Kenner's Turbo Tower of Power

Kenner's Turbo Tower of Power was a strong selling item for the majority of the 1970s and it's not hard to see why. The Turbo Tower device gave boys a combination they loved, vehicles and speed, in the era of Evel Knevial, it's no surprise it was a hit..

Click on the images below to Check out the 1974 Kenner Turbo Tower of Power Offerings:

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Buy, Sell or look for vintage Kenner Toys at our trading post

Silly Swords and Socker Boppers

A couple of things I remember about Socker Boppers, they are no fun if your opponent is five years your senior (they've got the reach) and the edges on those things can cause tears.

G.I. Jimmy

I never knew Buster Brown shoes were standard military issue...

NHL Bean Bags

As much as I seem to be born without the "sports gene" I will admit that 70s Hockey merch really brings me back, especially stuff like this, I had the exact same Leafs sweater that kid is wearing. My parents pretty much dressed me like an uber fan even though neither of them watched Hockey either!

Snow White Talking Mirror

Does anyone else find this toy a little on the creepy side? Don't say Snow White three times in a mirror.....

The Superheroes fool around on the beach

If you're a little bummed today about missing Comic Con, just remember those people are all in a hot sweaty crowd and none of them are going to see a picture of the Flash Waterskiing today.

This picture is the start of a new series thanks to the donations from my new bestest pal Steve C. How cool is this? I mean Superman is playing muscle beach with his cousin while Batgirl watches and the Flash....is......waterskiing.

This image is pretty much what is going on in my head most of the time, if you add beer and the occasional sandwich.

For more on this check out our gallery:

And if you have anything to add, I'd be your friend for life.

The 1977 REMCO Toys Catalog

Remco's name was purchased in 1974 by Azrak Hamway, a successful manufacturer of rack toys. AHI used the Remco brand to sell a more upscale toy but one that still utilized the many licenses integral to their core business.

1977 saw the introduction of Mickey Mouse to the fold and more Superhero (especially Batman) related products which would eventually become the bread and butter of the company for the rest of the decade..

Thanks to Steve F. for these marvelous scans also a person with powers.click on the images for pages with descriptions:

THE 1977 REMCO TOYS CATALOG

For more Remco or parent company Azrak-Hamway toys, Check out these fabulous links:

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Buy, Sell or look for vintage Remco Toys at our trading post

This Creep Bugging You Hot Stuff?

I got nothing...

Bop the Champ

I'm not sure I've ever seen one of these Mego Muhammad Ali bop bags surface in collectors circles before. Is it just me or does Ali look cool standing next to Batman? Maybe DC teamed him up with the wrong guy.

For more on Mego and Muhammad Ali, check out this page.

BREAKING TOY GEEK NEWS!

Be sure to check out the MegoMuseum Blog this morning for a big announcement that involves 8" action figures, San Diego Comic Con and a certain cult classic movie that rhymes with "Rash Mordan"

A mess of Nerf!

Never enough discussions about Parker Brothers Nerf for my taste, note the appearance of underrated crime fighter Nerfman in this ad.

The Brothers Superfine: Still on the Prowl

"Ladies, is there an airport nearby or is that our hearts taking off?"

Failure is not in the vocabulary of the Brothers Superfine.

The PlaidStallions Trading Post and Marketplace

I get a lot of email here and the ones that aren't in Spanish or about "hard money" are usually folks looking for help in locating a 70s toys. It felt weird saying "Have you tried Ebay?" to people so I decided to start a page where folks can post their want lists and possibly do trades/sales.

This is not a discussion forum (I already have one of those ) but merely a place to hopefully network and track down a few lost friends from childhood.

So, if you're looking for a Stretch Armstrong or trying to unload one, if you need a pistol for your Han Solo or make reproductions, please do visit:

The PlaidStallions Tradin' Post

Many, many thanks to Tom Ligotti and Joe DeRouen for guidance in creating this page.

Marvel Heroes Hit Maine

Matt submitted these cool black and white shots of Captain America and the Hulk at the opening of the Bangor Mall (in Maine, of course) circa 1978. He also believes he has shots of Spider-Man and Darth Vader from the same event, stay tuned.

Send us your Mall Appearance photos!

1975 Fisher Price Catalog

Fisher Price created some of the most durable and well remembered toys of our life time, if you're a 70/80's kid, you likely had wonderful afternoons with the little people and possibly graduated to the real world action of the Adventure People.

