| LEGO's Ninja System |
| 1998 LEGO Group |
| Now who hasn't, at some point in their lives, played with LEGO's??? I LOVED these things when I was a kid. I mean, they were GREAT, and my parents liked buying them for me. It didn't matter that I turned my Boat Rescue set into a secret naval espionage patrol, or that my Space Exploration team were really an alien DEATH SQUAD coming to Earth to kill my whole LEGO town full of people! Hey, I was using my motor skills and creative ingenuity, so that's all my parents cared about. (remember that my parents didn't like me playing with war toys and the like) But anyway, I have many fond memories of legos, including my most fondest which was when my father came home and surprised me with a DUPLO Boat, which I could play with in the tub!!! To this date, that boat was the only toy I remember my father actually buying and giving to me, without my mother's intervention. Whoa, but anyway, back to AAAF issues, LEGO has introduced a brand new series of Ninja and Samurai warriors. This seems to be a part of their Castles System, and although I haven't bought a LEGO set in at least a decade (I'm serious here), I rushed out to Target when they advertised these sets on sale! I've only bought two small sets (they're SOOOO expensive) but these are so cool! I had to write this up about them!!! |
| 6013, 6033, 6045, 6088, 6089, 6093 | Click here for image | Check out the pictures! I grabbed them from www.lego.com. (I hope they don't mind) But these are such COOL pieces. In case you were wondering, the catalog numbers refer to the available sets, which include the two that are depcited in the image, as well as a Ninja's Stronghold, Ninja's Hideout, Shogun's Bridge, and Shogun's Fortress. Ok, so here's my take on LEGO's sudden affinity for Japanese Feudal History. Through some minimal research, (ie: browsing the LEGO aisle for other SYSTEM sets) I have found a much more diverse representation in their people. First of all, LEGO people are yellow, so I always thought they were Asian anyway, but I was wrong. Oh, I'm sidetracking again, I digress. If you remember the old school LEGO's, all the people looked the same. Sure they had different hair styles and colors, but they all had those round black eyes and smilely mouths. Well, now there are hundreds of facial expressions and clothing styles and stuff. There's even a Western System that has Native Americans! So I believe LEGO is really beginning to concentrate on diversity and multiculturalism, and they're doing it with the two groups that typcially get left out of these types of initiatives! I mean, it's very east to note that the majority of "Race Issues" are in terms of Black and White, and Latinos are increasingly becoming a part of those debates, but why is it that Asian Americans and Native Americans are left out so easily? Could it be that one represents a group of people who are disappearing and most people don't care about them, and the other group of people are rapidly increasing with both numbers and power, and most people would like to see them disappear as well? I know I'm being super vague here, but it's something to think about, but not while building these way-cool LEGO's!!! |
| Original Little People |
| 1970's Fisher Price |
| Little People have been around since 1959!!! I bet nearly everyone reading this had some when they were a kid too. These things were great. The things had no arms or legs (unless you count that little peg base thing, in which case they had one immensely huge leg), but they were still the most played-with toy I ever had. Heck, even Transformers lost their appeal after their limbs starting going loose, but Little People stood the test of time, and now they're all worth hundreds of dollars and I have lost each one of mine... figures!?! |
| Asian | Click here for image | Somebody sent me this picture from the Internet. I wish I could find the guy's e-mail address so I can thank him, but until I do, I figured I probably ought to publish his picture since that's the reason he sent it to me. Actually, after doing some research, I found that Fisher-Price Little People are a hot collectible item on the market. It makes me wish I didn't slober all over my collection of Little People when I was a kid. Anyway, this "Asian Boy" was available exclusively in the #2550 School set, whatever that means. He's made of plastic. Here's a description from www.thisoldtoy.com of this type of piece: "Plastic body and plastic head (p/p). The first all plastic people were the white bodied people. The white bodied boat captain for the #985 House Boat was introduced in 1972. The two doctors for the #997 village and the bald baby with yellow bib for the #761 nursery set would have followed in 1973. Fisher-Price didn't start mass production of all-plastic people until around 1975. The first set to use all plastic figures was the #938 Sesame Street Apartment set." This leads me to believe that this piece came out sometime around 1975, the same year I did. Can anybody find this piece for me??? I think he's my long lost twin brother!!! |
