A Blast From the Past: James Bond Jr. Jaws Action Figure

Jaws Action Figure for James Bond Jr. cartoon series from Hasbro

“You’re the ultimate secret agent in the dark world of international espionage with James Bond Jr. action figures, vehicles and spy gear. Battle it out against enemy agents from the evil S.C.U.M. [Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem] organization, and whatever you do, don’t blow your cover!”

Having just watched Moonraker this past weekend, the arrival of this little gem this week is timely. A novelty gift from my thoughtful boyfriend, the chomping jaw-crushing action figure comes with a steel bar (well, really plastic) and a decoder strip, because on the back of the packaging, there’s a specially coded section that includes a bio, weapons profile (I think we all know it’s the teeth!), and mission details.

What's the back of the packaging

Jaws (played by Richard Kiel, who is an incredibly kind person in real life) is just one of twelve figurines licensed by Eon Productions and manufactured by Hasbro in 1991. Jaws is outfitted with a rather bright blue suit that includes slacks that are too short to fit his 7 foot plus height, which in conjunction with his yellow tie, makes Jaws look silly. The large mouth of teeth is glaring and creates an imposing caricature of the filmic version. While no disrespect to Jan Rabson who voiced Jaws and several other characters in the cartoon, but it would have been cool if Mr. Kiel had lent his voice to this series.

There are four variants for James Bond Jr. 

James Bond Jr. has four variants ranging from his daily wardrobe to specialized mission gear (i.e. scuba gear). Junior has several villains that include Dr. No (green complexion by the way), Dr. Derange, Walker D Plank, and their henchman, Odd Job and Jaws. And thankfully, James Jr. does not have to face these dastardly characters alone – IQ, Gordo Leiter, and Buddy Mitchell are ready to help. No collection is complete without vehicles – one being James Jr.’s red sports car (I want one!) – and every up-and-coming spy in the making must have a gadget or two at their disposal when fighting the S.C.U.M. of the world! If that is not tempting enough, there are Bond points to collect! Well, perhaps that may be obsolete at this point.

Jaws even has a mission - don't forget your decoder! 

It seems that 20+ years on, the action figures are still readily available via Ebay, Amazon, and other online retailers. Prices range from about $5 to over $30 for James Bond Jr. Now, I have to decide if I want to try to collect the rest – Jaws does look lonely on my shelf – or just keep the collection to Jaws alone?

A couple of links:

Virtual Toy Chest James Bond Jr. Action Figure Photos

Behind the Toys James Bond Jr. Prototypes

Southwest Popular/American Culture Association's Annual Conference - Call for Abstracts

Hello All! I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer! I’ve been on a little hiatus, drafting a number of upcoming blog posts and preparing for an upcoming conference. And speaking of conferences, yes, it is that time of year again in which I'm putting out the call for abstracts for the upcoming annual conference held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference will be held February 19 - 22, 2014. I've been attending since 2008 when I was a graduate student and honestly, it's a very good opportunity for students and independent scholars to come share one's scholarship with like minded individuals. I’ll share more in the days ahead regarding the conference, but in the meantime, here’s the CFP for my area: Espionage and Popular Culture: James Bond, Espionage, and Eurospy. Deadline for abstracts is November 1, 2013. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me in the comments or by email.

Call for Papers:

Espionage and Popular Culture: James Bond, Espionage and Eurospy

Title and Abstract Submission Deadline: November 1, 2013

35^th Annual Southwest Popular /American Culture Association (SWPACA)

Conference Dates: February 19 - 22, 2014

Conference Hotel: Hyatt Regency, 330 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM (505) 842-1234

Conference Website: http://southwestpca.org/

The SWPACA James Bond, Espionage and Eurospy Area Chair invites papers for the annual conference on ANY aspect of the James Bond franchise and the spy/espionage and Eurospy genre in films, literature, comics, videogames, and any other popular culture medium. Here are some topics to consider, but is by no means an exhaustive list of theoretical and pop culture frameworks:

• Spy/espionage – historical context
• Secret agents – global representations and local identities
• Refashioning and ret-con of the spy model
• Cold war, post-modern and 21^st century spy psychology
• Gender, i.e. Bond-sploitation
• Film: James Bond, Jason Bourne, Helm, Agent Vinod, Salt, Agent 077, Kommisar X, OSS 117
• Television: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, Chuck, MI5, Burn Notice, She Spies, Cover Up
• Literature: Fleming, Bruce, Gardner, Benson, Hamilton, Weinberg, Higson, Ludlum, LeCarre
• Comics: X-9 Corrigan, Super Spy, Danger Girl, The Secret Service
• Cartoons: Archer, James Bond Jr., Totally Spies!,
• Anime: Najica Blitz Tactics, Golgo 13, Gunslinger Girl, Darker Than Black, Master Keaton
• Videogames: GoldenEye, 007 Legends, Alpha Protocol, No One Lives Forever, Splinter Cell
• Anti-Bond: The Quiller Memorandum, The Ipcress File, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Liquidator
• Music, Fashion, Advertisements, etc.

