[YouTube] Fisher-Price in Outer Space

https://youtu.be/lO4SVYIvRdY

From about 1975-1984 Fisher-Price released a series of toys called Adventure People. As the title to this post suggests, I'm focusing here on the space-themed items. Unfortunately, I do not have any of the boxes or catalogs, just a couple sets of instructions. I used the Fisher-Price Collectors Club (FPCC) website as a reference to refresh my memory and match up the correct figures and vehicles. That site has images of the carded figures which I will link to but it does not have images of the complete boxed sets, only descriptions. While I do own many of the space-themed items, the carded figures I do not own include Opticon, X-Ray Man, X-Ray Woman, and Brainoid.

Some of my items aren't in great condition. Firestar lost a couple stickers, Alpha Star's electronic parts don't work, and Alpha Probe is rather dirty though the spots seem to be permanent.

Space Commander
Space Commander is the most basic of the space-themed action figures. It's a senior officer in a red outfit. I've got two of them so I put the front and back in the same photo.

Clawtron
Clawtron is a robot that was not included with any sets. The helmet piece appears to be the same as the Land Speed Racer pilot.

Alpha Pilot
The Alpha Pilot resembles the action figure included with the Alpha Star though it is a different color and was only sold carded.

Astro Knight
The Astro Knight link goes to the blue figure though it was also sold in yellow (FPCC says it is tan) as well, and apparently it was sold with or without a glider. It doesn't make sense to have sold the figure separately from the glider because it doesn't have much mobility and is designed to attach to a glider.

Alpha Probe (1980)
The Alpha Probe looks a lot like NASA's space shuttle. It includes both male and female astronaut action figures. A variation exists with the female character as sets were packaged with either one that has brown hair or one with blond hair. It's also packaged with a smaller ship that can be launched and a cable that attaches to the shuttle and a figure. One of the highlights is that it has two lights and three buttons that trigger sound effects that are powered by one 9-volt battery.

Firestar I (1981)
This one has a variation and two names. Based on the packaging images I've come across I believe I own the Firestar I which is black with gray trim. There is also one that is gray with black trim called Alpha Star I. It includes a cable and one alien action figure.

Alpha Recon (1982)
This is a small orange rover vehicle with a silver satellite attachment and includes one astronaut action figure.

Alpha Star (1983)
This might be the best known space toy from the Adventure People toy line. It's a large white rover vehicle that can be driven manually or powered by two "D" batteries. The front half pulls a trailer and has a detachable cockpit. On the back half is a ramp that lowers to deploy a robot and there is a cage that holds an orange alien creature. An astronaut action figure is also included.

Light Speed Fighter (1984)
The Light Speed Fighter (LSF) is a white ship with a rotating, detachable top piece. This is an "Action Model" version of the Alpha Interceptor that required kids to assemble it using a small, flat metal screwdriver. The LSF is black where the Interceptor is blue and where the LSF is yellow the Interceptor is black. There was no figure packed with the LSF but the Alpha Interceptor did include an astronaut and came already assembled.

As I did with the Millennium Falcon a couple years ago, I made a space image by piecing together individual photos and using Photoshop. My Photoshop skills are not amazing and I really don't know how to work with lighting. I'm posting two nearly identical images, the only difference is one has flames emitting from the Firestar I. I'm not sure if a fictional ship should be able to produce flames in space though fire typically doesn't exist there due to the lack of oxygen (or an oxidizer) but I thought it might look cool and I spent a lot of time trying to make the flames which really don't look that great. I'm also not too sure how the Astro Knights glide in space but whatever, it's all for fun! The land vehicles are sitting on crumpled packing paper (blank newspaper) and I added a few real rocks. 

Jackie Chan: The Digitized Dragon

Happy birthday to martial arts movie star Jackie Chan who turns 66 today. I'm a fan of his movies and own more than 60 of them between VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and digital platforms, but surprisingly I've only played one of of his games and at the time had no idea it was related to a Chan movie. That would be the Data East arcade classic Kung-Fu Master that is known as Spartan X in Japan, and that's also the Japanese title of the film known in North America as Wheels on Meals which stars Jackie (plus Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao). However, other than the Japanese title the only thing the game and movie have in common are character names. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu for the TurboGrafx-16 (TG16) and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and the PlayStation title Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster are probably his best known console games. Those are also the games I have reviews of below.

