"Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot" was an animated series (based on a comic book) that aired on Fox from 1999-2001. I was a poor college student who couldn't afford cable during those years, so I watched a lot of Saturday morning cartoons. I remember watching "Big Guy" as well as "Digimon" and "Beast Machines" (all on Fox). I haven't seen "Big Guy" since it aired but it was an enjoyable show (I should really hunt it down online and watch it again). The premise was this: Big Guy protected the country from various threats. Rusty was going to be his replacement. Although Rusty was a super advanced robot, he was inexperienced and needed Big Guy to teach him how to be a hero. Rusty looked up to and idolized Big Guy but didn't know that Big Guy wasn't really a robot. Big Guy was a more like a mech with a human pilot. The pilot, Lt. Dwayne Hunter, posed as Big Guy's mechanic in order to keep up the illusion that Big Guy was a robot.
I have a number of the Hardee's Big Guy toys (which I'll show off in a bit) but this flea market find is my first true Big Guy toy. The Big Guy toy line was made by Bandai and this is the "Flying Big Guy" figure.
First up, the packaging...
Standard plastic bubble on cardboard. The front advertises the "Flying Sound Function!" and the fact that a free trading card is included.
The back gives a blurb about the show's premise as well as showing off other toys in the line. The same vendor I bought this from also had a giant electronic Big Guy figure in the original box (the figure was far bigger than 6" so it isn't the one pictured on this box). He was asking $30 for it, which wasn't bad for a toy that size but I liked the far smaller (and cheaper at only $5) flying Big Guy so that's the one I bought.
The robot figure shown at the bottom left is Argo and was one of Big Guy's enemies.
The bottom of the bubble gives the operating and battery replacement instructions. The batteries in mine were quite dead and I don't have any suitable replacements so I won't be able to comment on those features of the toy.
Let's open this baby up...
Here's Big Guy out of the package. This standing pose is a little awkward as he's meant to be flying. He is articulated at the shoulders, wrists and knees with simple swivel joints. On the back of his left leg is the ON/OFF switch. He's a nice looking figure but can't do much other than look like he's flying.
Likewise, Rusty looks good but is very simple. He's only articulated at the neck. He's also meant to be flying and that's it.
Since they're both supposed to fly, let's get them flying with the included display stand!
Neither of the figures clips or pegs onto the stand in any way, rather the stand is molded so that the figures rest in cavities. The little extension for Rusty clips onto the main stand but not very securely. The display stand looks fine and functions well enough but why didn't they use clear plastic? It would have looked so much better, especially for Rusty, in clear plastic.
Final verdict: This version of Big Guy and Rusty make for a nice display piece but that's about it. I can't imagine getting too much play out of them, even with working electronics. They're both flying. Look at them fly. They're still flying... Look at them go....... They just keep on flying................ Great looking figures though.
I mentioned earlier that Hardee's had offered some Big Guy and Rusty toys back when the show was on the air. Well, here they are...
I don't know if I have the complete set but I can't imagine there are too many more of them. First up is jumping Big Guy. You know the gimmick... Push him down and he'll jump up.
Next is wind-up Big Guy. The thing sticking out of his right shoulder is the winding knob. Wind him up and watch him toddle away. One mystery though: the hatch on his back is hinged and opens, but why? Anything that could have been put in there would have been too small to be safe for a toy in a kid's meal. I don't know the purpose of this feature.
Next we have electronic noise making Big Guy. He has a button on the underside of his feet that makes a generic repeating explosion-ish sound, kinda like one of the many sounds the old generic toy laser pistols would make. Strangely, the batteries in this little toy still work, unlike the larger Bandai toy.
The last Big Guy toy is paired with Rusty. It's just a static figure with no features whatsoever. I'm wondering if it might be the under age 3 toy.
The first Rusty toy has a hole in his head and a cord that you can pull. He obviously shot something up and out of his head, but I have no idea what.
The second Rusty is probably the most fun of the series. He can stand and each of his arms move. You can also tilt the head back and then, with the built in wheels, he becomes a pull-back-and-go toy for pretend flying action.
The Hardee's toys are great and are really just as much fun as the larger Bandai toy. All in all a good looking bunch of toys... even if most of them don't do much.
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