See Spot. Spot is Cool. Cool Spot! Cool!

When I was a kid, I don't know if you could've called me "cool". I guess I was kind of awkward, and I didn't go out of my way to fit it. I knew what cool was though, and I knew that there were those who would always be cooler than others. And when I was a kid, no one, and I mean no one, was cooler to me than Cool Spot (the mascot for 7-Up back in the late 80's/early 90's). 7-Up isn't even my favorite brand of pop, but I can't deny the Spot.

After all these years, I still think Cool Spot is the coolest thing out there. If there's ever time to kill and I have a pen and paper, you can bet I'll kill that time by doodling some Cool Spot. Sugar Bear, Chester Cheetah, and Fido Dido are all cool mascots, but nobody out-cools Cool Spot. So naturally, when I found out there were Cool Spot toys, I had to get them.

So far my Cool Spot collection is small (there's only two items). I know there's some other stuff out there like a nifty plush Cool Spot that turns inside-out into a 7-Up can, but I think this bendy version will probably be the best I come across. It captures the character's look perfectly and gives you all you really need from a Cool Spot figure. Well, I guess an version figure with cool accessories would be totally rad, but that probably won't be happening any time soon.

My other champion of the "uncola" is a wind-up version. You wind him up, and he goes for a (super cool) walk. He's also got bendy arms to act out what ever cool things you need him to do. To account for all the wind-up whats-its inside, this Cool Spot is a little disproportioned looking. The spots on his shoes are also strangely on the backs instead of the sides. He's still obviously Cool Spot though, so I can't complain.

I got both of these figures off of eBay, so I wasn't able to carefully select the ones I got. The bendy figure has some scars in the plastic, and even though the wind-up figure was new on the card, he still has some scratches. Those imperfections do bother me, but that's the joy of eBay for you. You make your bids and hope for the best. It's not like I could have found these guys in any old store, any way.

A little while back I borrowed an old VHS recording of "Claymation Christmas" (featuring the California Raisins) from a co-worker. They taped it off the TV, so it still had all the old commercials, including a Cool Spot ad. When I saw that, I ~~almost~~ lost my frickin' mind. That's how.... cool.... I am. I'm a sucker for a cool mascot, and I'd like to find toys of Fido Dido, Pepsi Man, Chester Cheetah, Kevin (from Chips Ahoy), and the like. Cool Spot will always be the king, though.

Cool Spot, Cool Spot, and Snake-Eyes. Shut the window. It's just TOO COOL in here.

What else can I say? As a kid I was cool enough to know how cool Cool Spot was, so I guess I must have been cooler than I though. Now how about some classic Cool Spot videos?

- Cool Spot video game intro

- Cool Spot "Diet 7-Up" commercial

- Cool Spot "pool hall" commercial

- Cool Spot "Christmas" and "Spot phone" ads (I NEED that phone!)

- Cool spot "uncola" commercial

- Cool Spot "Santa" commercial

- Cool Spot "dog" commercial

See what I did there? I posted links to 7 different Cool Spot videos. Get it? 7? I'm so cool.