Diener Thimble Theater Popeye and Friends...bootlegs or?

I've had these little plastic Popeye and friends figures for a few years now. I found them at the flea market, so I had no idea what their provenance was. They are merely marked with the copyright symbol and '1980 K.F.S.' They seem to me to be like game pieces or something, but today I read over at Little Weirdos that there were Diener erasers that look just like these guys.

But all of mine are a hard plastic - not eraser material at all! On the right is an actual Diener eraser figure - we all had these back in the day...I think they were even some of the early McDonald's Happy Meal toys...but my Popeye bunch aren't even remotely made of the same material. In addition, the Diener robot actually has 'Diener' on his back. Could the Thumble Theater players be bootlegs?

I have two Popeyes, a yellow one and a blue one.

I also have Brutus (not Bluto) which is cool, because I don't own any other Brutus merchandise.

I like the blue Popeye best, the color really brings out the design.

A yellow Olive Oyl.

An orange Swee' Pea.

And last but not least, an orange Wimpy.

Here's another look at that Diener eraser Zama robot. These guys are super soft and squishy. I know later Diener monsters and such were of a harder rubber, but still rubber. The Popeye cast and crew are a solid plastic. So I am not entirely convinced that what I have are official Diener figures. I think they may be bootlegged versions made into plastic, unless Diener sold the molds later on, or possibly released them as figurines too?

UPDATE: According to this post at Neato Coolville, the Diener figures were made in different degrees of hardness. These Popeye figures may just be made of the hardest material they produced. Not effective as erasers, but let's face it, none of us used these things as actual erasers, they were useless as such!

UPDATE #2: Reader Alan C. emailed me to inform me that these figures are Popeye's Chicken Kid's Meal toys from the eighties. Makes perfect sense, considering Diener's association with fast food restaurants, and, well, Popeye/Popeye's Chicken. Unfortunately I also learned there is a Poopdeck Pappy figure, so now my collection feels incomplete!

Weekend Flea Market Haul

Got a chance to hit the flea market this morning. I don't generally like going on Sundays (Saturdays being my preference) because it's a madhouse, and rarely are vendors willing to negotiate on prices when they figure there are hundreds of other schmucks just waiting to pay full price after you're done trying to negotiate a better deal.

But I was wifeless and kidless today, which makes the milling circus sideshow easier to navigate, so I decided to head on out this morning and see what I could find...

Probably the coolest and most surprising find was this Popeye water gun from the seventies/eighties. I've seen similar examples that portray Batman, with their unfortunately placed triggers and plugs, and couldn't pass this one up for the low price of a dollar! I actually talked this one down from two dollars, so maybe people are willing to haggle on Sundays after all. I'll probably trade or sell this one off - I LOVE Popeye but other than my action figure collection, I don't really collect Popeye memorabilia (partly because so much of it is just...odd...like this squirt gun.)

I actually found this Red Baron Fokker DR 1 painting at the Goodwill on Saturday, so it's not a flea market find, but for $4.25, I had to have it. It is now hanging proudly in our kitchen, making it appear an 80 year old man lives here.

These books set me back a quarter each. Frank Miller's Ronin and a Spring 1990 issue of Weird Tales. Each is a little roughed up, but they should be good reads regardless. I also found a couple collected Simpsons comics for my Step-son's birthday, but those are already wrapped up!

Last but least, I got these Spongebob and Patrick Lego minifigures in a bag with a few plastic dinosaurs for 75 cents. Hear me now and believe me later: I HATE Spongebob and Patrick. I hate the show, I hate these inane little turds, I hate their idiotic shrill squeeling. HATE HATE HATE!

But I like Lego minifigures and for 75 cents, I figured I could at least trade them off or sell them...or torture them...

Ahhh, that feels better!

Well, that's it for my Sunday finds. Not too shabby!

