Mattel Boglins: Mini Boglin Squeel (1988)

Boglins are a toy deeply involved in my life growing up. Although I never owned any until I was about 18 or 19, they scared the ever living crap out of me as a kid. I must have seen the commercial for them (look it up on YouTube and tell me YOU wouldn't get creeped out as a 6-7 year old) and that did it for me. I'd have re-accuring nightmares involving them once a year in grades 3 and 4, and saw the Soggy Boglins on the shelves at Kay-Bee Toys and being very leery of them springing forth from their packages to eat my eyes or something (I got scared a lot as a kid). Then, yeeeears later once the internet came into being (for me in 1997) I saw this image on a Monsters Website of some sort:

It has eyes, just due to the lighting from 1997 when this photo was taken, has
upped the creepy factor by about 1,000%. Yikes.

When I saw that, a flush of memories came back and now those toys I remember being afraid of had a name. That's what changed me from being afraid of these things to being obsessed with finding them and finally getting a chance to own what once scared me. What helped a lot in my searches was eBay, a virtually new site back in 1997-98 and I scored most of my collection from there. Even back then they were hard to find and went for at least 25-$30 MIB. My MISB Snish the Soggy Boglin cost me $60 which at the time was a lot, but it was new and sealed and I had to have it (he'll probably get reviewed soon).

Contents! What do you get??
One rubber Boglin puppet and nothing else aside from the box. This is by no means a bad thing, as this packaging itself doubles as an accessory if not a play set for the rubber monster puppet inside.

Don't let that $1.00 written in black sharpie throw you off...Boglins are the real deal.

They also all came with Species Tag cards to provide us new Boglogists with the needed information and care for our new mutant pet. The Large Boglins had them attached on a plastic connector and looped through a hole in the box, but the Small Boglins had them as punch-out cards on the side of the box...which mine is missing. *sigh*. This will be a pain in the neck to find, but for now know it should be included in a Mint-Complete-Loose Squeel.

Okay cool, tell us about 'em!
The Boglins toy line at it's heart had this one concept: these things are not toys, but rare living creatures found in a swampy bog, crated up and sent to you for safe keeping. If you look all over the box, only the underside of it has any notation that this is really a toy. If the Mattel logo was absent, and the Boglins logo lost the little sentence underneath it, the illusion would be complete.

Squeal outside his "crate" (Front View)

The sculpting on these toys is phenomenal, they all look like they could spring to life at any moment and for a production toy that probably cost you $9.99 back in 1987- that's not a bad deal. The only thing I disliked about the Small Boglins is the lack of a real body like their Large & Soggy Boglins cousins had. I figure it was so A) a kid could more easily puppeteer it and B) they could be sold for a lower price point since there is less rubber being used to make them. They're still great additions the Boglins toy line and since you get 6 different designs to pick from that gives you a lot more options.

Squeal infront of his "crate" (Side View)

This line had fantastic packaging, I mean FANTASTIC packaging. The fact that people threw these boxes away was a damn sin for the level of detail and heart that went into this line is ridiculous. The back of the box, however never gets a lot of attention, so let's change that right now.

I consider myself a professor of Bogology...not that it gets people to call me "Professor" though.

Like I mentioned above, Boglins really went the full mile to sell the whole concept that these are real creatures. The back of the box has a torn up piece of paper "nailed" to the back of the "crate" (hooray for quotation marks!) with the scrawling of a person who discovered these creatures and crated them up for shipment home....which is kinda messed up if you think about it. Your Boglins are all poached kids! Yay!

Fun Fact: The Large Boglins box does not show the Handling Boglins
drawing despite featuring a Large Boglin in it. The more you know!

As I unfortunately lack the Species Tag that came with Squeel (it was punched out of the side of the box LONG before I won it on eBay) so what this little Bohlin's specific personalities, diet, etc. is lost to time. That being said, Mattel tried to make the Boglins as scientifically accurate as possible. All Boglins have a Species and a Genus, much like actual animals.

So, for example, a Frog belongs to the Famly of Amphibians, the Genus is Frog and the Species depends on the type (Bullfrog, Poison Dart Frog, Tree Frog, etc.). With Squeel here, his belongs to the Family of "Boglin", is a part of the Genus "Boglinus Minius" and is of the "Squeel" species.

