Plaid Stallions : Rambling and Reflections on '70s pop culture

Mattel's The Archies

2012-02-03T00:01:00.007-05:00

Click the link to see a larger picture

After Marx introduced a series of Archie Action figures in 1975, Mattel took a kick at it in 1978 with these been bag versions that used the same construction as their then popular 'Honey Hill Bunch" line of toys.

I have to say that the Mattel sculpts are much nicer than the Marx ones which looked a little creepy.

Betty, stalwart of the line was actually dropped in favour of Sabrina the teenaged witch who did have a popular series in the 70s.

The reason Donald Duck is so crabby

2012-02-02T00:16:00.000-05:00

You'd be a bear too if you had some ginger kid on your back the whole time...

Caftan Fever

2012-02-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

This page should include the tagline "..but for the love of God, stay indoors. Seriously, if you show up to pick up your kid at School in this, you are their prom date"

Super 7 Merchandise Part 1

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Filmation's Tarzan and the Super 7 series is easily one of my favourite cartoon series of all time. It's copyright infringing characters made me a fan for life, however merchandise for the series seems few and far between. However, it seems that rack toy manufacturer Imperial did have the license and exploited it nicely, here are just a few of the items.

If anybody has some of these, especially the Web Woman and Freedom Force piece, please for the love of Mike, contact me!

Superfine XXX

2012-01-30T00:01:00.009-05:00

Ladies beware, the brothers Superfine are once again on the prowl, with their fists raised in righteousness!

Oh, there will be panties on the dancefloor tonight...

Hanging at Kool Stuff

2012-01-29T11:38:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday, I got to spend a day at one of my favourite haunts Kool Stuff Toys in Hamilton. Jeff the owner was gracious enough to let me set up a small photo studio and take photos for my upcoming book "Rack Toys".

This not only filled some gaps I had but also gave me a time to linger and explore, something I rarely get to do.

While I was there, I snapped a few shots of the place for the blog and thought I'd share some of the more interesting sights there.

Click on any image to enlarge:

The shop is a labyrinth of wonder, you really have to keep your eyes open because you'll miss something.

This original King Kong poster display was really tempting, I really got caught up in 1977 "Kong Mania".

I almost "released the Kraken" if you know what I mean,...

Ever wonder what flavour Deforest Kelly is?

It's hard to stay focused in this shop, I kept forgetting I had a job to do...

Jeff's collection is also on display, I loves me some apes so I always check it out.

If you're ever in Southern Ontario, Kool Stuff is one of those must visit destinations. You can check them out on the web here: Kool Stuff

Nerd Therapy Session: (Super) Girl Trouble

2012-01-28T00:01:00.019-05:00

For this installment, I’ll be skipping back to the mid 1970s, which is pretty appropriate considering this blog. Like many of you, I grew up in what was a golden age of action figures, the Mego era.

We 70s kids had an amazing breadth of licensed characters and they were mostly all in the same scale. Sure, 60s kids had Captain Action and GI Joe, which are awesome but could they team up Starsky and Davey Crockett to battle the collaborations of Dracula and Dr Zaius?

I rest my case.

The biggest toy line for me at the time was the Mego World’s Greatest Superheroes line, I dreamt of all the ancillary characters on the sides of the boxes and in the comic ads. My “collection” at the time consisted mainly of the “A list” characters as they were the easiest found in my neck of the woods. I didn’t see some of the other characters until I became a toy collector.

The figures I truly coveted, more than anything, were the Supergals, primarily Batgirl and Supergirl. I at the time, didn’t know why they made my six year old heart flutter but I frantically searched each time we went to the mall or Woolco.

Around this time, an “incident” occurred. I turned six and had the standard party, which likely consisted of hot dogs, a home made cake (I think one of these) and a couple of hours playing in my room with school friends who didn’t normally come over.

While digging through my toy drawers one of my guests looked up and said “Why do you have Barbies?”. I totally panicked, I had forgotten that there were a handful of Barbie dolls in my mix and quickly replied “Oh my sister put those there!”.

That statement was entirely true.

My sister was something of a Tomboy and also five years my senior, her Barbie phase was a passing fancy and one I relished, as I followed her around with my Big Jim camper for a few weeks.

When she was done with them, they were just got absorbed into my stuff. Barbie’s were pretty good extras or fill ins for the Super gals and their feet were delicious (I had a “chew on things” habit as a kid/grown man) so it really didn’t matter to me.

I just never factored in that this might turn into one of those playground rumours that haunted you for the rest of your life. Like the kid who got caught picking his nose and eating it in kindergarten. That guy delivered a pizza to my house when I was in college and I remember thinking “hope he didn't touch it”. That's some powerful social glue.

My claims were met with a sort of “uh-hunh” from my friends and let go. I skirted becoming the pariah of the school yard through some sort of distraction.

A few months later, probably March of 1977, I found myself at the mall with both my Mother and my Grandmother. There is a certain confidence to this combination in the fact that I know I’m going to get a toy.

In the middle of the mall was Dominion Playworld, while it’s name conjures up nothing but terrible blandness, it was in fact, an orange and brown wonderland of toy goodness.

It was also an oasis, before you got there you had to trudge through the clothing departments of both “Simpson’s-Sears” and “Eaton’s”, not to mention a good hour in “Marks and Spencer”. I did all of this with a smile knowing that toy heaven was around the corner.

When we finally got there, I was surprised by an end cap of Mego Superheroes on cards! I’d never seen anything but boxed superheroes prior to this. I could barely contain myself when I saw her on the front of the row, Mego-freakin-Supergirl in all her glory.

With cat like reflexes, I snapped her up and ran to my grandmother who didn’t put up any sort of fight. We headed for the check out aisle.

Then reality came crashing down. What if I was caught with a girl doll? What was I doing? I kept revisiting that moment in time over and over again. Which was stupid, my only friend on the street didn’t go to my school, nor did he judge me. I could have gotten away with this but alas, hindsight is 20/20.

I put her down and swapped her for the closest thing, Doctor McCoy from Star Trek. Yes, I switched the most beautiful woman I’d seen at that point for delicious ol' Deforrest Kelly, it’s true. As fun as “bones” was (and I still have him to this day), I felt like a coward.

This process would be regularly repeated with a Catwoman doll at the Pinocchio’s toys in the midtown mall for the next two years, psyching myself up to buy her and chickening out time and time again.

Supergirl was never to be seen again, Dominion Playworld would take a serious slide in “Mego Quality” by 1978, only ever carrying Hulk and Spider-Man, which now came on cards that only showed Hulk and Spider-Man.

By the end of the decade, the only Mego you could buy there were the dusty, unsold stacks of “Superman’s arch enemy” Mr Myxiswhatshisname. I broke down and bought one right after seeing “Superman 2”, probably my first nostalgic toy purchase.

In 1978, Star Wars took over the culture and I vividly remember showing off my Princess Leia figure to friendsat school, the only thing I heard was “cool”. The stigma had been removed and I owned every Leia, Kate McCrae and "bald lady from Star Trek" that the toy world had to offer....

Mattel Sunshine Family for 1978

2012-01-27T00:01:00.004-05:00

The Sunshine Family were a series of (In my opinion, creepy) dolls marketed by Mattel beginning in 1974. At the time, the line was marketed with the family being very into the burgening "post hippie" early 70s craft movement.

