The Imaginext Octopus

CQ readers, or visitors to our Community Section, know that I’m an avid toy collector, and an avid octopus collector. Take those two elements and delicately interpolate my joy upon finding an octopus toy. The equation has ridiculous and immense ramifications. Why do I collect these things? Because it distracts me from setting fires.

Not really.

I came across Fisher Price’s Imaginext line of toys as I was browsing the local toy shelves, in search of the kid-friendly DC Superfriends line of figures. My love of Playmobil and Superfriends aside, I’m not normally one to go on hunts for explicitly child-oriented toys. And that’s when our eyes met.

Well, my two eyes met the one eye that was on the side of his head facing me. It was Sea Blade the Octopus, and he had a skull and crossbones tattoo on his head. I knew I had to have him for my octopus collection (which had recently expanded here and there with additions from memorabilia found at the nautical-themed Jersey Shore gift shops).

The Imaginext line of toys is surprisingly extensive, including all manner of jungle and dinosaur life, giant playsets and even a pirate themed expansion with a skeleton pirate crew. Ghost sharks, medieval knights, and strange monsters – all ready to do battle amid the imaginations and rubble of the TV room. It was actually very refreshing to enter a toy store and find a desirable toy that hadn’t been a highly-sought-after, frothed-over Object of Lust by the legion of toygeeks, and it was a solid reminder, once again, that toys are toys are toys, and meant to be enjoyed. Perhaps that’s why my collection has lately skewed towards a younger set of toys, instead of breathlessly pursuing a Justice League Unlimited Hawkman on eBay.

Certainly, Sea Blade the Octopus (who came with an island warrior, a coral branch, a sword and a great octopus shield) was meant to do battle. It wasn’t until he was out of the package that I realized that he had an action feature. Roll him across a table and the wheels on his underside spin at a high speed (not unlike the titular ’saw’) and smack everything out of its way. What would this octopus do battle with?

Robots, obviously. As is the recurrent them in my paintings about robots versus octopi and nature in general, I had to test these battle dynamics in realtime. You know, in order to make my depictions of the ensuing battles as scientifically accurate as humanly possible. Luckily, I had recently acquired a small army of wooden robots made by Schylling who were rarin’ for action.

YouTube seemed like the perfect venue for the ensuing carnage. The battle was brief, but indescribably dynamic.

As a toy collector, it’s hard to remember that it all started out with PLAYING with toys as a child. Here’s a reminder.

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