With the big day just one week out, soon I’ll be ready to break out the DVD of the greatest Halloween cartoon ever made: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. But before I pop in the DVD, I’ve got to take out Chuck and his friends in plastic form. Let’s look at a couple of the Charlie Brown toys.

Although I know there are at least eight toys in this line I’ve only been able to get these two from my local CVS. On the left is the familiar sight of Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace, his Sopwith Camel having been shot to Hell by the dreaded Red Baron. This is a great-looking toy, but it is hurt a bit in terms of practicality. Although there’s a small indentation for Snoopy to sit, the figure is terribly unstable and falls off the doghouse at the slightest breeze. There’s no such problem for vampire Charlie Brown. I don’t know if this particular costume was ever seen in the comics, but it definitely wasn’t in the cartoon. I like it. It’s kind of bizarre to see Charlie Brown with a white shirt, but it’s undeniably soothing to see him looking so happy. Plus, I love it any time an action figure has a cloth cape.

Next up is the Flying Ace himself, Snoopy the great, re-cast as a Jack-O-Lantern. As the odds of ever finding a real gourd with the right proportions to play the “funny lookin’ kid with the big nose” are slim to none, this plastic replica is a nice substitute. While nothing can replace the thrill of carving your own pumpkin and lighting it up on the front porch, perishable decorations don’t work for month-long celebrating. Stuff like this is fun to put out all of October, saving the star of the show for Halloween night. (This is also a CVS find.)

Finally, last Christmas I brought you a view of Charlie Brown’s Toboggan Run. This was exactly the same technology used the year before in another toy, Charlie Brown’s Prowling Pumpkin Patch. The Pumpkin Patch was purchased before I started doing these toy reviews, but it served as the setting of one of my all-time favorite Halloween pieces, The Marvel Zombies Mini-Mates Present Themselves.

The Prowling Pumpkin Patch, like the Toboggan Run, plays music while magnets twirl the seasonal aspects of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy around the patch in a circle. It’s still, it’s goofy, and it’s a lot of fun. I could play with this thing for hours.

I especially love the little Charlie Brown under the ghost costume.

Happy Halloween from the pumpkin patch!