Sunday, May 31, 2015

Colouring Book Theatre: Dune Activity Book


Dune Activity Book (1984), Grosset & Dunlop.
        
A local half price book chain just added piles of these to their inventory,  meaning they found a stash of unsold Dune merchandise 30 years later.
          
I've already looked at the (wrongheaded) Dune colouring books before but they're so freaking weird (and this book was $4) that another trip to Arakis is just too good not to revisit.



Grab your crayons  and join me after the jump


Friday, May 29, 2015

PlaidStallions 9th Anniversary Contest Results


I'm really sorry that I took so long with this one but you people knocked me out with your good ideas that I wish I could give everyone a prize. (I can't do that)

My decision making skills were so bad I had to recruit judges to help me out and I've also expanded the prizes from 3 to 5 just cause I wanted to reward more people. 

So with that aside, let's get to the winners


Honourable Mentions 



Michael sent in the Holmes and YoYo bank vault, which I'm not convinced isn't a real rack toy.

More after the Jump

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Sears Video Arcade


As a kid, I was pretty brand loyal to Atari, even getting into fisticuffs with an Intellivision fan once, which is pretty embarrassing to admit now.

I bought my 2600 with my own money (from menial labour gigs no less) and even though this Sears knock off was a better deal, there was some stigma attached to it that my 11 year old self couldn't shake. 

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Captastic!


I would totally rock the blue denim set though I worry about if i can grow a mustache that powerful.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Ruffle Shirt Mondays!


I think making ruffles mandatory on Mondays would make the world that much better a place. Who wants to be the pioneer?

Friday, May 22, 2015

1984 LJN Toys Dune Catalog



It's hard to believe that toy makers thought the next merchandising blitz would come from a David Lynch film but that's exactly what happened in 1984. Dune got the full treatment with colouring books, bed sheets and of course a selection of action figures produced by LJN. The movie wasn't particularly kid (or for that matter general public) friendly and as a result the spice warriors of Dune resided in the clearance aisle.



What's perplexing to me is most of this stuff got made, yet the gigantically more kid friendly "Last Starfighter" toy line never saw the light of day. Aggghhh! 

  Check out the 1984 LJN Dune Catalog here. 

 More Cancelled Toy Lines:

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Remco Utility Belts



In my neighbourhood growing up, there wasn't a girl I knew who didn't have that Wonder Woman set. Lynda Carter's influence ran deep...
Remco 1979 1980 remco.Remco 1979


AHI monsters AHI 1979 AHI 1979 AHI toys.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Temptress and the Golden Godess


I think I'll go with the Golden Goddess tonight, I'm not terribly proud of my midriff these days....

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Lovable Smoking Traveler's Pet


I was pleased to track one of these down over the weekend as my dad sold them back in the 70s. I was always fascinated by the concept, especially the notion that the Hanna Barbera characters were chain smokers.

As an adult, I'm going to venture a guess that this isn't an officially licensed product.



Monday, May 18, 2015

Comic Ad: Mattel Shogun Warriors



 It's a holiday here today and technically that means I'm supposed to be assembling patio furniture and cleaning my garage. However, I couldn't resist posting this knock out ad from the summer of 1979 that I poured over for many an hour.

Friday, May 15, 2015

More Shogun Warriors in France

Found this cool ad from comic book in France, offering 50 Jumbo Goldorak Shogun Warriors in a contest. This guy was a European exclusive (although I found more than one here in Canada, never smart enough to buy one) and it's sweet to see so many of them in this advert.

click on this for a better view




The contest seems simple enough, too bad it probably expired 37 years ago.

More Shogun Goodies



Thursday, May 14, 2015

The King Collar


Mortal men will tremble and avert their gaze when they see your mighty 12 inches of neck frame!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Marvel Superheroes Pinball


Blame the Avengers for my Marvel comics kick this week, I remember getting one of these Hasbro pinball games for my eight birthday.
My neighbour got it for me because he knew I liked Captain America, it was cool and I loved the art but I didn't play with it much. 

Mostly because my dad had put a working pinball machine in his basement bar. It's hard to compete with the real thing. It's mine now BTW...

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Activated Marvel Super Heroes by PPC

images graciously provided by Hakes Auctions

Right after Mego and just before Secret Wars, Activated Superheroes are a forgotten series of Marvel Superhero figures produced by Processed Plastic Corp (sexy name eh?) or PPC for short.

PPC trade ad which includes the Activated Superheroes


These are well sculpted "army men" type characters (that remind me of similar figures produced in South American by Gulliver)  with a gimmicky device that allowed the figures to fight. It's kind of low rent but also, absolutely charming. I'm very smitten with this line.

Activated Superheroes did receive a little bit of comic advertising in 1983, I remember being very excited about the idea of new figures but never saw them.

images graciously provided by Hakes Auctions

Eight Heroes were produced and four villains, all are excellent choices.

The amazing Bronze Age Marvel art on the packaging is probably a big help in this addiction. In addition to figure sets, they also created "combat sets" which included generic stuff like trucks and army men.

images graciously provided by Hakes Auctions


This is the kind of ridiculous toy you'd see when your family went on vacation, displayed amidst the pails and inflatable items at a "Stedman's" type store.

Activated Superheroes seemed to have had very limited distribution and sales, they are difficult to find on the collector market (a lot of people don't know what they are when they find them) and boxed sets like these are very pricey affairs.

If you collect these and want to share your input or photos of your stuff, I'd love to hear from you. kid70s*at*gmail.com





Friday, May 08, 2015

Mattel Big Jim Repro Art Book

big jim in italy

Reproduction is was a series of black and white line drawings of toy products provided to vendors for newspaper advertisements. It is something of a lost artform in this digital age and something I both admire and collect.

I've compiled a gallery of repro art for Mattel's 1975 Big Jim line, as I'm pretty fond of the guy. It's a great look at the whole assortment for that year, including the birth of the P.A.C.K!
big jim in italy


Click Here to visit the 1975 Big Jim Repro Art Gallery. 




  More Big Jim than you can handle!
big jim pack comic mexican cipsa big jim

mego in spain 1977 Mattel Toyfair Showroom from 1975Mattel Big Jim figures 1975

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Shirt Suit Supreeeeemmmmeee!



If this weren't enough, this suit also allows you and two friends to merge into an 18 foot tall Voltron of ruffles, no one will stand in your way!

SMITE YOUR ENEMIES WITH TWO TONE ELEGANCE!

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