Care Bear Cousins through the years

While the Care Bears started in 1982, the Care Bear Cousins were introduced in 1985. Meaning their 30th anniversary was last year. The cousins went from 9 originally introduced in toys and the Dic series to 10 in the Nelvana series (Noble Heart Horse added) to 9 for the 2004 revival toys (Treat Heart Pig omitted) and to now 4 for the Netflix series.

The Hub had a show called "Welcome to Care-A-Lot," sequel series has now showed up on  Netflix called Care Bears & Cousins with four of the Care Bear Cousins.

The four cousins are Brave Heart Lion, Bright Heart Raccoon, Lotsa Heart Elephant and Cozy Heart Penguin.

Proud Heart Cat

Originally a peach color, he was given a turquoise color in 2004 for the revival in merchandise and toy. He was a baby in the Care Bears II: New Generation. He doesn't get much attention. He was made female in 2004. Left to right; 1985 promotional art, Dic cartoon and Nelvana cartoon. Her symbol is a heart in a star.

Loyal Heart Dog

A blue dog. Left to Right: 1985 promo art, Dic, Nelvana and 2004 toy. The 2005 toy he got a heart-shaped patch over his eye. His symbol is a bar holding a heart.

 Gentle Heart Lamb

A female light green lamb. She is shy and sweet. Left to Right: 1985 Promo image, Dic, Nelvana and 2004 toy. Her symbol is a pin-cushion heart.

Playful Heart Monkey

Male yellow-orange monkey. He is the jokester of the group. Left to Right: 1985 promo image, Dic, Nelvana and 2004 toy. His symbol was a heart with a party hat on it with a birthday horn. For the revival, the horn was removed and the party hat went on top of the heart.

Swift Heart Rabbit

Female light blue fur rabbit. She is super fast and is overconfident. In 2004, the wings went from in front of the heart and to the bottom to being behind the heart on the top. In the Dic cartoon, she was referred to as a 'he' even though in the Nelvana cartoons she was a she. Left to Right: 1985 promo image, Dic, Nelvana, 2004 toy

Treat Heart Pig

Yellow female pig with a ice cream cone symbol. She was not included in the 2nd Care Bears movie and was not included in neither the 2004 nor the 2016 revival. In the 1985 promo info, she was referred to as a he. 

Left to Right: 1985 promo pic, Dic and Nelvana

 Noble Heart Horse

He was introduced as the dad-figure in Care Bears II: A New Generation. His fur is purple but the toy was multi-pastel color. He did have a 2004 revival toy even though wikipedia pages say no. In a comic book he appeared to be on all fours and Proud Heart Bear rode her. His symbol is  a heart with a star on it.

 Cozy Heart Penguin

Left to Right: 1985 art, Dic, Nelvana, 2004 revival and 2016 series. She is a lilac color, she is sweet. Her 2016 revival is the shortest and trills instead of speaking. Her symbol is a heart with a hat on it. 

Bright Heart Raccoon

 Left to right: 1985 promo art, dic, nelvana, 2004 promo art and 2016 series. His symbol was a heart like a lightbulb and for the 2004 revival, it became light sparks around the heart to back to the original symbol for 2016. He is the smart one. 

Lotsa Heart Elepehant

He was a strong and caring pink bear. For the 2016 revival, he was changed to female. Left to Right: 1985 promo art, Dic, Nelvana, 2004 toy and 2016 series. Symbol is a weight with hearts on it. 

 Brave Heart Lion

The de-facto leader/male brown-orange lion. Left to Right: 1985 promo art, Dic, Nelvana, 2004 revival and 2016 series. The symbol is basically a crown on a heart but changed. He is the only one that his symbol has changed the most out of the four chosen for the revival. Originally the crown was to the left and had pink on top. In the revival it was purple and to the right. For 2016, stayed to the right without a cushion.

If this series succeeds, I would love to see them all back. I am guessing the Lamb, Monkey and Rabbit are most likely to be revived.

