Terrific non-TV Toys: Queen diecast collector car

There is an object lesson in the life of Freddie Mercury. Probably more than one. He lived life big. He didn’t make apologies for it. And he had the ability to not give a $&#@)* what people thought of him. By some accounts, that ability was not innate. He had to learn it, had to teach it to himself, actually, in response to being a foreigner in England as a teen, one author wrote. But it is a rare and marvelous quality indeed, especially in this Facebook age we live in.

With the recent release of the movie on Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” we turn our attention to a piece of Queen merchandise for the latest installment of Terrific non-TV Toys. This collector car is part of a set released by Racing Champions a couple decades ago. In honor of Freddie, along with bandmates Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, it comes out of the box for the very first time by a lifelong Queen fan ...

Terrific TV Toys: "The New Archies" production cel

Archie Comics has had several great TV shows over the years, up to and including the current "Riverdale" drama airing on the CW. All the others have been animated (unless you count the 1990 "To Riverdale and Back Again" TV movie special). And sandwiched in-between the Archie cartoons that people remember best from the 1960s and '70s (like "The U.S. of Archie" for the Bicentennial, for us '70s kids!), and the more-recent "Archie's Weird Mysteries," there was a cute little show in 1987 called "The New Archies."

Back in the 1980s there was what we might call a "baby craze" in animation. "Muppet Babies," "Flintstone Kids," "Tiny Toon Adventures," even "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo." The trend was to take well-loved and well-known cartoon characters and making them younger. "The New Archies" was an outgrowth of that, with Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica being in junior high school rather than high school. Skateboards and bikes rather than cars. The brainy Eugene rather than Dilton Doiley. Those were the major differences in this alternate take on Riverdale produced by DiC Entertainment for only one season, to the tune of 14 episodes. It's adorable -- catch it on YouTube, because it hasn't yet been released on DVD.

This month's episode of the Terrific TV Toys series features an actual production cel from the "The New Archies." What episode was this cel used for? Well, if you're familiar with the show, why don't you tell us!!!???

Catch BRB's and Will Rodgers' interview on Comic Book Central, talking "Super Friends"

We're in great company, on the Comic Book Central podcast. The likes of actors Levar Burton and Katrina Law, artist Alex Ross, and Mego man Marty Abrams have been interviewed by Joe Stuber for the series, among so many others. And now, with the episode dropping today, it's "Super Friends" voice Louise Williams (Wonder Twins' Jayna) along with Will Rodgers, author of "The Ultimate Super Friends Companion" and myself, BRB! So cool!

Keep up with Joe and Comic Book Central on the Facebook page.

Happy New Year! It's your episode guide to the past seasons of Terrific TV Toys and Terrific non-TV Toys

With a new year will come a fresh crop of episodes for BRBTV's two web series, because we just love sharing this stuff. But first let's take stock of the past year, the grand 2018 and all it entailed for our ongoing examination of cool toys and collectibles from every corner of pop culture.

We're up to 137 episodes now for the T3 series (138 if you count the Christmastime Eggnog addendum), nothing to sneeze at for a web series that has run five years. And in 2019 you'll continue to see one episode a month from each of the two series, totaling 24 for the year again.  Hopefully we can get a friend or two to guest-host, as in the past!

Terrific TV Toys

Season 5

126. Wonder Woman plush toy by Toy Works

127. Justice League toys from Subway

128. Ensign Chekov Transporter figure by Playmates

129. Miss Piggy plush doll by Fisher-Price

130. Scooby-Doo jigsaw puzzles by Pressman

131. Batman Ken and Catwoman Barbie dolls by Mattel

132. Mary Marvel original animation cel

133. Mego “Charlie’s Angels” figure: Kelly

134. “Dukes” diecast cars by Auto World, Tomy

135. Harley Quinn figure by Hasbro, 1998

136. Scooby-Doo Encyclopedia by Capstone / Hanna-Barbera

137. Batgirl PVC diorama and production cel from “TNBA”

Season 4
Season 3
Season 1 and 2

Terrific non-TV Toys

Season 1

1. Batsignal 3D metal model kit from “The Dark Knight”

2. Batgirl figures by Funko

3. Archie Comics plush toys by Mattel, Applause, Kelly Toys

4. Pretty Changes Barbie by Mattel

5. Batgirl of Burnside figure by Jada Toys

6. “Wizard of Oz” Megos Part 1: Dorothy

7. “Wizard of Oz” Megos Part 2: Witches

8. Wonder Woman 14” figure by Mego

9. Darci doll by Kenner

10. “Wizard of Oz” Megos Part 3: The Boys!

11. “Wizard of Oz” Megos Part 4: The Wizard and Emerald City

12. Snoopy figurines by Enesco

Relive some more great moments from A Hazzard County Christmas with ChunkeyMonkey40's new video

Derek, aka ChunkeyMonkey40 on YouTube, really covers it all in this new video on his YouTube channel, chronicling lots of fun moments from the Hazzard County Christmas at the Shiawassee Harvest Church in Corunna, Michigan, a few weeks back ...

Merry Christmas from BRBTV!!!

We here at BRBTV see a world where good things happen. A world where peace can prevail, amid the turmoil. Where even warring factions backbiting at each other can come together to accomplish great things. Where the human spirit seeks joy and kindness and good things, when it comes right down to it. Are we dreaming? Are we being cynical? No, not at all. That's the world we live in, and the shot below, supplied by our friend Bjørn, expresses that so nicely!

You see, even at the Carrington mansion, between these warring factions, peace and joy and the holiday spirit can prevail!!!

Merry Christmas from BRBTV!!

Image courtesy of Bjørn; see more of his "Dynasty" dollhouse on previous posts of this blog.