 Please note the following presentation details:

• Please send a 250 word abstract and the presentation title by November 1, 2013 via the online submission database at http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/
• Presentation time consideration: 15 min maximum. Limit of one presentation at the conference. For all areas accepting abstracts, please see:

http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/

• There are no honorariums for presenters; this is an academic conference. There are however, a number of conference award opportunities. To see a full list of award opportunities: http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/

Michele Brittany, James Bond, Espionage and Eurospy Area Chair

Email: spyfi.superspies@gmail.com

Blog: http://spyfi-superspies.blogspot.com

Facebook: Spy-fi & Superspies

Nods to Bond Where You Least Expect, Part I

Content Advisory: There is full frontal nudity (comic book art) below for the purpose of illustrating one of Bond’s influences.

Whether it’s a movie, magazine, television, or some other pop culture outlet, nods to James Bond seem to appear in some of the unlikeliest of places, but welcomed albeit with an eye roll at times (depending on how Bond was incorporated). Periodically, I’ll post those that I find. Here are a few that I have come across recently (and yes, I either play or watch my fair share of videogames!):

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011, Xbox 360 Videogame)

I remember the earlier Deus Ex PC game with its slick blue palette that made up agent JC Denton world, globetrotting around the world to fight a terrorist movement in the year 2052. In that game, there were several popular culture references, so it really should not come as any surprise that this recently released prequel set in 2025 would continue that same practice. The game follows security director Adam Jensen through the various corporate offices, clubs and such. Computer hacking is part of the encouraged game play, so often emails could provide details that fleshed the overarching story. Sometimes, the emails were just fillers, which always provides for some entertainment, especially if the writers are creative and/or funny. Given that espionage is one of the driving themes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, it was appropriate that James Bond make an appearance at some point in the game, which brings me to the Bond reference:

No, there was not a maniacal villain with a white cat in the game, but seriously how cool would that have been? And, perhaps it’s a promising prediction that James Bond will still be as popular as he is now.  Could you imagine – Bond at 100?!

Tropico 3 (2010, Xbox 360 Videogame)

I just started playing this micromanaging, political simulation game. There are two game modes: a campaign comprising of main objectives for several Caribbean islands, or sandbox of an open island just waiting for a dictator to come along and build up the economy in any industry and political motivation. You can pick a famous person – Che Guevara, Augusto Pinochet, Evita Peron and many others – to lead the island, or you can customize your in-game avatar. One of the options was “secret agent” and this is where this gem was found:

Should we be surprised? Bond and Fleming spent time in the Caribbean, so why not? And, ouch! Elvis impersonator?! Was that a knock to Never Say Never Again or later 80s Roger Moore Bond films? Undeserving on both accounts, I would have to say. 

James Pond: Underwater Agent (1990, Videogame)

I seriously could not believe when I heard about this game. Originally a videogame developed in 1990 by Vectordean Ltd and Millennium Interactive. From the cover, it is quite easy to see who inspired the golden mudskipper. Similarities do not stop there: there’s a villain named Dr. Maybe who threatens our precious ocean ecosystem with toxic waste. Mr. Pond is hired by the British secret service to save the day, all while seducing beautiful mermaids (some are double agents of course!). And not surprising, the levels spoof James Bond movie titles with “A View to a Spill” and “Leak and Let Die” among others.

The single player platform game spawned almost as many sequels as there were Bloefelds in the filmic versions, which included James Pond 2: Codename Robocod (1991 where secret agent meets Robocop) and James Pond 3: Operation Starfish (1993, where secret agent meets Flash Gordon). More recently, in mid 2011, Mr. Pond returned in James Pond in the Deathly Shallows (nodding to the Harry Potter series) for the iPhone and iPad after an 18-year hiatus. Unfortunately, our aquatic spy did not fare well with the critics – Destructoid.com’s gaming critic Jim Sterling placed the game as the second worst games of 2012!

Cavewoman Gangster Issue #3, Variant Cover (2013, Artist: Budd Root, Comic Book)

Bam! Just out of nowhere comes this special “Bond” edition nude cover by artist and Cavewoman creator, Budd Root, according to the Certificate of Authenticity. The story was written by Rob Durham and in this issue, the adventure picks up with Cavewoman working with the police to save her kidnapped boyfriend. Other than a jittery policeman, who is spying for the local gang, there’s no conceivable connection with the Bond cover. There is an alternate Root cover in which the Cavewoman’s coat is open only enough to show off her ample cleavage.

Note: While I did briefly consider whether I should censor the nudity, I decided a content advisory at the beginning of the post was sufficient. This is art and as such, I figured we could all act with maturity.