#wheresrey Star Wars Force Awakens toys ignore PROTAGONIST REY

I've dealt with this in the Power Rangers fandom, that females are ignored or forgotten. In most merchandise like t-shirts, lunch boxes, book bags, etc., we only see the male rangers. In the movie Star Wars: Force Awakens, Rey is the protagonist but she is not seen on packaging nor in toy aisles for Star Wars. Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart, I went to the Star Wars section and saw no Rey figures. Some people believe the omission is because of the secrecy over the movie itself.  

People on Twitter have started #wheresrey, particularly parents wondering where Rey figures are for their daughters. Especially in Star Wars: The Force Awakens Battle Action Millennium Falcon and Target 6-pack set. The pack includes Finn, Chewy, Poe, Kylo Ren, an unknown Startrooper and unknown New Order pilot.

My friend who happens to be of Jamaican origin, he claims that sales of Finn figures are low and in the heyday, figures of Lando  Calrissian, the 'only black guy in the universe' was the least sold figure. I am not sure about that. Another friend of mine at work says he thinks there will be more merch soon after the secrecy.  He could be right because of the snippet below of the article below.

 "After news about the omission broke, Disney said that new Force Awakens merchandise will not leave out the film's main female character. Paul Southern, the senior vice president and head of licensing for Lucasfilm, said: 'In many stores and e-commerce destinations, products featuring Rey are selling as quickly as retailers can restock shelves." "Abrams said: 'Star Wars' was always a boy's thing, and a movie that dads could take their sons to. 'And although that is still very much the case, I was really hoping this could be a movie that mothers could take their daughters to as well.'

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/22/star-wars-merch-s-sexism-problem-wheresrey-highlights-dearth-in-female-toys.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3377010/Some-call-Star-Wars-sexist-realizing-toy-sets-don-t-include-female-character-Rey.html

Female Warrior Toylines that failed

She-Ra Princess of  (1985) is best known of the following which I call female warriors but others might refer to as female He-Mans. She-Ra was He-Man's sister. She-Ra had a main male villain, Hordak who was supposed to be He-Man's villain, he even came as a He-Man toy and was not part of the She-Ra toy line. Catra, Entrapa and Double Face were the only villainesses in the toy line. She-Ra had dolls, coloring books, storybooks, posters, stickers, birthday stuff, her own animated series, and now DVDs. She was the only popular one. The other ones were ignored.

 

Golden Girl and the Guardians of Gemstone (1983)

Galoob came out with this toy line in 1983, it predates She-Ra. They had t-shirts, coloring books, board games and books. It somehow is remembered by toy fans but it was pretty much forgotten. It has a unique distinction of having a group of villainesses. They didn't have an animated series.

For more information on Golden Girl: http://www.thelaironstormisle.com/

 

Wonder Woman and the Star Riders (1992)

Probably done to have a recognizable Wonder Woman to attract the toyline but it didn't really work... actually it wasn't even released! Mattel made the prototypes. The only thing that exist that gave me an inkling about this was a mini comic that came with Minibuns. I got it thanks to a speech teacher I had, I think she got it from there. Anyways, the dolls were later used for Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic.

http://www.toyotter.com/actiongirl/starriders/

 

Saban's Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic (1995)

A cartoon doesn't equal a hit. Tenko wasn't exactly a warrior but the dolls of Wonder Woman and the Star Riders were used for Tenko. Tenko was a real life magician and she had live-action segments. This show aired on Fox Kids and was produced by Saban Entertainment, who is responsible for Power Rangers. It was canceled after one year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenko_and_the_Guardians_of_the_Magic

 

Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders (1995-1996)

This show lasted two seasons and it was syndicated. It had a toyline. It had fans but it didn't last passed two years and it is not as memorable as She-Ra. She was known as Starla outside of the US. Other Arthurian characters in the show include Merlin and Lady of the Lake. It was a pretty good series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Gwenevere_and_the_Jewel_Riders

 

Related: http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2012/06/golden-girl-and-gaurdians-of-gemstone.html | http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2006/07/best-of-she-rasecret-of-sword-review.html

Jem 2012 Dolls at $135!

