblade]

The Switchblade is perhaps the coolest sounds and coolest transforming (mechanics-wise) of practically all the M.A.S.K. toys. And I say this loosely, because there were tons of awesome vehicles.

The Switchblade is, in fact, a helicopter in essence. It's a helicopter that can transform into a plane. It was also the predominant vehicle of Miles Mayhem, and appears in the cartoon many, many times (including in the intro theme). It's a total classic vehicle purely based on the fact that it's an original. Of course, the Switchblade came with it's own helmet, also the helmet that Miles Mayhem is most seen with, called Viper - it fires shots of poisonous acid.

[The Original Toy: a great, great, great, toy]

Switchblade came out in the USA in 1985. Then in Europe in 1987. It was one of the first V.E.N.O.M. vehicles in the first toy-line wave from Kenner toys. Coincidentally, There were 3 different versions of Switchblade made - One with the bomb accessory, which was sold to Europe and the USA. And one without the bomb accessory, sold mostly in Germany.

The Switchblade itself transformed at the press of several different buttons laid out around the toy. For instance, in helicopter mode, you could make the rotor blades rotate by pressing a button. In plane mode, the wings were easily folded back to imitate the look of a helicopter. Amazing, the design and thought that went into it.

I had this, I am very proud to say (and rub it in)!

[Instructions: to help you all reminisce about the good old days of playing]

Wings Of Silver

[The Silverhawks: the suit is cool but peeing will be a problem]

Written by GL

You've gotta love the Silverhawks; they had awesome characters, an awesome theme song, great plot-lines and bangin' gadgets. Probably the most memorable of the gadgets the Silverhawks ever had were their companion bionic hawks and the Maraj (pronounced Mirage)

Of course, you couldn't have the Maraj without Bluegrass.

[Bluegrass & Sideman: giddy-yap]

Bluegrass was the chief pilot of the group, and a cowboy to his very heart, pard'ner. He is the only Silverhawk who can not fly, but he is the one that flies the team's main transport vehicle, that would be the Maraj. The cool thing is, he can use his companion bird, Sideman, as an interface device with the Maraj's advanced dynamic piloting system. Bluegrass calls this Hot Licks.

The first series was the first time that all of us (as kids, of course) had a look at the Maraj. And boy, was it an awesome plane.

[Original Packaging: now that's a huge box]

Kenner toys released the Maraj toy in 1987 as the first series of vehicles to compliment the first wave of Silverhawk action figures. The Maraj can fit the original 5 Silverhawks in their launching sets. The cockpit, also called Hot-seat (where Bluegrass usually sat), can be launched from the rest of the plane to serve as a standalone cycle. Too cool.

[Kenner's Catalog: amazing detail and the design is near perfect]

Collectors have found that the Maraj can be tough to come across unbroken and complete with its missiles. These missiles can be fired from each of the two wings - and in any case, what's an 80s toy without missiles right?

[The Maraj: with missiles and detachable Hot-Seat]

The Maraj was amazing because it complimented the cartoon exactly - it's something that's very rare of toys nowadays. The Maraj that you saw in the cartoon was the Maraj you got when you purchased it, because the Silverhawks sat in their bays perfectly and the toy features mimicked the cartoon-interpreted functions all the way.

I had the Maraj and I would like to say that this is in the top ten of the coolest retro vehicles of all time. You heard that? Of all time.

Roar Like Thunder

[The Original Blue Thunder: enough fire-power to take out every Ayamku in Brunei]
Written by GL

We're getting very technical in this post. In all respects, there were several helicopter (or as my good friend Kal-El would say: chelee-hopter] shows on television that made an impression on young Bruneians; one that we won't name now, the other was big, bad Blue Thunder. However, what many may not know is that Blue Thunder originated from a movie, and not a television show.

Blue Thunder the movie was released in 1983 and revolves around a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) helicopter pilot selected to be a pilot for the world's most advanced helicopter, nicknamed 'Blue Thunder' With powerful weapons and stealth technology, the machine can fly totally virtually undetected. It was also loaded with gadgets such as infrared scanners, powerful microphones, cameras, and a U-Matic VCR (anyone know what that is? No? Let's continue)

[Roy Schneider as Frank Murphy: all that fire-power and he uses a tiny pistol]

Police officer, Frank Murphy discovers that a crazy action group is planning to use Blue Thunder to carry out their mission of secretly killing off politicians. Murphy manages to record a meeting between the bad guys, who are planning to use Blue Thunder for naughty purposes, and must try to get the video tape to a television station before he gets killed.

[Blue Thunder vs piece of crap: no contest]

The final awesome showdown is between Blue Thunder and a dual 30mm cannon equipped Hughes/McDonnell Douglas MD500 helicopter over Los Angeles city. I won't tell you the ending but I will say, there are credits at the end.

A short-lived television series, also called Blue Thunder, was aired in 1984 on ABC, based on the movie.

The series used the exact same modified Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter from the movie, as well as a large portion of stock footage from the film. As backup to the helicopter, a ground vehicle unit, called Rolling Thunder, was also featured. It was a large support van with a desert camouflage off-road vehicle inside. As high-tech as that all sounds, only eleven episodes were made before the series was cancelled.

