034 Adam

Adam was a Batman parody who became a zombie.

His original Crew 14 figure came out at the end of the G1 run of 2002.  This guy was such an obvious Batman parody.  Even the name points toward Adam West, who played Batman on the famous 1960s TV series.

He made no G2 appearance.  He returned in G3 as a zombie.

A lot of people are aware of this change, and I have seen a blogger suggest that there must have been a lawsuit.  While there was possibly a "cease a desist" from DC or WB, I really doubt there was ever a lawsuit.  Whether pressured to do so or not, I am sure that X-Concepts realized on their own that continuing to make such a blatant Batman-inspired figure might not be the best idea.

Funny thing is, once Spin Master bought the brand, they did it again.  There is a distinct version of Super Finger that came out in 2009 that is undoubtedly another spoof of good ol' Batman.  (Not to mention all their other awesome parodies of Marvel and DC characters.)

Funnier thing is, Tech Deck now makes legit Batman fingerboards in a licensing partnership with DC.  Currently you can find actual Batman Tech Deck fingerboards in stores. 

By the way, it is pretty common for an independent toy company to make their initial toyline of generic characters with the explicit desire of landing a partnership with a well-known character-rich property.  Tech Deck tried this with Disney, but I guess it did not catch on. 

Anyway, back to Adam.  I've found his G3/G4 zombie sculpt in five different versions that differ by skin color and clothing color.

Adam has a zood named Andy.  He is a blue-skinned disembodied zombie hand.  I am guessing the name is just a "handy Andy" pun.  But where have we seen such a disembodied hand doing such handy things?

Hmm.  If you take a second to connect Adam to The Addam's Family, you will get it.

Andy is a perfect little Thing parody!

In the original 1964 TV show, Thing was not a disembodied hand, but a hand that would emerge from behind a curtain.  The idea was that the creature of which it was attached was so hideous it must never be seen.  So all you would ever see is just the helping hand of some heinous beast known as the Thing.

In the three Addams Family films from the 1990s, Thing became a disembodied hand that could run around on its fingertips like a spider.   This is exactly what Andy the zood appears to be doing.

Also, don't confuse Andy with Andie.  One has no hands and one is nothing but a hand!