Manure-Covered Toys. I Hate Manure-Covered Toys!

This is actually old news, but I just now found out about it. A few years back, Mattel released a series of Hot Wheels die cast cars based on Back To The Future. As you can see here, they released Marty McFly's 4-Wheel Drive Pickup, Doc Brown's Time-Traveling DeLorean and... some sort of third vehicle...

That third one would be Biff Tannen's Ford Super De Luxe Convertible... covered in a pile of manure.

I honestly thought this was a well-done spoof when I first saw it, but it's 100% real!

Here's a shot of the scene in question, in case you forgot. Seriously? Was there really no other vehicle they could have used to round out the wave? Did they really reach the bottom of the barrel after two cars and have to resort to using a sh*t-covered convertible?

Fortunately Mattel had the presence of mind to make the poop pile removable, so you can pop it off and display the car feces-free.

"Manure-covered toys. I hate manure-covered toys!"

Scraping The Bottom Of The Star Trek Barrel

Each year the San Diego Comic Con features a series of overpriced, limited edition "exclusive" action figures and toys for sale.

This year Mattel's getting in on the act, offering an exclusive Hot Wheels 1964 Buick Riviera. Oddly enough, the toy car comes with a tiny Mr. Spock figure, casually leaning against the hood. It sells for a whopping $20, which is quite a markup from Hot Wheel's usual $1.50.

Apparently this is from that little-seen Star Trek episode in which the Enterprise is captured by a race of alien hot rod enthusiasts, and Spock saves the day by showing off his awesome cherry ride, which shames them into releasing the ship.

Actually the exclusive is based on this publicity photo of actor Leonard Nimoy in full Spock regalia, leaning against the car he purchased during the first season with his Star Trek paycheck.

OK, so it's kind of an amusing photo (in that "Spock faintly smiles while slightly raising one eyebrow" way), but does it really deserve to have a toy based on it? It definitely feels like they're reaching here. 

What's next, an action figure of James Doohan polishing the five hundred piece Craftsman toolset he bought during Season 2?

As unnecessary as the Spock figure is, it's still not as silly as the Ice Cream Guy action figure from the Star Wars line.