By 1978, the line's look had begun to look dated so it was rebranded the "Sunshine FUN Family" (bet that was an all nighter at Mattel) and the characters were given a bit of a makeover. The Sunshine family had moved into the suburbs it seems...

Click here to see Mattel's Sunshine Fun Family Catalog for 1978

More Sunshine folks

1976 Mattel Sunshine Family Catalog

EMU Nightmares

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

One of the more endearing things I find about my wife is her childhood fear of Rod Hull and his puppet Emu. While I was enjoying them on "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle" show, she was behind the couch in terror as a child and the sight of this puppet still creeps her out this day. If you'll excuse me, I need to check ebay...

Bedtime: A New Hope

2012-01-25T00:27:00.000-05:00

The sight of that bathrobe makes me say "Jar Jar who?".

Reed Richards ride

2012-01-24T00:01:00.005-05:00

When he's not being totally boring, Mr Fantastic likes to cruise around in his awesome muscle car. What I love about this toy is the Fantastic Four have a totally cool space vehicle that they ride around in but the folks at Fleetwood went and made him a car instead.

That's like releasing a Batman figure on a tenspeed which probably got done by Hasbro in the 1990s....

A reminder about Sweaters

2012-01-23T00:01:00.003-05:00

Sweaters were put on this earth for two reasons, the first is to make you uncomfortable, the other is to make you look as silly as possible. I hate them, so should you.

Nerd Therapy Session: So-Dumb Warrior

2012-01-21T00:07:00.030-05:00

First off, thank you for the incredibly kind response to last week's entry. It's extremely comforting to know I was not alone because that would have been pretty terrible.

My next tale of nerd-woe jumps me to 1986, I had started drifting away from collecting comic books and jumped into collectibles, specifically sci fi based toys. Actually, it was all about toys but I was still in kind of denial about the whole thing.

Even though I clearly loved toys and action figures, I couldn't allow it unless it was science fiction related stuff. Buying a Big Jim camper would have been childish but my Star Trek bridge play set was an adult thing.

It was quite the complicated lie I was living.

This was also years before email or toyshop magazine. So my three choices for finding vintage "collectibles" were as follows:

Flea markets, old store stock at variety stores (really lucrative) and comic shops.

Most of the comic shops in my area were used bookstores with names like "The Book Between" and "Morgan Self ltd.". They were paper shops and pretty dry affairs. Save for "Unicorn Comics" an honest to goodness comic store that occasionally dabbled in vintage toys.

The owner Tim, (I'm happy to report I still see him every couple of weeks) for some reason hadold toys in the window. I say "for some reason" because Tim never seemed to like toys, in 30 years of knowing him. I don't know why he had them there in the first place but I digress.

Unicorn was in the heart of downtown Oshawa and required transportation for me to visit. It was March break and my mother insisted that we go clothes shopping at the mall that day. We struck a compromise, I would take the bus to Unicorn (cause I couldn't have my mom cramp my style) and meet her around 2pm at the mall for some stone wash jean shopping at Thrifty's.

Unicorn was in a dank building that looked like it was falling apart, in fact it did fall apart before the decade was out. I got there just as it opened and my eyes met a moral dilemma, there it was a perfect, complete, mint-fricking-condition Gai King from Mattel's Shogun Warriors.

The Shogun warriors are an achilles heel of mine, it's the one toy line that my parents refused to indulge me in. Since then, I've always kind of had a machinder fetish that, to this day, often clouds my judgement.

The big problem for me was, this wasn't a sci fi collectible, it was clearly a kiddie toy but yet, I must have it..... I justified it to Tim by saying i was a fan of "Force Five" (which was a total lie) and that made it all better. I'm pretty sure Tim could not care.

I shakily handed him the money for it and probably the latest issue of "Doctor Who Monthly".

And then Tim did something to me that seriously broke my 15 year old brain.

He handed Gai King to me in a giant CLEAR PLASTIC BAG and apologized to me as it was the only thing he had.

It hit me immediately. Oh Crap, Crap, Crap, I have to walk with this giant freaking toy for almost a mile to go into the one place where I'm sure half of my graduating class is right now. Oh, what have I done?

I also had two hours to kill until my mother would show up.

To make matters worse, the two skeavy, drug dealer infested arcades nestled close to Unicorn were not open yet.

I took a series of back roads that had no sidewalks to the mall, meaning me and Mazinga were ambling in a foot of snow and nearly getting hit by every ardent car that went by. I was also wearing my crappy off brand sneakers, toe loss seemed like an acceptable scenario to discovery.

Hiding in Sears seemed to be my best plan as the gals in the Singer sewing center ask too many questions. I contemplated buying a pillow or something just so I could have a large bag to conceal my shame but none could be had for under a dollar.

The TV section seemed a safe bet, I'd run into less kids my age there. I think I sat on the floor and quietly watched TV, the sales people gave me strange looks but probably thought I had issues.

When my mother showed up, I quickly threw my machinder shame in her trunk. I would run into half a dozen kids I knew that day, being seen clothes shopping with my mommy didn`t feel too bad.

PS my mom bought me some English Leather after shave that day, i didn't start shaving until two years later.

Thanks for reading and if you have some nerd therapy you'd like to submit, PLEASE send it on down, Let the healing commence!

1977 Hasbro Super Joe Catalog

2012-01-20T00:01:00.002-05:00

After folding the G.I. Joe Adventure Team in 1976, Hasbro sought to give their rugged man of action a massive overhaul. Thus SuperJoe was born, bearing little resemblence to the soldier of the past, Joe had lost four inches of height and the G.I prefix. Superjoe was now set in the far off future and (I'm guessing here) on another planet.

The Superjoe dolls were all electronic and the 1978 campaign was "They fight by night with light" meaning the figures were working penlights. Despite the very trendy Sci-Fi theme, Superjoe failed to gel with kids and faded away after the 1978 Christmas season.

Check out more in the 1977 SuperJoe Catalog

And hey if you're fascinated by Super Joe be sure to check out our Super Joe Action Figure Archive which has been freshly updated.

Super Joe Gallery

Action Man for 1976

2012-01-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

I'm always perplexed at how much a difference an ocean makes, GI Joe by this time was all about Mike Power and Bullet Man (not complaining!) and kids in the UK were choosing different eras of machine guns.

Rope burn

2012-01-18T00:01:00.003-05:00

Jeans that remind me of 7th grade gym class and total embarrassing failure. Please, send me ten pairs!

Super Slate of the Apes

2012-01-17T00:24:00.001-05:00

My pal Mike sent this into me and honestly, it's new to me, a wonderful throw away rack item that some smart soul preserved and we're better for it. I had plenty of magic slates as a kid but never one this cool...

Ewww! There's Ape centric art on the back too, that's awesome.

Yeah, I want one. Big props to Mike J as always for sharing his toys...

Junior sales achievers

2012-01-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

Jimmy and Miles dream of the day that they'll be drunk in the Dayton Ohio airport extolling the virture of Bill Braskey.