Yes this is not known often but the name of each of these Boglins are not showing you individuals, but species names. So if you bought and owned a Squeel Mini Boglin you can name him "Fred" or "Steve" if you want: the choice is yours.

I'm glad they never made these with hair, the first four look like they belong in a Barber Shop Quartet.

Note that only the back of the Small Boglins packages do you see them depicted with hair. The hair was removed for reasons I am not privy to, but if you look at the Boglins Commercial you can see some small boggling with hair. This leads me to believe it was a running change and once they hit production the hair got cut. *ba-dum-bum!*

Are WE part Boglin, OR are Boglins part US? *mind blown*

They always hinted that we were somehow linked to Boglins in some way, they never get specific but the family tree on the backs of all the packages always shows an off-shoot with Humans included. Not sure what their plan was for this but it may have always meant to be just a fun thing to think about and never explore.

The back of the package for Mini Boglins, Large Boglins & Soggy Boglins varies but they all have instructions on how to use said Boglins puppet on the bottom.

Behold! The bottom of the Mini Boglins packaging! I bet no one else
on the internet has THIS image. I'm sure everyone spent many a sleepless
night wondering about this...

Should I try to get this brand new?:
If you can find one new, sealed in the packaging and it's within your price range- OF COURSE YOU SHOULD! Boglins are tough to come by and nabbing them still sealed was tricky for me, AND this was back in the early 2000's way before people really started hunting them down. I rarely look for them on eBay these days as they can go for ridiculous prices mint-in-box and as I own at least 1 sample of each size (Mini, Large, Halloween & Soggy) I'm satisfied for the moment.

So what do you really think about it?:
This line is great, pure and simple. One of the secret gems of the 1980's and continuing the theme of "gross toys" that Mad Balls, My Pet Monster, MAD Scientist and others did during that wacky decade. If you are a fan of monsters, puppets, monster-puppets, biology, or even just weird old toys, pick up a Boglin or two. You will not be disappointed.

There are many pictures of Boglins on the 'net, so forgive me if this review is a little light on photography of Squeel. Instead, I decided video would be best for showing off exactly what this little critter looks like. Seeing it move and squish around is worth a thousand words more then a few turn-around photos.

Battle Trolls Month: Trollasaurus & SvenTroll Review (1993)

*I'm talking about my best friend...*

When I was 12 years old back in 1992, there were 4 local stores were I got my toys; Toys'R'Us, Kay-Bee Toys, Caldor (a local department store chain) and Fun Stuff Toys. Fun Stuff was a little mom & pop organization and most of my Battle Trolls card backs have their stickers on them. They closed the location near my house in the mid to late 1990's, but a good deal of my toy purchases went to them. When they didn't have anything I wanted or could afford, Kay-Bee Toys located in a nearby mall was the best way for me to get toys on the cheap. I grabbed this mammoth 2-pack for $7.99 (on clearance from $14.99) and have held onto it ever since even doubling the box as a Battle Troll Carry Case. I was a little...confused when I opened him up and his colors did not at all match the ones plastered all over the box, but more on that later.

It was a cool addition to my Battle Troll collection and I know you all want to see more so let's dive right in and check this tag-team out!

Dinosaur & Viking: Together as nature intended.

Contents! What do you get??
Not as much as you'd think for a MSRP of $12.99-$14.99. Weapon\Accessory-wise you really only get the Log Bazooka and a yellow axe for SvenTroll to wield. That's it. I mean, the box is says this is the Trollasaurus so I guess technically SvenTroll is an accessory for him, not the other way around. What's even funnier then that? NONE of the two accessories that come in this box were newly created for this set. The Log Bazooka is from the Kenner Snap-Up Swamp Thing figure and SvenTroll's yellow axe originally came with the villain Joat from Hasbro's The Pirates of Dark Water toy line. Wow. So, you paid $13.00 back in 1992 and Hasbro did not even toss in a new accessory or two....NC for Not Cool Hasbro...

Somebody call Swamp Thing, make sure he knows his Log Bazooka is missing.