 Maybe I am a month late but here it is, what we have been waiting for. And wow! Awesome work! They are releasing three dolls but they are for $135. But they are fully poseable! These are soooo made for collectors, it is not even funny. 

 We got Jerrica, who can turn into Jem. I am surprise Pizzazz is not part of this group because they did release Halloween costumes of her.

 Rio is so hot! And they have him in show-accurate clothing, which is not available before. Even with mundane cream and brown colors, he still looks so handsome!

 Synergy has show-accurate clothes and looks fabulous! Who is synergy? She was the computer that made Jerrica into Jem!

At the SDCC 2012, this Hollywood Jem was revealed. Pre-orders are sold out!

Sources:

http://www.dollobserver.com/2012/10/05/jem-and-the-hollograms-wave-1-dolls-announced/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-24/jem-dolls-reboot-sells-out

http://www.rockjem.com/dolls4.html

Pink non-girl toys in Boy Franchises

Pink is usually considered a female color and I am not going into my whole debate over the color pink. But it should be noted that as late as the 1950's, it was still considered a "boy" color. Pink was seen as a shade of red, which relates to manly concepts like blood and war. Blue was associated with the Virgin Mary and was seen as a more serene color reserved for girls (in fact, the traditional colour for wedding dresses used to be blue before Queen Victoria popularized the white dress; all that remained of that is the line calling for "something blue" in the rhyme). Early in WWI, the French Army uniform included bright pink trousers. This was changed when the leaders realized it made them easy targets. Pink has become more of a girl color thanks to industrial merchandising and Barbie adopting the color. I wanted to highlight some characters in Boy Franchises that were NOT girls that wore pink.

 

 Hot Rod

He was introduced as Optimus Prime's replacement in the Transformers movie. Before final production, Hot Rod was originally cast in a pinker plastic to match the color of his animation model, but oddly, he was changed to a less animation-accurate red before release. This change evidently came too late to modify the factory-applied stickers the toy bears: the small decals on either side of Hot Rod's vehicle mode feature a pink background that would have matched the toy's original color scheme.

Skids and Mudflap

In the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, these two 'male' Transformers became a pink and white Ice Cream Truck. They later changed their form.

Fangry and other Decepticons
G1 Decepticons were pink such as Fangry, Spinster and Carnivac.

 

Hot Wheels and Monster Jam

There has been many many pink Hot Wheels through the years and only one pictured above is a Barbie car. Another is a Batmobile. Four are Monster Jam trucks: Madusa, Eradicator, Scarlet Bandit, and Heart Breaker.

Bret Hart

The most famous wrestler in Pink Spandex, he said he picked the color to intimidate his competitors.

Gambit
The X-Men superhero had pink torso and accents and his kinetic energy was pink.

 Nimrod

 Speaking of Marvel and X-Men, Nimrod was an all-pink deadly villain.

Kamen Rider Decade

Kamen Rider is also known as Masked Rider. For the 10th anniversary of the revival in 2009, they made a 'magenta' rider. Fans refused to agree he was pink. Most of the Riders of the decade were Red and most of the first ones were green. He and Kamen Rider Raia are the only 'pink' ones.

Care Bears through 30 years

I am turning 30 and so are the Care Bears! Seeing which Bears have lasted through the years and how they have changed through the years. I am not counting one shot bears (Like Oopsy, the Pandas, the Cousins, Me, Messy, Too Loud, Sweet Dreams, Superstar, Shine Bright, Daydream, Play-A-Lot, Heartsong and etc.). 

