Planet de los Simios

This Mexican version of the classic AHI parachuting Doctor Zaius is my new favourite thing. 

Welcome to the compound

"I'm Adelle and this is Steven, we'll show you to your bunks. At 9am, we'll begin our worship hour followed by nine hours in the fields. Remember, Almighty Kevin is love."

Pod Stallions Episode 3: Growing Up Star Wars (volume 1)

We decided to put the show up a little early for the seventh anniversary of the site. Jason and Brain talk about their memories of the first time they saw Star Wars anything. The toys, the comics, the magazines, the school yard rumors, the knock offs, it's all there.

We even get waaaay off tangent and start talking about Benson's replacement on Soap and why exactly do Logan 5 and Jessica 6 have British accents?

We titled this volume 1 because there was no way in hell we could encapsulate all of the juggernaut that was Star Wars into one show, it will eventually become a trilogy.

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• A display of original 12 back Kenner Star Wars figures that brings back warm memories.
• Here is that original People Magazine issue about Star Wars.
• The bootleg minatures that Jason mentioned were made by Neville Stocken.
• The Space Sword and Shield Brian will generously pay for.
• The poster that Jason kept from the Star Wars album.
• Ever wonder what the Early Bird Kit Jason cut up goes for these days? (not for the faint of heart)
• The book about Canadian Star Wars that Brian is thunmbing through is calls Irwin Toys: The Canadian Star Wars Connection.
• Those Star Wars pendants we mentioned.
• A Cheerios box from Canada that had a Star Wars offer that Brian mentioned.

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Zoodleland!

Not that I ever had these but I certainly remember these (kind of weird) animals turned into appliances that seemed to sell well during the 1970s.

These were made by a company called Kusan whom most boys will remember for this cool toy.

Plaid Stallions 7th Anniversary Special & Contest

I'm happy to announce that today marks the 7th Anniversary of the Plaid Stallions blog, mostly because I remembered it before hand.

 A lot has gone on since I first logged on that quiet Saturday afternoon and honestly, this whole thing has changed my life, entirely for the better.

I thought it would be fun to the run down some of my favourites of this past year, as it's been one of the best.

Top Seven Reasons I love doing this followed by a contest

What every hero needs

Any good hero has a flash light in their utility belt and fortunately for toy makers children never stop being fascinated with them. Crap, I still annoy my wife with one.

Get our new book "Rack Toys" at our shop!

Disco and Hutch

The crime fighting duo that likes to boogie down!

I worked all night on this.

Meet the more interesting half of Knight Rider

Devlin found this photo at a junk store and submitted it to the blog. We have no idea who the girl is but she's meeting K.I.T.T , most likely at a car show 

and most definitely in the early 1980s. I love the home made banner.

Knight Rider came out when I was 12, so I was not immune to it's charm, I would have been all over this...

Send me your mall appearance photos!

New PS Trading Cards!

It's been a long while since i printed up some new PS trading cards, mostly because of spending my time with Rack Toys (still available!) but this month I resolved to make some new entries. 

The first is card #40, the Whip from the Big Jim's Wolfpack line of toys. I had been doing the members of this team since the start and recently we started a Big Jim collector forum at the MegoMuseum, so it was fresh in mind and a fun image.



I wasn't even planning to do Pulsar's enemy Hypnos as a card but when I came across this image, it just felt right. Although I'm sorry I didn't have time to correct the boo-boo in the corner, it adds to the charm of card #41. Pulsar was card #3 of this series, so you can make them fight i guess.
So it's a double shot from Mattel!
These just arrived so they'll start going out with orders,  given away at toy shows and as prizes here.

Hasbro Charlie's Angels

I always loved how Hasbro gave the Angels a van and matching uniforms, they looked like some sort of sexy girl group.

Hmmm, a sexy girl group all clad in spandex who drive around in a van and solve mysteries? I've got a pilot script to write. Should take me three hours, tops.

Backgammon Champ

This man always rolls double sixes when love is on the line.

As an aside, had my father known this existed, he would have purchased it and worn it proudly. My dad loved Backgammon and even had a T shirt that proclaimed him "Backgammon champ". I have to thank the heavens that he never discovered this.

Astro Nuts

No, it's not the title of Don Knott/Tim Conway vehicle, although it should have been.  I Spied these awesome little guys at a toy show. I wish I had a ten thousand square foot toy room....

The Ulitmate Jacket

This jacket was only worn once and caused 17 unexpected pregnancies before it was seized by the CIA, sealed in a vault and thrown into lake Superior.

Bugs Bunny meets the Superheroes Poster

I've had this for almost two years but it just recently dawned on me I've never shared it here. Things have been slow on the mall appearance submissions lately (please don't make me beg, nobody needs to see that) so I thought I'd begin a series of my collection of Superhero appearance photos.

This one is probably my favourite and hangs on the door to my lair. I never saw this stage show but the sight of these characters cavorting makes me happy.

I'm also very smitten with the actress who played Wonder Woman, a wonderful casting choice that totally blinds me from the 32 year old boy wonder. More next week!

Send me your mall appearance photos!

1975 Hasbro GI Joe Catalog

1975 was a very good year for G.I. Joe, well at least from where I stood, seeing as I was five at the time. The whole Joe line got a make over including the man himself  a new more muscular body, gone were the solid boxes in lieu of blister cards.

The Ad campaign this year was "The 50 adventures of GI Joe" which rested mainly on previously released adventure sets mingled with new ones all on the new funky orange packaging that still completely hypnotizes me. 

By this time Joe had a staggering amount of items available but this year would also see a new member.

Mike Power the AtomicMan was added to captilize on Bionic Mania sweeping the country and it really worked, until Kenner made us all forget about Mike...

Check out the 1975 Hasbro GI Joe Catalog

The Master

Be careful not to make eye contact, for once he has you in his gaze, you are but his plaything....

Endangered Animals by Revell

I miss the days of figure model kits being easy to find, now it seems that hobby stores on the endangered species list. I try to put together at least a couple of kits a year with my kids 

HULK DRIVE!!!!!!

I know his "van" is actually more of a pick up truck but I'm not going to tell him.

The Super Dandys

They put the "F" in "Fop"!

Pod Stallions Episode Two: Toy Shop Days

Hello Tally Ho!  Brian and Jason wax nostalgic about the pre internet days of toy collecting including mail order catalogs, comic buyers guide and of course, Toyshop, outrageous phone bills, trading, rigged phone auctions, ungodly waits and the thrill of the hunt.

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• The first thing Brian ever traded for was this action figure.
• The Kenner Indiana Jones line got Jason into collecting again
• Some select scans of the "It's a small world" catalogue that caused ripples among the collector community.
• The Dick Tracy watch that Jason was trading and selling.
• What's a blue faced data worth these days?
• Oneof Brian's mid 80s catalogues
• Brian is all excited over these retro style Hammer horror action figures.

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Fate of the Trouble Shooter

It's really hard for me as a collector to not go completely nuts on vintage Adventure team GI Joe, there is some sort of trigger that gets pulled when I see sets like this. It's like my inner four year just wakes up and starts demanding things. Who am i to say no? I gotta live with him...

Ratchet Jaws

This hideous t shirt was released just in time to stand as a reminder that North America briefly embraced CB radios and trucker culture...

Simon? This is Simon....over...

Oh yeah, who didn't want to be Rick and AJ? I think one of these clipped to my belt could improve my coolness factor to this day.

Although I do admit, so would an onion, a rock or one of those pine trees they sell at the gas station.

Mr Sensitive

"Hey, I've got the new Leo Sayer album, if you'd like to come over, I can put it on and help you with your latest macrame project"