Discussion with toy designer Jim Fong, one of the designers for the original Trash Bag Bunch toys

In 2020, Jim Fong came across Last Resort Toys’ Trash Bag Bunch XL toys and graciously reached out to let me know that he was excited to have discovered them. In turn, I was excited to be in touch with one of the designers/sculptors of the original Trash Bag Bunch mini figures. After several exchanges, this led to the eventual production of “The Lost Trash Bag Bunch.”

Green and Purple Stegaloon mini figures available from Last Resort Toys

Blue and Red Bruiser mini figures available from Last Resort Toys

Click here for the Stink Buzzard/Bruiser Kickstarter (2024)

Click here for the Skuzbeast/Stegaloon Kickstarter (2023)

Amongst a handful of hard copy prototpyes Jim had in storage was this design that was never produced. So over 30 years later, we’re bringing Stegaloon to your collection. I wanted to get some details about Jim’s work on Trash Bag Bunch and what things were like designing and sculpting in the 80s and 90s, so I sent him some questions. Read on to see Jim’s answers and insights about working at Galoob.

Original Stegaloon hard copy (right) and Last Resort Toys’ enlarged version (left)

Last Resort Toys: Hi Jim, thanks for taking the time to discuss your work with me. To get started, what is your general background in the toy industry, and specifically, how were you involved with Galoob?

Jim: My background is in Industrial Design, and Galoob hired me in the mid-80s to help out on their projects. I was the first designer hired by the VP of Design, and I was there ‘til the business was closed by Hasbro in December of 2000.

LRT: What was your role working on Trash Bag Bunch?

Jim: The initial concept wasn’t called Trash Bag Bunch. During that time, Mattel’s M.U.S.C.L.E was doing well, and David Galoob wanted to make our own line of small figures. The original concept was called R.A.M., or ROBOTS, ALIENS, and MONSTERS. We were tasked with coming up with ideas for Robots, Aliens and Monsters. It was a fun project because there weren’t any design constraints other than the size. They had to be small, like M.U.S.C.L.E., and it was an open canvas for anything we could come up with…and we certainly did.

Our role was to simply come up with all sorts of design sketches that covered a whole range of ideas and designs. Some were ridiculous; some gross, and some were simply so weird, gross, and disgusting that they never went beyond the ideation stage. Of course, I knew some of my designs would never be made, but it was fun to draw them and it’s always great to push the envelope because it leads to other creative ideas.

One of Jim’s “too-weird” designs for R.A.M./TBB

I believe as we worked on R.A.M., management was working with an outside group. My guess is they were looking for a schtick—some way to market the product. A theme, if you will. I had thought that they would be sold as just figures, but in the end, they were in trash bags as the marketing hook, which was pretty cool.

First product mock-up showing the trash bags, courtesy of melbirnkrant.com

LRT: How many designers were on the team, and what did the work breakdown look like?

Jim: I think there were about six or seven of us in the design room at that time, but not all of us worked on the same projects. But I do know that besides myself, there were Shogi and Sato who also worked on R.A.M. We basically set out to design all sorts of creatures, and it was a really fun project.

LRT: How many Trash Bag Bunch figures did you design?

Jim: As far as sketching, we all drew piles of sketches. I think in the end, about 11 of my designs made it to production. I still have almost all of my piles of sketches.

Jim’s original sketch for “Rubbisher,” from Trash Bag Bunch series 2

LRT: Did you have specific guidelines for the types of characters you were making, and how much creative freedom did you have in coming up with designs?

Jim: The beauty of the product was there was no guideline, and we had total freedom to display our designs. Some were a bit warped, but that’s what made it fun. If they were too weird, there were always more normal R.A.M. type designs that wouldn’t offend parents. But I’m convinced if we went with the really warped designs, kids would have collected them like there’s no tomorrow.

LRT: What are some of your personal favorite figures/designs from Trash Bag Bunch that you worked on?

Jim: One big issue I had with R.A.M., as well as any toys I’ve worked on, is that most of my vision is there, but there’s still a lot that is lost in translation. The concept sketch looks cool on paper but by the time it gets into first model, then final production, something is lost. This is due to the need to actually mass produce the item. With figures like Hot Toys, which are larger collectible figures sometimes costing $500+, there are many pieces to the collectible so details are crisp and sculpts are perfect. With R.A.M., it had to be made in one molded piece, so some of the details are compromised and I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. Close, but not 100%. 

As for my personal favorites, I think I really like Incinerator. The original sketch looks a lot cooler than the toy, but sketches always look better. I also like Mudgrub because it’s a big worm. There again, in final production, some of the original flavor of my design was lost, but that is to be expected.

Jim Fong’s original concept art for “Incinerator”

LRT: I have always thought Trash Bag Bunch stood out amongst other mini figures from the 80's and 90's due to its unique and detailed character design and the impressive 3 to 4 color paint applications on each figure. At the time, did you feel like you were working on something unique and were you trying to push the envelope?

Jim: I certainly think the designs were unique. We had lots of fun coming up with a bunch of weird designs which were original, fun, and a pleasure to design. Again, we were working with the constraints of deco (paint), cost, and size limitations. It would have been really cool if the figures were larger, but that would be a whole different product.

“Incinerator” and “Stegaloon” hard copy prototypes

LRT: Looking back, how do you feel about there still being a dedicated fan base to this somewhat obscure toyline? Would you have guessed that people would still be talking about it 30 years later?