The only reason nobody noticed this was
re-used from the 'Pirates of Dark Water'
toy line is because nobody bought those toys.

SvenTroll: "I am not an accessory! I am a human being!"

So, to review: $12.99 in 1992 money got you a big Troll dinosaur and a re-paint of another figure. What's that you say? He's a repaint!? We'll get to that below...

Okay cool, tell us about 'em!
This pack was the most phoned-in cost-saving set in the entire line (actually, no, the Capture Net with Bulls-Eye Troll was, but I'm not getting into that here...): SvenTroll is a re-paint of Series 1 Trolaf and...wait...no...they didn't: Trolaf came with THE EXACT SAME ACCESSORIES. Same axe, same Log Bazooka both in the same colors.

Brothers separated at birth...

....or just paint variants of the same character?
YOU DECIDE!

SvenTroll (Angled Front View)

SvenTroll (Rear View- Literally!)

SvenTrollaf here is actually very nicely sculpted and I think I like this color of the mold more then the Trollaf version. The lighter colors to the armor, the white beard, the fairer skin (hrrmmm...red hair, fair skin, blue eyes...nope, not trying to be norse at all), the orange hair...it all really allows you to see so much more of the sculpted details. Troll has so many darker hues it really hides a lot, which is a shame as SvenTroll's armor is incredible. All that being said, essentially you were paying for a new Trollasaurus toy whose colors drastically don't match what's on the box AND for essentially a color-variant of the single-carded Trolaf figure.

Like I said, SvenTroll is not a bad figure, but like most Series 1 Battle Trolls, they kinda get out-shinned by their Series 2 & 3 companions. The sculpting on him really is excellent and not really playing up the goofy aspect that the line leans towards more in the next two assortments. This looks like a troll viking warrior AND he has arms posed in such a way to affectively wield weapons and can aim them far better then any of the other trolls we discussed this month.

Now...in Hasbro's defense, this must have been their way of bringing Series 1 into production affordably. Once the line was a success, they had more money and then on Series 2 & 3 they pulled out all the stops on accessories and sculpting. Clearly, in this set, all the attention went to the Trollasaurus. And it's a great toy.

I'm not sure if purple was the best color for a troll dinosaur...

That is quite the sizable chunk taken out of Trollasaurs' spinal
column to put in that saddle. What on earth did
SvenTroll do to him...

Baby got back!

Trollasaurus on the other hand is a great battle mount\new character for your Battle Troll legions. The detailing on the saddle, the scales, the thick imposing legs...he is a beast. His spiked tail is kinda stumpy, but I think getting hit by those gigantic spikes would still ruin your day. I'm not sure which color way of this I would have preferred, but I think the Purple Skin\yellow hair combination was not the best color to pair them with. Maybe a Green skin would have looked good with the hair, or red hair; yellow is just too much of a stark contrast and really pushes this into the obnoxious 90's colors sector...which if that's your bag- great! I don't hate these colors, but had I been given another option, I'd have gone with option 2.

I tried posing Quick Draw Troll on him to see if the added height would make his weapons-aiming-at-the-ground problem go away.

It sorta works....but not so much.

Quick Draw: "Ride like the wind Bullseye!"
Trollasaurus: "......."

It didn't. *sigh*. He looked ok riding Trollasaurus, but the thing was really always designed for SvenTroll (or Trollaf as they are the same sculpt) and works best with him. I had fun as a kid having this duo stomp my other toys, so it's totally good for that. Quick Draw Troll's weapon did work well with SvenTroll though...

SvenTroll: "I'm here to kick-ass and chew bubblegum
....and I'm all out of bubble gum."

Should I try to get this brand new?:
Sure if you can find it for a price you like & want the hair in pristine condition. As long as all the accessories are intact...well, you could get these both loose and always give them the Log Bazooka from Snap-Up Swamp Thing and the axe from Joat, but be aware the two bazookas are different and it won't attach to Trollasaurus unless it's the Battle Trolls one.

So what do you really think about it?:
Despite being heavily re-painted and borrowing parts from all over their company and sister company Kenner, Hasbro did make a fun addition to Battle Trolls with this two pack. Was it worth the original $14.99 price tag? Not so much, but as a single carded Battle Troll retailed between $5.99-and-$7.99 buying these two things separately would cost you a little more.