Tenderheart Bear

The lead bear, his personality has mostly been kept in tact. He is the stalwart leader, he keeps his head on his shoulders and helps kids when they are down. Above Left: 80's Greeting Cards and Promotional Artwork (painted by artist Elena Kucharik), Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. He was originally brown but became more of an orange in the 2000's and now in the new series, he is back to brown.

Grumpy Bear

He has definitely been the most popular and has stayed the same. He along with Funshine, Good Luck, Bedtime, Cheer, Birthday, Love-A-Lot and Tenderheart have maintain the same tummy symbols. Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot and computer animated Adventures in Care-A-Lot movie; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot.

 Cheer Bear

 She has remained a she and has kept her rainbow belly symbol for years. She is ever so cheerful.

Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot.  In promotional and the first CG movie, she has a more orange-y shade. In the cartoons of traditional animation, she is a lighter shade. And in the new series, she is a bit darker.

Share Bear

In the beginning, she had a milkshake to share but the creators felt it would promote germs in the 2000's so they changed it to Lolipops which she has kept. Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot and computer animated Adventures in Care-A-Lot movie (Share Bear Shines); Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. She had a dark more redish tint in the first CG movie, because her toy did. She has a lighter shade in the new CG series.

Funshine Bear

Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: DiC 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot and computer animated Adventures in Care-A-Lot movie; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. She went from female to male. In the original cartoon, she was female and then became male in the Nervana CG movies. He was also in the 'Adventures in Care-A-Lot' stylized cartoon, where he was sporty. And he is male in the new CG series. In the first CG movie, he was a joker.

Harmony Bear

Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon (as a baby in the sequel film), Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot and computer animated Adventures in Care-A-Lot movie; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. Harmony had a big heart and two little hearts on it. She got a new symbol with a flower and smile in the 2000's which to me didn't make sense. Her purple was always darker, more blue-ish than Share Bear. In the original cartoon, she was quiet and sweet. In AC, she was active and in the new one, she sings.

Wish Bear

One of my favorite bears, she hasn't gotten a lot of attention lately. She was a minor character in AC and is a background character in the new series. She had her own movie thanks to Nelvana in CG form (Care Bears: Big Wish Movie). Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Meet-and-Greet Costume, Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot.

 Good Luck Bear

 Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. A minor character in all incarnations but a fan favorite.

Bedtime Bear

He was about a darker shade that Grumpy but now a lighter shade than him.  Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: 'Welcome to Care-A-Lot' new series, In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot;Right: CG Adventures in Care-A-Lot. He had been more of a comical character, waking up at times.

Birthday Bear

He had a golden-yellow fur which has gotten lighter in time. Top Left: 80's promotional, Top Right: Nelvana cartoon, Bottom Left: Promotional 2000's and Bottom Right: new series 'Welcome to Care-A-Lot.' I am not sure if Birthday Bear appeared in 'Adventures in Care-A-Lot' nor in the two Nelvana CG movies.

Champ Bear

He is said to be in the new series but I haven't seen him. He turned blue in the 2000's, he was originally an golden yellow, a bit darker than Birthday bear.  Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Right: Adventures in Care-A-Lot CG movie. In Care Bear Family cartoon, he had a big role but has become a minor character.

Secret Bear

Another of my favorites. She went from orange to magenta. Left: 80's promotional, Nelvana cartoon, 2000's promotional and Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. I am not sure if she appeared in the Nelvana CG movies nor Adventures in Care-A-Lot series or movies. They made more room for newer characters. In the 80's cartoons, Secret Bear was best friend to Friendship Bear who would speak for her since she only spoke in whispers.

Love A Lot Bear
Above Left: 80's Promotional Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana 80's cartoon, Right: late 2000's promotional, Bottom Left: In two Nelvana computer animated movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Right: Welcome to Care-A-Lot. She has always been a redish-pink with the same Belly Badge/Tummy Symbol.