Nerd Therapy Session: Adventures in Cosplay

2012-01-15T13:57:00.003-05:00

In order to flex my (somewhat scrawny) writing muscles and perhaps to deal with some pain, I've decided to start posting little essays about some of my more embarrassing moments in my life that I can completely blame on my nerdy obsessions.

I wasn't exactly Miles Davis as a kid, so the well runs deep folks. I also welcome guest submissions at any time, so open up and let the healing commence.

The Scarf

Let me open with this, I played Doctor Who on television.

It was on a crappy Canadian cable access show that nobody ever saw but I like to think of myself as the unofficial 12th Doctor. I am available for conventions.

The back story to this is kind of noble, a cable access host was holding a drama class at the local library. I was 12 and shy, so it seemed like a good thing for me to try. Myself and some friends joined but I was the only one who went to the second meeting. There were girls there and the little bubble of mutual respect was intoxicating to me. I was drunk on confidence.

The final project was to create a short film for Channel 10 that supported the local library, you could be anything you wanted but preferably a fictional character. Some of the choices were weird, one girl was a hooker, another kid was a worm (no costume, he just did that break dance move across the floor in the scene) and I of course, chose Doctor Who.

I had been hooked on Who since I was six and saw "Day of the Daleks" on TVO. My older sister`s constant complaining was a great warning sign that it wasn`t for everyone so I never, ever let anybody know before, especially a large group of strangers.

My all too wonderful and enabling grandparents were awesome about it. My grandfather provided the coat and the hat (which still hangs in my garage) and my grandmother knitted me the Tom Baker scarf, it was amazing and 12 feet long.

On the day of the filming, we had a party at the instructors house and she made us all feel like adults at a cocktail party, it was empowering.

I was still completely high the next day, that I decided to wear my scarf to school.

Yep, I marched right onto the play ground of my Catholic school (I know that`s not important but it kind of is in a weird way) and immediately regretted my decision. I will say this, the burns I received were not very biting, most of the kids in my class let it slide or made some smug, lame crack.

Except for this one British born kid two grades below me. He seemed especially smart mouthed, although from a very safe distance.

I put the scarf on a shelf in the hall and resolved to carry it home and not wear it.

At lunch time, my friend tapped me on the shoulder and said "you might want to see this". Outside, a bunch of fifth graders were having a tug of war with my scarf, leading the charge that mouthy looks-like-Reggie-Mantle kid from earlier in the day. I took back my property and knocked down the ring leader, which just made him louder.

I learned a valuable lesson about too much sharing that day but it took a few dozen more similar horrifying incidents to truly hammer it home. In retrospect though, I started bringing my library loaned Doctor Who hard covers to school after that and nobody batted an eye, i had lived it down.

The Kicker: Ten years or so later, I`m sitting in a townhouse I shared with three other people, when one of my room mates starting talking about grade school. I knew we came from the same town but hadn't a clue we went to the same school as well.

He pulls out a picture of himself as a kid, it was him, the mouthy kid! It was like finding out I lived with freaking Kaiser Soze! I decided to keep it to myself as he was totally oblivious as to who I was, it was a Tuesday to him, nothing more.

No copies of the film exist, I had every member of the drama club killed in 1999.

Bionic Bubble Bath

2012-01-13T00:01:00.004-05:00

From the "Stuff I hadn't seen before but now can't live without" department comes this Six Million Dollar man bubble bath container from the UK. I guess in the 60s they called these "soakies", I just call this thing awesome. Many thanks to Ebay Seller RetroToyBoy for the photo submission.

More after the (Slow Motion) jump

How crazy cool is this thing?

A good close up of Steve's killer head sculpt, it's crude but you can totally see Lee Majors in there. Arrrgggh I want this!

I imagine Ebay searches for "Noveltime" will increase this year...

More Bionic Goodness

Always Buying Lincoln International and Tomland Monster dolls

Pimpin' ain't easy

2012-01-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

First name Smooth, last name Jenkins...

Karosel Kitchen

2012-01-11T00:01:00.001-05:00

Is anyone else getting a total "TARDIS" vibe from this?

Paging Wayne Rogers

2012-01-10T00:01:00.002-05:00

My pal Steve found me this and I wanted to hug him. This toy makes total sense, I mean what kid didn't have a Pernell Roberts poster on their bedroom walls back in 1981?

That Halloween they were all out of Gonzo Gates costumes so I had to settle for Yoda.

Passing up on the Trapper John action figure license is also rumoured to be the thing that killed Mego.

Curtain Trip

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

These should really be brought back, I wouldn't hesitate to put them in every room in my house.

AHI Superfriends Buggy

2012-01-06T00:18:00.002-05:00

After almost three decades of toy collecting, not many vintage toy sightings make me want to wet my pants. This past few weeks I've had the pleasure of almost losing control several times, first with the Tomland Monsters and then followed up by this, the AHI Superfriends car in glorious detail.

My friend Mark from Heroes West Coast hooked me up with these awesome shots, so please everybody check out his ebay store.

More after the jump:

The first thing I want to say after "Gahhh!" is "Aquaman"! While Wonder Woman is strangely absent, you have no idea how much Aquaman gets the shaft in 70s merch. Well, read this if you're curious.

I am assuming this is some sort of parade situation and the A listers are strutting their stuff.

AC's been hitting the red bull.

I can't not love this toy, it may be the crappiest remote controlled car ever but it's just so crazy and colorful. One of these days, it shall be mine!

Azrak Hamway Toy Gallery

Shagerific!

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

I'd really, really like to run barefoot in that man's den.

Big Bumper

2012-01-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

I have never seen this vehicle before but mein Gott, I wish I had an adult sized one in college.

Kojak Harbor Patrol

2012-01-03T00:01:00.014-05:00

Another classic "who gives a crap" Rack Toy from Hamony, the makers of this pile of "hunh?" . Harmony is quickly becoming my favourite Rack Toy company mostly because everything I've seen from them seems to smack of little to no thought.

I'm sure Kojak had some episodes that featured both boats and helicopters but nothing will convince this toy was conceived in anything than a ten minute period.

I'm totally putting that ID card in my wallet...

The Aztec Sweater tells us....

2012-01-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

that the Mayan calendar doesn't know what it's talking about, we're all going to be fine.

Do not question the Aztec sweater!

The 2011 Plaidstallions Retro Awards

2012-01-01T13:01:00.002-05:00

It's time once again for my fake awards show dedicated to what I feel is retro goodness of the past year. All in all, 2011 was a tremendous year for this kind of commerce, so there was lots to choose from.

I've also got some news on the book projects and changes to the site for 2012.

More After Jump

Best Films:

I went in with really low expectations but Rise of the Planet of the Apes surprised the heck out of me, mostly because it revitalized the concept so well. I saw it with an audience of 20 years olds and they were enthralled. It's handling of the subject matter was rarely camp and Andy Serkis was phenomenal as Caesar. It made me crack out my box set once again.

Superhero movies were kind of hit or miss for me this year, I enjoyed Thor despite never having read a Thor comic. I found Green Lantern terribly misguided and passed on the latest X Men movie because of the past two sequels (something I later discovered was a mistake).

The one that made it for me was Captain America: The First Avenger. Comic fans can argue back and forth about costume design changes but the soul of any comic movie is embodiment of the character and I can't remember when a movie got it so right (oh yeah, Iron Man).

