Stretch Monster is $9.44 at K-Mart

Here's a close up at that funky Stretch Monster Art:

Other Toy Flyers and Circulars from the 70s

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It's Johnny Patchwork

Atta Boy, when life gives you bad denim, just make lemonade!

Inaction Heroes

I've got a real appreciation for these well sculpted Marx figures now but I have to be honest, as a kid I did not enjoy them. Occasionally I'd find a Superhero or a soldier in someone's toy box and think "who'd want this?". I guess I was spoiled by Mego at that point, so much articulation.

Now I've got some of the Universal Monsters on my desk as I type this, odd how that works..

Hands Off!

Don't you dare touch our boobs!

Potpourri of Coolness

Just a few random things I've forgotten to show off before hand. Firstly, I am elated to announce the DVD release of the Monster Squad television series this June 23rd. Not to be confused with the 1980s movie of the same name, this Monster Squad was a Saturday morning show reminscent of the Adam West Batman series. I can't be alone in my admiration for this series can I?

While many of us remember Mall Appearances through our child sized eyes, Stephen remembers them through his Spidey Mask. Heroes in my Closet is a fun blog recollecting the experiences of a man who played Spiderman for almost a decade.

And rounding out the Monster theme started is this rare commercial for the Maxx Fx line (from Max's creator Mel Birnkrant) even though it's an 80s toy, I've always been disappointed that Matchbox foolishly chose to launch the line with Freddy Kruger, thus dooming it. Try to ignore the 80s white guy rap and just take a look at the toys, we wuz robbed! For more Maxx check out our gallery:

The Joker at Sea World Part 2

This is without a doubt my favourite picture from JD, the Joker and the Riddler getting harrassed by the dynamic duo, not only do you get a view of the Sea World stage but the Bat Boat as well! The more I see of this show, the more I realise that I really missed out as a kid. Grrrrr!

For more on this check out our gallery.

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

1974 Kenner Easy Bake Oven Catalog

Playing homemaker is still around but the 1970s were probably the last gasp of it being the norm. The 1980s saw a rise in little girls playing career woman, so things like the Easy Bake Oven became less prevelant. However, we're looking at 1974 and it was all the rage to emulate "Betty Crocker" and whip up a sugary treat in the playroom.

Not even children were immune to Fondue-Mania

Click on the images below for more Girl's Toys:

Doctor Who Trading Card

Card #24 is the Densy Fisher Doctor Who line, it may seem weird to do a Mego line here considering the Megomuseum cards but I'm not sure when we're ever going to get around to this line and me being a monster fan, just had to do it. I consider it a foreign mego subset.

Growing up in Ontario in the 70s, Doctor Who was a big thing, it aired on TVO and was hosted by a guy called "Doctor Dator". I remember being destroyed when Jon Pertwee died and turned into Tom Baker thinking "this new guy sucks!".

While these Denys Fisher Mego figures were sold in the UK, Italy and Australia, I really think the Canadian Mego Distributor dropped the ball in not releasing them here. I think they would have sold fantastic, I don't know anybody that grew up in Ontario that doesn't know who Doctor Who is.

More Mantooth Mania

Talk about good omens, the first thing I saw when entering this year's 2009 Megomeet show was Art Baltazar's 8" mego custom of our very own spokes model, Brick Mantooth. Art got the bug when he did a portrait of Brick a couple of week's ago and I'm glad he did.

Using a modified Big Jim head is wonderfully appropriate as is Art's idea to simply wrap the doll in a towel, I really wish I'd thought of both....

Check out more of Art's Custom Megos!

Party Scene: 1970

Kevin couldn't figure out why but the sight of Andre in his new purple jumpsuit filled him with an uncontrollable jealousy. It would ruin his evening.

No one could figure out who invited the man in the trench coat, who spent the entire evening in silence with his back to the group.

Rom Space Knight Trading Card

The Age of Rom has come!

Card #23 is Rom: Space Knight by Parker Brothers

Rom is such an iconic piece of 70s lore and I find it funny how many people tell me they never knew he was a toy! That's because while Parker Brothers did an admirable job of marketing the toy, Marvel did an even better job with Rom as a comic. That book lasted until I was in high school!

I was one of those kids who never saw ROM in toy stores, as this card shows, he was pretty pricey for 1979, that may have been why.

In the UK, they made ROM part of the action man line, which made a lot of sense.

Rom deserves a comeback, come on Hasbro and Marvel, get it together!

TV Comics: Logan's Run

I haven't done an installment of TV comics in over a year so I might as well do one of my favourites, Logan's Run. This is again from the amazing British weekly called "Look In" that I wished we had as kids. Logan's Run got a Marvel comic in the US but it was based on the movie and I'm more of a fan of the shortlived 1978 TV Series starring Gregory "Gonzo from Trapper John" Harrison.

The art is really nice and they've captured the look of the series, like a lot of these TV comics, most of the likeness shots are just direct swipes from promotional stills. You never get a good look at the characters in action scenes. I guess Look In never got a shot of the hover car that Logan, REM and Jessica drove because these comics always show them in the Sandman vehicle [/nerd]

One of these days I'm going to buy every issue of these and compile them into a gallery, mostly because I just want to read it....

The Joker at Sea World Part 1

JD strikes again with this amazing shot of the Joker and his hench man from the Sea World superheroes show. I find the joker mask they use really creepy but yet, I cannot look away.

For more on this check out our gallery.

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

Marx Safari Adventure Catalog

In the 70s, parents groups had pretty much ruled out the concept of killing each other by stomping on war toys but it was still perfectly fine to shoot animals. Everybody was doing it, Big Jim, G.I. Joe, the Adventure People (OK they never had a gun) and this great series by Marx simply called Safari Adventure.

Safari Adventure was it's own little 7" universe of characters (such as "Buck Hunter"), animals and a terrific amount of vehicles and playsets. Not well known in collector's circles now, Safari Adventure is really worth a look:

1975 Marx Safari Adventure Catalog

More Mid Seventies Macho Toys:

How to be HIS kind of Woman

Victoria can keep her secret.

Some Softcare grrrrrrrrowl action for you this Thursday....

Spanish For Slime

Found this ad in a completely unremarkable Spanish catalog from 1983, where apparently Slime was a brand new thing and was called "Bandi Blub" which doesn't seem to translate at Google....

Right On Stylings for Both of You!

That is the greatest.....hat....ever.

Bionic Tattoos

I had never heard of these before finding them on ebay last month, what a perfectly wonderful and logical idea. I'd have been all over this concept as a kid.

As an added bonus, I've made one of the stickers printer size, so let's all print it out and wear one to work today, come on, it's gonna be great...

Bionic Favourites: