One of the things I loved the most about the movies and TV shows I watched as a kid, and I think most of us can agree on this, was the tools of the trade. Whether it be trapping pesky ghosts or saving alien worlds from evil tyrants, the best part was watching the heroes whip out their trademarked tools and/or weapons, and in some cases super vehicles, and get down to business. Here are some of the props I often wished I could have at least tried out or that caught my eye as I grew up through the '80s and '90s.

1980's

He-Man's Power Sword






Man, that never gets old. And believe it or not we are celebrating the show's 30th anniversary this year. Damn! Imagine if you could transform into a super powerful being just by lifting a magic sword to the heavens and crying out those now legendary words. What you do if you had that kind of power at your disposal? Would you save the world or destroy it? God help us if you're on the side of destroy. Personally though I would use it to protect. Plus no villain would mess with me once I became SUPER POWERED UP NIGHTWATCHER! The most powerful (and awesomely muscular) vigilante in the universe!!! Not to mention that it would apparently also give me my very own heroic theme song. Nice! Oh well, guess I'll have to stick with the old methods for now.


Ghostbuster Gear







Hell yeah baby! Nothing like having an unlicensed nuclear accelerator strapped to your back. We saw the first Ghostbusters at the theater in 1984 when it first came out. Mind you I turned four that year so I was only a little one, but I still enjoyed the movie and got a few laughs out of it as I still do today. My little toddler drool faucet got started though by those wonderful toys that the guys wielded for the job. Ohhh, where can I get me a set of those?! The proton pack, ghost trap and my personal favorite Egon's PKE meter can help out in the stickiest of supernatural situations. The user would have to be careful though because it's possible to cause a fortune in damage if your aim is off. And of course there's always the little matter of the pack blowing the wearer to kingdom come if it's aloud to overheat to much. It would still be a pretty cool feeling if I could try this stuff out though, being an amateur ghost hunter and all. That'll teach those ghosts to slime a guy with a positron collider, huh?


Delorean Time Machine






After all, what better way to go retro than with a little style. Sorry about the poor quality and short length of the above video but it gives you an idea of what I would look for in a souped up time machine. The Doc's time traveling Delorean DMC-12 looked cool in all three movies but I prefer the model in Part II because, not only did it now have a Mr. Fusion built onto the back so that it could accept garbage as fuel and could therefore burn cleaner than most cars, but Doc also installed a hover conversion kit to enable the car to fly. And those HCK's aren't around yet, why? I would probably go back to the 1980's to see myself as a little boy and then possibly even further to see what my parents were like as teens. Although after seeing what happened with Marty and his teenage parents in the first movie, I would have to be careful not to screw things up by getting myself involved where, and when, I don't belong or I could end up causing a time paradox. Great Scot, that could be messy!...


Auryn



Imagine if you could create your own never ending story. What would it entail? Where would it take place? What kinds of creatures would be in it? And most importantly, would you be the hero or the villain? The amulet Auryn can make it possible...in both worlds. In the real world Auryn can grant wishes although this seems to be a mere parlor trick because in the magical world of Fantasia (Fantastica in the novel) Auryn can render it's wearer the equivalent of a god. So if one were to get a hold of this powerful item they would have to be sure to use it carefully or there could be dire consequences. Once again, for both worlds.


Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber



Hmm, let's see which would be better, having the ultimate power in the cosmos or being able to mess with people's minds and cutting my enemies limbs off with a futuristic light sword? That's kind of a close call but Luke Skywalker (now a Jedi Master), has perfected his use of the Force to bring peace to the galaxy. Of course evil does still rear it's ugly head sometimes so Luke, or should I say Master Skywalker, is always ready with Force skills at hand and of course his trusty lightsaber at his side. Luke started out using his father's blue lightsaber which is now featured in episode III. Unfortunately Luke lost that lightsaber during his battle with Vader aboard the Cloud City when the Sith Lord cut off the young Jedi's hand (Episode V). Come the events of Episode VI Luke had built himself a new lightsaber complete with a new green colored blade. This is my favorite lightsaber out of the saga and for good reason. Not only is it in one of my favorite colors but it was used to help take down both Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader (Luke returned Vader's favor by lopping off his right hand. Ironically the same hand that Vader had cut off of Luke in Episode V. An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand). I would be the coolest geek on the planet if I had a real one of these babies. Of course I would also have to be very careful with it or risk killing someone.
Note: Luke's lightsaber construction scene for ROTJ has been restored back into the movie for the blue ray release. You can also check it out on YouTube.

KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand)




Come on now, I've already featured KARR in an article so you knew that KITT would make a grand appearance too. Knight Rider had to be the single coolest crime drama I had ever seen in the eighties, and for good reason...it had a talking car. Well actually, the Knight Industries Two Thousand, K-I-T-T for easier reference, or KITT if you prefer, was not the vehicle itself but the super intelligent computer that was built into the futuristic dash board. The car was equipped with an array of gadgets, weapons and abilities the ones most used being Turbo Boost which enabled the car to build up enough speed to perform a jump for avoiding obstacles, a "molecular bonded shell" or armor painted onto the body to protect against small weapons fire, explosives and impacts of blunt objects such as rocks and bricks (although it could not protect against larger impacts like getting struck by Goliath, a super big rig with the same armor as KITT, and missile fire. Larger impacts could still cause severe damage), robotics which enabled KITT to drive himself and the red scanner in front of the hood that enabled him to "see". He also had crime analysis software and hardware built into his dash that were ahead of their time such as a finger print scanner, a body scanner which could register human vital functions such as pulse and breathing and could detect any physical injuries, and a portable x-ray device to check your pockets in case you stole anything. He also had a primitive 1980's form of GPS that could track enemies and their vehicles which came in handy for chasing them and it also served as a communicator for contacts to and from home base. Yep, KITT was some kind of car, what I wouldn't give to get behind his wheel and take him for a spin. Forget KITT three thousand, this KITT was were it was at. Sadly we found out in the two hour premiere episode of the 2008 series that this KITT no longer exists as he was dismantled so that his computer parts could be used for medical sciences. Of course KITT was honored to be put to use for such a worthy cause but it's still kind of sad. KITT two thousand was voiced by William Daniels.




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1990's


Time Scepter


"Open wide the gates of time"

The time scepter, based on the Sacred Sands of Time Scepter from the comics, was brought into the turtles' live action world in the third movie where they used it to travel back to feudal Japan to rescue April. While they were at it they also managed to stop a war between a corrupt warlord and a rebel band that had begun to rage out of control. The scepter is cool and all but there is one drawback. It works on equal mass displacement so in order to activate it there have to be two travelers in two different time periods who have the same weight. That being the case, not only are you and the other traveler forced to switch places, and clothes (eww), but you never really know where or when you will go and who you will switch with unless you know where and when the scepter was when it was activated and by whom. Not to mention that once you travel through time you only have sixty hours (two and a half days) to get back home or you and the other traveler would be stuck in each other's time periods forever. Actually, the Delorean is looking really good right now. Besides, the scepter that was in the turtles' possession has been mostly destroyed so it's useless now anyway.


John Hammond's Cane


True this prop doesn't really have an amazing function but the amber perched on top is special because it's what started Jurassic Park to begin with. Inside the amber is a large mosquito perfectly preserved in time, and inside that mosquito is preserved dinosaur blood containing the DNA that created the first dinosaur in the park. Just think you could run your own Jurassic Park and look both cool and intellectual while doing it. Just make sure the power stays on or all hell could break loose. Did I mention we have a T-Rex?


Shep Ramsey's Body Armor



Yeah, I guess this did look better on Hulk Hogan in the movie but Christopher Lloyd wore it as Charley Wilkox in a scene and he didn't look half bad. Anyway, this armor can increase it's wearer's strength to about twice their usual making them strong enough to kick evil's hairy butt and do some serious weight lifting on the side. The suit is also bullet proof but to a point which is the down side, it can only take two direct shots leaving the wearer still outrageously strong but vulnerable to small weapons fire there after. It was pretty cool to watch Charley use a glove to fight back against Suitor by crushing his you-know-whats. That'll teach him to conquer the cosmos.





Neuralizer and Noisy Cricket





"Can I have your attention for a moment? This is called a neuralizer. It's a gift from some friends from out of town".

The neuralizer is standard issue equipment for all MIB agents but usually they get really big alien splattering guns. Agent Jay on the other hand was issued a Noisy Cricket upon his initial arrival while Kay helped himself to a Series 4 Deatomizer. Needless to say Jay felt sort of jipped...at first. Once he saw the power of the Noisy Cricket unleashed Jay was hooked. Despite it's small size the Noisy Cricket is quite powerful and the neuralizer can erase any length of one's memory in order to retain the secrecy of MIB. Also the instructions are quite simple. There are three dials: day, month and year. Always have it set correctly and always face it forward. It would be fun, albeit malicious, to mess with people's minds. But I'm afraid it's a necessary cruelty sometimes.


Well those are all the cool props I can remember having interest in for now. If any of you guys can think of some more cool props from the '90s I would appreciate it because I'm drawing a blank now. I do have more ideas for articles though so I'll see you next time...whenever that will be. Until then, Nightwatcher out.