Ron's Gone Wrong Action B-Bots, Stumble Guys

I've had these stashed for quite some time after enjoying the heartfelt Ron's Gone Wrong film in 2021. A couple were just casual pickups at a local Walmart, the other a special 2-pk I found on eBay. I wanted them as background figures for my toy photography, but kind of kept forgetting I had them stashed in a tote. They can be pulled back to wind them up and roll on their two front wheels which make them extra fun- a smaller back wheel keeps them stable while rolling. Their arms/flippers are articulated, giving them a little more personality, I suppose.

More recently I had found some of these 2" Stumble Guys figures at Five Below that have already made appearances in some of my posts. I'm particularly enchanted with the lions. They are just the kind of vending machine bubble figures we might find in the '80s/'90s...

Along with other odd figures/items I find (including a Care Bear), the Action B-Bots were picked up as background characters to fill my arcade when photographing Marvel Legends or G.I. Joe Classified figures. I've seen other toy photographers juxtapose their showcase figures against odd figures/disparate licenses, sometimes to great comedic effect, so when I find something interesting, I pick it up. The egg-shaped bots are toyetic in their color, shape, and wind-up action feature- any kid, young or old, would have fun with them.

Before I had a chance to finish this post, I realized I didn't have the Cat Action B-Bot!

Hunted one down for a great price on eBay shortly thereafter:

There's actually another Ron B-Bot wearing shorts on his head and an underpants on fire pictogram on his body, reflecting when the unit goes haywire in the movie, causing his owner, Barney, a great deal of trouble. Regardless, I'm happy with this little grouping...

Oh, by the way- these Action B-Bots glow in the dark- it wears off rather quickly, but they do.

More Later- Make It FUN!

Tabletop Tron Video Game by TOMY, 1981

As mentioned in my previous post, I dug out some of the old toys that survived my childhood when I was visiting the folks over Thanksgiving weekend. One of these survivors was a tabletop Tron video game, produced by TOMY in 1981. I thought this would be a timely post due to the brouhaha surrounding the highly anticipated 2010 Tron: Legacy motion picture coming out in December. My younger brother played with this the most, beating all of the levels of difficulty it offered quite easily- he was a smart cookie, that boy! Released at the height of the video game craze, this simple game was a relatively advanced toy for it's time. My brother and I were feeding quarters to the machines at the local arcade regularly in the early 80's, so this was right up our alley.

There are three levels on the game:
1.) The lightcycle game- Tron (you) tries to cut off the Sark light cycle path before he cuts off your path. You get four tries.
2.) The ring game- Tron and Sark pass the ring back and forth until one misses his catch, much like a game of frisbee. Again, you get four tries.
3.) The MCP game- Tron (you) must throw his disc through the MCP barrier that's moving up and down around it- a simple game of timing.

All these levels get faster each time you master them, until you achieve 2,000 points when you gain an additional Tron for each level (5 total). The highest possible score is 15,995 points to completely master the game.

The game is powered by four "C" batteries, but can also be powered by a 7.5 volt AC adapter. I don't remember if the game came with an adapter, but I was lucky enough to have a roommate that has a bunch of spares. He had to reverse the polarity in the adapter's wiring however, as most modern adapters now run on positive polarity as opposed to negative. We plugged in the modified adapter and the game came on and played just fine! A special thanks to my pal Mike, one of my biggest supporters- he's always enthusiastic and a good sport about my growing piles of toys all over our apartment! And because of Mike's electrical knowledge, this fun game came back to life! Hooray!

-TOMY Tron on HandHeldMuseum.Com
-TOMY Tron on RetroThing.Com
-New Tron: Legacy Impulse Projection action figures at Nostalgic G- COOL!
-Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series 1:6 scale Sam Flynn Collectible Figure with Light Cycle from the Tron: Legacy movie at ToyHaven!