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TRON Toys

If BLADE RUNNER was perhaps the most realistic and convincing depiction of the future ever seen up to that time, TRON was the most fancifula brilliantly colored toy chest brought to kinetic life by CGI that at the time was so ambitious it required a Cray Supercomputer to render it. The most distinctive vehicles from the movie were the Lightcycles, sleek motorcycles in primary colors that formed around the movie's characters when they grasped a glowing power rod. The machines traveled on a huge game grid, leaving behind a solid wall of energy that issued from their rear wheels and could smash other lightcycles that collided with it before it sank back into the grid. The lightcycles ignored the laws of momentum and were able to make 90-degree turns instantly, creating elaborate mazes with their light trails that could trap other players.

Mead's Lightcycle design was one of the signature images from the film, and when toymaker Tomy launched a short-lived line of Tron toys to coincide with the release of the film they focused on the two-wheeled vehicles. Tomy produced a pretty accurate reproduction of a yellow and a red Lightcycle from the film, with small clear plastic action figures of Flynn, Sark and two other characters from the film which could be placed inside the vehicles. The rear wheel was actually made of metal and rubber and acted as a flywheel when a vinyl "ripcord" was inserted into it and pulled. This was based on old Kenner toys from the '70s called SSPs, and it allowed the Lightcycles to bolt along at a considerable clip. The toymakers were not able to reproduce a moving version of the Lightcycle's front wheel because of the way it was molded to the body, so a small plastic wheel extended from the bottom of the toy to provide front traction. Large metal screws and screwholes that held the toy together also disrupted the seamless illusion of Mead's design. But for all those little flaws, the Tomy Lightcycle toys have become treasured collector's items and have never been reissued until now.

A Japanese [IMG2R]company called Neca has now reissued the Lightcycles in special 20^th anniversary packaging, which should allow anyone still bitter over missing out on these toys during their childhood to even up the score. But that's not even the cool part. The Lightcycles have been issued in red, blue and yellowthe blue and yellow copies are limited to 5,000 each and there are reportedly only 1500 of the red ones. But you can just keep those babies in their boxes because another Japanese toy company, Medicom, has come up with something even cooler. Medicom launched a toy line called Kubricks a year or so ago that has become a cult phenomenon of its own by reducing characters and vehicles from famous genre film franchises like PLANET OF THE APES to something very much resembling Lego form.

The TRON Kubricks have to be the coolest ones yet. The figures are the expected Lego-ized versions, with clear helmets and glow-in-the-dark circuitry details on their costumes. But the vehicles offer not only an even better version of the Lightcycle, but also several other important designs from the movie. Coolest of all is a set that combines the Lightcycle with the pursuing, gunmetal-colored tank from the movie. The Lightcycle opens up so you can fit the Kubrick figure inside, which is visible through the toy's clear, tinted windshield. The toy is weighted and features a seamless, "invisible" front wheel, and it's assembled so there are no screws or holes to break up the illusion of a computer-generated design. Coolest of all, it comes with a molded piece of plastic that fits into the rear wheel well and makes it look like the Lightcycle is leaving a light trail that bends off into a right angle turn.

The tank toy is less elaborate, but the only moving feature necessary to accurately reproduce the movie vehicle is the swiveling, turntable-arm "turret" and that works just fine. The gunmetal look of the main body and the mint-green side "tracks" are also spot-onwhile other Kubricks vehicles (like the spaceship from PLANET OF THE APES) have that "super-deform" look popular in Japanese toys, the proportions of the TRON Kubrick vehicles look very close to the original movie designs.

Other TRON Kubricks sets include the Recognizer (with positionable arms) and an opening version of the climactic Master Control Program; all come with Lightcycles. Remember that, like any collectible toy, prices of these things will vary wildly depending on where you find them. The Neca Lightcycles can be had online for around nine dollars but you'll pay more than $20 for them at comic and collectors' stores. Similarly, the Kubrick sets probably go for around $20 in Japan but you'll pay around twice that in collector's stores.