It was also such a relief to take my son to this film and know that Cap wasn't going to swear (take notes Hal Jordan) or have "Superman 3" type moments of nightmare fuel (Seriously Hector Hammond?). I loved this movie and view it with the same regard I do the first Superman.

Best Books and Magazines

I went back to school this year to study design in anticipation of the books I'm writing. So, most of the books I read were published by Adobe and really have nothing to do with this blog directly.

Some notable exceptions were:

Doctor Who Classics Omnibus I was gifted two of these by lovely wife and it reminded me of how much I loved Doctor Who comics growing up. I find it ironic that I'm wishy-washy on the Davison era and I abhor Colin Baker but their stories are actually my favourite in comic form.

I cannot recommend Shock Cinema magazine enough. A self described "essential guide for any fan of bizarre films and videos, and each issue is crammed with movie reviews, in-depth interviews and original poster art. Shock Cinema covers everything a self-respecting film-junkie could possibly desire -- from Cult Movies and Arthouse Oddities, to old fashioned Grindhouse Swill and Underground Obscurities."

This magazine is easily the best $5 I spend at any given time, it gives me hours of interesting reading and I wish it came out monthly. Seriously where else are you going to read about a movie which starred Mr. Brady as a pervert crank caller?

While i don't read comics these days, I oddly can't get enough comics history and that's where Twomorrow's "Back Issue!" comes in handy. Each month I get in depth interviews, articles in a beautifully laid out format.

Twomorrows publishing has a great catalog of books that would be right for any 70s kid as well, worth a visit.

Toys

Besides releasing my own action figure, a lot of cool toys made me weak in the knees this year, the two biggest for me however were these.

Bifbangpow Doctor Who

Talk about peanut butter and chocolate, my love for Doctor Who combined with my love for Mego action figures. I know most people want Star Wars or Marvel comics mego figures again but this was my number one want and I can't wait to buy every single figure BBP knocks out. The Doctor and Styre were toys I HAD to rip off the card immediately and that is just fantastic.

The same thing can be said for EMCE Toys/Diamond Select's wave two of the Universal Monsters. These figures are a joy, the Mummy is an amazing detailed likeness of Karloff while the Dracula is generic. Given that I've played with generic Dracula figures all my life (Lugosi's likeness isn't part of the Universal Monsters license) it seems wonderfully fitting. Well worth the $30, I assure you.

DVD

I didn't get the time for DVDs like I normally do this year but two were unavoidable for me:

Shout Factory has done a spectacular job of releasing Mystery Science Theatre but the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXII last box set with Sandy Frank "classics" like "Time of the Apes" and "Mighty Jack" really made my 2011 brighter.

Warner Archive is probably going to be on every Retro Awards show I do from now on. This year I adored the Man From Atlantis: Complete TV Movies Collection.

Man from Atlantis was one of the better done TV SF attempts in the 1970s, it starts out with great promise (although the television series gets progressively weirder until it looks like they just run out of juice) the TV movies however are inspired and fun, worthy of a look.

Some big changes this year on Plaidstallions.

I'm going to need more time to develop my book products, I haven't found a publisher for "Rack Toys" or "Galaxy of Mego" but that only means I'm going to probably start my own publishing company in the coming months.

That means i can only do site updates every other week for the next few months, the blog will remain daily and I'll still do Fashion Mockery, Toy Love and Rack Toy Tuesday posts but new gallery pages need to be bi weekly for me to retain my sanity.

And that's it for another year, I'm looking forward to what 2012 brings us, as always thanks for reading!

A Funky Christmas to one and all

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

Wishing one and all a joyous holiday season and a happy anad prosperous New Year from the entire PlaidStallions Team.

Thank you for reading and writing in, making me laugh and overall being amazing.

We're taking the whole week off at PS and launching next Friday with the 2011 Retro awards, see you then!

1977 Hasbro Weebles Catalog

2011-12-23T00:12:00.000-05:00

Time for another trip to Weeble Town!

1977 saw Hasbro aim for action and adventure with the addition of Tarzan (?) and their own portly crusader Super Weeble!

It seems fitting to do Weebles around Christmas time as they're really kind of the thing a lot of folks got under the tree. Not me though, my folks were died in the wool Fisher Price fans...

Visit the 1977 Hasbro Weebles Catalog

The Garage of Tomorrow

2011-12-22T00:02:00.000-05:00

I cannot wait for the future to begin, first thing I'm grabbing is a jet pack.

What ever happened to Juan Epstein?

2011-12-21T00:00:00.005-05:00

This catalog page reveals a sad truth, like many highschool dropouts, Juan was lured into the dark world of catalog underwear modeling. His whereabouts are now unknown.....

GI Joe's cheaper wheels

2011-12-20T00:09:00.002-05:00

During the 60s and 70s, Irwin Toy made some lower cost blow molded vehicles for lines like G.I. Joe and Action Jackson that were a lot of fun and quite collectible these days.

The cool thing about these is Irwin actually went and licensed the GI Joe name for some of these, they were branded official and that's well....kind of classy.

Lady Dragon and the Sting Sisters

2011-12-19T00:03:00.001-05:00

If this were a video game these three would be the boss at the end of the final level.

Cool Collections: Chris's Apes

2011-12-18T10:04:00.000-05:00

Chris sent in this way cool pic of his Planet of the Apes collection, the centerpieces being these original screen worn soldier ape outfits. The one with the stripe was used in the TV episode "The Horse Race", guess what that was about.

Thanks Chris for sharing, as always I am filled with a nice combination ofawe and envy.

Send in your cool collection!

Steve Austin Goes Toy Shopping

2011-12-17T00:11:00.001-05:00

Seeing as it's Christmas time I thought it would be fun to bring up this vintage bit of strangeness. These captures from the fourth season of the Six Million Dollar Man, the episode is "The Bionic Christmas Carol". You see in 1974 Gerald Ford passed into law the "Dickens Act" which meant every TV show, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical had to do their own adapatations of "A Christmas Carol". Fred Sanford was a good American, as was Doctor Johnny Fever and of course, Col. Steve Austin.

I won't bother with the specifics but in one key scene Steve follows Bob Crandall (oh brother) to a toy shop and of course, Steve wants to bring presents for the family. There is a lot of fun eye candy in the scene, you can see a nice GI Joe Adventure team set there and the Ideal Jaws game is prominently featured. However what can we see when Steve dramatically checks in on poor Bob with his bionic vision?

The horrible fourth wall breaking money shot! I ask you Plaidstallions readers, what is cheesier here, the shameless obvious Kenner toy plug or that fricking horrible, almost series wrecking porn moustache that Steve is rocking?

Tomland Famous Monsters of Legend Archive Launches

2011-12-16T00:01:00.028-05:00

It may seem odd to launch a Monster themed page in December but it's Halloween all year round at my place and it's rare these days that I get this excited, so it simply couldn't wait.

Tomland is probably best known for the Star Raiders, an 8" Mego like line of action figures clearly meant to mimick Star Wars. However, they also produced a very fun line of Monster Action figures and released two sets with what seems like a few year's gap between them.

The first series consisted of four figures, most have seen them as they were readily available across the country in stores such as K-Mart.