Wait- who's that purple guy in there??? Watch the video review to find out!

Check the video review out here, and come back next Wednesday for more obscure, unique and un-liscensed toy reviews!

That ends Battle Troll Month here at the Obscura Toy Files, but as I acquire more from this goofy toy line, I will be sure to post reviews of them.

Battle Trolls Month: Series 3 Wolfman Troll Review (1993)

A face only a mother dog could love.

One of the few Battle Trolls I've kept since my childhood, Wolfman Troll was always one of my favorites. Not sure if that was purely because he looks like a gnarly werewolf or because he was the only Series 3 guy I ever owned (until recently, check out reviews here and here), but whatever the reason I am glad I held onto him over the years. Does he have his faults? OH heck yeah, but this does not make him a bad figure in anyway.

I believe once the early to mid 90's hit my parents started giving me an allowance, and this greatly affected what kind of toys I got. This made me think a lot harder about what I was spending my coin on, so as I've been compiling toys for review on this blog I've noticed a pattern appearing of 3 for $5.00 or 3 for $10.00 Kay-Bee Toys stickers. Wolf man Troll falls into that category as he was 3 for $10.00 and probably the main reason he did not end up costing me $20 on eBay decades later. Good job 12 year old me!

Contents! What do you get??
The standard fare with all Battle Trolls is 2 weapons: 1 is typically an 'action weapon' with a finger-flick operated projectile launcher of some kind, usually one that fits the theme of the troll in question. The second one is a solid PVC accessory either in the form of a melee or ranged weapon.

Just make sure to scratch him behind his ears, he's less likely to bite you that way...

Wolf man comes with 2 accessories, but his projectile launcher, a tombstone that fires a doggy bone, barely fits in his hand and can not even aim it at an opponent. Fortunately, it does stand up on it's own extremely well and can serve as scene decoration OR a shield for Woflman Troll...sorta. *sigh* Well at least he comes with a bad-ass melee weapon.

Rest in Peace is right, this
accessory died before it
left Hasbro's offices.

At least the doggy bone projectile can be turned into a cool
battle stick or cane. Right? RIGHT??

SvenTroll: "Wait, you're sure you don't want this back??"
Wolfman Troll: "I'm positive, you're the only one of us who can aim it anyway."

I can say with the utmost certainty that this would STING LIKE HELL
if you got smacked with it. A doggy bone launching tombstone is nothing.

Hol-lee-crap. Just look at that thing. Now, imagine getting a wolf man with above-average strength, whipping that thing around and landing just one hit on you. I made a mistake, that tombstone launcher is not a shield or for Wolfman Troll, it's to mark the graves of the enemies he has slain with this death on a chain. Wow. Crazy melee weapons aside, we used to use Wolfman Troll's fangs and claws to mess up our other toys in battle, so his lack-luster accessories were never a focal point of our adventures.

Okay cool, tell us about 'em!
Wolfman Troll does not have tons of hidden details to his sculpt aside from a few spots where his clothes are torn and his gray fur would have poked through. Typically, those small details are cut out during production as paying for extra paint applications can significantly increase the cost of the toy. Thankfully, here this does not distract from his overall look which is really phenomal. The detail of the fur, the teeth, the pointy ears and the awesome wolf-feet just makes this toy all aces. The colors here are blatantly Halloween Orange & Black and what better figure to put them on then a werewolf. Easily one of the best sculpted Battle Trolls of Series 3 with the attention to replicating fur alone placing it over the top.

I'm also a big fan of how they sculpted his legs, I believe the term is "degi-grade" and it is seen a lot on mutant animal characters AND the gargoyles on Disney's Gargoyles. It's great to see a more beastial werewolf here instead of the traditional wolf-man look. That look is good too, but it's great to see variety tossed in there.

Wolfman Troll (Front View)

Woflman Troll (Angled Front View)

Wolfman Troll (Side View)

Wolfman Troll (Rear View)

As mentioned in other Battle Trolls reviews, Wolfman Troll was afflicted with the most horrible of ailments: crappy arm positioning and low articulation counts. All Battle Trolls swivel at the waist and to Wolfman Troll's benefit he was given a slightly angled waist cut. This allows him to turn into a slightly useful wait to at least attempt to swing his weapon at someone. Plus, since he's a werewolf you can just have him jump maul your other toys and leave his weapons completely out of it. He really is a great example of a tie: what you don't get sucks but what you do get makes up for that.

