Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Toy Chest Tuesday! Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

Oh the cute joys of Disney's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. Disney had a knack for producing fun and iconic cartoons at the end of the '80s and throughout the '90s. These Disney cartoons also had a great marketing campaign with Kellogg's breakfast cereal. The "mini-figure" has been around for awhile. Long before we were searching through blind foil bags for our favorite characters, we had to search through Kellogg's cereal boxes first.

Side bar, yes? Let's talk about breakfast real quick. I hate breakfast. I dislike that the leading minds in the field of nutrition all insist that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I hate how we have to live with these analogies about how our bodies are like cars. Once we have breakfast and have gotten the right gasoline in our bodies we can then go the distance for the rest of the day. When can our bodies upgrade into smart cars? Can't we just find a way to plug our stomachs into the damn wall and not even have to worry about ingesting anything? Calories are making my life a living hell.

Eating in the morning is the last thing I want to do. I also despise the food options that fall under the breakfast category. Eggs are revolting. They smell and have issues with texture. Milk and I have a loathsome relationship that goes way back. The idea of eating greasy bacon and sausage makes me want to vomit. Syrup is just to rich for my poor tastes. And breakfast bars... how common. For the longest time I'd just grab a glass of juice and call it a day. Now that I am becoming a woman of a certain age I have to eat breakfast. If I don't my stomach makes obscene noises while at work. It's like those damn nutritionists are out to get me.

But let me say this: for some mini figure Chip 'n Dale toys, I ate the hell out of some milk and cereal back in the day. So welcome to a brand new Toy Chest Tuesday! Let's look at the Chip 'n Dale pvc cereal premiums!


These little pvc premiums were really cute. Kellogg's had a long standing tradition of releasing four figures per Disney cartoon. The Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, and Duck Tails were just a few other cartoons that got the royal pvc premium treatment. If I'm not mistaken each box of cereal came with one figure and there was a mail-in on the back for the whole set. I truly had a reason to eat in the morning. Forget my own proper health and well-being to start the day off right, I just wanted the damn toy.

Above is Chip. He was the leader of the Rescue Rangers as evidenced by the Indiana Jones inspired outfit. No one puts Indiana in the corner nor do they put him as a supporting role. If you dress up in a bomber jacket and fedora, your name will be first in the title. Chip was also the studious, if not boring, leader of the show. I liked him. I mean he was dressed like Indiana Jones. What's not to like?




Next was the idiot brother Dale. He was the party chipmunk. However, why is it that the goof-off is always depicted wearing the Hawaiian shirt? (In the real world folks would think that Dale was just the responsible one on vacation, while Chip Jones would be given some strange looks.) Either way they never wore pants. Anyways Dale was always getting into some sort of mischievous situation. He also liked candy and comics. I liked Dale, but being an older sibling I related to the boring and serious Chip.




Monterey Jack was a portly Australian mouse and sort of the heavy hitter out of the group. How cute was he in a teal sweater and sports jacket? He was also addicted to cheese. His was a lil older than Chip and Dale, so there were other experiences and adventures he had already been on before joining the Rescue Rangers. Like growing a mustache.




Finally we have my favorite Rescue Ranger: Gadget. Oh how I loved Gadget. She was super smart and highly inclined mechanically. The pilot of the group, this mousette was also inventing all kinds of things left and right. Some of her inventions were a lil busted, but that is ok! Gadget inspired me to want to make my own inventions; like a device to plug my stomach into the wall for nutritional value. Oh who am I kidding, I'd never be smart enough for that. But I loved Gadget. And her little jumpsuit too. Plus, Chip and Dale both had the chipmunk hots for her. So next time someone says that mousey girls don't get the guy, remember that is total swiss cheese. This mousey gal had two brothers after her. Kimber would be positively jealous at all that attention!




The Rescue Rangers look great together, don't they? I really enjoyed this cartoon and luckily fans can get the episodes on dvd. (At a good price to boot!) However I must warn any collector's out there about these pvc cereal premiums. Much like expensive glitzy cheese, these toys kinda start to stink with age. My original set has been missing for a lifetime, but I was able to pick up some new-in-the-bag sets on ebay. Well, the plastic has a strong smell of crayon. At first I thought this was just the one set I ordered. But after buying a few other pvc cereal premiums from other sellers, I have found that they all reek of designer imposter Crayola. So buyer beware. Even if these little rodents are rather fun.

So enjoy the new Toy Chest Tuesday! Feel free to post any memories or comments about Ch-ch-ch-Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers!

2 comments:

  1. I loved the rescue rangers...it's tough for me to hear the theme song because it makes me feel so old. It feels like yesterday when I would come home to watch Disney Afternoons followed by 1966 Batman reruns on WPIX 11.

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    1. I know! I feel really old too when I think about the theme song and all the stuff that I used to watch back then. 1966 Batman reruns were pretty fun. It is crazy to think that for as long as I have been alive there has been some form of Batman on the screen.

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