However, the second series, produced in 1980 seems to have seen almost no distribution. It consisted of 8 figures, the first four characters from series one (now in "glow in the dark" format) and four new characters which were pretty big names. Namely Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and the Wolfman.

What makes this even sweeter for me is that Tomland seemed to be directly copying the Lincoln Monsters which most would know are my favourite monster toys ever. Sadly, they are also some of the hardest to find.

So I'm especially proud to be able to, for the first time (to my knowledge), present the entire set of Tomland Famous Monsters of Legends figures in their own archive. Got something I don't have and want to share? Email me!

Tomland Famous Monsters of Legend Archive

Other Action Figure Galleries on PlaidStallions

My First Car

2011-12-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is probably the only Jaguar I'll own in my life, given to me by grandfather. it was an item I treasured.

That was until I was about ten or so when my best friend Neil and I rode it to oblivion on the giant hill we lived on. RIP Jaguar, I miss you...

The Overall Suit

2011-12-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

Popular in areas without indoor plumbing, the overall suit (worn by model "A") failed to catch on in larger urban areas.

Eagle One Gun

2011-12-13T00:37:00.000-05:00

Here we have the rather odd AHI Eagle one water pistol, it looks kind of ill advised but you have to remember that AHI probably sold a boatload of these so they just applied the Star Trek template to Space:1999 when it came to all merch.

What I really enjoy about 1999 merchandising is the amount of face time actor Barry Morse gets on most of the packaging. Mostly because my grandfather could have been his stunt double, it's kind of eery. Even as a kid I'd think "why is my grandfather on the box?" My love for Space:1999 is also what drew me into toy collecting some 25 years ago, so it's sort of responsible for what I'm doing right now.

BTW, not slagging Barry Morse at all here. I was lucky enough to bump into him on the streets of Toronto many years ago and he was a very kind gentleman, possibly my favourite celebrity encounter.

AHI Space:1999 Gallery

One of Us

2011-12-12T00:29:00.005-05:00

"Today you're a seagull Tommy, life changes now"

Child World Toy Sale from 30 years ago

2011-12-09T00:01:00.004-05:00

Seeing that it's close to Christmas, let's take a trip back 30 years and see what toys were on special with the 1981 Child World Flyer, celebrating the best playthings that 1981 had to offer.

You'll find a lot of familiar faces in this one including Star Wars figures, Mego Superheroes, Intellivision, Jordache dolls, Fisher price and oodles more.

The 1981 Child World Toy Flier

Other Toy Flyers and Circulars from the 70s
..
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Mobile Suport Unit

2011-12-08T00:01:00.009-05:00

As much as I adore all thing Mego, I have to admit that the GI Joe Mobile Support unit may indeed be the finest toy vehicle ever made. It honestly looks as if it's from some Gerry Anderson TV show that never made it to air.

I've owned this piece more than once, the hard reality of it's size (IT BIG!) has forced me to sell on both occasions. I am also not deluded enough to say there won't be a third time....

If "Super Mario Brothers" was a thing in 1975

2011-12-07T00:07:00.001-05:00

I think we have our plumbers right here...

Ultra-Men and Monster Maker

2011-12-06T00:09:00.002-05:00

Leave it to the Japanese to make a fun toy more "funner" (it's a word), here we see what I can only imagine is the original version of we here in North America know as "The Mighty Men and Monster Maker" easily one of the coolest toys from my youth.

In Japan however, their version was licensed and it allowed you to create scenes from Ultra-Man and some animated series I'm not familiar with (Is that Captain Future? Help me out anime guys).

I shouldn't be jealous but I slightly am...

What i wish to be buried in...

2011-12-05T00:02:00.003-05:00

I think it's pretty self explanatory....

Also I'm aware that i will have to buried face down for this to be effective, i'm in a good place about that.

Speaking of home made Star Wars

2011-12-03T10:05:00.000-05:00

After declaring my love for home made Star Wars appearances last week, Kip sent in this awesome mural from his eighth grade graduation where the theme was "May the force be with you always".

While it's not a mall appearance, it is just a special bit of magic isn't it? This is Franklin public school in Markham, Ontario BTW. I grew up not too far from there, so does that make me cool by association? Probably not.

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Popular Kenner Toys as seen on TV

2011-12-02T00:03:00.005-05:00

I got an early Christmas present in my mailbox the other day in the form of these Kenner store display photos, which were likely meant as internal documents showcasing their hottest toys for 1978.

As we all know that was a year of Bionic Men and Women, Stretch Armstrong and massive block buster known as Star Wars. These photos make me weak in the knees.

Visit the 1978 Kenner Store Displays Gallery

More Kenner Fun

Say, Jim! Whooooo!!!

2011-12-01T00:31:00.012-05:00

Any Lanny sighting is a good one but this particular one may be my favourite, it's going into my scrapbook...

Marx Wrist Watches

2011-11-30T00:01:00.006-05:00

That Neal Adams shot of Superman on the card art is some of my favourite pieces of the man of steel, that's how I picture him.

Return of the Lovemakers

2011-11-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hello Ladies, we shall now begin the dance...

Scream'n Demons

2011-11-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

Another toy that I'm too young to remember (I was pretty busy staring at fuzzy wall paper for the majority of 1971) but Hasbro's Scream'n Demons predate the Evel Knievel concept but marry it with the popularity of Biker culture at the time.

Help me R2 D2, you're my only hope

2011-11-26T00:06:00.003-05:00

Simon of The Art Hustle sent in this glorious shot of his wife circa 1978 in Jackson, Mississippi at a movie theatre event with "R2 D2". Note the wonderful hand painted Star Wars collage in the background.

I pretty much love all mall appearance shots I get in but these home grown Star Wars ones have become my personal favourites.

Be sure to check out Simon's site The Art Hustle where he makes pop culture/art trading cards, including one of this very image.

Send me your mall appearance photos!

1978 Fisher Price Muppet Show Catalog

2011-11-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

The Muppet Show was as much an ingrediant to a happy 70s childhood as were orange kitchens and pop rocks were. The UK Produced syndicated series was a complete smash and not surprisingly oodles of merchandising followed. Toymaker Fisher Price already knew the value of a Muppet, having produced Sesame Street items since the early 1970s released some of the most memorable Muppet show items..

Delve into the 1978 Fisher Price Muppet Show Catalog

More Fisher Price

Lazy Dazy

2011-11-24T00:01:00.004-05:00

Coincidentally, should they ever make a doll of me, it would also come with it's own pillow.

Kung Fu and the Dice Brothers

2011-11-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Now playing at Cinema 6- It's a soul food chop socky explosion!

Streetwise

2011-11-22T00:25:00.000-05:00

Bert is clearly flashing gang signs here...

Bee Bold in a Shirt Suit

2011-11-21T01:11:00.001-05:00

Also, be sure to bring along your tiny clone.

1978 Mattel Electronic Games Catalog

2011-11-18T00:12:00.004-05:00

Electronic games have come an incredible way since 1978 but it's hard not to fondly remember the simple pleasure of these awesome hand helds by Mattel. Without the sophistication available today, these games were not only fun to play but affordable as well.

