If you grew up in the 60s, 70s or 80s, you may remember what it’s like to play with toys so large that your hands were just barely able to grasp them.
But typically these action figures were image replicas of fictional heroes based on comic book characters or afternoon syndicated cartoon adventurers. Happy hours were spent with your favorite Transformer, Stretch Armstrong, or G.I. Joe figure (with Kung-Fu grip), depending on what decade your childhood took place.
However in 2011, action figures are apparently based on characters in television commercials intended to sell deodorant, beer, or insurance.
(More on TIME.com: See the All-TIME 100 Greatest Toys)
That’s right, kids. Oxford, Conn., toymaker Herobuilders has come up with 12-inch-tall counterparts for the titular “Old Spice Guy,” Dos Equis beer’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” and Allstate Insurance’s “Mayhem.”
Herobuilders president Emil Vicale told TIME that the figures, which retail from $49.95 to $59.95 ,are really just a response to a dearth of masculine characters on TV ads. “They’re manning men back up. They’ve been dumbing us down on commercials,” he said. “These are just like über-men. We normally don’t do products like this, but you cant even ignore it. All last year these commercials are hitting and finally you want to watch a commercial.”
And to add to the manliness theme, “Old Spice Guy” goes the extra mile in a particular –ahem– department. “I don’t know if it s a mile. Its probably an inch on the action figure,” Vicale laughed. “So you can order him anatomically correct.”
(More on TIME.com: See the Super Bowl’s 2011 commercials, graded)