Cold Front

We have a tiny little Lego display here at home, which simply consists of Lego Hula Girl standing on a green 'island' and Lego Sailor 'flirting' with her. The sailor's 'wink' is just too perfect not to take advantage of, you know. As is the girl in the grass skirt - ba-dum-bum.

But it's winter, so I modified the display to reflect the season.

I'd Glady Blog This Tuesday but I'd Rather Blog Today.

I've posted a few of my Popeye action figures in the past, and have often claimed I would roll them all out someday. Well, that day has finally come. Behold!

Yup, that's everything. The only figures from the series I don't have are a repainted Popeye, Bluto and Olive Oyl as well as an exclusive (FAO Schwarz, I believe) three figure set of the trio in "black and white." But as for original/non-repaint figures, I have them all!

This Popeye series of action figures began it's run in the early 2000s. They started out available at Toys R Us where I found the first series (and maybe other places too,) and then became more and more difficult to obtain as the series continued on and finally ended around a third release (which was mostly repaints.) They were manufactured by Mezco Toys.

I worked hard tracking everyone down from this series, and a straggler or two took me a few years to finally acquire, but I did it and I am pretty proud of my Popeye collection - one of the finest series of action figures ever made in my honest opinion. So without further ado, let's run down the figures individually, shall we?

We'll start small. Swee'Pea was actually released as an accessory along with Olive...

...and repainted in a blue sleeper when released as an accessory along with Alice the Goon.

Eugene the Jeep was an accessory released with J. Wellington Wimpy.

The main man, Popeye the Sailor. This was the first Popeye released in series one, in his classic sea-faring outfit. Popeye has a waist-twist punch action feature ala classic MOTU action figures. His pipe and hat are removable, and he came with a bunch of accessories including an anchor, a can of spinach or two, a picture frame which reads "Me Pappy," a set of shark teeth...

...and a removable muscle (read: muskle) with a battleship tattoo.

A personal favorite, the series two featured Poopdeck Pappy. Pappy came with a treasure chest (which contained a can of spinach, natch) and a hammock. His hat and pipe are also removable.

Olive Oyl is a "bendy" figure and has a removable hat and a purse. Olive was released in series one. She also came with Swee-Pea and a heart-shaped picture frame with Popeye on one side and Bluto on the other. The Harlot!

J. Wellington Wimpy came with Eugene, a tray full of burgers, a couple loose burgers of various levels of consumption, and a meat grinder. Wimpy came out in series one.

Series one Bluto came with a barbell and 2000 lb. weight. He has an "upper-cut" punch feature when you lock his right arm back and click a button on his back.

One of the last original figures to be released and the rarest and hardest to come across is Alice the Goon. Alice came out in series three with a repainted Swee'Pea. Alice's hat is not removable.

The Sea Hag came out in series two, with her vulture Bernard and a magic flute accessory.

Pea Coat Popeye was inspired by the Robin Williams live action Popeye film. He came out in series one. His hat and pipe are removable and he has a "twisker fisk" feature - you wind his right fist up and it spins when you push a button. Pea Coat Popeye also came with a treasure map, a duffel bag...

...and a removable muskle tearing out from his coat sleeve.

Deep Dive Popeye from series three represents Popeye in a classic diving suit. His helmet is removable as are his lead shoes. He's even smoking a pipe under there! He came with a buoy and hose attachment as well as a treasure chest with spinach in it (repainted Pappy accessory.)

Scuba Bluto from series three came with removable scuba tanks and a knife and sheath that straps to his arm or leg.

Series two's Sailor Bluto came with a torpedo and a bomb. His action feature is the opposite of his "regular" release - his arm snaps back and swings downward, "throwing" his objects instead of an upper-cut motion.
Series two's Sailor Popeye came with one of the best accessories yet - a huge fist that can snap onto any Popeye figure. He also came with a U.S.N. bucket and mop. Of course, his hat and pipe are removable.

Bernard was released as an accessory (or companion) with the Sea Hag. he can be removed from his perch.

