Indie Squid Kid

While yesterday’s Toy Week post featured a museum-quality replica cephalopod, today’s subject is practically abstract. I picked up this set of colorful pool toys at Toys R’ Us last summer, and one day when Kid Indie Squid Kid is old enough to dive into the deep end of the pool, these guys are going to come in very handy. Now that the seasonal section of TRU has been filled with Halloween costumes, you might be able to find this in the discount bin with the rest of the summer pool toys.

Previously on ISK: Subbies Squiddy

This detailed replica of the fascinating deep-sea cephalopod Vampyroteuthis infernalis most likely came from a museum or aquarium gift shop. It’s hard to say since I probably bought it about ten years ago. If I had known then that in 2008 I’d start a blog dedicated to cephalopods, perhaps I would have taken some notes…

The replica is about 6″ long and made of soft purple rubber. (It seems there is also a green version.) It has red eyes and four large glow-in-the-dark photophores. Apart from “TAMJ 97©” printed on the underside, I haven’t been able to find out anything specific on who made this toy or if it still available anymore.

Read more about Vampyroteuthis on Tree of Life.

This lovely green octopus is from Fisher-Price’s Imaginext Adventures Pirate line, and it is a vast improvement over Imaginext’s previous attempt at a cephalopod toy.

Despite his pleasant hue, this is one bad ass octopus. For starters, his name is “Seablade.” As in, “I don’t care that I’m a squishy invertebrate…I will totally cut you!” Furthermore, he has a sweet skull-and-cross-bones tat, and he hangs out with blood-thirsty pirates. Yet, as we are told, he is fiercely loyal to his terrestrial friends.

Seablade features “Spinning Action” and comes with a pirate figure, sword, piece of treasure, sea star, and coral.

It originally retailed for about $6.00 (although these days it costs quite a bit more at Amazon). It seems to be getting scarce in stores, but I’ve seen it fairly recently at Kohl’s.

Previously on ISK: Imaginext Deep Sea Diver

Welcome to Toy Week!

I might as well come clean. I own a lot of toys, and this will be the first of several theme weeks dedicated to toy cephalopods, both vintage and modern.

We begin with the Squid Sub from the Mega Rig® Building System by Matchbox.

The packaging here pretty much says it all. The submarine consists of a primary hull with modular accessories that can be attached in a number of different configurations. It has a working motor and launching harpoon, and it comes with a cute little diver man. The most important part, of course, is the “Squirting Squid.” In my customary nit-picky analysis, this large purple cephalopod more closely resembles an octopus than a squid. It has eight arms, each tipped with a single large sucker. (There is a strange slit in the middle of each arm, and I suspect this has something to do with maximizing the toy’s flexibility.) Its head resembles a cross between the bulbous head of an octopus and the pointy, finned mantle of a squid, but ultimately, it is not nearly long enough to be accurately called a squid.

Did I mention the sub was motorized? Because the screaming octo-squid really wants you to know that it is motorized.

The Mega Rig Squid Sub doesn’t seem to be in stores any more (I got mine a year or two ago on clearance at Wal-Mart), but you can still  buy it on Amazon.com.

Although I’ve never seen it anywhere, Amazon also has the Mega Ocean Adventure, which combines the Mega Rig Squid Sub with the Mega Rig Shark Adventure into a single über-Mega playset.

Previously on ISK: Matchbox Monsters: Kraken vs. Hovercraft!

You shouldn’t have looked behind you…, originally uploaded by Cryptonaut.

Please remain calm.

Dragon*Con has been over for nearly a week, which is plenty of time for the Internet to help me find all (well, nearly) the cephalopod-themed costumes from this year’s menagerie of the weird. Enjoy.

photo by vladeb

Davy Jones ( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) from the Dragon*Con parade.

photo by Hueyatl

Netherworld squid monster.

photo by sarberry

Ursula the Sea Witch from Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

photo by Clockwork_Dandy

The Fruity Oaty Bar commercial from Joss Whedon’s Serenity come to life!

photo by TheKingInYellow

MINDstyle’s “Stephen Le Podd” con exclusives.

photo by Sarcasm-hime

Cthulhu bustle!

photo by sudrin

Victorian cecaelia!

photo by Petrona09

It’s this guy! He’s back!

Dragon*Con begins this weekend in Atlanta, GA, and for the first time in almost 10 years I will not be attending. That’s tragic for a number of reasons, including the fact that I will miss my chance to score the limited edition “Stephen Le Podd” figure from MINDstyle. Designed by Doktor A, “De-Commissioned” is limited to 100 pieces, and they will be available, first-come first-serve, on Friday, September 4 (tomorrow!) at 8:30 PM. (As for exactly where to get them and how much they cost…I’m not actually sure.)

I love this dapper steampunk cephalopod, with his jaunty pith helmet, tentacle moustache, and dilating aperture eyes. If this edition is anything like the 2009 San Diego Comic Con exclusive (“The Entertainer”), it comes with a few alternate hats—ready for any occasion!

Andrew Bell’s morbid classic “Never Look Back” has been recreated as a vinyl toy! The figure, which comes packaged with two swappable sets of eyes and tentacle accessories, is available for $25 at www.deadzebra.com (although it is currently sold out) and wherever designer toys are sold.

For our final Cthulhu Week post, we have an amazing My Little Pony mod by Finnish artist Mari Kasurinen. Check her out on deviantArt for more fabulous custom ponies. (Via io9)

Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu, baby Shoggoth

Lovecraft’s Mythos has never been warmer and fuzzier than Toy Vault’s plush Cthulhu line.  Since the line debuted in 2000, they have produced a wide variety of stuffed Lovecraftian monstrosities, including several variations of the Big C himself. Quite a few are out of print (such as the Nyarlathotep and Shoggoth shown above), but I imagine most of them can be found online if one looks hard enough.

Incidentally, a Toy Vault Cthulhu hand puppet is the star of the video podcast Calls For Cthulhu.

Toy Vault also made this vinyl Cthulhu figure (shown here with some of his favorite books), but it too is no longer in production.