Eyeballs on Parade

It's anniversary time at the Plastic Eyeball again!  I can't believe another year has gone by already.  I've been slacking with the posts lately, but an anniversary is as good a reason as any to get back at it.

Now, my blog is called "The Plastic Eyeball", but how many plastic eyeballs have actually been spotlighted here?  NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!  To mark the blog's second anniversary, I've decided to show off most (if not all) of my eyeball collection.  This is gonna be pic heavy, so I'll keep the chatter to a minimum.  Some of these things have been spotlighted already, and some will get the proper treatment down the road.  Until then, let the Parade of Eyeballs begin!

I had to start off with one of the original eyeball heads to appeal to me, AFC Blinky from Bucky O'Hare.  He's a classic figure for me, and still one of my all-time favorite eyeball heads.

Another old classic is Optikk from the He-Man line.  I don't have my original anymore, but I do have his modern update from the Masters of the Universe Classics line!  I do miss the action feature of the original, but there's no denying that this is one fiiiine looking figure.

Beetlejuice isn't someone you'd expect to see in the Parade of Eyeballs, but this is Shish-Kebab Beetlejuice.  He's special.  Why?

Because you can pop his head off, and there's an eyeball head underneath!

Orb-It from Creepsters looks like he could be the deluxe vehicle for Eye Pus from Savage Mondo Blitzers.

And speak of the devil, I couldn't leave Eye Pus out of the parade, could I?  He's another one of those figures that made eyeball heads appeal to me early on.

My friend Alexx from Toys and Tomfoolery sent me these a while back, and I think they're pretty fun.  I've seen ladybugs and animal printed racers from this series as well, but the eyeballs are what it's all about.

Next up is the Skeleton Man from Scooby Doo!  I'm not really a big Scooby Doo fan (A Pup Named Scooby Doo is all I got into as a kid), but I know a cool eyeball headed toy when I see one.  This one adds another thing that always appeals to me as well: skeletons!  The skeleton pattern on the body glows in the dark, and I likes me some glow.  I've never seen the episode these guys show up in, so I have no idea why he comes with a bucket o' clams.  But they're removable!  So there's that...

Alexx was kind enough to send me this glow-in-the-dark version of the Skeleton Man in our last trade.  Maybe he's like the supercharged version of the regular guy?  All he needs now are some glow-in-the-dark clams.

Ok, when there's something you like, you have to let as many people know as you can.  That way, if they like you, they'll try to hook you up with the stuff that you like.  Alexx also sent me this little gem here, and I can't believe I never got him as a kid.  He's absolutely perfect.  The spring loaded eye-boobs are a bit weird, but he's still perfect.  His name is Eye Guy, and the name delivers what it promises.

Jagun Fighters was perfect for anyone who likes a lot of eyeballs in their toy lines.  Eyeballs and pottery.

More swag from Alexx!  These guys are from a line called Crashlings, which is kind of Trash Pack-esque, only with less characters to choose from and meteors instead of trash cans to store them.  Each character has a few different versions to get, and I got three of this guy in one set!

OF COURSE Kinnuman/M.U.S.C.L.E. has an eyeball head guy.  They set the bar high for weird way back in the 80's, and they still have some of the strangest looking characters I've seen.  "Gan" is Japanese for eye, and this guy's name is Gan Satan.  So I guess that makes him Eye Satan.  I hope I don't go to Hell for thinking that's cool.

One of the great modern eyeball heads is Eye Brawl from Skylanders.  He even manages to pull off an eyeball/Jack-o-lantern look, somehow.  Mega Bloks also released a version of him, and there's even a little plush finger puppet of his head.  That's how you know you've made it.  I don't have a little plush finger puppet of my head.

I... I haven't made it...

Mega Bloks also did this Skylanders baddie: Biclops.  Not only does he glow in the dark, but he took something normal like having two eyes and really made it his own.

Another modern classic eyeball head is this Dunny, by Mishka.  I love the way his veins just bulge off his eyeball!  And yet his chainsaw says, "don't mess with me".