1978 was a year of modest but popular offerings including a game I would consider the best hand held game of all time:

Click here to play the 1978 Mattel Electronic Games Catalog

TOY SHOW REMINDER!
I'll be setting up at this Sunday's Toronto Toy Show (A link to a $2 off admission coupon is here) selling vintage junk, commercial DVDs and more Mantooth than most can handle. Hope to see some of you there, please do stop by and say hi.

If it's too much of a drive for you, be sure to check out my twitter account for live updates from the show floor starting Saturday night.

Career Opportunities

2011-11-17T00:09:00.001-05:00

Ladies, Any one of these fine, fine gentlemen is your ticket to a high paying career in (tasteful) nude modelling and cocaine. A whole houseboat full of cocaine.

Wedding Jitters

2011-11-16T00:22:00.004-05:00

Note to toy manufacturers, when producing "Beautiful Bride" type dolls, try not to make their faces so "Twilight Zone creepy" perhaps keep them more at a "Night Gallery" level....

Tragic Kingdom

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

Ummm, Ì`m not going to Disneyland...

Billy Blast Off

2011-11-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

I'm a couple of years too young to have enjoyed the adventures of this Japanese import (created by Tomy, Billy was brought to the Western world by a company called Eldon) but some folks I know that did grow up with it often get giddy upon it's mention..

Odeon Toys Returns with Project: Mantooth

2011-11-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

I've updated the site for my semi-fictional toy company Odeon Toys adding some new sections to help chronicle some of the happenings of The Brick Mantooth action doll, here are a few highlights of what's available:

Project Mantooth will be a series of limited Edition Brick figures that are based on iconic characters of the 1970s. They'll be new designs but quite familiar, these will be limited to ten of each figure (mostly cause I think that's the most I'll sell of these) Much more on this later.

Manmates are the mad idea of my pal Steve and are limited edition Brick figures in authentic Catalog outfits, the first one called "Purple Heeeyyys" sold out in a day. Check out the next offering "Green Sleeves" soon to be for sale at the Mego Forums.

Show us your Brick chronicles the many fun custom Brick images people have sent me.

It will be a loooooong time until I break even on this whole affair but stuff like this just makes it worth it.

That plus the site now has a link to the store where you can order Brick and his alter ego The Mego Museum Super Collector (which should be back in stock soon), Playsets, vehicles, upcoming comic book adventures and much more.

Check out the newly revised Odeon Toys Website.

1976 Marx Playset Catalog

2011-11-11T00:01:00.001-05:00

Marx was always known for their playsets and action figures but in 1976 they were poised to be one of the early entries into the world of 3 3/4" action figures with a series of generic environments.

Sadly it looks like buyers were indifferent to the concept, so we never got a 3 3/4" Johnny West figure to my knowledge. .

See more at the 1976 Marx Playset Catalog

Right On!

2011-11-10T01:06:00.006-05:00

Hat satisifaction is a natural high...

Strange visitor from the planet frisbee

2011-11-09T00:01:00.003-05:00

It's amazing to think that the folks at LCA (who handled all of the DC comics characters at the time) approved weird artwork like this. The man of steel on this AHI "zing-wing" has an enormous noggin and apparently tiny baby doll like hands, kind of nightmarish if you stare long enough at it.

Disco Dynamite

2011-11-08T00:04:00.008-05:00

Explosive on the dance floor

A green and insignificant planet, is now dead.

2011-11-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

Behold, the closest thing we ever got to a toy version of the Alpha Omega bomb that wiped out the Planet of the Apes in Beneath. So this gives you the option of either thinking it's another dumb rack toy or a surprisingly canon item.

Either way, that's some killer packaging....

More Larami goodness

Big Announcement Sunday

2011-11-06T11:33:00.001-05:00

It's finally time to reveal what I've been planning for three years and that is, I'm writing a book! The project is called "Rack Toys" and it's essentially a love letter to what I feel is a very under served area of toy collecting. More after the jump:

I'm finally far enough into this that I can confidently say it's going to happen, whether I go with one of the publishing houses I'm currently pitching to or self publish, I will hopefully make this happen in the next 12 months.

Below is a description of the book from my proposal:

Colorful packaging hanging from your drug store or grocer’s shelves, designed to entice you while you sat in the shopping cart.

These often terribly made, strange playthings priced low enough to wear down even the most frugal adult and were often forgotten or broken by the time you left the parking lot

Rack Toys is a love letter to repurposed, illogically licensed toys that were not meant to be remembered. An explosion of color, nostalgia and humor spanning three decades and dozens of genres.

The book will explore all the nagging childhood questions like:

"Why does Superman need a parachute?"

"Who thought Love Boat equated to a shaving kit?"

and "When did Dr. Zaius get a walkie talkie?"

Rack Toys is an explosion of color, nostalgia and humor spanning three decades and dozens of genres.

It goes without saying if you're a publisher interested in this book, please drop me a line . I am currently shopping the book and have entered the discussion phase but nothing is set in stone yet. Also, if you own an oddball rack toy that you believe deseves some attention, please get in touch, no genre or era is out of range.

Secondary Announcement: For the third year running I'll be setting up at this year's Toronto Toy Show on November 20th (link to $2 off admission coupon can be found here) to hopefully pay off some debt and overall feel like less of a hoarder. I'll be peddling some vintage stuff and Brick Mantooth dolls, also be showing off some upcoming limited edition Mantooth variants. If you're in the area please drop by and say hello and pick up some free trading cards and hugs.

Vintage Toystores Volume 11

2011-11-04T01:03:00.001-04:00

It's time once again to be whisked back to a simpler time, one that was dominated by "Mom and Pop" toy chains and the wonderful, almost chaotic way toys were distributed.

Vintage Toy Store Shots Eleven is different from previous entries in that it features only images from 1979, where we are DEEP into an over proliferation of space toys lead predictably by Kenner Star Wars.

Click Here to Visit Vintage Toy Stores Volume Eleven

Then check out parts one through ten:

Fembot Nation

2011-11-03T00:00:00.005-04:00

I`m slow motion running to this house...

Shindana : where it's at

2011-11-02T00:00:00.001-04:00

It`s nothing to see multi cultural toys today but Shindana was truly a pioneer. I love finding ads like this.

International Order of Lovemakers

2011-11-01T00:50:00.002-04:00

Their sole objective is your satisfaction...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:13:00.000-04:00

I had more reader contribution photos but a thumb drive failure caused me to lose all files. Fortunately, my pal Doug sent this to me yesterday and I can think of no better shot to end October.

That's Doug as Godzilla and it's really fitting, as he's the guy who helped me score this toy last year. Having never met him, I admit I picture him as Godzilla.

I think the reason I love Halloween is it renews my faith in the human spirit, I wandered around with my kids this evening and saw folks putting together great efforts to welcome children and be kind to them. There's no stress, no tension, it's just harmless fun.

Combine that with my love for monster movies, toys and the combination of Peanut Butter & Chocolate and it's something of a no brainer.

Happy Halloween everyone, I'm off to pilfer my sleeping children's candy right now and watch "Assignment Terror" for the gazzilonith time.

Sparkling Super Monsters

2011-10-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

This past summer I encountered something I didn't know existed and yet I could not live without, it's a bit of rack toy joy. Much more after the jump:

It's an unused display box of AHI wind up little walkers and while it's obvious these (a) aren't manufactured by AHI and (b) are not licensed, the original name is still used which is knock off gold. I would assume that these guys were produced sometime in the 1980s.

