Tuesday, October 06, 2020

PlaidStallions is moving! (slowly)

So, after 14 years, we've decided to upgrade PlaidStallions and move both the site and the blog here

I plan to convert the entire site to WordPress, that's 15 years of work to re-do, so yeah, it's not gonna happen straight away.

We're still posting every day, making podcasts and of course, videos on our YouTube Channel

 Here are some handy links to keep in touch.

 Plaid Stallions Facebook Page 




 You can also subscribe to the Toy-Ventures Mailing list here and be kept abreast of upcoming issues. Thanks, everyone for so many years of success here on Blogger, see you on the new site.






Wednesday, September 09, 2020

Pants Titans

 


Ladies and Gentlemen, pants achieved their purest form in 1973, it's wearers ascended to their heavens to begin anew as a non-carbon-based form of life. We've been in a state of "slack decline" ever since.



Issue one of PlaidStallions Toy-Ventures is available now!

Friday, September 04, 2020

5 Awesome things on eBay has moved


I'm migrating PlaidStallions to it's new home, eventually all the content will move there. Let's try this week's Five Awesome Things in the (under construction) version of the site.

 

Thursday, September 03, 2020

Toy-Ventures: Top Ten 1980s Peg Warmers


This is our follow up to our 70s peg warmers list. The 1980s were an incredible time for action figures, an era we'll never see again but like anything, some items didn't really sell. Let's count down some toys that hung around.
This list is meant in jest and not to be taken seriously. Tell me what i missed in the comments. BUY TOY-VENTURES MAGAZINE ISSUE ONE HERE:
Pod-Stallions FB Group:

 

GI Joe Adventure Team Explores the World

 


These GI Joe Wishbook spreads are some of my earliest memories, my mother even tells me that an overnight hospital stay once was made less traumatic by handing me a Christmas wishbook that was in her car.

No wonder that I smile every time I see one of these double-page spreads...






Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Action Figures 1982



1982 gave you your choice of Lucasfilm action figures, Spielberg action figures, or if you were feeling particularly adventurous Lucasfilm/Spielberg action figures. Such variety!






Tuesday, September 01, 2020

A Monstrous Word of Thanks

 


This is long overdue and I apologize for getting to this sooner but wow, the launch of the magazine had a few challenges.

The Guideto the World Famous Super Monsters in the first issue of Toy-Ventures does not have an author name attached because like all good projects, it was a collaboration and a product of people being very generous with their time and information.

 I merely acted as a project coordinator (which is my favourite role in anything) So i want to thank the real authors.


Rob Chatlin- for being the best editor I could hope for, the man has a big red pen.

Corey LeChat- for just coming in and giving everything such incredible flourish.

Steve Moore- Steve caught a few things that would haunt me forever.


The Guide would not exist however if I didn't have these incredibly generous men who shared their collections, knowledge, and photographs to create this guide.

Raymond Castile

Andrew Williams

Heath Smith

Mike Jimenz

Rob Pyatt

Clay Sayre

Robert William

Steve Rosenthal

Matt Jaycox

Rich Hurley

Scott Metzger

Steve Fink

Sylvain Emery

Steve Leach

Dwayne Pinkney

And finally Shannon Stewart, who egged me on in February built the FB group to house this project and convinced me to make this happen.

I can't tell you how much this project meant to me and how the energy and support everyone put into it raised my spirits.

You all might collect monsters but you're superheroes to me.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.




Toy-Ventures Magazine Can be Ordered Right here!




Thursday, August 27, 2020

Toy-Ventures: More AHI Monster Knock Offs




 Just a quick one this week (I have magazines to ship) about the various AHI monster knock offs I've picked up this year, I'd like to introduce you to the Midnight Monsters and hey another Krazy Kreep!

Toy-Ventures Magazine is available right now here: http://www.megomuseum.com/odeon/store/products/ Mego Knock Off Headquarters Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Megoknockoff/

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Ready Ranger Mobile Field Pack

 


Over the years I've had a lot of people tell the Aurora Ready Ranger Mobile Field Pack lived up to the hype and was a really fun toy. 

Did you have it as a kid, what was your experience with it?






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Tuesday, August 25, 2020

The Ultra-Dads

 


From the Planet Cul-de-Sac, the Ultra-Dads are the sworn protectors of the Cosmic Thermostat!






Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 





Monday, August 24, 2020

Matchbox Mobile Action Command Find



Like a lot of you,  my summer plans kinda fell apart in 2020, so I've been doing small day trips with my wife hitting some familiar antique and flea haunts. It's been slim pickings but it's still fun to get back to scrounging in a limited fashion.

The best find I've had all summer is this beautiful carded Matchbox Mobile Action Command (M.A.C for short) vehicle complete on Canadian card (which if you watch Toy-Ventures, you know is a fetish of mine).



M.A.C is one of those toylines I only purchase "in the wild", I refuse to look on eBay, it's just more fun and appreciated like this. This was tucked in behind something, it was almost impossible to see, I almost felt like it was waiting for me.

Here's to small victories!







Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 





Friday, August 21, 2020

An Open Letter to PayPal



Attn: Daniel H. Schulman

President of PayPal


 Dear Mr. Schulman,


My name is Brian Heiler, I am writing to you today as the owner of a small start-up business who is in need of your help.

