Strange Friends - MAGGIE SQUIRREL!

Strange Friends Series 01 - Maggie Squirrel - Archie McPhee/Accoutrements 2016

I've always had a fondness for Accoutrements toys. When I first moved to my city from the boonies 15 years ago, there was a real boom of novelty gift shops happening. I swear there were greeting card and souvenir shops on every corner and all these shops had an assortment of Accoutrements products. The big action figures at the time were the Avenging Unicorn sets and all the quirky historic figures like Edgar Allen Poe, Jesus, and Jane Austen. I highly enjoyed them all, but the only ones I ever purchased were the historic ladies. Then recently I was checking out Archie McPhee (the website for Accoutrements) and saw these amazing Strange Friends figures. This is the same company that makes the rubber animal masks (that are all the rage these days), so these toys are a perfect cross-marketing scheme. I also have a serious obsession with animal-headed humans. My own art involves a lot of this imagery, so naturally this Maggie figure needed to be mine. Let's check out the Strange Friends below!

World's Smallest BARBIES!

World's Smallest: Barbie 1959 & Barbie 1971 - Super Impulse Toys 2017

I come from a family of collectors. My Dad Collects Coins and Bank Notes, My Mom and sister collect dolls, my younger brother collects Peanuts and Classic TV, and my older brother is into Star Wars and Rock and Roll. (I put them all to shame though with my myriad of collecting obsessions. I only dwell on the action figures here, but I have an abundance of unrelated collections active right now. But I digress). This past Christmas I was back home and my Mom was sharing her newest obsession, World's Smallest. For those unaware, World's Smallest is a line of tiny collectible miniatures of classic toys. She had a handful of nostalgic Fisher-Price toys, each about the size of a quarter, and we were all very enthralled and ready to all start our own collections. Since that first exposure I see them everywhere: Toys R Us, Target, Cracker Barrel, and every little novelty store I come across. There are even blind boxes at Claires! But I wasn't too tempted to buy any until I saw these two Barbies in TRU a few weeks ago.

Accoutrements MARIE ANTOINETTE!

The Queen of Novelty Figures - Marie Antoinette - Accoutrements 2003
 
Novelty figures have their ups and downs.  There's the initial gleeful shock value... then the slow creeping guilt at having giggled at something so inappropriate.  (And then you go and watch Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and you really start to pity her).  Accoutrements' Marie Antoinette is the epitome of this phenomenon.   The figure itself is very fun.  She has a removable wig and dress, which presumably reveals her previous persona as Maria Antonia Josephina Johanna of Austria.  She has bright colors, a decent sculpt and limited but good articulation.  The big gimmick with this figure is that she has a button on her back that, when pressed, launches her head off.  This is a step beyond their "gliding action" Jesus or "Shushing action" Nancy Pearl.  I guess I'll just have to sum it up by saying that it's funny because it's so wrong.  For a real-life person with no truly tangible societal contributions, Marie Antoinette has become one of the most recognizable historical women in Popular Culture (Where's Amelia Earhart?  Where's Joan of Arc? ... but I digress).  Let's check out Marie's action figure below!

Caribbean Queen ANNE BONNY!

The Esteemed Lady Pirate, Anne Bonny - Accoutrements 2003

Anne Bonny was born in Ireland in the late 1600s to early 1700s.  Her family came to America when she was very young, but the New World just wasn't the dream life they had expected.  Her mother died, her father disowned her, and her fiery temper (and fiery red hair) became legendary when she burned down her father's plantation in rebellion (and supposedly stabbed a servant with a kitchen knife).  As a teenager, she and her husband left for Nassau in the Bahamas.  This was a notorious pirate sanctuary at the time, and before long Anne had left her husband for an infamous pirate named Calico Jack and joined him on his (stolen) ship, the Revenge.  They were successful pirates for many years in the Caribbean.  She is documented as having fought valiantly alongside the men, not to have disguised her gender (as some suggest), and quickly earning the respect of the crews she sailed with.   She was a well-known wanted pirate for many years until her capture by a Jamaican vessel in 1720. 

World War II Icon ROSIE THE RIVETER!

Real World Action Figures - Rosie the Riveter - Accoutrements 2003
 
Rosie the Riveter is a symbolic cultural icon from World War II America.  Social norms in the 1940s were for women to be housewives, teachers, and nurses.  However, the demands of war saw the male labor force diminish greatly.  While all the men were being enlisted for the battlelines, there was a major effort to recruit women to fill in the vacant factory jobs back home.  Rosie the Riveter is the fictional figurehead of this movement.  She was the subject of songs, ads, and posters and was inspired by numerous real working women (and several non-working models).  She was a hit.  Eventually, the name "Rosie" became a nickname for almost any woman holding an industrial job during the war.  This action figure of Rosie the Riveter seems to be based off her two most iconic images.  The first being the classic 1942 "We Can Do It" poster by Pittsburgh Artist J. Howard Miller and Norman Rockwell's 1943 cover of Saturday Evening Post.  The main figure is clearly based on the Miller print, but her "Rosie" lunchbox and Riveter are original to Rockwell.  Let's check out the figure in detail below!

English Novelist JANE AUSTEN!

Real World Action Figures - Jane Austen - Accoutrements 2002

I've always had a soft spot for Accoutrements and all their wacky novelty action figures.  I believe the first one I ever saw was Edgar Allen Poe.  Then Jesus.  Then Casanova.  Then who knows.  There are a ton.  It wasn't until recently that I decided to start hunting down a select few.  Luckily most of them are readily available on eBay without breaking the bank.  The first I will review is the famed English novelist, Jane Austen.  While I can honestly say I've never read any of her books, I have seen plenty of film adaptations of her work.  Plus she has twice been the subject of the amazing trend of novel mash-ups with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  There's nothing like a pop-culture gimmick to expose people to the classics.  I know this action figure is meant to be absurd, but it's honestly pretty cool.  It's well made, accurate, and quirky.  What's not to like?   Let's check her out below.