Behold these wonderful custom Wonder Woman dolls ...

... and we'll call them dolls, OK? They are Barbies or patterned after Barbies, after all! Special thanks to Martin, who is kind enough to share with us his collection of customized Wonder Women. And how lovely they are.

First up here is his custom of the 13-inch Tonner Wonder Woman doll. Then we have customs of the 2004 Wonder Woman Barbie, followed by customs of the 1999 Wonder Woman Barbie (which you can also see in her original form in this episode of the Terrific TV Toys series).

"Wonder Woman is my favorite comic character," Martin says, "but I'm also into DC Heroes in general. I started doing Wonder Woman custom dolls probably about 10 years ago. I started doing them because nobody was doing Wonder Woman the way I wanted to see her presented. The Barbies are beautiful but their bodies didn't look muscular enough for an Amazon warrior."

Indeed, in these customs you see a more realistic look. "The action figure companies like DC Direct, Sideshow and Hot Toys made Wonder Woman look strong," Martin says, "but the action figures lacked beauty. The faces looked harsh and unattractive in my opinion. I kept thinking - why is it so hard to make a large, somewhat muscular female figure with a drop-dead gorgeous face and hair? So, I took the Barbie world and the action figure world and merged them together to make my idea of what a Wonder Woman doll or figure SHOULD look like. Strong and beautiful at the same time."

"I also do other characters, and I'm in the process now of doing several of the really popular DC figures, both male and female," he continues. "I mostly like the classic versions." 

Martin also shares photos of his Power Girl, Zatanna, and Black Canary. "I'm really good at styling the hair (tooting my own horn, lol). All doll collectors have seen promotional photos of dolls where the hair looks so beautiful but then after you get the doll, the hair looks nothing like that. It gets all tangled and flat from being in the box. I would love to work with actual toy companies with styling doll hair."

Photos courtesy of Martin; please do not copy.

Terrific non-TV Toys: Marilyn Monroe musical figurine, 1982

Why, of course she plays "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" -- what else would a porcelain musical figure of Marilyn Monroe play, especially when draped in this divine white gown? She's lovely, though a little worse for wear. A bit loose in parts. She is from the '80s after all. She's an item once belonging to this author's mom, and we take a close look at her in the latest episode of the Terrific non-TV Toys series.

See the other episodes in the Terrific non-TV Toys series.

Talkin' "Twilight Zone": Latest episodes of "Just Beneath the Surface"

If you're a fan of the original "Twilight Zone" series of the late '50s to early '60s, then you'll enjoy the discussion of the show on the web series "Just Beneath the Surface." Episodes 7 and 8 of the series are now up, and they explore the hourlong episodes of Season 4, along with the single episode "The Hunt." BRBTV's bud Brian co-hosts.

 

 

"Gilligan" fan and collector Bobby now has the full-on Skipper cosplay!

We've profiled our friend Bobby on this blog before; he's a big-time fan of "Gilligan's Island," particularly of the Skipper, as played by Alan Hale Jr.. (Check out the February 5, 2020 and April 30, 2021 posts.) Bobby has really dug into the details of the variations of captain's hats worn by the Skipper throughout the series and movies, and he has been collecting screen-accurate (and maybe not-quite-so-screen-accurate) replicas of these hats for years. Now, though, Bobby has branched out into other pieces of Skipper's iconic classic TV look.

"This is the hat from the Fun World 'Gilligan's Island' Skipper Halloween costume," Bobby explains. "It is a four-piece set. 1. Shirt 2. Pants 3. Hat 4. Stuffable Belly. I got the costume in 2010 from my local Spirit Halloween store. It was minus the hat. Someone opened it, stole the Skipper hat, and resealed the package, and left it looking untouched. I ended up with only a three-piece set of shirt, pants, stuffable belly."

"I have wanted the Fun World hat for 12 years since it was missing in 2010," Bobby says. "The Skipper and Promoter William Duff of the Illinois division of the 'Gilligan's Island' Fan Club and ventriloquist for Gilligan, www.gilligansisle.com, had the costume and sent it to me. My brother bought me my original set in 2010 that was missing the Captain/Skipper hat part of it. William gave me the complete set all four pieces."

Bobby now has what he needs to re-enact the Skipper's classic television poses and mannerisms! Bobby, you're the most devoted fan of "Gilligan's Island" we've ever met! You can check out his tribute page for Alan Hale to see more of his devotion.

Photos courtesy of Rob "Skipper" Broadhurst; please do not copy without permission.

Terrific TV Toys: Snoopy Easter PVC figures from Plastronics / Whitman's

It's Eastertime once again, and if you were a kid of the '70s and '80s, another tradition, along with coloring eggs and enjoying chocolate bunnies (besides the real reason for the season, of course -- our risen Lord and Savior) was watching the Peanuts holiday special "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown." It's been years since this author has seen it, and it really makes me want to watch it now. This time on T3, we take a look at the book adaptation of the TV special as we examine another set of  Snoopy holiday PVC figures that were once attached to mini-boxes of Whitman's chocolates.

(There is a bonus Snoopy Easter item in this episode; can you guess what that would be?)

See what else is on the Terrific TV Toys playlist. And keep it tuned here for the continuation of the Snoopy PVC series -- next up, Halloween!!!