During the Pandemic shut down, I like a lot of other people found myself without employment and I decided that this would be the time to launch my dream business, creating niche publications.

Over the next few months, I and several collaborators created a publication I was very proud of, so much so that I threw caution to the wind and spent my much-needed funds to create it. 

The dream became a nightmare when, on my launch date, I discovered PayPal was allowing me to take orders but not allowing me access funds to pay for postage or to pay for the other services involved. 

I could not access my funds until I provided some proof that my business was real.

My business FYI has had a PayPal account for almost a decade.

I have sent document after document on that list and they've all been rejected with no explanation.

Your customer service has been nearly impossible to speak to, one person just coldly told me to "Just go buy stamps" another person reminded me "they're busy" and it would be a ten-day wait.

I have sent the requested documents several times and spent over $200 (that I don't have) getting the documentation PayPal demanded and woke up today to find it was again rejected for no explanation and again, the email asked for the document I already provided.

This dream project is now a nightmare, I can't ship the orders yet people keep ordering (giving PayPal my money), I can't do my press release campaign because I don't know if PayPal will keep my money indefinitely. No one will speak to me or answer my questions.

The stress has now caused negative effects on my health and I have taken a leave of absence from my job.

All I want is to speak to someone at your financial institution today to advise as to how I resolve this manner in a reasonable time.

I hope that your financial institution can honour this reasonable request from a small start-up business that cannot survive to wait.


Yours Sincerely,


Brian Heiler





Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Star Trek Happy Meal Box




On my way home from the printers picking up samples of Toy-Ventures (coming this week) I stopped into The Toy Society, a retro shop on my way home.

When I saw this on the shelf, it had to come home with me. Fortunately for me, it was reasonable because my reaction to it certainly wasn't, it was like seeing an old friend.
 


These Happy Meals seem to represent a good time for me as a kid, where everything was going great and somehow that feeling of overwhelming optimism I had as a kid is now connected to this piece of cardboard. 

Honestly, I felt a swirl of emotion, things were going great at school, I had tons of friends, I had discovered Judy Bloom and Crestwood Monster books, I was really quite pleased with my fourth-grade existence. 



I don't want to get all "woo-woo" but you go through a lot of self-doubts when you start something like a new publication and before I got to the Toy Society, my head, already woozy from the fumes of printer's ink was also filled with the worry that I was suffering from the "Dunning Kruger" effect.






And that is why I was so excited to see what is essentially a food wrapper from a restaurant I only now eat at begrudgingly (breakfast excepted), for that minute it was a reminder of positive times and it had to be mine.

Also, it reminds me how EXCITED I was to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture, that movie's gonna rock!



Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Saturday, August 15, 2020

Toy-Ventures: Space Trek

 




For the last couple of years, I've been buying a collection of Knock-Offs and this month, I get to explore strange new worlds with the cast of "Space Trek" but this band of interstellar explorers sure are wearing some familiar cloths and actually some familiar heads too.

Yes Space Trek is another in a series of a toyline inspired by the left overs of another, much more well known one and in this case it's the Mego Star Trek line and The Ideal toys Star Team series. It's Knock-Off-A-Rific! 

Also, there is a major update about Toy-Ventures magazine, it's a good one.





Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Friday, August 14, 2020

Life Size Fisher Price Adventure People Sleeping Bag


This came up on a twitter conversation with a fellow named Dave Skidmore, who received this life-size fisher price adventure people sleeping bag as a gift from a friend's mother.

If they sold these in stores, this would be in my car so fast.

It's just such a mind-blowing thing to see such a beloved classic toy accessory life-sized, I'm completely in awe of this wonderful item and I hope it makes you smile.



 



Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Thursday, August 13, 2020

Oh, Behave


Groupies for Paul Revere and the Raiders weren't large in number but they made up for it by taking it very seriously...

 

Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Toy-Ventures Magazine Issue 1 is on the Press!

 



So happy to share these photos sent to me by my friends at Thompson Printing.

Toy-Ventures magazine is almost here!




Some updates, Shipping will likely begin next week, I will post an update when I have confirmation.

US Contributors- Your copies will be shipping from within in the US itself vis USPS.

Canadian and European Orders- I'll be shipping your orders from here but I'm prepped and ready to go.

Digital Orders- Expect an email with a link in the next week or so.

Extra copies will be available for sale on my website, ebay, etsy and more. I'll post links when they're live.

The main page for Toy-Ventures Magazine is right here.


Thanks, everyone for your support, it means a great deal.


Brian






Fisher Price Adventure People 1978


I had set 4,5,6,7 thanks to four rather prosperous Christmas times, If I had to pick an absolute favourite from this page, I'd say "Wilderness Patrol", which ones did you have?



Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Sleeping Bag O Rama

 


This selection of sleeping bags from 1979 really taps into the pop culture at the time, it's a mish-mosh of TV Properties and popular brands. I'd have gone for the Black Hole at the time, you?




Like Mego Knock-Offs? Join our Facebook group dedicated today, it's an intimate group that focuses just on vintage toys: 






Monday, August 10, 2020

The Christmas Place for Boys


I couldn't decide whether to call this page "Dorkton Abbey" or the "Virgin Academy" so I'll let you choose.





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