Here's the background star of the blog himself, Gan-Q!  Or "Eye-Q", which I just got!  Anyway, I also got a smaller version of this cool kaiju when I was in Japan.  He might be less detailed than his big brother, but man his eye is sweet!  There's a layer of transparent plastic over the eye part, which just makes it stand out and look pretty realistic.

This is the newest member of my Gan-Q collection.  He transforms into this gross little egg!  Who doesn't love something that transforms into a gross little egg?

Japan gets the appeal of a nice eyeball monster.  Here's another one!  This is Alien Akumania.

When I was in Japan we were trying to find this fish market that my wife wanted to visit (though who can honestly say why?) when I came across this guy for the first time through a small shop window.  It wasn't even a character goods shop, it was just a little hole-in-the-wall grocery store type of place.  See, that's how I operate.  It doesn't matter where I'm going or what I'm doing, I WILL find the eyeball heads.  Over the course of the trip I would end up getting some keychains, a pen and notepad, and something else (shown at the end of this post) baring this character's likeness, but it wasn't until later on that Medama Oyaji's masterpiece came out...

The little plush guys and the keychains are well and good, but I wanted a real action figure of Medama Oyaji, ya know?  Something that could be the definitive version of the character in my collection.  Well, the Revoltech figure will fill that role perfectly.  I'm not a fan of all the visible joints with Revoltech figures, but they're still usually pretty nice as a whole.  I doubt there will be a better Medama Oyaji toy any time soon, but if there is, I'll make sure to hunt it down.

Some Morbs are more eyebally than other Morbs, but they all try.

This cyclops from Disney's Vinylmations line isn't a true eyeball head, but his eyeball is so well done that I've put him in the parade anyway.  The point is that eyeball heads are my first love, but I'm happy with ANY cool eyeball toy.  Or thing.

Like these guys!  They're simple wind-up toys, but they're great.

These next figures are original custom guys by Eric Nilla and Ironhaus Productions.  The top figure is Eyeklops from their Universe of Violence series, while the bottom one is Dr. Eyeklops Chesterworth, from the much more sophisticated Gentlemen of Violence.

Alexx also sent me this thing.  There's a fine line for what kind of cyclopses appeal to me, and which ones do nothing.  It goes a long way in their favor when their eyeballs are HUGE.

Sometimes if you like to drive fast, you should probably still try to blink.  This guy's going to need some Vizine.

Gotta love POGs.

Of course, the eyeball is a favorite subject for gross-out toys, bouncy balls, and candies.

These are two of my eyeball rings.  Why do I have eyeball rings?  Because they're eyeball rings.

I've got this eyeball whoopee cushion that I must have won from somewhere.  The end is getting all dry and cracked, but it can still be blown up!

I found this eyeball mask at Target.  I bought two, just to make sure at least one of them lasts.  The chance to dress up like an eyeball head doesn't come up very often, but when it does, I'm ready.

Eyeballs even make for great gifts with that personal touch.  My wife gave me this eyeball card for my birthday last year.  Yeah, she gets me!

And Alexx's wife made me this crocheted eyeball bag.  I couldn't believe this thing!  It's awesome, and I was truly touched to receive it.  It also makes for a pretty cool eyeball puppet.

My eyeball wallet.  Well, I guess there's other stuff going on there too, but I'm in it for the eyeballs.  That's practically my motto!

I got this eyeball in Las Vegas.  It's one of those things that you throw at a hard surface and watch it go splat and almost completely flat, and then it pops back to it's regular round shape.  The effect is hard to take pictures of (timing and all that), but I tried...

Turns out these things are actually a lot of fun.  Too bad these balls don't have bodies, or would that be weird?

It would be weird, but it's also hilarious!  The last Medama Oyaji toy I got in Japan was this splat thing here.  Not a bad likeness of the character, but if you throw him...

WHACK!

SPLAT!

BORT!

CHECK OUT THAT ACTION SHOT!

Point is, squishing things is fun.

Lastly, it says something when the only piece I still have from my old TMNT Technodrome playset is the eyeball that goes on top.  It says "I like eyeballs!"  Hopefully I've been able to drive that point home with this post.

Anyway, it's been a fun two years working on this blog.  Bring on year 3!