Monday, July 09, 2012

Popeye The Sailor Man




POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN



POPEYE? Who among us who grew in the 80's don't know him?  He was the reason why we were all persuaded to eat vegetable. It was a common saying for our moms back then "Eat your vegetable so you can be strong like Popeye" or whenever we came from a fight, looses and started to cry; our mom would say "Now you understand why you need to eat your vegetables? To make you strong!  Look at Popeye, whenever he eats spinach he beats Brutus."

Those were the days of Saturday morning cartoons meant a lot for kids, most of us collecting had experienced this.  Our parent couldn't take us away in front of the Black and White TV until it was on commercial break, and whenever we do our chores, we would hurry-up and finish before the show resumes or worse, we stop and continue later.  I remember our TV was like a big cabinet with sliding doors and dials to change the channel, I would wait patiently for the picture to slowly come-out so I could watch my favorite cartoons. 

Now, here's a little history I learned about Popeye's origins:


Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon of a fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.  Popeye has appeared in comic strips and cartoons on both TV and Movies, including a live-action version depicted by Robin Williams during the 1980's.  He first appeared in the Daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929.  Popeye also became the strip's title in later years.

In 1933, Fleischer Studios, the same studio who made the early animations of Superman adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts. It was one of the most popular cartoons during the 1930s and was continued throughout the years as far as I can remember in the 80s.  It was a household name and was a favorite Saturday morning cartoon during my younger days along with Super Friends, He-Man, Thunder Cats and the Transformers.






I used to watch Popeye when I was a kid regularly, it was one of those Saturday morning cartoons which my Grandma recommends. I guess everybody had their Popeye escapades in their life, Popeye was a household name and was popular among parents due to his source of strength - SPINACH!


I really thought I had outgrew Popeye and Friends, It was similar to Tom & Jerry with simple comedic antics and was light to watch - It was fun.  Until I went to the 2012 Philippine Annual Toy Convention, It was my first time to go to such big event.  Like any other collector, I was looking around for some great buys, not expensive and hard-core stuff but are figures that I need to complete my line at affordable price or cheap and out of the ordinary.  It was a fun and exhausting afternoon, then I stumbled upon a box with old toys from one of the seller which I never got the name and there it was - a vintage rubber and articulated Popeye, Olive, Sweet Pea, Brutus and Lumpy as a set.


The toys were in an old transparent plastic bag, dirty and dusty; I looked at it closely and saw that a little cleaning these would still look great. "Manong, magkano dito? (Sir, how much for this set?)" I asked.  The seller was ignoring my query because he was more attentive with the other buyers looking at the more expensive stuff he was selling "P600 na lang (P600 for the set)" the seller said, I was in awe for the bargain, but as I say let's try to push our luck a bit "Wala na tawad? P500 na lang? (Any discount? Can I have it for P500?)" i said "Sige! (Ok)" he said; I pulled out my wallet and paid the man.  My friend said "Wow! Nice haul!", and it surely is.
My friend said it was a promotional toy way back from a local fastfood joint so we checked the figure for authenticity; and it was engraved that It's an official merchandise and made in the Philippines but with no marking of what so ever that it was made for the local fastfood company.  After cleaning the figures, they came out in excellent condition, tight joints, paint details in tact, there were some paint scratches and wear but bearable due to its age, over-all it was awesome.


POPEYE is the main character for this set, he is a sailor and is married to Olive Oyl and has one child Sweet Pea. The set is even made bigger with the Brutus figure which is the main villain and with Lumpy the burger munching extra, I would say its a decent Popeye cast set.  All of the figures are hollow rubber with minimal articulations in the hand and head.  I was staring at these figures for a while and fragments of my childhood would pop-out my head, it was harking me back to the 90s while I was enjoying these characters as I watched them on our old black and white TV.



Copyright Njvelasquez 2012
Popeye and all Related Characters mentioned are properties of King Features Syndicate and the Hearst Corporation
No Copyright infringement intended in the creation of this article 

27 comments:

  1. I also watched Popeye as it also gave me the idea that if I eat veggies I'd be as strong as Popeye when he eats his spinach.

    ReplyDelete
  2. this is one cartoon that should be brought back in Cartoon Network. I recently downloaded 70 years of Popeye which showcases the best of the cartoon for 70 years and it certainly brings back memories. I feel sorry for most of the kids that wasn't able to know Popeye.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reminded me of my childhood.. How I always await for that perfect time when Popeye will eat that powerful green substance.. and beat the best of Bluto.. haha

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice dolls! I thought they would've cost more! Good buy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They do, just got lucky with an awesome bargain. I checked this internationally, its around P500-700 per figure, you have to ship it also, then prices would soar. Thanks for appreciating.

      Delete
    2. Oh yeah! I remember when we bought a shirt from the US. The shipping costs more than the item we bought. grrr....

      Delete
  5. Waaah! The toys look so cute! I grew up in the 80s so I definitely watched Popeye back in the day.. yet, I've never tasted Spinach in my life! heheh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for liking the toys, they are awesome. Spinach for us Filipinos are our Pechay! hehehehehehe... That's what my grandma would say before.

      Delete
  6. wow classic popeye...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brings back memories of childhood. I made a mental note to find copies of Popeye animated short films so I have something entertaining to watch this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I still recall Popeye when I was a kid. Even up to when he got junior (his son) already in the show. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is one cool collection! I remember when I watch this series on TV. Brutus gets beaten up always

    ReplyDelete
  10. SPINAAAACH.. hahahaha.. i miss watching popeye and brutus.. and olive of course.. ..woot.. i'm popeye the sailorman.. im popeye the sailorman..ahhaha

    ReplyDelete
  11. kewl! i love Popeye! Nice collection sir.,,

    ReplyDelete
  12. Super inggit ako! I want those!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think I was able to collect this toy. I just don't remember which fastfood had this as giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I used to watch Popeye a lot when I was a kid. Thanks for reliving my youth :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like the part when Popeye knocks Brutus with those swirling hands... :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nice toys! I used to watch Popeye when I was a kid.
    80s and 90s people must have missed this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I didn't know that Robin Williams played the role of Popeye, I've only seen the cartoons. And yes, Popeye has instilled in me the interest in eating Spinach. =)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm still singing popeye the sailoman most of the time and indeed brings back memories! haha xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. I used to watch this too. They do a pretty good job, inspiring anyone to eat veggies.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You certainly have come across a great bargain here. The Popeye characters are considered legends having provided entertainment for countless children and adults as well for decades already.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Popeye's my favorite cartoon character! .. and so I named my former bf now my hubby popai lol!

    ReplyDelete
  22. POPEYE, the sailor man...
    the song still echoing in my
    ears. What an EPIC cartoon!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Popeye is an EPIC character, lol..... He's the model of eating spinach, that is why I search for a food that has the same color with spinach, then I found Kangkong, so I ate Kangkong just to mimic Popeye's spinach Power...Grr....hahahah

    ReplyDelete