A Region 1 DVD set of the series was released on 22 August 2006.

[Series Cast: can you spot Hightower?]

And just for worthy mention, Dana Carvey and Bubba Smith were part of the starring cast in the Blue Thunder television series. Dana Carvey, you may know as Garth from Wayne's World, and Bubba Smith, you may know as Hightower from Police Academy. Ah, the wonderful world of acting.

Even though the show didn't last that long, it was successful enough to build a playset vehicle out of. A company named Multitoys Corp. built a playable Blue Thunder helicopter in 1983, complete with figure.

[Original Box: awesome detail on the packaging]

I have been researching and I've found that it is quite a hard toy to find. It comes fully assembled with spinning blades, an open-able cockpit, spinning rear blades and a pose-able rotary gun at the front (the signature of Blue Thunder).

It also came with one action figure, about 2" inches tall, that is supposedly of Roy Schneider himself. With his nose even. Put the fella in the cockpit, drop the lid, spin the rotors and you have near a month's worth of imaginary, fantasy fun.

[The Original: now that's a toy]

I recall that I had Blue Thunder - it was an awesome toy, and it still looks awesome today, just by pure fact of design likeness. In terms of functionality, I'll admit that there isn't much to shout about, and yet, it's only a helicopter toy (and how much stuff can you do with a helicopter toy anyway] The key thing is that Blue Thunder was an iconic vehicle of the 80s. And it's only Classic Articulation's job to pay tribute to such a cool toy.

Ride Into The Knight

[Knight Rider soars on your TV shows in the 80’s]
Written by Kal-El

We great respect of Retro theme this blog has present it self, GL and Myself have come to an agreement that we’ll post this entry due to what it did represented us, Our memories. I think we all still remember Knight Rider, all the years they still have managed to maintain their intellectual preservation as to their very own and well known talking car, KITT or better known as the Knight Industry Two Thousand. With the 4 season shows being over all these years, the shows are still being shown all over cable networks. It’s most popular duoin the 80's Michael Knight and KITT, both are private investigators working for the Foundation of Law & Government, led by Devon Miles and assisted by two awesome mechanics specialist Bonnie and April. I bet every kid at my age that time was imagining talking with their own cars; well at least I did with my dad’s old car. Just thought it be cool to have the car talking back to you.

[KITT’s a Pontiac Trans-Am]

KITT’s sleek exterior body shell is made out of a special molecular shell bond, His a body taken from a famous 80’s sports car, a Pontiac Trans – Am. Quite often KITT gets on Michael’s nerve but who could be impress with a car that doesn’t have an attitude. KITT’s bullet proof, capable of High speed going 200mph on normal mode, then also has a special mode call Super Pursuit Mode, where aerodynamic body parts of KITT will pop up to add more driving capabilities at high speed, allowing KITT and Michael Knight to maneuver while performing a high speed chase, able to do a Ski-Mode, Eject able seats, sliding on only one side of the car and get this, The car is able to turbo boost, it jumps!! The driving of Michael Knight in the series shows was abrasive yet also defensive driving, sliding from one corner to another, even manages to nearly destroy KITT with a head on collision with another bigger car at one point. It was awesome!!

[Knight Rider actual toyline in the 80's]

I remember going to an old shop in Kampung Sumbiling in Bandar Seri Begawan (Yup, that old) as the picture shown above, “I Had this!”, I remember back in 1984 when they sold these items back before they even start producing remote controlled cars for it. If I'm not mistaken it was only sold for about B$12 back then. It comes with a Turbo boost that enables KITT to launch at an amazing kick off start. I’m sure we have also own some of the Stickers and Album set of the Knight Rider, but also Michael Knight himself. He makes an awesome collection with KITT as well. Wish I still had them all. Thanks for moving the house, that’s how I lost it all.

[Knight Rider Remote Control Car was the “IN” thing in the 80’s]

But the most amazing part of the whole Knight Rider Series is the Remote control car that they made. The remote control car even had the front red light of KITT and the front head lights will turn up when needed. So you can imagine how much fun it was playing the remote car, sneaking pass my bedtime, with the lights off in my room, playing the Knight Rider Remote car. Too bad it doesn’t talk.

[Joyride 1:18 car scale die cast of KITT]

At this time of age, what’s left of KITT is that they have made him into a Die-cast 1:18 scale car model manufactured by Joyride. This would make an excellent collection for those who fancy car models. Although I still wouldn't mind owning again the old remote controlled car like the one I used to own. I miss my KITT.

[ Stars of 1982’s Knight Rider: David Hasselhoff and KITT]

In my conclusion, I’d like this opportunity to thank and wish David Hasselhoff a Happy Birthday as it is his 55th birthday today (by coincidence) and KITT, voice by Daniel Williams (not in credits) for all the memories when I was a kid. The show totally rock, I hope there planning on making a movie out of it, with today’s new technology of magic in Movie making, I’m sure that the guys at Hollywood would be able to make an amazing comeback for KITT, after all it is the new millennium, but keep the Pontiac Trans-am and the red light on its front grill, It’s a classic.