What I really like about these is how many people had em as kids. I have non toy collector friends who freak out when they see this display.

The assortment is heavy on the Creature and light on King Kong, which is odd because I never find the Creature in the wild.

The big tells in these and the original AHI ones are the key and the feet, you can see more at Azrakhamway.com

Stay Tuned for more Halloween Goodness today

1981 Collegeville Costume Catalog

2011-10-28T00:01:00.032-04:00

Followers of this site and blog will know that Collegeville is a favourite subject around here, that's likely because I got a ton of these as a kid combined with the fact that they got some really cool licenses.

This is a Canadian version of the Catalog (by a company called Norbin) and I highly suspect that some of the masks and other sundries come from sources other than Collegeville.

1981 was an interesting year, we have staples that have been around since the early 1970s and hot new licenses like Thundarr the Barbarian, Mightyman and Yuck, Fangface, Star Trek: The motion picture, Clash of the Titans and many more.

Click here to see the 1981 Collegeville Catalog

More Collegeville Costumery (It's a word)

Stretch Monster Is NOT Indestructable

2011-10-27T00:40:00.007-04:00

I recently parted with my vintage Stretch Monster box, realizing that I am somehow cursed to never own the figure itself. While packing it up I never noticed that I owned the original instructions and there is no better time to look at a Monster's instructions than October, more after the jump:

I want to point out that these instructions are stained in corn syrup, this particular Stretch Monster met a grim end.

Kenner really tried to cover their butts with this, it's four pages of "Hey this thing is gonna break if you keep doing that"

I totally bit my Stretch Armstrong in '77, the temptation was simply too much. I've been addicted to corn syrup ever since....

Remco Mini Monster Love

2011-10-26T00:00:00.013-04:00

It wouldn't be Halloween without me extolling the sweet virtue of Remco Mini Monsters, a line I love collecting. Above is a snippet from a 1980 Toys R Us flyer that will appear on the site before Christmas some time.

I've been trying to find these guys on Canadian issue cards because that's how I remember them as a kid. I've searched high and low for years and had given up hope but fate works in weird ways (more after the jump)

One random day, my friend Sean came by my office and noticed them, he pointed and said "Hey some guy came into my work with a couple of those and tried to sell them to me."

Which is weird because (a) he's not really a toy collector and (b) his shop is a work shop, not a collectible store of any kind so it makes even odder he was my connection to old toys.

A quick email later and I found two Remco Monsters on Canadian cards after nearly a decade of looking.

Here is Frankenstein, my favourite monster which makes this score even better.

And here is the Phantom in his Canuck glory.

Both of these have been "professionally" graded, which isn't my cup of tea, I like to touch my toys and eventually I shall remove these guys from their acrylic coffins.

I have no aspirations of ever finishing this set, although I plan on keeping my eye out, this is two more than I ever thought I'd find.

More fun with the Remco Mini Monsters

SSP Monsters

2011-10-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

I know I've done a piece on the 1978 SSP Catalog (although I have no memory of doing it), I kind of glossed over one of the cooler offerings that year. That being the Monster hot rods, all of which look like Universal Monsters but did Universal get a penny, Nooooo Sireeee they did not. Let's explore:

While the Mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula could be argued as Public Domain, there is no way in hell that the car marked "Gargoyle" is anything but the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

This copyright infringement doesn't slow my desire to own these but sadly as I've discovered, they're really tough to find these days.

My new favourite Godzilla Toy

2011-10-24T00:31:00.002-04:00

While many of you may have been aware of this vintage bendy from toymaker GLJ, I was blissfully unaware at how cool it was. I periodically search GLJ on Ebay in hope of finding a Monster Squad Frank Bop Bag (someday) and this little guy popped up instead. It was love at first sight, the figure is cool enough but the amount of care that went into that card is truly special.

It's like the set of a cool stop motion Godzilla movie you really want to watch. There was no need for GLJ to put in this kind of detail but they did anyway. I am truly smitten with this thing.

Now this is a Halloween Costume

2011-10-22T09:47:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon this auction and it's so up my alley that it bugs me. This is an original Captain America Mall Appearance suit by Marvel. I saw Captain America at Woolco when I was five, so needless to say, my non ownership of this is a problem.

I am off to buy some lotto tickets today, so with any luck there will be a tall but out of shape Captain America roaming the suburbs of Toronto this Halloween....

Introducing Man Mates Fashion Outfits for Brick!

2011-10-21T12:52:00.001-04:00

Every once in a while, somebody totally "gets you" and

this is one of these occasions. My pal Steve has whipped up a series of fashions for the Brick Mantooth doll. Named "Man Mates" (after the classic JC Penney series of leisure suits) each represents a different, authentic 70s outfit. Honestly, he not only gets the concept, I'm a little worried about him.

Above is "Purple Heyyys", the first of many, finely crafters, limited edition Brick Mantooth outfits to come out and there's more.

The very talented Scott C Adams whipped up this fantastic packaging art for the series.

Purple Heyyys is available for sale right now here but it's almost sold out, once it's gone, it's gone.

Look for more "Mantooth Variants" in the coming months, including a few I've cooked up on my own.

1976 Imperial Toys Catalog

2011-10-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

Halloween is always the best time to talk about rack toys, specifically ones made by Imperial Toy Corporation, who had a year round selection of rubber bats, bugs and skeletons.

1976 also had the distinction of being the year that Imperial wisely got the
"Jaws" license and marketed a series of cool inflatable toys.

Check out the rubbery goodness of the 1976 Imperial Toys Catalog here

Other Rack Toy Links
. ..

Revenge of the Azrak Monsters

2011-10-20T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's not October if we don't discuss the AHI Monster dolls and we've got a couple of additions to the galleries starting with this killer variant of Frankenstein (courtesy of my pal the Kidd). I've never seen eyes like this one.

Count Dracula alone was marketed in the UK in a window box, the rest of the Monsters showed up carded. I'll probably never know exactly why. This piece is available for trade for certain items on my wantlist, if you'd like to know more please contact me

The back of the box shows that original AHI card art was used in it's construction but there is no manufacturer name. My best guess is these were created to sell some end run overstock of Dracula figures. Only a couple of these have ever surfaced.

Rapco Monster Love

2011-10-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

It wouldn't be October without me droning on about how cool these are and followed by my whining as to why I don't own them. Why break tradition?

Fun with Glow in the Dark

2011-10-18T00:01:00.003-04:00

Glow in the dark was always a selling feature for me as a kid, it really gave toys some extra play value, especially anything related to monsters. So i thought it would be fun to turn out the lights and see these things in action. Above are the Remco Mini Monsters and there is more incandescent toy action after the jump.

This is the mexican version of Zorak from the Cipsa Big Jim line.

The Phantom of the Opera from the Remco Monsters 9" line.

Toriac from the Lords of Light and Membros from the Micronauts.

Frankenstein from the Remco Monsters at Home Series.

A Marx Wolfman figure.

It's hard to see but this is Mego Mad Monsters Dracula and Mummy.

A display card of glow in the dark monster stickers.