1975 was an amazing year for Fisher Price, not only did they launch the Adventure People but also released the Sesame Street Little People set, two incredibly iconic toys in one year.

Click the Thumbnails to see the page

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Arm yourself kids!

These TV licensed gun sets were likely made by HG Toys, who never missed the opportunity to put TV show logos on weapons. Getting a S.W.A.T rifle in my neighbourhood made you a kind of royalty back in 1977.

I personally used a stick combined with the "an-an-an-an-an-an" sound effect, which totally bit....

This Family is a Team

I'm going to assume two things here, 1) the purchaser of these scarring "Famjamas" was the father and 2) he likes sports...

Boy Scouts Approve Kenner Steve Scout

It would have been disappointing if the Boy Scouts had condemned him...

The Green Team

This 1976 NBC series about a pair of crusading loan officers helping people consolidate their debt load, relied too much on accounting jargon and featured little to no action sequences, save for when Stanley and Lamar would run for coffee. The show was decimated by ABC's "Starsky and Hutch", which held the same timeslot and was quickly cancelled.

Ironically, every episode of the series was destroyed when they were run over by a Ford Torino.

Meet The Rocketeer

Mike T submitted this more recent mall appearance photo, it's from 1991 (that's what i consider recent) and it's his kids with Dave Steven's classic creation, The Rocketeer at Potomac Mills Mall near Woodbridge, Virginia . I didn't know there were appearances such as this but it makes total sense considering the costume.

Send us your Mall Appearance photos!

PS Contest: Schoolyard BS winners

Well, you guys made it hard to decide but I've finally picked my three favourites out of the great submissions I received. I can't believe how many of you heard that "Gene Simmons had a cow's toungue surgericly implanted" thing, I used to believe that but not the "KISS went to Mars" my deskmate Andrew tried to pull on me.

Here are a few that didn't win but deserve mention:

I, Warren wrote: "{A kid in neighbourhood] claimed he saw an episode of Wonder Woman (of course it was the night before & I missed it) guest-starring Batman & Superman. Wonder Woman died in a truly horrible way - something about a wood chipper - so Superman & Batman prayed (?!?) and brought her back to life." (One to block on facebook...)

JF Stan related about a super gory version of Halloween some kids claimed to have seen, I love the answer when confronted:

"When I confronted the guys who played it up, they basically said that the theatrical version was too violent, even for HBO, and the version shown was dumbed down as not to drive viewers insane." Yes, HBO is very concerned about your sanity, that explains Arli$...

Beth wrote about being star struck: "in the 7th grade a boy told me that George Carlin was his uncle and would be at his house that weekend and if I went to 2nd base with him (the boy, not Carlin) that I could meet Uncle George and even have dinner with him!! Yep, I was a slut, and George Carlin was not his uncle. Damn, I'm still sore about that one."

In the seventh grade, I'd have gone to second base if there was a chance of meeting Carlin.

THE WINNERS: Here in no specific order are the winners (please don't mock my meager attempt to photo shop, I'm fragile and talentless):

Kong Jeans by Eric Feasterville

"Right after DeLaurentis' King Kong came out, a nefarious playground liar informed me that he had the latest in chic fashion: King Kong jeans! Yep, Dino had apparently cut off all the fur from the giant robot Kong used in the film and attached a snatch of it on the back pocket of these authentic Kong Jeans. I kept asking this liar to wear them into school, but of course he "wasn't allowed."

What a classic tale, the liar kid always had an excuse as to why he couldn't bring this faantabulous item to the school yard. I remember one kid said he left his amazing Flash Mego doll "at the cottage".

Charlie's Angel Card by Laura Moncur

Laura's entry is a tad long, so it's best read on her blog. Even though she is the spreader of the BS rumour, she uses it to get revenge on a bully, so it's ok. This story has everything and I'm a sucker for pictures of Jaclyn Smith.

Bigfoot by Mike

Mike submitted a pile but something about this made me laugh:

"On Six Million Dollar Man's Secret of Bigfoot ... Bigfoot was actually a real robot made by the studio.None of us ever heard of Andre the Giant back then ... and the name does sound like it's not a real person."

Weird name, must be a robot, completely rational line of thinking there Holmes...

