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Toys & Collectibles

‘Tater Skins: Super Impulse Poptaters Offer an Array of Fan Favorites

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Hot Mash…

Super Impulse, famous for their line of impossibly small replicas of iconic toys, games and products, showed off a basket full of their Poptaters at the recent Toy Insider Sweet Suite Event.

Poptaters are a mash-up of Hasbro’s Mr. Potato Head and the world of pop culture personalities. A bit bigger than SI’s usual licensed collectibles, Poptaters feature characters from fandoms both obvious and surprisingly obscure. There are also generational leaps from Boomers to Gen A giving the product a wide appeal. 

The Spud Abides…

At the Super Impulse booth, Lucky Trolls (aka Wishnicks) and Garbage Pail Kid Adam Bomb sat next to Child’s Play’s Chucky and Sonic The Hedgehog. Painter Bob Ross seemed prepared to render a happy little portrait of The Office‘s Dwight Shrute and there was even Kiss’s Gene Simmons replete with axe bass and dragon boots. 

super impulse, sweet suite, toys, hasbro, mister potato head, the toy insider, the pop insider

My favorite in this series is the perfect presentation of Jeff Bridges as “The Dude” from the film The Big Lebowski (1998). It’s the piece that made me laugh out loud.

super impulse, sweet suite, toys, hasbro, mister potato head, the toy insider, the pop insider
These boots are made for rocking. Gene Simmons’ dragon boots are just one of the fun details found on Super Impulse’s Poptaters Mr. Potato Heads.

I was a Pre-Teen Couch Potato…

National Toy Hall of Fame inductee Mr. Potato Head has gone through many revisions since its launch in 1952. I have fond memories of sitting on my living room couch (circa 1959-1960) happily pushing combinations of various eyes, noses, brows, and mouths into a variety of vegetables. Unfortunately, the original kit had a fatal flaw in requiring that kids raid the refrigerator for suitable noggins.

Tuber or Not Tuber…

I don’t think my parents realized when I convinced them to buy the toy that it would lead to a daily attack on the family food stock. Honestly, finances were tight and food security was the number one priority in my house. Finding me mangling the contents of our vegetable bin became contentious. 

In the mid-1960s Hasbro rolled out a revamp with the inclusion of a plastic potato surrogate to host the facial parts and accessories. That likely saved innumerable pounds of produce from the waste bin and allowed for safer rounded points on the pieces.

super impulse, sweet suite, toys, hasbro, mister potato head, the toy insider, the pop insider
The ever-mellow Bob Ross prepares to paint a happy little vegetable garden..

SkeletonPete Says… 

Getting a chance to relive a legacy play experience while celebrating a favorite franchise is the lure of Poptaters for me and I assume other collectors. Super Impulse keeps growing the options.

Just announced at San Diego Comic-Con and coming in the fall are Poptaters of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, Sesame Streets Bert and Ernie, Silent Bob, and Vocaloid virtual popstar Hatsune Miku. They’ll also be starchy renditions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

super impulse, sweet suite, toys, hasbro, mister potato head, the toy insider, the pop insider
Due in autumn 2023, Poptaters Series 3 will include Vocaloid Hatsune Miku,
Sesame Street‘s Bert and Ernie, Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, and other pop culture faves. (image courtesy of Super Impulse)

Poptaters figures stand approximately 4 inches tall and come with a selection of 11-14 interchangeable pieces. They come packaged in clear cylindrical display cases to show off on your collector shelves but don’t leave ‘em boxed up. Mixing and matching the various face and body parts is where all the fun lies. 

The Pricing by item runs from $14.99 – $17.99.

super impulse, sweet suite, toys, hasbro, mister potato head, the toy insider, the pop insider
Mind Blown: Oppenheimer scion Adam Bomb of Garbage Pail Kids fame
is easily triggered.
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Books & Graphic Novels Music SkeletonPete Says

Un-Veiled in Black: Andy Biersack Reveals Z2 Comics Collab The Ghost of Ohio

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Eryk Donovan and Andy Biersack reveal cover for upcoming Z2 Comics release The Ghost of Ohio.

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Music Photography

What Me Worry? Ace Frehley @ BB Kings Oct. 25, 2011

Full Photo Gallery is Here

Ace Frehley, KISS’s beloved Space Ace, has a new biography coming out on November 1, 2011. It’s titled “No Regrets” and I got a sneak peek of it at Comic Con. It promises to be a really good read beyond the ranks of KISS Army stalwarts. To promote the bio Ace booked two nights at New York’s B. B. Kings Blues Club and Grill and filled the room.

Advance, signed, copies of the biography were available in the B.B. King’s lobby at the end of the show. Frehley is pictured on the cover in full Kiss regalia. “Did you see the cover?”, he quipped from the stage at the opening of the first show. “Someone might think it’s Tommy Thayer.” To which an audience member shouted “There’s only one Ace.” He went on to prove that statement true by wowing his hometown fans with a smokin’ (literally) set of mostly KISS tunes, backed by a rock solid band including Bassist Anthony Esposito, Drummer Scott Coogan (Lynch Mob) and Guitarist Todd Youth (Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law, Danzig).

Ace's Autographed Les Paul and Bio @ NYCC 2011

KISS aficionado, and ruler of the PiercingMetal universe, Ken Pierce’s coverage, including the setlist, can be found here. He is also hosting my photos of show openers The Biters who played my favorite Cheap Trick song “He’s A Whore” as part of their energetic set.

Categories
Music Photography

Photo Gallery: Ace Frehley @ B.B. Kings 10.25.11


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