This is a new one to me, these Comic Hero kites from Remco were made in 1971, which was an odd year to be making Superhero merchandise seeing it was pretty close to the late 60s explosion. There are some pretty interesting things to notice about this line, first is the absence of Aquaman ( although I'm not sure if he had a monthly by this point) and the other is there is not one but two Flash kites, even one where he's punching Mirror Master.
I mean that's some pretty obscure character choices there, even for 1971 when kids actually read comics. The other big tell this is from the early 1970s is the appearance of Wonder Woman in her weird-0 powerless Emma Peel days.
I wonder how many kids would have even realized this was supposed to be Wonder Woman?
Anybody who grew in the 70s probably remembers the Janex line of products especially their talking alarm clocks which were a pretty big deal at the time. I for one coveted that Batman and Robin one but I hated waking up as a kid (still do) so I never asked for one.
The addition of this fun (although weather beaten) catalog also adds some much needed Raggedy Anne and Andy merchandise to the site, it seemed like those two were everywhere back in the day.
Visit the 1977 Janex Catalog Here
More Superhero Swag
One of the cryingest shames of the 1970s were that a lot of cool TV shows never got much merchandise, take Land of the Lost for example. This was easily one of the most memorable kids shows of the decade and all we got were a few rack toys from Larami, some viewmasters, a Halloween costume (which I'll admit kicks ass) and a board game.
Nobody thought the Sleestaks were marketable? Heck nobody thought kids wouldn't buy a series of plastic dinosaurs with a "Land of the Lost" sticker slapped on them? I'd be hunting ebay every day for such a thing.
At least this bagatelle features some lovely graphics, kind of gives a glimpse of what a Land of the Lost comic might have looked like. Oh damn, that's another thing they should have made...
I've featured this line before but it's kind of forgotten and could use the l'il "leg up" now and then.
Hopping the pond to the UK for this Mall Appearance which happened in the early 1980s when Darth Vader himself dropped in on a "Toymaster" (great name) shop to promote the Empire Strikes Back Video cartridges that I spent the majority of 1981 playing.
Send me your mall appearance photos!
Even though my toy buying was waning considerably by 1984 (sadly I was getting more into Doctor Who paperbacks than girls) I do admire some of the cool gimmicks used to spawn action figures at the time..
Take for example Galoob's Infaceables line, a series of Heroes and Villains whose faces changed into horrible beasts. The Infaceables didn't rock the toy world (probably due to the lack of animated series) but they're kind of a fun, typically mid eighties SciFi/Fantasy toy line. Also, dig the vehicle names, "Incredible Thrasher" is my new screenname on my Wii Active game...:
Visit the Gallob Infaceables Page Here
More Cool Concepts
Keepers of the Sacred Orange sweater vest, preserving it's neck hole for future generations...
When these things went the way of the dinosaur, minimum wage job name tags were never quite the same...
I'm not denying that comical tube socks can't start conversations, what I'm wondering is what really the quality of that conversation would be:
Man 1" Hey neat socks!"
Sock Man " h'yuck, yeah I got them in a catalog"
Ackward Silence
Man 1 "well, bye"
This ad for licensing Captain America products from 1981 is interesting not only to comic fans but also trek people ( can't remember if "trekkie" or "trekker" is offensive so I'll steer away from that controversy, thank you) as I'm 90% certain that's none other than Commander William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes under that ill fitting large cowl.
It's well documented that Frakes paid his dues appearing as Cap during the late 70s/early 80s and most of the photos in the Superhero Mall Appearance Gallery seem to predate his tenure. This one however has a good chance of being him, I hope this useless knowledge brightens somebody's day.
Send me your mall appearance photos!
Parker Brothers was already a household name for board games and in the 1970s, like a lot of other toy manufactureres, they were attempting to the name in the growing electronic game market.