TGIF! How about some action figure love? This time, it's all sorts of Super Friends ...

With ole Supes perched on top, it's looking like an amazing collection. And Will Rodgers, author of the BRBTV book "The Ultimate Super Friends Companion," has been compiling Super Friends figures from both Mego and Figures Toy Company for the past few years. Good for him that these companies keep releasing great stuff like this! Keep up with Will on his Facebook pages for the two-volume book set and for the great onetime era of Saturday-morning cartoons.

Photos by Will Rodgers

Please do  not copy without permission

Terrific non-TV Toys: Snoopy figurines by Enesco

It's Christmastime again, and we love a Christmas episode here at BRBTV. For the 12th and final episode of the very first season of the Terrific non-TV Toys web series, it's gotta be Snoopy. This author got these two porcelain figurines as a gift from Cuz Don last year for Christmas, and you'll see them come out of the box for this episode. One has Snoopy harnessed up and ready to pull a sled, while the other has him all wrapped up in old-fashioned Christmas lights. Nicely detailed, these are fine collectibles.

Well, somebody is certainly a "Dukes of Hazzard" fan

There is a Hazard, Kentucky, spelled just a bit differently than on the classic TV show we all know and love. And there's bound to be plenty of diehard "Dukes of Hazzard" fans there in the state, especially given this amusing site, spotted in Glendale, Kentucky, earlier this week. Thanks to our roving reporter Jason for capturing this on the road!

Terrific TV Toys: Batgirl PVC diorama and production cel from "The New Batman Adventures"

In the "Holiday Knights" episode of "The New Batman Adventures" animated series, you see some fun stuff. You see Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy kidnapping and drugging poor Bruce Wayne so they can go on a shopping spree at a department store in Gotham a few days before Christmas. And you see Clayface rampaging through a different department store a couple days later, on Christmas Eve. But fear not -- Batgirl arrives on the scene. She jumps on that nasty ole Clayface, throws him around a bit, tells everyone to clear the area. It's two of those wonderful moments that are captured in the pieces you see on the latest episode of Terrific TV Toys.

The PVC diorama just came out last year and is part of a set by Diamond Select Toys, a set featuring a variety of characters in the Timmverse from which "TNBA" sprung. The diorama goes for about $45. THEN ... the crème de la crème ... an original production cel used in the shooting of that episode back in 1997, all nicely framed and matted and for sale in the gallery of a Warner Bros. Studio Store back then. Original price for that was about $500, and these cels can go for a few hundred more than that now. Nice stuff ...

This time at Autorama Detroit, the Bandit jumps!

It was great to see Ray Kohn and the Northeast Ohio Dukes crew at the Hazzard County Christmas in Corunna, Michigan a week and a half ago, and we just had to ask him about the rumors we heard, that as a follow-up to his amazing jump of the General Lee in downtown Detroit two years ago at Autorama, this time it was going to be a "Smokey and the Bandit" car. Yep, indeed. It was Ray's idea to do this, after the sad passing of Burt Reynolds a couple months back. A special tribute to the star beloved by so many fans ...

The 2019 Autorama in Detroit is on March 1-3. Watch the NEOD Facebook page and the event website for more details. We'll see ya there!

"Dukes of Hazzard" 40th anniversary celebration set for Cooter's in January

It's been quite a "Dukes" week here at BRBTV, between sharing the love from last weekend's Hazzard County Christmas event in Corunna, Michigan, and now seeing the details being released of the 40th anniversary celebration at Cooter's in January. Here's what Cooter's has sent around ...

 

Come Celebrate the 40th Birthday with us!

HAZZARD COUNTY’S 40TH BIRTHDAY TO BE CELEBRATED IN NASHVILLE’S MUSIC VALLEY JANUARY 26, 2019

On January 26, 1979, “The Dukes of Hazzard” premiered on CBS Television as an unheralded midseason replacement. Now, 40 years later, the cast and fans of the show will join together in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, January 26, 2019 to celebrate “40 years of good times in Hazzard County.” Several events are planned, centered around “Cooter’s in Music City” on McGavock Pike off Briley Parkway.

The event will include “Meet and Greet plus pix and Autograph sessions” with cast members, a screening of the very first “Dukes” episode at The Troubadour Theatre, followed by a cast concert at The Nashville Palace, with Cooter’s Garage Band and very special guest Whey Jennings, the grandson of Waylon Jennings, who narrated “The Dukes” and wrote and sang the ever popular theme song, “Good Ol’ Boys.”

Cast members who plan to attend are Tom Wopat, who created the role of “Luke Duke,” Catherine Bach, known to the world as “Daisy Duke," Sonny Shroyer, who played “Deputy Enos,” and Rick Hurst, who portrayed “Deputy Cletus.” Ben “Cooter” Jones and Alma Viator, the proprietors of Cooter’s in Music City, the Dukes of Hazzard Museum and shop on McGavock Pike, are hosting the shindig.

“The amazing thing about our show is that it seems as fresh and new as ever,” says Ben Jones, who played the sidekick mechanic “Cooter” on the show. “All over the world, folks watch the 'Dukes' in different languages, and they watch it with their children. The kids who grew up watching it back in the early '80s are watching it with their own kids now. And some of them are watching with their grandchildren! That’s the greatest compliment our show could have.

“When we first came on the air, the television critic for the Los Angeles Times said, 'This show won’t last past the first commercial break,'” says Jones. “Just goes to show you, never pay attention to your critics!”

Hazzard County 40th Birthday Celebration is FREE to attend
@ Cooter's Place in Nashville!

10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Special events will have VERY LIMITED AVAILABILITY and will require a ticket purchase to attend so get yours NOW!

TICKETS