There are Game Boy Advance (GBA) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) games based on the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures as well, though the PS2 game did not release in the U.S. The GBA has a game based on Around the World in 80 Days too where players control Jackie's character Passeportout (I do have a sealed copy of this one but don't own a GBA!). Other games include five MSX computer titles based on Chan's films and the arcade game The Kung-Fu Master Jackie Chan (1995) which was later updated under the title Jackie Chan in Fists of Fire. Lastly, Jackie has (or had) a Facebook game and a couple of games on the XaviXPORT. If you're unfamiliar with the XaviXPORT, it's a console with motion controls that debuted in 2004 with a strong focus on sports and physical fitness.

Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
One review is for the 1990 NES game and three are for the TG16 version that released in 1992. I'm not certain if the levels are the same but the story is slightly different on each platform. In the NES game the Jackie character needs to rescue his sister Josephine from the Prince of Sorcerers. On TG16 the game has Jackie fighting to rescue his girlfriend Josephine from an evil power.

GamePro - December 1990

GamePro - October 1992

Electronic Gaming Monthly #38

Video Games & Computer Entertainment - September 1992

 Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster
All I've got for this one is a rather short review from Next Generation's March 2000 issue.

Gaming Ads: 7th Level, 21st Century Entertainment, Capstone, Electromedia, FormGen, and id Software

This is a lot of companies to cover in one post but most of them are small and none have more than three ads. It's a backfilling post with new publisher albums because when I first moved from Flickr to Facebook I decided not to give an album to any publisher that only had one ad. However, I've since acquired more ads for each one and so now I'm going back and creating albums. I'll also have an album soon for all the companies with only one ad. I'm going to keep most of these write-ups as brief as possible.

7th level was founded in 1993 and based in Dallas, Texas. In 1997 it merged with Pulse Entertainment and its last games released in 1998. 21st Century Entertainment was founded in 1991 and based in England, and later opened a publishing branch in New York that appears to have only released a few pinball games for home computers. Capstone was a Miami-based subsidiary of IntraCorp and was in business from 1984 to 1996. It published many games featuring movie, TV, or other licenses, such as Home Alone, LA Law, Wayne's World, The Beverly Hillbillies, Terminator 2, and William Shatner's TekWar. I'm not seeing any useful information on Electromedia which I believe is unrelated to a current technology company that uses the same name. Based on the ads I'd say it was a distributor of computer games during the mid-'90s. Founded in 1987 and originally based in Canada, FormGen later moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. It was acquired by GT Interactive in 1996.

Before id Software was founded, a group of developers that included John Carmack, John Romero, and Adrian Carmack worked under the name Ideas from the Deep as a side gig and created the Commander Keen series for Apogee Software. In 1991 id Software was founded and continued to work with Apogee, as well as the aforementioned FormGen. Of course, id is best known for its first-person shooters which began in 1992 with the release of Wolfenstein 3d, then Doom in 1993, and finally Quake in 1995. All three of those game series are still active as is id Software which was acquired in 2009 by ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks.

7th Level albums: Facebook - Google Photos

21st Century Entertainment albums: Facebook - Google Photos

Capstone albums: Facebook - Google Photos

FormGen albums: Facebook - Google Photos

id Software albums: Facebook - Google Photos

The Konix Multi-System

Do you remember the Konix Multi-System? Although I read all my video game magazines cover-to-cover when I was younger, I'd long forgotten about its existence, or almost existence I should say. Based in the U.K., Konix started as an accessory manufacturer that was likely never too well known in the U.S. at the time though it did create the controller that Epyx sold as the 500XJ. In the late '80s the folks at Konix had some big ideas for a game console that used diskettes, so more or less a computer. The Multi-System appears to have been targeting racing and flight simulation fans with the built-in wheel/yoke, and was meant to bring the complete arcade experience home thanks to a motorized chair accessory. After reading these old articles again it sounds as if it was nearly ready to go but it never did release. Despite what was likely a large investment that didn't pay off, Konix is still in business today as it continues to make a variety of gaming accessories.

The primary article below is an interview with Konix president Wyn Holloway (and a bit with Jeff Minter) from Video Games & Computer Entertainment that was published in the November 1989 issue. Beyond that, I scanned any mention of the Konix Multi-System I came across which consists of only three other articles. If I happen to find others I'll add them to this post at a later date. I'm including the full articles even if the Multi-System is just a small part of them so you can read some coverage on systems from NEC, Nintendo, Sega, and Atari as well. The one-page article from Electronic Gaming Monthly #2 has a paragraph about a handheld system from Epyx. If you're unfamiliar with that it is what released as the Atari Lynx. Also, that same page states that "Namco has a machine comparable to the Super Famicom (Super NES) almost completed..." which I know nothing about other than it was never released.