Jim: After Galoob was closed, we all moved on with our lives so, yes, it was a surprise that people still remember Galoob and have a passion for many of the things we designed. After this line was done, we moved on to other projects and didn’t think much about it anymore. In fact, I remember “Clean Up Days” where we brought in a big dumpster to the back parking lot and we went through our flat files and pulled out old drawings, boards or whatever else that filled our many flat files, then tossed them into the dumpster. Lots of Galoob design history was lost to “Clean Up Days”, but it’s great that many fans are keeping the Galoob flame alive. It’s also good that some of us kept some things, so not everything ended up in the dumpster.

Jim’s “Mudgrub” design rescued from the fate of the “Clean Up Days” dumpster

Recently, someone in the UK contacted us Galoob people and wrote a book on the Micro Machine line. The book is called “Micro But Many.” It’s a terrific book for those who loved the MM line and had fun playing with the toys as kids. They are adults now and fondly remember the countless hours where they played Micro Machines with their friends, spending hours and hours in a creative, make-believe environment. This is something you don’t get from video games.

LRT: There are some old promotional ads that show varying designs of the toys that were ultimately released, and most fans are also familiar with the rare series 2 figures and a handful of unproduced designs and playsets. What can you say about how the design process worked and how certain designs were chosen and others ultimately abandoned?

Click here to visit Mel Birnkrant’s website to see original print ads and read more details about R.A.M. and Trash Bag Bunch

Jim: Designs were chosen casually. In other words, the project manager may take the designs to upper management and they would decide. It was a pretty quick and straight forward process. We didn’t have endless meetings on it. It was decided quickly and that was pretty much it. As for what was chosen and what was not, I think as long as designs weren’t too far out or grotesque, they had a chance to make it. I did designs I knew would never make it, but it was fun to push that envelope anyway.

Jim’s collection of original hard-copy prototypes from R.A.M./TBB

LRT: Were there any Trash Bag Bunch designs you were particularly disappointed to see not make the final cut?

Jim: I really would have liked to see at least one grotesque design go into production, just to see audience reaction. Will they hate it? Love it? Will it cause the PTA to protest in front of Galoob Toys, or would it be the one design to rule them all with kids searching for it as the holy grail of Trash Bag Bunch? We will never know.

An unused design, possibly of the “too grotesque” category

LRT: Can you think of any other behind the scenes details or stories from working at Galoob and working on Trash Bag Bunch that fans might find interesting?

Jim: Working at Galoob was the best job I’ve ever had. I was there from 1985 to 2000 and, while we had our ups and downs, it was by far the most fun place I’ve ever worked. What made it special was that it was a small, but big, company and the people there were extremely talented. Every one of us brought something to the table, and it was a team effort where we bounced ideas off each other and had a blast doing it. I have to say that everyone in the Design Room (We had our own secured and locked Design Room.) was a bit off-kilter, so everyone was insanely creative. I can also say the model shop was the same with super-talented model makers who made the whole design process fun and exciting. 

R.A.M./TBB was really fun. Where else can you sit and sketch up all sorts of crazy designs all day and know some of them will end up on retail shelves? It’s quite special to know that what you sketch today will be on retail shelves in a year and some kid’s toy collection after that.

LRT: What are some other toys you are proud to have been involved with or that were particularly interesting or challenging projects?

Jim: Since I was the first Designer hired and was there until the day they closed the doors, I experienced everything that came through. I would have to say Star Wars Micro Machines, Star Wars Action Fleet, Galaxy Voyagers Micro Machines and R.A.M./TBB were tremendously fun projects to work on. I also loved working on the Micro Machines Pocket Playsets and, in fact, all 12 designs were done in 21 days straight and sold like hotcakes, so that was super fun. Many other projects were fun as well, but those I mentioned come to mind.

LRT: Do you still work on original designs, and do you have any toy concepts that you would like to see brought to life someday?

Jim: I don’t spend much time on original designs, but I do wish someday that some of the unproduced Galaxy Voyagers would be realized, but in Action Fleet scale. I still have the gray models of Galaxy Voyagers that never went past the model stage, and I think they would look great as an Action Fleet vehicle, or size wise, something in between a Micro Machines and Action Fleet. Not too big and not too small.

LRT: That’s all very interesting! You are doing a service to the toy community in keeping some of these old prototypes safe and also sharing your knowledge and memories of working in the industry. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me, Jim.

Painted Gary and Larry - with lights!

Dropping in the store Friday, October 9, 2020 at NOON PST

Only 16 custom painted figures are available—four in each color/character

Please note—these figures are “finished to order” with the option of a painted face or a cut out face with lights. They’re ready to go except for the last touches that you will choose at checkout!

Each figure comes fully painted with 4 hands, 2 weapons, and 2 interchangeable faces. The light-up versions also include 2 candle-flicker LEDs and a removable semi-opaque fabric to defuse the light, as pictured.

Happy Halloween!

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Gary and Larry are here!

In stock and shipping now!

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Each figure features a header card with art by Tony Papesh

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You can add on an accessory pack with additional weapon and alternate hands for only $10!

*SPECIAL OFFER - Order both Gary and Larry in July and get a free set of Halloween Fingles finger puppets/mini figures—while supplies last!

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