Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mucha Lucha

I like lucha libre as much as the next guy (unless that guy is Reis, in that case he enjoys it quite a bit more). Lucha libre or "Catch" as we called it here, was very big in Argentina during the 70s and 80s, the influence of masked Mexican wrestling was significant enough for us to have our own mythical wrestling show called Titanes en el ring (Titans on the ring).


Awesome. Also, disturbing. Also, awesome.

Then things started to get silly and when kids weren't interested enough in the original characters of the show, they used characters that were popular at the time, like... I shit you not... Voltron!



You know you have taken a wrong turn in life when a guy in a Voltron suit is kicking your sorry ass...

So, as a kid that grew up with that, you can assume two things:
1) I love Voltron!
2) I love masked wrestler action figures.

Sadly I never started a collection of this. I was always tempted, but the crappy toys we used to have are still way to crappy to track them down. I've seen several great toys in Mexico, but I'm not that familiar with those luchadores. So, I'll just pass on them.

Some time ago, I found one site in the Interwebz with some kick-ass toys and I promised I would buy them on sight. The site is called muttpop and the series I loved so much is just called Lucha Libre.

There are not a lot of figures on the line, they are a lot of repaints. And I would have killed for one of this:



Dr. Destruction!

Or even this one:



El Panda.

Look at those guys, they are great!

The only problem with them is that they are not that easy to find (almost impossible in Argentina), and they are quite pricey. But I was just lucky enough to find one the minis (at an affordable price) in my recent trip to San Francisco. And, as I said, I wasn't going to let this one escape.



The Mini Gobi is an amazing vinyl toy. The expression with the white eyes and the grin. I just love everything about this figure. It's like a little sleazy luchador. And his luchador name should be The Weasel or something like that. As I said he comes in a variety of different colors and designs:



But I like the original better. I was really happy with it. My only problem is that he has some problems standing up and he tends to fall down, but, if placed against the back of the shelve he just looks good enough to make me forget that.

The thing that really gets me about this figure are the two cigarettes he's holding at the same time. That just cracks me up... I sense a demotivational toy poster coming...



Until next time.

Muuuuuuucha Luuuuuuuuuucha (I miss that show).

7 comments:

AAAGGGHHH!!! said...

Those Muttpop and other vinyl toys are tough to find here also. Only a select few specialty shops have them.
Do you know about Kaiju Big Battel? I saw that live once, it was mondo fun! I doubt they tour in your neck of the woods though.

chrismandesign said...

i saw these guys a time ago... they could b classified as Designer Toys (in fact, they r) some of this kind of toys r available at my country, but not these ones specifically... anyway, designer toys r costly in all their flavors (presentations) but they worth while doubtless... jejeje... we hav lucha libre shows here yet, they hav kinda weird & creative "artistic" names... that was so freak LOL

Monsterforge said...

If your figure has a problem standing up, take a hair dryer and heat him up until the vinyl is very soft. Then gently bend it so that the figure will stand. Quickly dunk the figure in ice cold water to set the plastic... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I have fixed a lot of vinyl toys this way. You may have to do it more than once, but it's better than having a drunk toy on your shelf. I have an Ultraman that came out of the box with such a lean that he could not stand at all. I did the heat and set method and he's been fine ever since.

BTW: that luchador up there with the yellow and red costume looks like he needs his own Masters of the Universe figure.

Tom Freak said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tom Freak said...

AAAGGGHHH!!!: I haven't seen that Kaiju, I actually don't know what it is, but I have the feeling it will be worthy to check out! Thanks for the tip.

Chrisman: We have Lucha shows now here too, but they started again recently after quite some time. It's still great fun though...

Monsterforge: Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. I had to do some research, because I didn't remember who that yellow/red luchador was. The result is amazing. He's name was "Yolanka". Yolanka was the name of a yoghurt brand, that was a big sponsor of the show, so they actually made a character that was a mascot for the yoghurt. They did it again later with a Tang-like juice. They created a character for it.

Also, Lion-O and Batman were wrestlers too for a while. I didn't remember that either.

Monsterforge said...

Now I want to go to Argentina even more than before!!!

Tom Freak said...

You are welcome to come here any time, I'll take you to the toy hot spots in town!