Video Games & Computer Entertainment (November 1989)

Electronic Gaming Monthly (1989)

EGM #2

EGM #4

Electronic Gaming Monthly (#6 - January 1990)

Delay of Game

I'd like to say here is a baseball post because it is MLB's opening day but, unfortunately, I cannot. While today is supposed to be opening today, the start of the season is delayed due to the coronavirus. Maybe the season will start in a couple months, maybe in July, maybe not all. Of course, it is understandable as MLB and every other business needs to do what's best for the health and well being of everyone. We can still enjoy baseball in its digital form at least, from playing games to reading old magazine articles like the one below.

For this post I've scanned "Around the Bases: A Survey of Electronic Baseball" from the July 1990 issue of Video Games & Computer Entertainment. It talks about the early days of action-oriented games and the rise of stat-based simulations. At the end of the story the author attempts to list every baseball computer and video game up to that point in time but I know of at least one that they missed: Steve Garvey vs. Jose Canseco in Grand Slam Baseball. Of course, I own that Commodore 64 game that released in 1987 from Cosmi. It's not a good one so it is best forgotten but if the disk still works I'll post a video of it one of these days.

If you'd like to read more baseball posts here are links from the blog's previous three years:

Play Ball! - Video game review scans.

Starting Lineup Talking Baseball - Coverage of Parker Brothers' electronic game with video.

Electronic Pennant Fever - Video Games & Computer Entertainment's July 1989 baseball story.

NES All Stars - An article about NES games from GamePro's June 1990 issue.

The Old (8-bit) Ball Game - More video game review scans.

It's Time for Some Hardball! - Photos of Hasbro's 1988 G.I. Joe action figure Hardball. 

Also, here are some links to my baseball "Let's Play" videos: Reggie Jackson Baseball, Sporting News Baseball, and Tommy Lasorda Baseball.

Year 4: March Update

While I like to keep the blog and everything related to it positive, it's difficult to avoid mentioning the coronavirus as it is impacting nearly everyone at this point. It took a while for it to ramp up where I am but now schools are closed for the next few weeks and people are being told to stay home if they can. I hope everyone is doing alright and we can return to a somewhat normal life by the summer but who knows what the future holds. I'm alright and will be working from home so I don't really have any extra free time but will try to keep up on everything here.

E3, like every other convention, has been canceled due to the virus which could impact the 2021 event and all others going forward. It's been on the decline for a while and since this will force game companies to either do nothing or move to an online-focused presentation this year, publishers may find that to be ideal and stick with it in the upcoming years. This happens to be a significant year, however, since PlayStation 5 (Sony was already skipping E3) and Xbox Series X are planned to release at the end of the year though I wouldn't be surprised if those are delayed as well. Many products, such as computer components, are manufactured in China which likely will disrupt the production of consoles. Both could still launch with limited quantities which isn't a bad idea. I expect both to be $500+ and it never hurts to wait a bit until some of the bugs are patched or corrected in later models.

This past week I learned of two video game related books that sound appealing. Admittedly, I don't read often and don't want more stuff so I don't know if I'd get either but I'm still interested. A pop-up book about Sega arcade games is available now from ReadOnlyMemory.vg. It ships from the U.K. and is a bit pricey at $42 + $11 for shipping. The other is Sid Meier's Memoir! that will release September 8th. Sid Meier is my favorite game designer which is probably obvious having recently posted about my favorite game: Sid Meier's Pirates!.

Baseball is another topic I bring up from time-to-time, especially around opening day. Although the season is not going to start on time I'm thinking of putting together a post or two for baseball fans to have something to enjoy while they wait. I'll probably still do some posts the week E3 was supposed to be as well. Also, this month I heard from a game company in relation to the Vault 1541 YouTube channel for the first time. 3DClouds offered a digital code for All-Star Fruit Racing and asked if I would post a video and so I have: Let's Play All-Star Fruit Racing. Lastly, I just posted some activity book and other similar scans to Facebook, many of which have already appeared on the blog. I thought this might be something for people to do if they're stuck at home due to the current events and this puts them all in one location for easy access: Activity Scans.

Be safe and thanks for stopping by,
Jonathan