Friend Bear

Secret Bear's friend hasn't been used much. She did appear in Adventures in Care-A-Lot. She has always been peach. Top Left: 80's artwork, Top Center: Nelvana cartoon, Top Right: 2000's artwork, Bottom Left: CG Nelvana movies, Center: Adventures in Care-A-Lot, Right: DiC specials. That I know of, she hasn't appeared in the new series.

Baby Hugs and Tugs
Top Left: Promotional 80's, Top Right: Nelvana cartoon, Bottom Left: Promotional 2000's, Bottom Right: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; Baby sister and brother twins appeared in the Nelvana cartoon and in the Adventures in Care-A-Lot cartoon. They were replaced in Welcome to Care-A-Lot by Wonderheart Bear. Hugs is the Blue boy and Tugs is the Pink Girl.

Trueheart Bear
True Heart Bear is the co-founder of the Kingdom of Caring in the second movie Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. Her fur color is multi-pastel coloured (in the original artwork and as a plush toy). For Care Bears: Oopsy Does It! and Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot, she was redesigned. She now has pastel pink colored fur and is portrayed as the same age and size as the other bears, and is cast as the reporter for Care-a-Lot's newspaper. Top Left: 80's Artwork, Top Center: Nelvana Cartoon, Top Right: Adventures in Care-A-Lot CG Movies, Bottom Left: 2004 artwork and Bottom Right: Adventures in Care-A-Lot.


2004 and Up Bears
These are bears that were added in 2004 and might not be recognized by older fans. I know I don't recognize some. Unlike My Little Pony, that they lost copyright to their character names that they had to make new ones.

Surprise Bear
As a plush toy, Surprise Bear was originally a UK exclusive (she was light blue and had a smiling circle instead of a star) in the late 80's. She appears in the live-action "Hide-&-Seek Care Bears" commercial as an animated character between the two kids. She also made her movie debut in Care Bears: Oopsy Does It!  In "Adventures in Care-a-Lot", she pops up almost anywhere, shouting "Surprise!" which is her catchphrase for surprising someone. She has also had a cameo in Welcome to Care-A-Lot.

Amigo Bear
I don't know if racist is the right word but I just don't like Amigo Bear. My parents are from Guatemala, I was born in the US and I speak Spanish. Amigo Bear speaks Spanish but his name basically means 'Friend,' there is already a Friend Bear. Same goes for Best Friend Bear. Same stuff. And his symbol is a 'festive' Aztec Sun, which is a bit stereotypical and presumptuous. It is the first Bear I see that they try making 'ethnic' other than America Cares Bear (2003) and Proud Heart Bear (1991) that were patriotic bears. He made his premiere in "Oopsy Does It!" as well. It isn't known if he has popped up in Welcome to Care-A-Lot.

Best Friend Bear 
She shows the importance of the special bond between two best friends and how there is a best friend for everyone. She is violet and her tummy symbol is a smiling heart and a smiling star linked by a rainbow Like Amigo and Surprise, she made her movie debut in Care Bears: Oopsy Does It! In "Adventures in Care-a-Lot", she is the clerk of the grocery store. She appears as a background character in Welcome to Care-A-Lot.

Laugh-A-Lot Bear
Like Love-A-Lot, Laugh-a-Lot Bear has a similar name--inspired by Lancelot. She turns her worst mistakes into the best jokes and her contagious laughter can even make Grumpy Bear laugh. Unlike Best Friend, Amigo and Surprise, she made her movie debut in Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot and made cameo appearances in The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie. In "Adventures in Care-a-Lot", her hair is tied up and purple and pink hearts were added to her symbol. She has cameos in "Welcome to Care-A-Lot."

Thanks-A-Lot Bear
Thanks-a-Lot Bear (2004) helps teach the importance of politeness along with the "magic words", which everyone knows as Please & Thank You!Thanks-a-Lot makes an appearance with Secret Bear in episode 3 of Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot. She reminds me of Wish Bear. Not sure if she appeared in the Nirvana CG films or the Adventures in Care-A-Lot.