| Little People |
| 1997 Fisher Price |
| Little People is a new line of toys meant for 2-5 year-olds. They are little squishy figures that have no articulation. Once again, I break the "action figure" rules. 8-) But anyway, they are very representative in both ethnicity and profession. For instance, the black Little Person is usually portrayed as a doctor. The Asian Little Person is typically in an athletic pose. Now here's a line of toys that doesn't play up to the stereotypical hype! So anyway, if you have children, or plan to have some in the future, be sure to check these toys out because they represent a future where all people are accepted and respected, and they can do all things regardless of their ethnic or cultural background. |
| U.S. Olympic Stars (female) | Click here for: | Now here's a cute set. It has three Little People girls portraying 1997
Winter Olympic sports. We have a skier, whom I call Picaboo Street (is that her real
name?), a speed skater, and a figure skater who happens to be Asian American. I call her
Michelle Kwan. All three have gold medals (which Michelle deserved to get more than Tara
Lipinsky (is she European or something?)) and have real big smiles. The figure skater has
bright, cheery eyes, not slanted downward like too many other Asian action figures. There
is a set for boys, but I didn't see any Asian Americans in this set. UPDATE: Thanks to www.thisoldtoy.com, I now know that this Asian Little People girl's name is Sonya Lee. Check out the images of the other versions of Sonya Lee available, and also one of her brother, who is yet unnamed. In memory of the long lost Original Little People Asian Boy (see above), I will call him Peter2, my twin brother. |
| Playmobil |
| 1990's Playmobil |
| Playmobil, a German toy that's immensely popular here in the States. And why not? I mean these things are great. They encompass nearly every occupation and sport, and they are loaded with accessories. They're built well, and stand the test of time. My first Playmobil toys were from McDonalds in a special Happy Meal promotion. They were all Western Playmobil, and I had like three sherrifs and three "Indians," though I've lost them all now. And as with everything I've ever owned and lost, they're all worth a LOT of money now! |
| Eastern Warrior | Click here for image | Apparently every warrior who resides East of where you live can be considered an "Eastern Warrior," and as such will look like this Eastern Warrior. Really though, from what I can tell, this guy is supposed to look like a Mongol Warrior from nomadic tribes north of China. Of course, if you colored his beard (would any Asian grow a beard this long?!) white, you'd have a European Santa Claus, who just happens to carry a bull whip and sword. He was an exclusive in 1998. |
| Karate Fighter | Click here for image | This figure is actually really cool, and it just so happens to be really hard to find. In any case, I like his accesory the best. His chest looks like he's infected with fleas, but oh well, that's what you get with simplistic paint jobs. He was an exclusive in 1997. |
| Mandarin Prince | Click here for image | I have no idea where the idea for this guy came from. I guess he's supposed to be the Asian Prince Charming. But anyway, you can easily see how Playmobil characterizes an Asian figure. They put black hair on it and shape the eyes in half-circles. Not too bad, but it makes them look even more giddy than the other Playmobil figures. You can also see the dragon head on this guys shirt. The year 2000 is not just the year of the Dragon, it's the year of the Golden Dragon, so be looking for a huge baby-boom throughout Lunar New Year celebrating countries. He was an exclusive in 1997. |
| Ninja | Click here for image | It's the quintessential ninja! How culd any collection be complete without the ninja?! I mean, all Asians know at least some of the "black martial arts" that shroud the ninja in mystery, don't we?! Well anyway, this figure shows how to take care of that "giddy complex" I mentioned above --- draw slanting eyebrows and a mean looking fu-manchu on the face and you've got a completely non-giddy-looking Asian Playmobil figure. He was an exclusive in 1998. |
| The Puzzle Place |
| 1995 Fisher Price |
| Here's a line of toys for some older children, ages 5-9. It is based on a PBS television show called the Puzzle Place. I've never seen this show, but from the box the figures came in, I can tell that they made a huge effort to be as diverse as possible. They also tried not to be stereotypical. The Black American character is great at math and science, the Asian American like to sing and dance, etc... There's also a Native American included in this set which makes it extra special. I say this because all too often, our Native American brothers and sisters are not included in the dialogues about race and ethnicity. In fact, most of these dialogues are polarized, only discussing two different factions instead of the many diverse groups of people who all need to come together, respect one another, and learn from each other. But anyway, this is a good show, and I'm glad more and more programming like this is being offered to the next generation. |