Franken Troll: "Hey Wolfman Troll, are you coming by later for- YEEARRGGH!!!"
Wolfman Troll: "OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry Franken Troll!"
Franken Troll: "How many times have I asked you to STOP
leaving your weapons lying around!?"

Like all Battle Trolls, Wolfman Troll comes with a bio card detailing just what this crazy were-wolf-troll is all about. They are all more tongue & cheek/goofy then informative bios like on the Transformers, G.I. Joes & Ninja Turtles figures...but what else would you expect about a toy line of crass, bad-attitude laden troll dolls?? Feel free to save this file for your collection in case you lost your original one.

(Clip & Collect!)

Should I try to get this brand new?:
Most of the time I say yes because you want all the toy's accessories intact and in good condition, but Wolfman Troll does just fine on his own without any weapons. I think this is because he's a werewolf and you typically don't need weapons to make him more formidable- he's already a monster.

So what do you really think about it?:
This is a great Battle Troll, or even just a great werewolf toy. If you are a fan of the old Universal Monster films and want another werewolf/wolfman toy to add to your collection, this is a great one to add. His stance is ferocious and intimidating already so even with his arms in a lousy position for effectively wielding his weapons, his articulation does help that a little tiny bit. If you can find him loose and with a price you can afford pick him up, you should not be disappointed.

So a Scuba Diver, Werewolf & Cowboy walk into a bar...wait a minute: is this some kinda joke?!?

Also, be sure to check out the video below for a hands-on look at Wolfman Troll so you guys can see how his articulation works (what little of it there is..) and how his weapons look in real-time video. I prefer doing reviews two-fold so you can all get a good impression of the toy that still photography just can not replicate.

Battle Troll month has it's last review next week and we're going out with a bang! So be sure to check back here next Wednesday to see what it is (pssst: it's the Trollasaurus).

Battle Trolls Month: Series 3 Quick Draw Troll review (1993)

I was never much into role-playing with guns or gun-related games like Cowboys & Indians, or Army  Men, anything like that was not my bag really. Once I hit 12-13 though I guess my testosterone started to flow and when Nerf blasters began to hit retail, I was all ready to load up. That being said, Westerns and cowboys were never things I recall being 'into', my Dad loves them and I've watched and appreciate the genre more in the last 10 years then I have my entire life. So when I saw there was a Cowboy Battle Troll on eBay, I reckoned I done had to pick 'em up. Pilgrim. *cough* Okay, anyways...

Quick Draw Troll here is apart of the rarer (but not so rare they should cost you upwards of $25 a piece, some people just get high-price happy) Battle Trolls Series 3 and Hasbro definitely saved a lot of the better sculpts and concepts for last.

Contents! What do you get??
The standard fare with all Battle Trolls is 2 weapons: 1 is typically an 'action weapon' with a finger-flick operated projectile launcher of some kind, usually one that fits the theme of the troll in question. The second one is a solid PVC accessory either in the form of a melee or ranged weapon.

"So what'll it be? Death by rattle snake...or death by bullet?"

There are a few exceptions to this rule, but today's review sample is not one of them. Quick Draw comes with a solid orange 6-shooter that fits in his right hand and a big ol' honkin' shot-gun that shoots....two rattle snakes tied together with rope.

I'm not kidding.

Bright orange so people know when to duck!

Talk about shooting with live ammunition...

Top view of 'Side-Winders'

Bottom View of 'Side-Winders'

He has got some great accessories, and a double-barreled rattle-snake shotgun has got to be by far the coolest weapon a cow boy could own. It's crazy how you can't even tell that's what this weapon shoots from seeing MOC pictures of it. I easily thought it just fired 2 yellow projectiles, but rattle snakes??? I'm sorry, that's just epicness right there...

Okay cool, tell us about 'em!