Finally we have Storm Gear Popeye from series two. Storm Gear Popeye came with a ship's wheel and piece of the deck, as well as a bent telescope with an eye bulging out of it and an octopus and star fish, and a can of spinach. His hat and pipe are removable.

Well, that's it, my entire Mezco Popeye action figure collection. Now to find a shelf upon which to display them all together.

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" (Sorry, the bomb accessory was just too perfect - I couldn't resist!)

Deep Blu(to)

Yesterday we went over Deep Dive Popeye, so I figured today would be a great day to cover Scuba Bluto!



As mentioned yesterday, Scuba Bluto was released in 2004 in Mezco's Popeye line, specifically in series three.

Obviously they were going for a diving theme for the main characters here, and kudos to the design team for taking a more modern approach with Bluto as opposed to the more antiquated diving accouterments of Deep Dive Popeye. It makes for great contrast and really plays well with the characters' motivations.

Bluto's air tank is removable, but the mouthpiece leaves a large gap between his teeth. However from a playability standpoint the removable tank is certainly a plus. More kudos to the design team on all the Popeye figures because they never sacrificed playability or the fact that these are toys in their designs, yet somehow they managed not to sacrifice design either. Sounds simple enough, yet many toys suffer on one end of the spectrum or the other. Not Mezco's Popeye line.


His scuba mask is not removable, which is fine because it would probably be too easily lost or broken if it did. But you can see his eyes through the plastic lenses and you can tell the head and face were specifically sculpted with this scuba theme in mind. Even his hair is "wet" and matted down. Brilliant!

Bluto's knife sheath is removable but it is held on strongly with a velcro strap so it won't inadvertantly slip off. The strap allows you to resize it to fit his arm or leg, wherever his knife is most quickly reached I suppose.


The knife can be removed from the sheath as well. A knife is understandably a vital component to any diver's equipment, but it does add a certain level of menace to the figure. Maybe he'll only use it to innocently and cartoonily cut Popeye's airhose, and not try to gut him at the sea floor like a scene out of a James Bond flick.

Maybe.

Bluto also has a depth meter sculpted to his wrist. Just more great attention to detail.

Please Mezco, I'm begging you...start making Popeye toys again!

Diver Down

The final non re-paint Popeye in Mezco's Popeye toyline, and one of the last I procured to complete my set, is also one of the funnest.

Deep Dive Popeye:

Deep Dive Popeye came out with series three in 2004, and along with Scuba Bluto and Alice the Goon was the only other figure in the set that wasn't a mere re-paint. Series three was also the last series of Popeye action figures Mezco would produce, which is a terrible shame.

Deep Dive Popeye is a gorgeous figure with a super-awesome dive helmet that looks just like something he would wear in the cartoons.

There is some part re-use from earlier figures, but it's in all the right places and he in no way feels like a cobbled together figure. The torso and belt are original to this figure, and the suspenders and helmet base are molded directly to it.

The dive helmet is insanely neat, with rivets and hinges and little plastic "windows" that you can see through...

...and open! Yes Popeye has his pipe, even under water. My dad was a chain smoker when I was a kid, which is one of many reasons Popeye has always reminded me of me pappy.

The helmet has cool details too, like a piece of patch "metal" hammered to the back, presumably over a previous leak. Safety first!

All three windows open to reveal Popeye's pretty face...

...at least, I hope that's his face!

The helmet is also removable, as are the lead boots. The positioning of his head is a bit constricted by the collar, but who cares.

Also included with Deep Dive Popeye is a treasure chest, a buoy and a hose. The hose is supposed to attach to the top of the helmet but the small plastic tip broke the first time I tried it.

The treasure chest was also released with Poopdeck Pappy in series two.

Open it up to reveal Popeye's true treasure...gold dubloons, triploons, and quadrooploons!

Oh yeah, there's a removable can of spinach in there too.

The can has a small tab on the side...


...so you can pop the spinach up for healthy snackin' action!

Say goodnight Bluto, it's clobberin' time!