| The Puzzle Place Friends Collection | Click here for image | There are six PVC figures in this set. The Asian American figure is named Julie, and she is from San Francisco, California. She loves to sing and dance. Her figure is sculpted in some sort of dress with pink polka dots, and she has a wireless microphone in one hand. |
| Geoffrey's World |
| 1997 Geoffrey, Inc. |
| Geoffrey the Toys R Us Giraffe is soley responsible for my habit of calling all giraffes by the name of Geoffrey. In either case, He now has an action figure, available only at, believe it or not, Toys R Us stores. Actually, he has a whole line of vehicles and playsets and little kid friends/action figures that are available. They are for ages 2 and up, so make sure you are legally eligble, and go out and buy yours today! 8-) |
| Geoffrey's Play Friends | Image coming soon | This is a five-pack set of Geoffrey's friends (four friends and one Geoffrey figure) that comes in two varities: A (1 Asian girl, 1 Black boy, 1 White boy, and 1 White girl) and B (1 Black boy, 1 Latino or Native American boy, 1 White boy, and 1 White girl. Each set comes with 2 White kids, 1 Black kid, and a choice of either the Asian girl or the Miscellaneous boy. My pack (which I customized) includes the Asian girl, the Undetermined Boy, and both Black kids. I have to commend Toys R Us for focusing on the availability of multi-ethnic toys to meet the needs of all of their customers, but what's with all these ratios and percentages? I mean really, I am one who simply does NOT believe in percentage-based representation. If you're going to have a committee, and three of its members are going to be White, then you might as well just go out and get three Asian Americans, three Black Americans, three Latino/Latinas, and three Native Americans as well. Forget all this percentage-based crap. True representation is based on equality, not mere representation. And don't try to tell me that logistics prevent having equal representation. Believe me, if you can find three White Americans, you can just as easily find three of any other kind of Americans, plain and simple. And if you aren't going to go to the trouble with having equal representation, then you shouldn't go to the trouble of setting up a committee in the first place because all you're going to do is cause trouble in the long-run. Since I doubt many political science majors will be reading this Toys for Tots section, then I digress, but please e-mail me if you have any questions. As for these toys, I truly believe that the little Asian girl looks like a very good friend of mine when she was at that age, and the little boy has my haircut, so I'll just say that he is multi-ethnic. |
| The Adventures of Gumby and Friends |
| 1995 Trendmasters |
| We all remember our favorite gray piece of clay, don't we? Well, I'm not here to say that he was Asian, but I did happen to run across a playset that was interesting. Now, bear in mind that the ONLY reason I bought this playset was because I got it for like 95% off it's normal price due to a K-Mart store closing. It is very stereotypical, and it is definitely something that I would like to see changed for the future, namely, the easy association of Asians and Asian Americans to martial artists. We don't all know a martial art, and we are not all descended from martial art gods from the outworld who hold tournaments every 5,000 years! 8-) |
| The Adventures of Gumby and friends Ninja Playset | Click here for image | This box set comes with Gumby in a "karate" outfit (despite the fact that it is called a NINJA Playset?!), a Block Head with a sai (small dagger-like weapon), a little fold-out training temple (like the ones we all have in our backyards, right?), a screen with the Mandarin character that means "prosperity," and a golden statue that resembles Buddha. Oh, and it comes with a computer disk that has pictures you can color on it. So what, you may ask, is this doing in my collection? I figured I could use the temple, statue, and screen with some of my other action figures, but alas, they were too small. It was no big loss though, I only paid like $1.25 for it, its MSRP is $12.99. |
____________________________________________________________________________________________
All images and text have been created by Peter J. Chen...
Copyright © 1998
for the Asian American Action Figure Homepage. All rights reserved.
All action figure names, biographical information, and company names are copyrighted ©
from their respective creators.
If you find any part of this homepage to be used unlawfully, then please, by all means,
contact me at:
aaaf.geo@yahoo.com
Revised: February 19, 2000
