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Tuesday 30 April 2019

Sir Bedevere Action Figure by Diamond Select Toys

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In 2003 Diamond Select Toys launched their first series of "Talking" 7 inch Monty Python and The Holy Grail action figures, housed in blister card packaging. 

Included with each figure, apart from their scabbard, sword and shield is a stand with a Grail-shaped button which when pressed plays a line of dialogue spoken by each character during the film.

Three figures were released at this time; King Arthur,Sir Bedevere and Sir Robin - Each one was cast to look just like Grahame Chapman, Terry Jones and Eric Idle in their respective roles.

A further three figures were planned to be released as Series 2 in 2004, the proposed figures were; John Cleese as Sir Lancelot, Terry Gilliam as The Bridge Keeper and Michael Palin as Sir Galahad.

According to the Announcement on Daily Llama, posted on 5th August 2003, where they debuted their prototypes of Series one and their plans for a continuation of the series, 10,000 to 50,000 units of each figure were to be shipped and sold in Comic Book Stores and Collectable Shops.


At the same time as I bought my Dead Collector from Monty Python Online, I saw they had a Sir Bedevere 7 inch Talking Figure for sale as well, so of course, I added him to my basket too!

This earned me a cool bonus, which I'll tell you about in a little while...


I know you can't see his face very well in the photographs I've added here, so you'll just have to believe me on this one... The sculpt is very well done and looks very similar to Terry Jones, as do the Sideshow Toy versions.


The back of the packaging  states the following:

Arthur, King of the Britons, sends his Knights of The Round Table on a quest throughout his kingdom in search of The Holy Grail, plagued by obstacles such as rude Frenchmen, swamp kings, knights who request shrubbery cut down with a herring and a killer rabbit that decimates their ranks, the Monty Python troupe puts an entirely fresh spin onto a classic tale.

Each figure includes a sword, shield, scabbard and a base that includes three lines of the character's dialogue from Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

All figures sculpted by Gabriel Marquez.


As this figure comes in a blister pack, opening his package will very likely damage it beyond repair and as I like to keep my toy's packaging, to store them I finish posing and playing with them, I'm not planning to open him any time soon.

But luckily the package has a "try me" opening in the front - the button is in the form of a golden Grail-shaped button which when pressed plays a line of dialogue, just the one though so I presume the other two can be heard once the stand is removed from it's package.

If you click the above video you can hear Sir Bedevere suggest a solution to the "Trojan Rabbit" debacle!


As I mentioned earlier I got an added bonus when I ordered my figures last year, it came in the form of a free 12 inch vinyl single of "Always look on the bright side of life"!


This copy is dated 2014 - released a week before the World Cup began; and is a limited edition, bearing the number  000314/500 in the top right corner.

Side A is credited to Eric Idle apparently the lyrics were adapted for use during the World Cup in Brazil as a preemptive for England's failure to win.

According to an article in The Independent Newspaper; The new verse is sung as follows:

“When you're in The World Cup, And all your hopes are up, And everybody wants their team to win.“Then they go and let you down, And come slinking back to town, It's time for this daft song to begin.”

The B-side is titled "An Apology from Bernard" and credited to the entire Python Team.

It contains a sketch, unavailable anywhere else and features Michael Palin as Bernard from the record company with input from Terry Jones and the late Graham Chapman.







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Monday 29 April 2019

🧟 Pocket Zombies - Wondoo by Atomfreak Studios 🧟‍♀️

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December 2010, saw the release of a three figure series of 6-inch tall zombies from Sideshow Collectables in collaboration with Alex Rodrigue from Atomfreak Studios.

This set of figures were the first wave of a planned series of characters from different walks or should that be shambles? of life, depending on if this set gained enough interest to make it viable.

It seems that unfortunately there wasn't a big enough fan-base to warrant another set or series as the only ones I've seen available are the original three which were released under the theme "The Family".

The set consists of a young girl called Apple, her younger brother called Ted-E and their pet dog called Wondoo...

Each one has a cute little back story:

"The Pocket Zombies are adorable little Zombies always ready to laugh and, of course, to play with your delicious BRAIN!"

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 Apple is the older sister of Ted-E, she always plays pranks on him, such as replacing the brain in his lunchbox with a cabbage. Her favourite food is Raisin Brain Cereal, her favourite music is Brainey Smear and she dislikes blonde pop singers.

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Ted-E and his older sister Apple have tons of fun roaming the streets of Braindale City. His favourite food is Brain Booger, his favourite game is Basketbrain and he dislikes Broccoli, and people moving too fast!

Here's a picture of the back of Wondoo's box, which tells you everything about his likes/dislikes and favourite things to do.


The two human figures are approximately 6 inches tall, made of vinyl and not articulated. Wondoo is about two inches shorter, but even so, he is a very detailed little figure.

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I wasn't aware of these figures when they first came out, and just recently happened upon a little zombie dog in a box on a Pet Charity site.

Well, you know me, I love zombies, I love animals and I'm more than happy to give my money to a charity that runs homes and adoption centres form animals in need of love and understanding.

So of course, I didn't think twice about getting him.


Although, I really couldn't see him very well inside his box due to his position inside and the angle of the photographs but he's a dog and a zombie so I knew if he looked anything like he did in the box art, I was going to love him, not only that Tofu my Vegan Zombie was bound to adopt him as a little pet of his own!


The back of his box shows him having fun with his family, which kind of resembles a twisted version of Lilo and Stitch, which makes it appeal to me even more!


On opening his box, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is decorated inside with cute little zombie themed images which is a great touch, and gives the figure an extra hint of quality.


Sitting on top of his plastic packaging, was a little Pocket Zombies card, which when turned over, shows another drawn image of him, his number in the set and information about the company that produced him below.


Another great touch, is the inclusion of two little flies, you can't actually affix them to him as they don't have plugs, and the figure doesn't have holes to support them, but it is a cute little addition, because as we all know Zombies would more than likely be covered in flies if they were real.


The box also contains a small stand, which is needed as his head is heavy and causes him to fall onto his face if you attempt to pose him without it!


As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the best vinyl figures I've seen in a long while. He looks just like the box images and the prototype images I've posted above.

He has one shorter, tatty little ear, that has a hole in it from where it's rotted away, no bottom jaw so his tongue just hangs down and one of his front legs is just a little bone with no foot on the bottom...


His base is moulded to look like a man-hole cover and is not only useful to hold him upright but it also can be used to position his little flies!

One other thing I love about him is the detailing on his tongue, unfortunately my photographs don't really show the definition very well, but in person, it has little "taste buds" all over it.

He is very weighted too for a figure of his size, which again says quality to me. 

Wondoo, is a very welcome addition to my collection, although unfortunately I can't really find out much about these figures and even less on Wondoo in particular, but that kind of adds to his appeal.

 I like that he has an air of mystery, even if it is orbited by flies!!









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