Monster Bendy Mystery

2011-10-17T00:45:00.002-04:00

I picked up these little guys on Ebay UK (a lot of wonderful strangeness comes out of the UK for some reason) and while I've never seen or heard of them before, they did look oddly familiar...

More after the jump

While not licensed it's pretty obvious that these two were based on the Mego Mad Monsters line, right down to colour and facial expression.

"Are you my Daddy?"

Right down the raised eyebrow!

So the burning questions I have are...

Does anyone remember having these or currently own these guys?

If so what year were they made?

Were there more in the series?

Please drop me a line if you have any light to shed on this.

Cool Collections: John's Monsters

2011-10-16T10:56:00.003-04:00

I LOVE it when folks share their collections with me, especially when it's stuff near and dear to my heart like Monster toys. John was kind enough to give us a peak into his lair today and it's a drool worthy assortment of old and new, more after the jump. If you dare!

A lot going on here the fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror, Kenner Alien, Mattel Krusher and of course a Shogun Warrior...

John like a lot of folks I know loves his gill man and I don't blame him! My favourites in this shot are the AHI bend Em Creature and the 9" Remco verison. Neither of those are easy to find in such nice condition.

Hey that's Gor King of the Terrons from Hasbro's Super Joe line sneaking in there, he really fits in well actually.

Have I mentioned John has great taste? These Remco mini monsters prove it.

Godzilla! That diecast Godzilla from Bullmark is a wonderfully weird and fun piece, he's a transformer!

The coffin bank interested me as a kid, never owned one though.

Thanks to John for sharing his magical displays with us, if you'd like to share your cool collection please drop me a line!

More Cool Collections

Monster Squad Gallery Updates

2011-10-14T00:04:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year again, where I show off my neat o discoveries from the hobby of collecting memoribilia from the one season Saturday Morning show "Monster Squad", not to be confused with the 80s movie. It's been a big year for Squad stuff. More after the jump:

Thanks to a great trade at the Mego forums, I managed to find not only a Bruce W. Wolf bendy figure.

but a carded Dracula as well, he's the most off model of the bunch but I don't have the heart to take him off the card. These were made by Carlin Playthings, who made them into weird little necklaces and even though they don't have the license, it's obivous who they're supposed to be.

I had a Wolfman costume before but not one in a box with the show logo. I got this from the collection of Dr Shocker himself, actor Daniel Roebuck.

I also finally added a kid's Dracula costume to the collection, I found the adult one a few times but never this. Sadly this example smells like it's been dwelling in a damp basement filled with kitty litter and old socks. It was discordant even trying to take this photo....

Shannon sent me this shot of a carded Monster Squad van, the version doesn't have the show stickers on it which is odd.

The back of the card shows the Monster Squad van and the van from Kifs from C.A.P.E.R on it.

That's all for this year's Monster Squad Gallery updates, hopefully next year will bring even more!

Visit the Monster Squad Merchandise Gallery for more!

Costume of the Week: Ultra-Man

2011-10-13T00:05:00.002-04:00

As much as I'd like to say I own this killer Collegeville Ultraman suit, I don't. Fortunately for me, Corey volunteered some shots of his collection to the blog including the two variations of this classic suit, more after the jump.

Above is the first version suit and smock, I don't know why they chose gold but I'm just happy there is an Ultra-man suit at all!

This is the second version of the suit, which has more than one colour and frankly just makes it look nicer.

The mask has those safety reflectors on it.

Love it!

Aurora Monsters on Sale

2011-10-12T00:27:00.003-04:00

My love for the Aurora Monster model kits knows no bounds, I've bought and re bought them several times over during my life and I'm currently repairing the ones my kids and I did over the years.

I thought it would be fun to go through some old timey ads where they could be purchased with pocket change. Above we see the effect of the media blow back from the Monster Scenes kits, apparently parents groups got offended by the concept of torturing nubile victims, who knew?

$0.77 at Westons for some glow in the dark goodness seems like money well spent in 1973.

But the hands down winner of them all goes to aptly named "Giant Way" who in 1973 was blowing these bad boys out at half a buck. I can see it now.....

OK, it's recycled photo from the Vintage Toy store archive but it tells a great story...

Automatonophobia

2011-10-11T00:03:00.002-04:00

I am not at all fond of Ventriloquist dummies but I am somewhat smitten with this Frankenstein version from the UK. Mostly because it's really easy to drink a glass of water and go "Mrrrrrrrrrrrr".

Everbody Shout!

2011-10-10T00:19:00.003-04:00

My pal Dan at the awesome website The Terror Trap (this is a timely month for a plug) sent over shots of his vintage Groovie Ghoulies PVC collection. As a lover of mock horror, these are just awesome to me. Not many Filmation shows got merchandising so it's really nice to see how perfect these guys look. I pop in the Ghoulies DVDs for my kids quite a bit these days.

And if that wasn't enough, David was nice enough to send me shots of how one of these looked on the card. That's forty nine cents well spent.

Some Universal Monster Madness

2011-10-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

Bill sent in this awesome shot of him getting choked by the Phantom of the Opera at Universal Studios, I'm assuming by the Fonzie shirts this is 1976ish. I rarely get Uni Monster appearance shots submitted, so I absolutely love this.

Send me your mall appearance photos!

Tomland Star Raiders Archive Launches

2011-10-07T00:01:00.032-04:00

Tomland (a UK Company who was in the Marx family of companies) marketed these fun and strange 8 inch mego-like action figures under a variety of names but the best known is "Star Raiders" which were obviously meant to cash in on the renewed interest in Sci Fi thanks entirely to "Star Wars" coming on scene.

Star Raiders hadn't been Tomland's first kick at the knock off can, they got their feet wet with "Famous of Monsters of Legend" an attempt to cash in on the AHI/LIncoln/Mego 8" Monster craze of the mid 1970s and they followed up with "Creatures from other Worlds" which apes the Mego Star Trek Aliens line.

When Star Wars came up, they merely repackaged all of these previous characters, created 8 new, somewhat copyright infringing ones and bundled them as "Star Raiders" and then later "Star Command".

What we have here is the beginnings of an archive, which will include every line mentioned. If you have items you'd like to add, please drop me a line. For now enjoy the complete knock off wonder that is the Tomlands Star Raiders Archive on PlaidStallions....

Other Action Figure Galleries on PlaidStallions

Super Joe Gallery

Costume of the Week: Ark 2

2011-10-06T00:01:00.002-04:00

It couldn't get more obscure or joyous for me. Growing up, I LOVED Filmation's post apocalyptic series "Ark 2" with a passion. So i nearly did a spit take when I discovered this Halloween costume on the ebay.

I would have fought tooth and nail for it but I was lucky enough to snag it for $10, which makes it all the more sweeter. As an aside, I wore that mask to bed one night and got the reaction I was hoping for. It was worth it...

Monsterous Fashion

2011-10-05T00:04:00.001-04:00

From the "I wish they made these now dept" come these cool mock horror shirts, adding funny captions to vintage horror pictures dates back to Famous Monsters magazine so it's nice to see them getting a nod here but it's pretty obvious whoever wrote the catalog copy wasn't a reader:

Which one is Dracula? Mom, did you write this one?