Quick Draw Troll (Front)

Quick Draw Troll hits all the stereotypical cow-boy bench marks: the boots, the chaps, 6-shooter strapped to his hip, bandolier of bullets, cow-boy hat, etc... He has brown gloves and his right hand is sculpted with his trigger finger out so he can ease it on the trigger of his 6-shooter and holds it pretty well. It has a tendency to pop out if you bump it into anything, but that's a flaw in the sculpting of the handle as it's flat instead of rounded. His 'Side-Winder Shotgun' (and this is how I will refer to it from now on) is big, imposing and fits well in his left hand, although due to the size he has a hard time aiming it....and this brings us to the bad points about this figure.

Quick Draw Troll (Rear View)

Quick Draw Troll (Left Side)

By this point you will all know that Battle Trolls feature only one point of articulation: their waist. Most times the positioning of their arms and the angle of the waist cut complement one another allowing you to turn the waist and this angles the arm up just enough so your figure can actually aim it's weapon at a target. Unfortunately that is not the case on Quick Draw Troll. Either by accident or design, his arms are sculpted downwards in a sort of 'getting ready to draw his 6-shooter' stance, and that's fine...if you could move his arms up and down. Clever camera angles make it seem like he can hold it well, but if you see how he moves in the video below, you'll see what I mean.

It's such a shame as this is really a fun, nicely sculpted figure with a ton of detail in it; he has a scorpion on his left foot, a rattle snake wrapped around his hat and a cow skull on his belt. Not to mention a scar and a stitched up scar on his right and left cheeks. His white hair compliments his color pallet better then the prototype yellow we saw on his card back and in the Battle Trolls Series 3 commercial, so his look is fine it's just those damn arms....arghhh so annoying.

Quick Draw Troll (Waist Turned to the Left...and it still doesn't help..*sigh*)

Like all Battle Trolls, Quick Draw Troll also has a bio card on the back of his packaging so you his new owner can learn everything about him...or everything the writer could fit within the yellow box he was given to use. No pressure there, just surmise everything about this character to within the confines of a stick of gum.

I made sure to take a very clear shot of the card back so incase any of you at home are missing his bio card, you can save this for your own use.

(Clip & Collect!)

Should I try to get this brand new?:
As most Series 3 Battle Trolls are tricky to get ahold of complete unless they are MOC (Mint on Card) I would advise getting him carded. Granted his weapons are not very tiny, but the dual rattle-snake ammo for his Side-Winder Shotgun could easily get lost by a 5 year old kid back in 1993, and if you want a complete figure you may need to pony up the dough for a sealed sample. I paid $12.99 for mine and as they originally retailed for about $5.99 23 years ago, that is not a bad mark-up.

Remember: a toy is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. I see sellers all the time list items for exorbitantly high prices, prices no one would ever pay and as there simply are no collectors of that particular item or line who would or could afford those prices, the sellers rarely sell the items. There were a total of 3 mainstream Troll-themed toy lines in the 1990's, and as Battle Trolls is more widely known due to being produced by Hasbro, I think they garner more attention. A carded Battle Troll should run you between $15-and-$25 depending on rarity and the seller, any more then that is a little ludicrous.

So what do you really think about it?:
I am very conflicted on this figure. It comes with great accessories, an amazingly fun, detailed sculpt and it really fits the bill of a Cow boy themed Battle Troll.....it's just it's blasted limited articulation that gets to me. Were this figure made out of soft PVC plastic you could heat the arms up in boiling water, bend them into a new position and then chill them in the freezer until the new position took hold...but this figure is made of some sort of soft hollow vinyl eliminating any attempts of doing this trick. It might still work, but the arm would look a little flat at the bending point which could look a little weird. Or maybe get him a toy horse of appropriate size for him to ride, then he'd be aiming down at people not on horse back and that could fix the issue too.

If that doesn't bother you go for it. Quick Draw Troll is a great addition to the Battle Troll collection and will look great on your shelf or in your toy box.

"Surf and Turf anyone??"

Check out the video below for some in-hand visuals of how Quick Draw Troll moves and feels, pictures can only tell so much so video really helps give you the full experience.

Battle Troll Month has 2 more reviews left so be sure to come back here next Wednesday for a new review AND a new video over on the YouTube channel.