Bonus Winner: Reverse BS

Ian Marchant sent in this schoolyard rumour he cried BS on which turned out to be true. It's so good, I decided it had to be a bonus winner. To be honest, I'd have done the same thing:

<>him a turnip etc then to prove him wrong we marched him to the lobby to discover Tom Baker handing out free copies of issue one of Dr Who Weekly. We were rightly humbled and I still have that dog eared copy.>>

And that's it. Thanks for all the amazing entries, winners I'll be in touch, or you can beat me to it.

1975 Marx Play Set Catalog

Marx is the rolls royce of playsets, having gone from their hey day in the 1950s and 1960s, they still had a little fight left in them by the mid seventies. While miles away from their former glory, they were cranking out a toy that delivered hours of play in a little box.

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Buy, Sell or look for vintage Marx Toys at our trading post

Wonderful Wonderbug

Steve F sent in this killer scan from a Duncan Catalog that featured something I've never seen before, a toy car based on the Sid and Marty Krofft series Wonderbug! Wonderbug was a segment on the Krofft Supershow and I doubt I missed an episode.

I have no idea if these hit stores, I've never seen one on the secondary market but that is by no means conclusive evidence, what I don't know could fill a warehouse.

Did anyone have this? Drop a line! This is the only other Wonderbug toy that I've seen, I know it was made:

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

The ideal Sofa system for the dysfunctional family.

Pippi Short Pajamas

Pippi Longstocking movies were a staple in my house as a kid, mostly because they were weird and I found them awfully hypnotic. This ad is from a German catalog (where Pippi still enjoys popuarity) , I have never seen too much Pippi merchandise in North America.

Going for the Gold

Perhaps it was the beer or that crazy disco beat but for some reason, Sam decided it was the perfect moment to grab himself a handful of Jim....

PS Contest: Schoolyard BS Rumours

It's contest time again and instead of trivia, I thought it'd be more fun to share personal stories, namely "What's the worst BS rumour you heard on the playground as a kid?" I'll share a couple:

In 78, I was that unfortunate kid who didn't see Star Wars when it came out, my pal Gerry claimed to have seen it. Gerry regailed me about the scene in which Obi Wan plays the Star Wars theme on the organ in the Millenium Falcon or the ending in which Luke, fresh from killing Darth Vader, deposits his light saber in R2 D2, who promptly blows up.

In '79, I finally caught Star Wars and can remember sitting in the dark thinking "Hey Gerry is filthy liar!" When confronted, he simply denied saying any of it, I was crazy you see....

In fifth grade, I sat next to a kid named Geoff, one of the cooler kids in school who told me he had seen an episode of "Battle of the Planets" that revealed Zoltar's identity to be none other than "a scientist at Center Neptune". It was a shocking series ender that other deskmate Dean confirmed as seeing. Must be a rare, lost episode....

Tell me yours, either in the comments section here or at the Museum Forum, Myspace or Facebook pages, I'll check them all and send the top three Fabulous Prizes! The winners will be poster here next Friday.

Jamie Meets Spidey

Jamie submitted this great photo of him and Spidey to the PlaidStallions Facebook Page , I forgot to ask the date but judging by the cool Jaws Type Rubber shark he's holding I'm going to guess 1976...

Send us your Mall Appearance photos!

1977 Denys Fisher Cyborg Catalog

"On a doom laden day 2250 the Trembling Earth came face to face with the holocaust! The pernicious plan of direful destruction launched by the MUTON- an alien master- from the death black reachs of space!"

In the mid seventies, UK Toy Maker (and the inventor of Spiro-Graph) Denys Fisher took a Japanese Toy called Henshin Cyborg (which was an off shoot of Captain Action and the father of the Micronauts) and transformed it into a compelling series of 9" figures.

The infusion of a western story line into Japanese toy creativity resulted in only thing, toy magic. The Denys Fisher Cyborg line may be the best toy that you've never heard of before. One word of caution, it may cause ebay searchs...

Thanks to Bill Frost, I also have a gallery of awesome boxed and carded Cyborg goodies to coincide with this.

Click Here to view the catalog and toy gallery

More Cyborgs and see through heroes

Buy, Sell or look for vintage Henshin Cyborg Toys at our trading post

Big Jim Pirates

While Big Jim was a memory in North America by 1978, European kids were getting cool new figures with kung fu grip hands. These pirates were mostly recycled P.A.C.K characters but they're so cleverly done (especially the Zorak character) that it deserves praise.

Hey, this is a private club!

"Come back when your moustache is full and your shorts are mustardy!"